Teams who are currently wearing their best look

[STL FANATIC]

The Isle and Oilers were two teams that came drastically close to perfection in their uniforms in the late 90s, but were never going to be a allowed to have it, because it wasn't what they wore in the 70s and 80s.

The Isle's needed to clean up some inconsistencies on those late 90s unis, but they were pretty close. I enjoyed their first EDGE look too, but I knew it wouldn't stick.

The Oilers may well have had perfection with their 90s and early 2000s look. I enjoyed both variants of the white jersey (the original with navy shoulders, then later on without it).

But fans dig living in the past, so despite how well designed and despite the fact that they evolved directly from the more classic looks, they were never going to be allowed to be permanent. And once they made their changes to their first version of Edge uniforms, you knew they'd change soon, and you knew they'd go retro.

So now they're both stuck with the garish combination of that bright royal blue and bright orange with both colors featured in large chunks (rather than one as light trim), and both uniforms suffer from certain striping inconsistencies that drive me crazy.

Fans are fans and they want what they want. They drove that change, they're happy, so be it. But I think both franchise made monumentally poor decisions by living in the past.

I don't see how royal blue and orange together is "garish", nor would I consider the Oilers use of orange to be "large chunks". They're complimentary colors that IMO look great together, and are "inspiring", as opposed to the darker navy and relatively-dark copper (I find primary, or at least bold colors to be more inspiring and "rally-aroundable" for sports uniforms as opposed to the darker more casual "got it at the Gap" gear that sells great but is rather dull in action.)

We'll all interpret the visuals differently, so that's fine, but those particular shades of the colors just seem garish to me. And I do consider it to be large chunks. Perhaps not on the white, but definitely not on the blue. Not sure how the shoulder yolks and the bottom of the sleeve could be described as anything but large chunks.

To me, those two colors would go okay together in lesser doses of one.

I, too, love bright colors to rally around for a team... but not when they're all bright. That's why I think the Islanders were in such great shape with their navy and orange look. Maybe that would have been the way to go for the Oilers. I happen to like the red and the copper, but maybe they should have just kept the navy and switched those to orange. I'm not sure.

Even saying that, I don't think I'd be a big fan of the bright orange yolks. It's just a preference, I suppose, but I don't love huge amounts of contrast, I guess. It's not the brightness of it all that bothers me, it's the splotchiness. I would probably have a much higher opinion of the Oilers uniform if they ditched the shoulder yolks and chunks of orange at the bottom of the sleeve. (At that point I might reverse out the stripes to go orange/white/orange instead of white/orange/white.) That would look bright AND sleek.

And for the record, orange is, by far, my favorite color. Wear it all the time (well, I did before I became an adult with a job) and drive around in a bright orange truck. So brightness and orange isn't my issue. It's the contrasting patches of color that bother me.

[IceCap]

I don't see how replacing royal with navy is design "evolution."

Design wise I view the pre-Edge Islanders look and the classic look they now wear as a wash (I also disagree with the idea that royal and orange is a garish combo). In the event of a wash I'll go with the design the resonates with the fans and harkens back to the team's glory days.

Now the Oilers, I can see where you're coming from. The pre-Edge navy and copper was unique, abd clearly derived from the team's dynasty era royal and orange. I LOVE the navy shouldered white sweater they first used with that design.

That being said I don't dislike the classic Oilers look. It looks great (again I disagree with your "garish" sentiment), it represents the team's best years, and it's what resonates with the fans (the people that you ultimately have to sell your brand to).

Realistically speaking the navy and copper brand was damaged with their terrible first Edge set which happened to coincide with some pretty terrible Oilers hockey. So with that being said the switch back to the classic Oilers set made sense.

[nash61]

I don't see how replacing royal with navy is design "evolution."

Design wise I view the pre-Edge Islanders look and the classic look they now wear as a wash (I also disagree with the idea that royal and orange is a garish combo). In the event of a wash I'll go with the design the resonates with the fans and harkens back to the team's glory days.

