Uniforms - Black Shirts

[simonium]

A few things to bear in mind if you opt for black shirts:

Long or short sleeves? - cant have both

Blokes - They've got to be tucked in....and you should wear belts... but what style belt? different styles look naff

What will the women wear? same style as the men? £5 Matalan/Asda/Primark? maybe, maybe not.

They can look scruffy after a short while

What's the conductor going to wear? same attire or different colour?

We've done several concerts with trad jackets first half and black shirts in the second - can be effective
JR

Bands have similar problems with standard uniforms - my band for example has ex-military players with shoes so highly buffed the Hubble telescope is envious, next to people with matt leather loafers, nestling uncomfortably next to what are clearly school shoes. And then you have trousers. And skirts. And tights. Hopefully not together.

The pproblem with belts can be overcome with a little dedicated overeating.

[mikelyons]

As with all things, you get what you pay for and you pay for what you get. Cheap shirts from Asda, Primark &c may ultimately be more expensive than getting proper shirts that are guaranteed not to fade and to all be in the same style and which should look professional, has a high initial cost, but will be worth it in the long run. Maybe the band could ask for a contribution to the cost from the players?

Black - as long as it is black - always looks smart. I know you can't please everybody all of the time, but those who don't like it will just have to go with the majority vote. Some you win, some you lose.

[bassendworld]

As with all things, you get what you pay for and you pay for what you get. Cheap shirts from Asda, Primark &c may ultimately be more expensive than getting proper shirts that are guaranteed not to fade and to all be in the same style and which should look professional, has a high initial cost, but will be worth it in the long run. Maybe the band could ask for a contribution to the cost from the players?

Black - as long as it is black - always looks smart. I know you can't please everybody all of the time, but those who don't like it will just have to go with the majority vote. Some you win, some you lose.

We at MTB bought two shirts for everyone from Debenhams I think it was, as many have said much more comfortable. We still have our black band jackets though for out door use, but these were just ordinary blazers with the badge sewn on by some kind soul.

As for the ladies when we wear the black shirts at evening events the ladies wear black evening attire as they see fit.Always looks fine

Ian

[weenie]

or indeed Cory's nightmarish kit.

Tut tut simonium!

[WoodenFlugel]

Black shirts all round certainly gets my vote, as long as they are double cuffed and made from suitably fine cotton.

Not £5 Matalan ones then?

[simonium]

Tut tut simonium!

Are you saying it looks good?! When they're in the DJs in white they look fantastic but that red kit is dire.

[simonium]

Not £5 Matalan ones then?

No definitely no slumming it!

[KernowSop]

Personally I hate wearing a band jacket, unless it was made specifically for the player, the cut is never right and can feel really uncomfortable. I did a contest when I was 8 months pregnant and I wore a black maternity shirt. It was the most comfortable I'd felt at a contest, which says a lot!

In our band, we are very lucky, we have band polo shirts (black with band logo) as an option instead of our band jackets. I would always say put it to your band to vote how they wish to look, as their opinion means more that the general public's perception of what you should look like.

[weenie]

Are you saying it looks good?! When they're in the DJs in white they look fantastic but that red kit is dire.

I don't mind wearing it!

[DRW]

Open neck black shirts generally look good. Introduce a badly chosen coloured waistcoat or tie and you run the risk of looking like a group of 1970's Phoenix Nights-style cabaret artistes! (Not sure if this is an improvement over lion tamers!).

I'd also make consideration to the type of jobs that your band takes part in and will the proposed uniform 'fit' with these occasions. E.g. Will the uniform be too casual for formal civic events.

I realise there are some strong views for breaking away from traditional jackets, but they do bring a strong identity within the local community. That may not be relevant or important for some bands, but for my band at least, I believe we would be losing a key, positive dimension of our presence if we moved away from them.

[BigHorn]

Personally, I've never, ever seen a band wearing black shirts which looks even remotely smart - in fact more often than not the band looks like a collection of slobs.
Beer guts stretching button holes to the limit - sometimes exposing the white blubber underneath, shirt tails hanging out, Fifty shades of grey, tramline creases or simply un-ironed and darker patches in the small of the back and armpits where the sweat soaks through. Jackets hide a multitude of sins.
I just cannot fathom why so many bands think black shirts are the way forward. A black shirt only ever looks good when its brand new, jet black, properly pressed and on a slim body - preferably made of silk. After 2 or 3 washes a black cotton shirt is no longer a formal dress item.

[Ianroberts]

Personally, I've never, ever seen a band wearing black shirts which looks even remotely smart - in fact more often than not the band looks like a collection of slobs.
Beer guts stretching button holes to the limit - sometimes exposing the white blubber underneath, shirt tails hanging out, Fifty shades of grey, tramline creases or simply un-ironed and darker patches in the small of the back and armpits where the sweat soaks through. Jackets hide a multitude of sins.
I just cannot fathom why so many bands think black shirts are the way forward. A black shirt only ever looks good when its brand new, jet black, properly pressed and on a slim body - preferably made of silk. After 2 or 3 washes a black cotton shirt is no longer a formal dress item.

ooer, hark at her !!!!

[chill]

Sandhurst use both Jackets and black shirts.
Contests are now always in black shirts, we find it more comfortable, especially if the auditorium is hot.
Concerts, we will usually start in jackets, and tend to do a swing section at the beginning of the second half, so change into black shirts in the interval . Seems to go down well with the punters.

[ChrisHatch]

I can imagine the discussion we would have at committee if we tried to suggest wearing black shirts. It wouldn't be fun!

[euphymike]

Sixteen months ago, 2011, at the whit marches I was queuing up with my ex band to march a few yards. Dressed in our black shirts with band logo embroidered on and black trousers we became the victims of verbal abuse from an 'older' member of another band ,stood on the pavement, about what we looked like. He was wearing an ill fitting, it probably fitted him 25 years ago, type band jacket that my grandfather called a smoking jacket in the dark days! (I would say that the average age of my band taht day was 30 ish).
Alas with attitudes like that no wonder the band movment appears to be stuck in a time warp and has trouble actracting youngsters? Possibly a good place to start is getting ride of the old military style clobber and going a bit more 'native'?
Ps. My current band wear black polo shirts with their logo on.