Opinions on Uniforms for 2014--helped or hindered?

[Jast45]

I am curious to hear what people thought of the uniforms this year--did you think some of them helped the corps or hindered them in some way. Here are my opinions on a few

Hindered-for me-mostly in visual

Boston Crusaders--I liked their show for the most part, but i feel the mostly black uniforms hindered their visual in drill. With the front mostly black, I feel I couldn't really see their movement so well--the only time there was a contrast was when they turned to the back, and then there was some red to help the look f their forms. Overall not sure if this took anything away from the show and/or score

Phantom Regiment--for me there wasn't enough white contrast with the black--and the black outfit looked more like a costume than a Phantom uniform--again so much black for me loses some of the definition in marching and forms.

Blue Knights- I enjoyed their show immensely--The uniform however never seemed to have impact for me at any time--so much of it was in the middle tones of light blue-gray-white--that again i was looking for more contrast and punch from their design--when they turned or stopped etc.

Madison--too much white in my opinion-bleached out the whole show in some ways for me.

Blue Devils--Loved their show--the white front piece looked a little shabbly or too loose for me.

Uniforms that worked for me

Bluecoats--a great improvement over last years all deep blue and black-with the addition of more white--the plume, the white tilted sash-white gloves--all added punch and a great visual for me--color guard as well

Blue Stars--after the coveralls opening--i really liked the uniform change--added a lot of edge for me--given the more casual free form look of the furniture, big cardboard boxes etc--it really made them look sharp

Cadets--visually they have the most classic Drum Corps look and I love it--the clash of sash color at times with the Maroon didn't help me much but wasn't a big hinderance

Carolina Crown--Really loved the uniforms last year and the color this year worked for me.

Cavaliers--Classic as well and I loved seeing them return to their strengths

Ok just a few thoughts and was wondering what other opinions there are out there

[skevinp]

All subjective of course, but I couldn't disagree more on the Blue Knights. I absolutely love their new uniforms.

[Liahona]

I guess it is with the eye of the beholder, but for me I did not like Crowns uni this year...the purple for the corps proper worked much better last season IMO.

[Yorkvillain]

I thought Crown's uniforms worked perfectly each of the past two seasons.

Loved BD's show but didn't love (or hate) their uniforms. BD's 1994-2003 uniforms are still my favorite.

[flammaster]

I agree with the 94-2003 BD uniform!

I loved Crown's uniform last year. It didn't work for me this year.

I didn't hate SCV's white jacket but didn't like it either.

Madison definitely NO! Yuck!

I really love SCVC and BDB uniforms.

Love the new Crossmen uniform!

[Slingerland]

Boston's uniform designer apparently never thought about having a horn player hold up a horn when they were modeling the uniform prior to approval. Once the arms are up and a horn is in the face, all the red at the top of the jacket is totally covered, making the hornline a solid black unit. Nice concept, but a failure in execution.

Cavaliers new/old style was a win.

Agnostic on Vanguard. I prefer the red tunics, but the white is fine too.

BK, also agnostic. The paleness of it is a little underwhelming from the stands, and the fit looked a little sloppy on some of the members.

[Cappybara]

I love BD's uniform with the half cape. Gives them a really cool look. Just look at the closer of BD 2012 as they march to one of the endzones doing those echo dissonant chords. They looked so bada**.

Cavies went back to the Cavies. They look pretty good.

I didn't like the cummerbund changes with the Cadets this year but then again, I don't like the Cadets uniform very much in general..

Vanguard looked amazing with white. I think it really brought out the elegance of their show.

This year's bluecoats uniform was my favorite this year and my favorite from them ever.

I actually didn't like Crown's this year. That blue was way too bright. It should've been toned down a bit. The shako also could've been sized down a bit. 2013's uniform was miles better.

I wasn't a fan of Phantom's either... everything about it screamed gaudy and unnecessary. Please please go back to 2012's or 2010's uniform. Those looked beautiful.

Blue Knights looked amazing. Such a great look for them and worked well for the style of the show.

BAC looked bada** too. I'm not understanding how their uniform would've hurt their visual scores in any way at all. They just had a difficult show that couldn't get cleaned.

Loved Crossmen too but wouldn't mind them going back to 2012's uni.

The scouts looked great in white. I know everyone seems to hate them but they get a thumbs up from me.

[Liahona]

Boston's uniform designer apparently never thought about having a horn player hold up a horn when they were modeling the uniform prior to approval. Once the arms are up and a horn is in the face, all the red at the top of the jacket is totally covered, making the hornline a solid black unit. Nice concept, but a failure in execution.

Are you certain that was not the intention? I'm not saying it was...just saying that maybe that was the intention...

[BRASSO]

I think it might be helpful to differentiate between the effect that Corps uniforms on the Corps proper might have with the judges in their scoring and the effects on the fans. I don't think they are the same.

For example, my guess is that the attire on the Corps proper has virtually no effect whatsoever on these seasoned judges in their scoring, many of whom have judged these Corps for decades and through all sorts of uniform changes. Jeff Prosperie, J.J. Pippitone I'm pretty sure, don;t care a wit what the drummers are wearing. Beth Fabrizio is no fashion plate herself, and probably doesn't care what the Corps are wearing. Geogre Oliviero ? Frank Miller ? Are you kidding ? I could go right down the line and list them all... none of them seem to be to be fashion concious and let any of the clothing effect their scores in the least. They might look to how color is utilized and if the Guard unis fit the theme well, but by and large even here the clothing is most likely a complete non factor in what they put down for scores in their captions. That would be my take on this anyway.

Fans on the other hand probably do factor in how well they receive a Corps in performance based upon the clothing worn out on the field. And this is of course, like any clothing worn, a personal preference determination, and probably has diverse and varied opinions on this naturally.

Edited August 17, 2014 by BRASSO

[chris ncsu]

I REALLY liked SCV's tops, but I've always been partial to the couple times they've worn white tops (or was it just once? 1995?).

I liked Blue Knights well enough, but someone near me at final said something I agree with -- that they might have looked better with the gray pants that the DM wore this year. I think the nearly all-white look worked for the show, though.

Like others, I don't hate the Blue Devils uniforms from the past 5 years or so, but I miss the 1994-20XX look. With their current show designs, I think the uniforms add just that much more clutter.

Madison -- I'm pretty tired of the short sleeves, even if it's an homage. I miss the more masculine, bada&& look of the 1988-20XX uniform.

Boston -- think they were too dark.

Cadets cummerbunds -- I liked the blue and I liked the yellow, but there wasn't enough contrast made with the olive color.