BFBS

[Matt_S]

I was reading a blog called Uni Watch today, and the latest post got me thinking. You can read it too, here. Basically BFBS means Black For Black's Sake, and refers to sports teams who add black to their uniform even though black was never one of their team colors. The Mets are the given example, and plenty of other teams like the Eagles and Athletics appear in the examples below:

That got me thinking about the marching arts. I've seen this phenomenon quite clearly in marching band, as just about every band out there has added more black to their look, more than a few even going to all-black. Even my own alma mater switched to new uniforms not long after I graduated, which were all black but for a little blue on most of the tunic.

Certainly we've seen the same occur in drum corps. You could go all the way back to the Blue Devils in the late 80's for examples, maybe even before that. What examples can you think of where a corps added black just for the sake of adding black? What do you think about those examples, thumbs up or thumbs down?

[FHdork]

It is the best color...imo

[ravedodger]

Black will be last year's avocado.

[ContraFart]

visual dirt is always easier to hide in black pants/shoes.....its also a easy to hide dirt in white pants/shoes but not as effective as black.

My high school band director was a genius...we had 2 pairs of pants for our uniform....we always wore white shoes but we had black pants for football games and white pants for competitions.

[esch]

2 thoughts:

Sometimes you need a contrast color... my high school's colors are white and gold; together under the lights it's not readable at all. Through the school's early days (50-70's) they used blue to outline the borders between the two (and very dark blue for the band unis) In the 80's they went to black because black was "badder" and then in the 90's made it an official school color (I get to teach this history every spring when we learn the Alma Mater for graduation, which references love of the "white and gold")

Also: black is both slimming and makes an individual look taller... well, badder.

Guess wear black= look bad.

I liked the black Blue Devil jackets but they only lasted one year.

[Dave_G]

I really don't mind the concept too much as far as drum corps is concerned. For the most part it's being added to the lower portion of the uniforms. There are certainly exceptions there such as BK's move from the Dots to their current style, but the premise is still the same. It is designed to create a sleeker look... all while being more effective at hiding dirt. And it generally works.

edit: seconded on the BD black jackets. Those things were pretty sharp.

OT:

The blog talks about teams that add black to their uniforms and it brings up the Canes as an example of a positive move to do so. But... the Canes have ALWAYS had Red and Black as their team colors since their inception in the NHL. Just seems like an exceptionally odd, if not outright ill-researched, choice of a team for them to include in their uniform watch. Same goes for some of their other choices like the White Sox, Pirates and Penguins.

[hotbeats645]

it's interesting that the White Sox are in the picture in the OP. The first time they used black was in 1951 I think, and before then it was mostly dark navy pinstripes. Black has been primary for them since 1991.

[The Other Mike]

It is the best color...imo

I know I went to school in the dark ages when the world was still flat so I'm gonna say black is my 2nd favorite non color

By the way, I hate pants and shoes of the same hue. I like clear, well defined M&M, but thats just me

Edited April 18, 2010 by The Other Mike

[SFZFAN]

I didn't like the black Madison added the last two years. Thank God that's gone. Hopefully for good!

[bccadet09]

Black is sexy.