Now the Oilers, I can see where you're coming from. The pre-Edge navy and copper was unique, abd clearly derived from the team's dynasty era royal and orange. I LOVE the navy shouldered white sweater they first used with that design.

Agreed. There is just so much right with this picture.

[gothedistance]

The San Diego Chargers uniform since 2007. In fact I've always liked their uniforms.

I would agree with the Arizona Cardinals except it's with their white jerseys.

[BigBubba]

That entire Oilers set was hurt by the needless addition of red. Still though, this was the best part about that set:

[zpqmaowl]

Oil is black.

Where's the black third?

[ExposGotRobbed94]

The Nationals for sure.

The title said "Best Look", not worst.

That road uniform is unquestionably their best uniform ever, IMO. I don't like the home though.

What would make that a tremendous set is if they put a matching Nationals script on the front of the home uniform. THAT would easily be the best look in franchise history (including the Expos).

If we're including the Expos, NOTHING will top these:

agreed

but...... nobody can do better than these in hockey (in my opinion)

all pic credit goes to Chris Creamer

[Morgan33]

Nah, they dumped their best look unceremoniously for those.

I have always thought that this set would have made a great template for the Penguins to have used with a return to the athletic yellow from the vegas gold - minus the front numbers of course (the shoulder piping is okay; it could stay or go).

See, I liked those jerseys for the Islanders and I thought it was one of the best to come out of the complete RBK Edge redesigns, but IMO what they've got now tops those. The 1998-2007 design was really nice, but I think the colors pop off more with the royal than the navy

I cannot for the very life of me understand the praise those Islander jerseys are receiving as of late. The phantom yoke is terrible, so are the front numbers and piping in place of hem stripes. The Pre-Edge ones on the other hand were likely the best in franchise history.

[GO2HELL]

Nah, they dumped their best look unceremoniously for those.

I have always thought that this set would have made a great template for the Penguins to have used with a return to the athletic yellow from the vegas gold - minus the front numbers of course (the shoulder piping is okay; it could stay or go).

See, I liked those jerseys for the Islanders and I thought it was one of the best to come out of the complete RBK Edge redesigns, but IMO what they've got now tops those. The 1998-2007 design was really nice, but I think the colors pop off more with the royal than the navy

I cannot for the very life of me understand the praise those Islander jerseys are receiving as of late. The phantom yoke is terrible, so are the front numbers and piping in place of hem stripes. The Pre-Edge ones on the other hand were likely the best in franchise history.

I fully agree. Those uniforms are all kinds of bad. The clownfish sleeves were horrawful.

[kw11333]

I don't see how replacing royal with navy is design "evolution."

Design wise I view the pre-Edge Islanders look and the classic look they now wear as a wash (I also disagree with the idea that royal and orange is a garish combo). In the event of a wash I'll go with the design the resonates with the fans and harkens back to the team's glory days.

Now the Oilers, I can see where you're coming from. The pre-Edge navy and copper was unique, abd clearly derived from the team's dynasty era royal and orange. I LOVE the navy shouldered white sweater they first used with that design.

Agreed. There is just so much right with this picture.

Such a shame those only lasted one season. I did like the version without the blue shoulders, but why not keep it? The team went did not have a 3rd jersey for like 8 years after these were replaced. Why not keep it as a 3rd?

[Kevin W.]

Uh, from 1996 to present day, they've had a third jersey for all but six years: http://www.nhluniforms.com/Oilers/Oilers.html

[Rayman]

I cant stand their secondary logo right under the collar making the wordmark drop so low.. when logo removed and wordmark raised i totally agree with you with their set!

[BigBubba]

WALL OF TEXT

I cannot for the very life of me understand the praise those Islander jerseys are receiving as of late. The phantom yoke is terrible, so are the front numbers and piping in place of hem stripes. The Pre-Edge ones on the other hand were likely the best in franchise history.

I think that if you take out the Edge components (front numbers and hem "stripes"), it actually isn't that bad of a jersey. I don't know, but I kind of liked the phantom yoke and the "clownfish sleeves". I still think their old/new ones are by far the best, but I never understood the hate for them. They weren't that good, but they certainly weren't as bad as many pegged them to be.

