Best Guard Uniform in History?

[Lance]

I would like to thank the Academy, I mean the 1993 Glassmen decision makers for choosing that year to have the most horrendous uniform ever...

I'm surprised Gamin hasn't responded to this yet, though he marched in 92, I believe. The guard uniforms that year weren't much better (long purple things), and the corps proper uniforms were the same psychedelic puke vinyl.

[Getintoyourcolor]

Best: 1982 Garfield Cadets - the first year of the prairie skirts with the pseudo-cadet jacket. It looked military and feminine at the same time

[byline]

First off, some of my favorite uniforms -- and these are uniforms, as opposed to the costumes that are de rigueur now -- are all from the '70s to early '80s: 27th Lancers (both rifle and flag), Santa Clara Vanguard (military yet feminine), Blue Devils (especially with the gauchos, also military yet feminine), Guardsmen (loved the clean look of the pants tucked into riding boots), and Boston Crusaders (the rifle line uniform with Waldo on the front). All of these uniforms were clean-looking, distinctive, and blended with the rest of the corps, yet also provided just enough contrast to add visual interest, especially when utilized in the drill.

(A bit off-topic, but my favorite corps uniform? It is, and will always be, Belleville Black Knights.)

What uniforms throughout drum corps have taken the activity in a new direction?

Bridgemen sure shook things up when they first came on the scene with that long black jacket that contrasted with the corps' yellow one. There's no question that the form-fitting uniform Blue Devils first wore in '81 was the shape of things to come. They allowed guard to move beyond the pants or skirts question. I'm not sure if Garfield's "West Side Story" guard in '84 was the first time an entire guard became a "character" (and dressed the part) in a corps show, but that certainly stands out in my mind.

What uniforms as a performer were the easiest to move in?

Are you asking about a particular guard, or just a general uniform style? If it's the latter, then anything using lots of fabric (skirts, capes, etc.) looked good, but made equipment work more difficult because it was so easy to get caught up in the fabric. For me, the easiest/most comfortable type of uniform involved pants, not skirts. Skirts looked nice, and I know the guys liked 'em, but they were a pain to march in (scraped knees from high knee lift in boots, etc.), and a little too easy to march out of; get the hem caught in your boot heel, and down went the skirt (as an Oakie guard member found out in '78 . . . not me, thank God!).

What unis most matched/added to the performance?

1987 Garfield Cadets (maroon and cream-colored dresses for "Appalachian Spring") and Phantom Regiment (snowflake costumes for their Tchaikovsky show), 1988 Santa Clara Vanguard costumes ("Phantom of the Opera" first time around).

What uniforms might have been better left on the truck?

Oh, gosh, too many to choose. But one that sticks in my mind was mid-'80s Sacramento Freelancers. I'm thinking it might have been '85? Just very odd-looking, and the strangeness didn't add anything to the show, IMO.

What role does a color guard's look play in the overall presentation of the show?

Depends which era you're asking about, as it's changed over the years; the guard is now expected to tell some sort of "story" about the show. But I think the fundamental role of the guard is what, IMO, it's always been: to visually represent the music.

Edited February 24, 2008 by byline

[byline]

Best: 1982 Garfield Cadets - the first year of the prairie skirts with the pseudo-cadet jacket. It looked military and feminine at the same time

I wouldn't rank it as the best, but I did very much like that uniform.

[Cop]

PHANTOM's guard 1987 how did I forget that, we were on tour with them, It was great to see that show all summer. (I'll go back and add it to page 1)

Edited February 24, 2008 by Cop

[cccmommy]

I can't for the life of me remember who it was but mid eighties, must have been from the west, there was a guard with the white jumpsuits and caps that were spraypainted and looked like the fruit gum of the same era? Awful, Awful uniforms.

I remember really liking Cadets unis through the eighties, especially '84. I look at them now and they are so much of that era. All the sparkle and ruffles, made the girls, who had to be obscenely fit, look short and heavy. They otally changed the meaning of a guard uniform by making it show specific and so unlike the corps proper.

[neholgate]

Best: 1982 Garfield Cadets - the first year of the prairie skirts with the pseudo-cadet jacket. It looked military and feminine at the same time

Loved that look too ... and that guard, whom I am other VK guard members watched as they rehearsed, stopped us dead in our tracks. Hands down the best guard that year.

Nancy

Edited February 24, 2008 by neholgate

[Cop]

I can't for the life of me remember who it was but mid eighties, must have been from the west, there was a guard with the white jumpsuits and caps that were spraypainted and looked like the fruit gum of the same era? Awful, Awful uniforms.

1985 The Argonauts of Salem Oregon

Fruit Stripe Gum

They were a groundbreaking guard by Stanley Knaub of Seattle, WA

The final placement of this drum corps was 22nd, yet their guard was able to pull off wins over the

3rd place Blue Devils and behind the 2nd place Santa Clara Vanguard during the season.

[Galen]

What uniforms might have been better left on the truck?

'03 Cavies and '93 Glassmen, to name a couple that were gawdawful.

Best "old-school" guard uni: Blue Stars, when they had the short shorts.

[mophilda]

I rarely notice a guard uniform unless they are HORRIBLE.

There are two kinds of horrible:

1) just straight up ugly uniforms that don't look good on anybody. An example of this that comes to mind was Crown when they did the mythology show or Glassmen's Beethoven show. Those guant pink skirts were distracting and clouded the lower bodies. (the white that they changed to after the costume change was better)

2) Uniforms that would look good on somebody. But none of those bodies are on that guard.

I really like it when guards have many different but similar uniforms. This is also a great way to combat type 2 horrible.

I notice flags much more than I do uniforms. Blue Knights flags always blow me away. They are very musical (if I can use that adjective for flags) The neato quick change flags the Cadets used this year were pretty cool, too.