But Everyone is doing it! Part 1

Earlier in the week, my Rhetoric class was discussion fashion trends that should never have existed. While this was occurring, I was coming up with numerous ideas on different sports trends, and this post was born. Basically, this post will discuss several trends that have swept sports over the years. This will be broken into two parts, with the second featuring three modern trends (late 1990s through today). This week will feature trends of the past that have mostly died out.


The Powder Blue Craze

This is particularly a baseball trend (though the use of double blue is gaining momentum in many sports) since baseball is played in the summer, and teams tend to wear light colors (grey) during away games. So, during the late 1960s and early 1970s, teams began wearing uniforms that were a baby blue color as a way to distinguish themselves from teams that wore grey road uniforms.


The two teams to begin this craze were the Seattle Pilots and the Montreal Expos. While these were not the first two teams to ever wear powder blue (The Cubs and White Sox had worn them decades earlier), these teams marked the beginning of the color's popularity. 


In 1972, two more teams, the Chicago White Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies, adopted powder blue road uniforms. The Pilots also relocated to Milwaukee, becoming the Milwaukee Brewers (and continued to use powder blue). This brought the total to four teams wearing powder blue. 


In 1973, two more teams, the Minnesota Twins and the Kansas City Royals, raised the total to six and in 1975, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers joined the craze, raising the total to eight teams. In 1977 the league expanded, creating the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners. Both teams wore powder blue, raising the total to nine, as the White Sox dropped their set.


In 1978, the Chicago Cubs took on pinstriped powder blue uniforms, and in 1980 the total raised to eleven teams when the Atlanta Braves joined as well.


Eleven teams was the highest number ever in regards to powder blue road uniforms. Soon, the trend grew out of style and teams began returning to grey. In fact, not a single MLB team currently wears powder blue as their everyday road uniform (though many have powder blue throwback alternates).




The Colorful Uniform Craze (And the socially awkward pants phase)


The late 1970s and early 1980s gave way to a revolutionary change in sports uniforms. Now, due to technology advancements that allowed for bright colors and designs, teams weren't forced to wear dark colors (like navy blue), they could experiment... And that's exactly what they did.


First up is probably the single most famous example, the Houston Astros. During this period, the Astros sported what is now lovingly (or loathingly) dubbed as the "Tequila Sunrise" look or the rainbow uniforms. Either way, these uniforms were bright, and had a rainbow-esque pattern. Some hate these, some love them, but they were no doubt colorful.

Then, there are the Vancouver Canucks, "Flying V" uniforms. this is widely considered one of the worst uniforms ever conceived, and consisted of a Yellow, Red, and Black color scheme with a giant V on the the front. These featured no crest, and were considerable eye sores.

Many other teams fit this list as well, including the Denver Nuggets, the Chicago White Sox, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the San Diego Padres, and many others.

This era also featured three teams that wore their pants in extremely awkward fashions. First are the Chicago White Sox. For one game, the Sox debuted a brand new look that featured shorts... The look did not catch on, and is still considered the worst baseball uniform ever conceived. 

The other two teams played in the NHL. Both the Hartford Whalers and the Philadelphia Flyers sported long pants known as Cooperalls. Not only was the look disliked, but the pants were deemed a hazard, and promptly outlawed by the league.

The Teal and Purple Craze

During the 1990's for some horrible reason, the colors teal and purple became very popular amongst athletic teams. In every major league, at least one team sported a look featuring one of the colors.

NBA- Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors, Milwaukee Bucks, Detroit Pistons, Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets

NFL- Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens

NHL- San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Mighty Ducks

MLB- Florida Marlins, Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies

A majority of teams who previously wore these color combinations have since moved away with many either eliminating teal and purple from their schemes, or hiding them behind the color black. In fact, the only teams who still prominently use teal and/or purple are the Sharks, Jaguars, Ravens, and Hornets.

That's all for now, next weeks post will feature the Black for Black's Sake (or BFBS) trend, the Fauxback trend, and "Are you serious?" trend.