i'm such a band geek
ok so i've been reading this sports uniform based column and blog for a couple years now. And I was wondering if the guy would be interested in writng about band unis so i sent him this letter:
Paul,
I discovered Uniwatch like most, right around the time ESPN.com started to publish your work. And since then I’ve been brewing up this email in the back of mind and have been waiting for time to write it. I was wondering if you’ve examined or even have any interest in marching band uniforms. I’ve searched through your site and only found limited banter on this subject, mostly about the U of Oregon’s uni’s in relationship to the football team, so I thought I’d and email on the subject in order to perhaps in encourage a blog entry.
I’ve been part of the marching music actives for years now and I’ve study uniforms in the activity for as long as I can remember. There are a couple reason I think you’d be interest in band uniforms.
For starters, they are directly related to the aesthetics of the sport which the band is supporting. Imagine a game at assembly hall with out seeing these or and OSU/Michigan without this image. And of course, as seen with Oregon, the branding virus has spread into halftime. Some bands have had their uniform’s horribly disfigured because of logo changes (why could the athletic department buy the band new uniforms? that looks awful).
The cool thing about band unis that they are the first visual impression you get from a group whose goal is to impress you visually and musically simultaneously. Lots of the design aspects exist to enhance a groups performance. This is especially true about Drum and Bugle Corps. DBCs are highly competitive national marching groups that perform in the summer months and are usually featured on ESPN2 in the early fall. These groups uniforms tend to slant toward the futuristic with some traditional stand outs. But each piece is designed so that moves on the field look better and more standardized from player to player. Gauntlets on the forearms help with horn posture, different colored uniform backs make turn-arounds more impactful and so on.
I’m sure you remember the turn-ahead the clock games the MLB ran in 99, well one of the guys responsible for designing most of these drum corps uniforms did the beloved “Mercury Mets” uniforms for that year.
Now I know, this may be taking the athletic aesthetics obsession a little to far but I think there’s a lot to be learn for bands and potential plethora or aspects to explore. Just a thought.
I any event I love reading your blog and column, keep it coming and don’t give up the fight against purple.
Matt Lanzoff
I'll keep everyone posted if he writes back could be cool to spread a little bit of Marching Music Love.
Paul,
I discovered Uniwatch like most, right around the time ESPN.com started to publish your work. And since then I’ve been brewing up this email in the back of mind and have been waiting for time to write it. I was wondering if you’ve examined or even have any interest in marching band uniforms. I’ve searched through your site and only found limited banter on this subject, mostly about the U of Oregon’s uni’s in relationship to the football team, so I thought I’d and email on the subject in order to perhaps in encourage a blog entry.
I’ve been part of the marching music actives for years now and I’ve study uniforms in the activity for as long as I can remember. There are a couple reason I think you’d be interest in band uniforms.
For starters, they are directly related to the aesthetics of the sport which the band is supporting. Imagine a game at assembly hall with out seeing these or and OSU/Michigan without this image. And of course, as seen with Oregon, the branding virus has spread into halftime. Some bands have had their uniform’s horribly disfigured because of logo changes (why could the athletic department buy the band new uniforms? that looks awful).
The cool thing about band unis that they are the first visual impression you get from a group whose goal is to impress you visually and musically simultaneously. Lots of the design aspects exist to enhance a groups performance. This is especially true about Drum and Bugle Corps. DBCs are highly competitive national marching groups that perform in the summer months and are usually featured on ESPN2 in the early fall. These groups uniforms tend to slant toward the futuristic with some traditional stand outs. But each piece is designed so that moves on the field look better and more standardized from player to player. Gauntlets on the forearms help with horn posture, different colored uniform backs make turn-arounds more impactful and so on.
I’m sure you remember the turn-ahead the clock games the MLB ran in 99, well one of the guys responsible for designing most of these drum corps uniforms did the beloved “Mercury Mets” uniforms for that year.
Now I know, this may be taking the athletic aesthetics obsession a little to far but I think there’s a lot to be learn for bands and potential plethora or aspects to explore. Just a thought.
I any event I love reading your blog and column, keep it coming and don’t give up the fight against purple.
Matt Lanzoff
I'll keep everyone posted if he writes back could be cool to spread a little bit of Marching Music Love.
posted by lanzoff @ 11:41 AM
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