Bills confirm new uniform for 2011

[BlueSky]

Now that I've gotten a good couple looks at these uniforms in varying light conditions, now I know why the stripes/numbers appear so muddied: the navy and the red bleed together, creating an almost purple effect.

My mine gripe with these unis. Same as the Chargers; they tried to do too much with the colors and outlines and it doesn't work well.

Could there be a legit reason the team may not wear blue pants at all?

Yep, to prevent a mono blue nightmare. Don't know if it's "legit" necessarily, but my guess is the same others have expressed: somebody in the organization with enough juice to keep the blue pants in the box dislikes the mono look and this is one sure way to keep it off the field.

[CS85]

So if they wanna stick with white on white, then dump those terrible socks and go with the home socks worn at the unveiling that are somewhat similar to these retros worn in 2009

Those look so damn good.

[John in KY]

So it appears that the 75th anniversary throwbacks worn by the Redskins in 2007, some of the socks were white at the very top, yet some were burgundy at the top, and both worn in the same game.

It's obvious that they kept the throwback pieces in their uniform set and brought the socks and pants out of their attic to wear last year since there's no regulations on pants or socks ??

In looking closer at this photo, I think he is wearing white compression socks (looks like spandex) under the burgundy socks which aren't pulled all the way up instead of the socks themselves being white on top. You can kind of see the top ribbing on the socks like the other photos, then the white goes all the way up under the pants on him.

You're right about them bringing them out - they stay on the style list for a while after they are used. Maybe Colorwerx or someone else who gets the official style sheets can comment on how long these things are available.

[TheOldRoman]

New England Patriots white set: helmet (no stripes), jersey (1 shoulder stripe), pants (3 stripes of varying shapes, socks (3 stripes)

Baltimore Ravens any jersey with white pants: helmet (2 artistic stripes), jersey (no stripes), pants (3 stripes), socks (no stripes)

Cleveland Browns white set: helmet (3 stripes), jersey (5 stripes), pants (3 stripes), socks (5 stripes)

Pittsburgh Steelers home/away set: helmet (1 stripe), jersey (7 multi-shaped stripes), pants (1 stripe), socks (no stripes)

Denver Broncos blue jersey set: helmet (3 artistic stripes), jersey (1 artistic stripes), pants (1 artistic stripe), socks (1 small solid stripe)

Kansas City Chiefs white jersey/red pants: helmet (no stripes), jersey (3 stripes), pants (5 stripes), socks (3 stripes)

Houston Texans any set: helmet (no stripes), jersey (1 shoulder stripe), pants (3 stripes), socks (no stripes)

Indianapolis Colts home/away set: helmet (1 stripe), jersey (3 shoulder stripes), pants (3 stripes), socks (no stripes)

Indianapolis Colts alternate set: helmet (1 stripe), jersey (3 stripes), pants (1 stripe), socks (3 stripes)

Tennessee Titans any set: helmet (2 artistic stripes), jersey (no stripes), pants (3 solid stripes), socks (no stripes)

New York Giants white set: helmet (1 stripe), jersey (3 multi-shaped stripes), pants (5 solid stripes), socks (no stripes)

Chicago Bears blue set: helmet (no stripes), jersey (7 stripes), pants (3 stripes), socks (7 stripes)

Detroit Lions: helmet (5 stripes), jersey sleeve (5 stripes), jersey collar (3 stripes), pants (5 stripes), socks (1 stripe)

St Louis Rams white jersey/blue pants set: helmet (no stripes), jersey (1 shoulder stripe), pants (5 stripes), socks (no stripes)

Atlanta Falcons alternate set: helmet (5 stripes), jersey (no stripes), pants (3 stripes), socks (2 stripes)

New Orleans gold pants set: helmet (3 stripes), jersey (no stripes), pants (1 stripe), socks (no stripes)

See...what the Bills did isn't technically anything different from these. People need to stop hating on the Bills so much. They finally got rid of those hideous uniforms and look like a NFL team again.

You are quite wrong. I'm guessing you didn't even read what I posted. Why the would you want the same stripes on the helmet, sleeves, pants and socks? Especially when they are almost always not the game color. I said - what other teams have STRIPED SOCKS and STRIPED SLEEVES which don't match?