[enjoymoreradio]

Cleveland Indians road uniforms:

Other than the hat, which is rather bland in my opinion, it's the best road uniform the Tribe has ever worn.

The best would be this one, if they eliminated the double outline on the wordmark.

The current roads are much better. That script looks fine with "Indians", but not "Cleveland". And the block C caps are one of the best in baseball, IMO.

I'm just not a fan of the mismatched style between the script homes/road alts and the block roads/home alts.

My problem with the block C is that it's not distinctive in any way. The teams that use single letters on their caps all do so with some kind of distinguishing mark or style. Detroit and Oakland have blackletter, the Cubs have the circular C, Texas has its funky font, Cincinnati has the wishbone, Philly has its distinctive P shape. Meanwhile, the Angels incorporate the halo, the Mariners the compass, the Diamondback the snake. The Block C is just that, a Block C, completely unstyled. The other teams I mentioned have turned their letter into a logo. The Indians haven't. This is why I'm such a big advocate of the Script-I hats, which everyone else seems to hate. They ARE distinctive, and that logo, with it's similarity to a feather, can be used to establish an honest to goodness brand.

[jigokusabre]

I have to disagree on the Marlins... their best look was the 93-02 look (when they ACTUALLY wore teal). Disagree on the Jays too, but that's an unpopular opinion.

Anyhow, my suggestions:

[McCall]

Cleveland Indians road uniforms:

Other than the hat, which is rather bland in my opinion, it's the best road uniform the Tribe has ever worn.

The best would be this one, if they eliminated the double outline on the wordmark.

The current roads are much better. That script looks fine with "Indians", but not "Cleveland". And the block C caps are one of the best in baseball, IMO.

I'm just not a fan of the mismatched style between the script homes/road alts and the block roads/home alts.

My problem with the block C is that it's not distinctive in any way. The teams that use single letters on their caps all do so with some kind of distinguishing mark or style. Detroit and Oakland have blackletter, the Cubs have the circular C, Texas has its funky font, Cincinnati has the wishbone, Philly has its distinctive P shape. Meanwhile, the Angels incorporate the halo, the Mariners the compass, the Diamondback the snake. The Block C is just that, a Block C, completely unstyled. The other teams I mentioned have turned their letter into a logo. The Indians haven't. This is why I'm such a big advocate of the Script-I hats, which everyone else seems to hate. They ARE distinctive, and that logo, with it's similarity to a feather, can be used to establish an honest to goodness brand.

Script on a home jersey, block on the road is a very acceptable and common design practice. And the block C works because of the long history of the Indians. They wore it a long time ago, and in this day and age of PC, most find it a nice alternative to Wahoo. They need to ditch the script and go block across the board, though put the current alt block "Indians" on the current home uniform, ditch the red cap and accessories and make a red-brimmed version of the road cap for the home uniform. Besides, as for the I-script cap, if you're going to have a monogram on the cap, it should be of the city. If you're like the A's and White Sox and can fit the name, or shortened version of it, on the cap in 3 letters or less, then fine. Otherwise go with the city initial(s).

[Morgan33]

Almost. Wrong logo though.

The orca looks great. Hope these jerseys stick around a long time.

[Gothamite]

I love everything about those except the city name, which clutters up a lovely design and spectacular logo.

Even if they don't have Johnny Canuck on the shoulders.

[-kj]

The stick-in-rink isn't quite as overrated as the ball-in-glove... actually, you know, I think the ball-in-glove is a better logo, and I hate the thing. The stick-in-rink is even more generic and dumb.

Oh, and to be on topic and unpopular:

...and for me, it's not remotely close.

[waltere]

The stick-in-rink isn't quite as overrated as the ball-in-glove... actually, you know, I think the ball-in-glove is a better logo, and I hate the thing. The stick-in-rink is even more generic and dumb.

Oh, and to be on topic and unpopular:

...and for me, it's not remotely close.

+1, on all counts