Ben Boulware wins best dressed at ACC Media Days

CHARLOTTE — Clemson linebacker Ben Boulware knew there would be a sea of gray and black suits and team-colored ties at this year’s media day. It’s the unofficial uniform of coaches and player representatives.But he didn’t want to fade into the background in his first media day appearance, so he carefully crafted a collage of the south’s finest threads.A beige jacket reminiscent of a burlap material, pink tie, purple and light orange paisley shirt, rolled-up light blue dress pants and brown oxford shoes.It was really quite the ensemble.”I knew a bunch of you guys would kind of see the basic suits, because I know a bunch of coaches wear a black or gray suit with a team tie and I wanted to mix it up and give a little spice to the media day,” Boulware said. “So I threw a couple of pieces together. I don’t know, i think it looks decent, different. I just got (the jacket) at M.H. Frank in Clemson. (The shirt) in Savannah Georgia, The fake capris, they’re really just dress pants that I rolled up, I got them in Charleston. The shoes in Belk in Easley (South Carolina).”Boulware described himself as a ‘reserved’ person off the field, contrasting with his monster personality on the field. But his loud outfit was anything but reserved.He insists that he wasn’t trying to make anything but a fashion statement with his outfit — he just wanted to generate a little buzz.”I was trying to look good,” the senior said. “I wasn’t trying to convey no message, I just knew there would be a bunch of cameras around, and I wanted to look good. That’s really it.So will this outfit make an appearance on Tiger Walk this fall?”I would wear it on Tiger Walk but on the plane ride here, Coach (Dabo) Swinney was like, ‘you know you’re not wearing it on Tiger Walk.. I don’t know what you think you’re doing. I’ll let it slide because I didn’t know you were wearing it. But it’s not what you’re wearing on Tiger Walk,'” Boulware. “I can probably wear a lot of it, I just couldn’t wear the shirt. The shirt is probably too colorful. I’ll probably have to roll the pants down. I’ll find something that looks good. It won’t be as colorful as this. Probably can’t wear the pink tie either. It’s a one-time thing.”Just to confirm, I asked Swinney if he could wear it.”Absolutely not.”