Patriots - N/A. They have shoulder stripes, not sleeve stripes. The socks could maybe be different, but it was important to have white socks with the uniform. Since the white jersey doesn't have sleeve stripes, the white socks have nothing they have to mimic. I probably would have gone with a different pattern, but they don't clash.

Ravens - N/A. No sleeve stripes AND white socks aren't worn anymore.

Browns - Wrong. The sleeve stripes match the sock stripes.

Steelers - N/A. No striped socks.

Broncos - N/A. No sleeve stripes.

Chiefs - Wrong. The sleeve stripes match the sock stripes.

Texans - N/A. They have shoulder stripes, not sleeve stripes. No striped socks, either.

Colts - N/A. See Texans

Titans - N/A. No sleeve stripes, no sock stripes.

Giants - N/A. See Titans.

Bears - Wrong. The sleeve stripes match the sock stripes.

Lions - N/A. No sock stripes.

Rams - N/A. See Texans.

Falcons - N/A. No sleeve stripes. Like the Patriots' current road, the stripes are created for the socks, don't clash with another striping pattern.

Saints - N/A. See Texans. Furthermore, I dont think anyone should apire to look like the mess the Saints do.

See, I showed you were wrong, in a much less obnoxious manner. Traditionally, pants stipes should match helmet stripes if they are the same color (exemption to dark colored helemets (Bears, Chiefs). Helmet and pants stripes are normally either 1, 3 or 5 stripes. Anything more would be silly.

Sleeve stripes, and socks when teams cared enough to have striped socks, could be larger and much more intricate. Look at the outlined Northwestern stripes the Vikings and Lions used to wear, or the stripes the Steelers wear - they would look ridiculous on a helmet or pants. It has nearly become standard for teams to cheap-out and wear solid socks. However, IF a team has striped socks which are the same color as a jersey, they should follow the traditional pattern of matching the sleeve stripes exactly, since there is enough room, unlike on the pants.

So basically, the rule of thumb is that the pants should match helmet, sleeves should match socks. Doing overkill with EVERY single element having the same pattern is normally silly and has only worked twice - the '80s Patriots and Oilers.

[JohnnySeoul]

So basically, the rule of thumb is that the pants should match helmet, sleeves should match socks.

Should and must are two different things. Therefore, the Bills did nothing wrong and it looked good. Plus, there is no rule of thumb. The Bills didn't look great and their AFL throwbacks are far superior to their 2011 uni's, but they're not bad either. I also love the Redskins' white jersey/gold pants/retro socks look. The socks not matching doesn't matter if the whole thing looks good.

[TheOldRoman]

So basically, the rule of thumb is that the pants should match helmet, sleeves should match socks.

Should and must are two different things. Therefore, the Bills did nothing wrong and it looked good. Plus, there is no rule of thumb. The Bills didn't look great and their AFL throwbacks are far superior to their 2011 uni's, but they're not bad either. I also love the Redskins' white jersey/gold pants/retro socks look. The socks not matching doesn't matter if the whole thing looks good.

Okay, let me restate it as I previously had. Helmet and pants stripes are entirely independent of jersey and sock stripes. If a team has striped socks they MUST match sleeve stripes (if present). Like so many other elements of the uniforms, the Bills completely overthunk the socks and tried to do something which hadn't been done before. The problem is, it wasn't a good idea.

[JohnnySeoul]

If a team has striped socks they MUST match sleeve stripes (if present).

Why? The Lions have the "Northwestern" sleeve stripes and 1-striped socks. Obviously this does not match, yet it looks just fine.

[TheOldRoman]

If a team has striped socks they MUST match sleeve stripes (if present).

Why? The Lions have the "Northwestern" sleeve stripes and 1-striped socks. Obviously this does not match, yet it looks just fine.

1) The one stripe socks are silly and don't really count. I give them credit for not wearing stock socks like before (in the previous set they wore solid ROYAL blue, none-the-less), but the single stripe is bad and doesn't match anything.

2) Their look would be much better if their socks DID have the Northwestern striping the jersey does.

[JohnnySeoul]

If a team has striped socks they MUST match sleeve stripes (if present).

