Uniforms That Didn’t Work: The Six Ugliest Sports Uniforms
by Wayne Capaletti
Summary: Take a look at six of the ugliest sports uniforms.
I have been writing a series of informative (I hope) articles relating to the design, construction, performance and appearance of modern athletic uniforms. We can now provide almost anyone with a comfortable, attractive and affordable uniform for any sport.
Just for fun, this month we’re going to take a look at a half dozen examples of uniforms that, for whatever reason, didn’t work. Hopefully, we can all learn from our mistakes.
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My vote for the ugliest uniform currently on the market; in any sport. I’m not sure what the thought process was here. Many customers want a uniform that looks “different” or “distinctive” but you can take any idea too far. I hope that these are comfortable because they’re uncomfortable to look at. It’s time to go back to the drawing board on these. |
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Sticking with football, here’s another winner. I don’t think they use this anymore and I can see why. It started out alright until they got to the shoulder yoke. Apparently, someone from the school’s art department won a bet with the equipment manager and it was all downhill from there. Rest in peace. |
| Moving on to baseball, we have the great Nolan Ryan. That’s where the greatness ends in this picture. Nolan made it into Cooperstown despite having worn this uniform. Can you imagine trying to pick up a 100 mph fastball coming out of this background? I believe that they still use these in Houston when the circus comes to town each year. |  |
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The most amazing thing about these uniforms is that they were actually worn by a professional team during our lifetime. The Chicago White Sox wore these in the early 70’s. That the 1970’s. The 1960’s were known as the drug generation and I’m not sure that there’s not a connection here. Surprisingly, these didn’t last long. |
| Our only basketball entry in this edition is an undated model from the Houston Rockets. We can’t blame Nolan Ryan for this one. What did Houston ever do to deserve this? I’m not sure if the players in the background are playing poor defense or are just afraid to make contact with this hideous uniform. Pinstripes work in some applications but this isn’t one of them. |  |
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I’m not a hockey expert but I know a disaster when I see one. This might have looked OK on a cardigan sweater but certainly doesn’t work on an athletic uniform. The player even looks embarrassed to be wearing it. At least the team was smart enough to not show their city or team name anywhere on this train wreck. |
This article contains my own personal opinions and was done for fun. As I was researching this, I discovered many other examples that could very well have been included. If you have any examples that you think should be included in future articles, please feel free to e-mail them to me at wayne@ciscoathletic.com.
Author Bio
Wayne Capaletti is President of Cisco Athletic (http://www.ciscoathletic.com/), a custom uniform manufacturer that provides high quality sports uniforms to schools, universities, and other organizations worldwide. For all major sports, they have attractive, quality team uniforms, warm-ups, and accessories available, including custom football uniforms and custom baseball uniforms.