Stream of consiousness fashion ramblings

First off, I love this pic. No Niners fan myself but the brightness of the gold is reminiscent of Notre Dame the high gloss red of the helmet stripe is a close to the color of fresh blood as I’ve ever seen and I am a fan of the three D effect of the font on the jersey numbering. I think them, the Dolphins and perhaps the Ravens are the only ones who use this effect. However the question this pic brings up in my mind is “Whats up with those knee pads?” They look like little circular pads with a nipple fer chrissake. Is it a kneepad or a post breast cancer prosthesis? Even the thigh pad looks like some kind of truncated sawed off version of a full pad. What’s going on there? Anyone know?

You have to look at the next two photos for my next point, specifically the socks. I love the three horizontal stripes, always have. I’m not sure if these pics are both from last season. I thought the Pats had gone away from the three horizontal stripes but maybe it’s just a home/away thing. Rich? Another burning question… the pant stripe. Is it wide blue middle stripe with red inner border and white outer border that you cant really see on the light pant or is the white outer border added on the blue pants to make the whole stripe configuration more visible?



The Raiders have perhaps the most classic uniform in all of football with Green Bay running a close second. The silver and black just work and never seem to loose ground. Just look at the beauty and simplicity of the parts and how they come together to make the whole shine. The most simple and basic pant stripe is a prime example of not having to fancy up every detail. Left alone to work in concert with the other elements make it a rare exception. The parts of this uniform exemplify the team concept of the sport applied to the uniform.

Let’s talk helmet stripes. Over the past decade or so the helmet stripe has come into its own and here are two great examples in one photo. The Titans are one of only two teams featuring the front to back fading double stripe and the Broncos are the only team with a back to front fading stripe. Whereas Carolina has a front to back fading double stripe but with an added twist… they curl out away from the center just
after passing the top of the helmet. Yeah baby!

The pic of the Falcon also shows a new level of detail and sophistication on the Jersey design especially around the shoulder. The pinstripe borders, the multi color insert panels, the collar detail…. That’s a sharp shirt. It’s a bit like the Cardinals new one in that way. On that subject I love the Cardinals pinstripe pant stripe that comes down and bell bottoms out around the knee, very unique. It’s not my favorite but I like this Denver pant stripe that curls forward and how it’s matched by the jersey gusset/stripe that curls in around the pec. It may not be everyones cup of tea but the logo and uniform redesign are, I think, an improvement over the old orange crush days. And hell, they won a super bowl in it so who can complain? Not big on the number font though. Above the Panther pantstripe is also kind of unique in starting out ultra fat at the top and narrowing to a point at the knee.

It’s a brave new world in NFL fashion these days but as we’ll see in future columns change has been constant over the football years, just not at this pace and level of innovation. Time for this columnist to go off and peruse some cheerleader photo galleries and maybe even get helmet drunk. See you next time football fashion fans and keep those comments and tips coming !