Why? The Lions have the "Northwestern" sleeve stripes and 1-striped socks. Obviously this does not match, yet it looks just fine.

1) The one stripe socks are silly and don't really count. I give them credit for not wearing stock socks like before (in the previous set they wore solid ROYAL blue, none-the-less), but the single stripe is bad and doesn't match anything.

2) Their look would be much better if their socks DID have the Northwestern striping the jersey does.

LOL...how does the 1-striped sock NOT count? It is legit solid black 1 stripe on their socks versus their "Northwestern" striped sleeves. This is a perfect example of how I said other teams also have mismatching striped combos and it looks good.

[CJworks]

I see nothing wrong with solid colored socks. They're much easier on the eye and don't complicate the design. However, if the socks are the same color as the pants, then I'd go with the striped socks look (i.e. Patriots aways, Bills "blue pants").

[TheOldRoman]

LOL...how does the 1-striped sock NOT count? It is legit solid black 1 stripe on their socks versus their "Northwestern" striped sleeves. This is a perfect example of how I said other teams also have mismatching striped combos and it looks good.

Well, I don't think it counts because it is a superfluous single stripe at the bottom of the blue, as if it was thrown in last second to say "see, we added a stripe!" But even if you want to consider them striped socks 1) I still think they would look better with stripes matching the sleeves; and more importantly 2) That is just one example. You said "lots of teams."

[Mongoose]

If a team has striped socks they MUST match sleeve stripes (if present).

Why? The Lions have the "Northwestern" sleeve stripes and 1-striped socks. Obviously this does not match, yet it looks just fine.

1) The one stripe socks are silly and don't really count. I give them credit for not wearing stock socks like before (in the previous set they wore solid ROYAL blue, none-the-less), but the single stripe is bad and doesn't match anything.

2) Their look would be much better if their socks DID have the Northwestern striping the jersey does.

I think that if a team has simple jersey stripes the socks look good when matched , like the Bears, or the Chiefs, but if the jersey has complicated jersey stripes, such as the Steelers, or Lions, solid colored socks are the way to go. The exception to this rule is white socks, as I think teams should always match the white sock striping to their jersey striping if possible. As a side note I think that solid colored socks can work with any uniform as long as they contrast the pants well.

[DC in Da House w/o a Doubt]

Speaking of the Redskins' socks:

Check out this screenshot from Madden 12...

now compare the socks to the socks the Skins wore with gold pants last season...

Seems like the Skins may have updated their socks to coordinate better with the uniform. You'll notice the new stripe design is very similar to that on the helmet (although the white and gold are swapped).

[DeFrank]

That is very cool news about the socks. Now if only they coordinated the gold pants stripe with the red and white, they have a fully coordinated set.

[Mongoose]

Those new socks would be an improvement over the old ones for the Redskins, but I don't understand why they reversed the colors from the helmet. Socks matching the helmet or the jersey (think a burgundy version of their white socks), or just plain burgundy socks would have fit better. As Defrank previously stated, matching the yellow pants striping to the other pants is the only other improvement to the Redskins current set that I would make.

[WSU151]

Bills will be wearing white/white/white tonight against Broncos.

[TruColor]

That is very cool news about the socks. Now if only they coordinated the gold pants stripe with the red and white, they have a fully coordinated set.

Those new socks would be an improvement over the old ones for the Redskins, but I don't understand why they reversed the colors from the helmet. Socks matching the helmet or the jersey (think a burgundy version of their white socks), or just plain burgundy socks would have fit better. As Defrank previously stated, matching the yellow pants striping to the other pants is the only other improvement to the Redskins current set that I would make.

How about matching the two different shades of Burgundy? That would be my first change.

[nash61]

I saw the new Bills unisin action for the first time yesterday. The white monochrome is better than the old unis, but still sucks.

[daschuck77]

I really do like the white on white, but the white topped socks with the white pants suck. I read someones comments who went to the chicago preseason game and said they looked like Q-tips from the cheap seats. Break out the blue pants with these socks or if they are sticking to the white on white, they MUST go with the blue topped home socks.

[The_Admiral]

I don't see anything wrong with these pictures.