Notre Dame

[rbripley]

Several weeks ago, a few friends and I were talking about some college football teams whose uniforms were in need of some updating. One guy was adamant that Notre Dame was one of them. Of courrse everyone had an opinion, and being something of a purist, I fell on the "If it ain't broke..." side of the debate.

The guy who thought ND should go for an entire overhaul challenged me - the one who didn't want to change anything. "Well if you were going to make just some small changes, what would it/they be?

So, started digging through ND's history on the web and was surprised to learn that the school has their own official tartan. The design was submitted to the Court of the Lord Lyon, in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 11, 1970, examined by the Tartan Advisory Committee which confirmed that the Notre Dame plaid did not appear to be associated with any clan or name in Scotland. The design was adopted by the University as the official plaid and has been trademarked and copyrighted. The colors in the plaid symbolize the following:

GREEN— the Fighting Irish

BLUE and GOLD— the colors of the University of Notre Dame du Lac

RED— the Church and the Holy Cross Fathers

So with that, I was inspired to try and give the Fightin' Irish football togs a little update, while also honoring their history and traditions.

Any thoughts?

[Punch]

I don't know about the plaid. Maybe just use it on one uniform, instead of them all?

Good set, though. I like 'em.

Punch9

[kbaker19]

I agree with Punch9. It would be a little much to see them on every uniform, but I think it would look cool on an alternate. That is also very interesting to know they have their own plaid trademarked.

[mbannon92]

As a lifelong ND fan and soon to be student, I kind of like the plaid. I would take it off the belt and socks, which is a little too much, but I think it looks good. Now to the rest of the concept, I would use standard block numbers like they have now and put the interlocking ND on the sleeves. Cool idea on the plaid though!

[Lights Out]

The plaid looks good as just collar and sleeve trim. I agree that the socks would be a bit much, and I doubt plaid belts are even possible. I also love the serif font numbers, they remind me of Virginia's old late-'90s set that also had unique trim, coincidentally.

[The_Admiral]

Tartans are more Scottish than Irish, though, aren't they?

[rbripley]

Tartans are more Scottish than Irish, though, aren't they?

You're correct.

However, while kilts originated as the traditional dress for men and boys in 16th century Scotland, in Ireland they were more for special occasional such as music events or political rallies as opposed to the staple of a guy's wardrobe (or the entire wardrobe!) as in Scotland. In the later 19th century, the kilt was adopted as a symbol of Gaelic nationalism in Ireland.

This would seem to be how Notre Dame ended up with their own tartan and ultimately what inspired my attempt!

[PackerBadger]

Several weeks ago, a few friends and I were talking about some college football teams whose uniforms were in need of some updating. One guy was adamant that Notre Dame was one of them. Of courrse everyone had an opinion, and being something of a purist, I fell on the "If it ain't broke..." side of the debate.

The guy who thought ND should go for an entire overhaul challenged me - the one who didn't want to change anything. "Well if you were going to make just some small changes, what would it/they be?

So, started digging through ND's history on the web and was surprised to learn that the school has their own official tartan. The design was submitted to the Court of the Lord Lyon, in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 11, 1970, examined by the Tartan Advisory Committee which confirmed that the Notre Dame plaid did not appear to be associated with any clan or name in Scotland. The design was adopted by the University as the official plaid and has been trademarked and copyrighted. The colors in the plaid symbolize the following:

GREEN? the Fighting Irish

BLUE and GOLD? the colors of the University of Notre Dame du Lac

RED? the Church and the Holy Cross Fathers

So with that, I was inspired to try and give the Fightin' Irish football togs a little update, while also honoring their history and traditions.

Any thoughts?

The concept sounded awful. The concept, however, looks striking. I think it should be only on the jersey as well (ditto replacing the shamrock with the interlocking ND), but this is really well done.

[lenardo]

The plaid looks good as just collar and sleeve trim. I agree that the socks would be a bit much, and I doubt plaid belts are even possible. I also love the serif font numbers, they remind me of Virginia's old late-'90s set that also had unique trim, coincidentally.

i know which ones youre talking about, the best UVA's had. Anyway when i read plaid i thought this was going to be just terrible. but it looks very sharp and well put together though like others said, just one with plaid on the color and cuffs would be best. good work!

[rbripley]

Thanks to all for your time, thoughts and suggestions!

I'll get to an update this week.