Good morning, Uni Watch nation. And a Happy Humpday to all!
Last Friday, our resident PLL (Premier League Lacrosse) expert Jared Buccola brought us a neat rundown of the uniforms for PLL Throwback Weekend, and earlier in the year, he brought us his PLL Uniform Preview — which he followed by offering up some of his own PLL uniform redesigns. So, naturally, he is following last week’s review of the PLL throwbacks with some PLL throwback uniform redesigns.
I’ll let Jared take it from here…
by Jared Buccola
Thank you to everyone who read and commented on my 2024 PLL Throwback Uniforms breakdown. After familiarizing myself with them, and seeing them on the field, I wanted to put into action a few tweaks that would improve each design. One update that I am requiring is that all jerseys have some sort of front numbers! The PLL commentators even mentioned not knowing who was who on the field because there were no front numbers. Additionally, all teams got new logos on their helmets, to avoid the current logo/throwback logo mash up. So with that in mind as consistent changes, let’s see what else we came up with.
The original design was inspired by the 1930’s Boston Bruins and highlighted a large “B” on the jersey. By replacing the large “B”, I was able to kill two birds with one stone. It minimized the number of jerseys with the large letter trend and made room to add front numbers. The font used for the front numbers, shorts logo, helmet wordmark and name on the chest are all a nod to the Red Sox. While the shoulder yoke and sleeve stripes are the elements taken from the 1930’s Bruins jersey, rather than the “B”.
As much as I love the original design, I did make a few changes. Dropped the state outline, which seemed redundant since the jersey says, “California”. Again, this made room to add the required front numbers. The font used for the chest wordmark was changed to match the amazing throwback logo. Oh, you wanted more of the bear? So, “Cool Bear” as he so fittingly has been dubbed, gets added to the helmet and the shorts.
Small changes make big differences for this Carolina Chaos throwback jersey. The original just said “State”, which felt bland and left a lot of empty real estate on the jersey. I changed the wordmark to “Carolina”, put black on the sleeves and you know it, added front numbers. Featured on the helmet is a new logo, which is a block “C” with an “N” at the top and an “S” at the bottom, representing North Carolina and South Carolina. Which is accompanied by a dual state outline on the shorts.
The Outlaws trotted out one of the top designs this weekend. I scrapped the large “D” for front numbers and added a smaller “D” on the chest. I kept the orange stripes across the chest, but dialed down the stripes on the sleeves. I was not a big fan of the throwback logo, so I came up with a basic Outlaw logo on the shorts and a new Outlaw wordmark on the helmet.
The yellow looked a lot better on the field than it did in the photos. I made an adjustment to the stripes so that they follow the shoulder seam and wrap all the way under the sleeve. I updated the “M” so it has some styling, rather than a symmetrical block “M” and relegated it to the sleeves, opting for large numbers on the jersey. I kept the throwback logo and added it to the helmet.
The motivation behind a redesign of these bad boys was not because something needed improvement, I mean these are beautiful. Instead, I was motivated by what they would look like as a “home” jersey. Their aqua color is used as the base while navy and white provide the accents on the sleeves and fonts. Doubling down on the Rangers aesthetic, I added some drop shadow to the wordmark and front number.
This one is going to be quick. How do you improve upon this? I added stripes to the shorts to match the sleeves, and put the wordmark on a white helmet, that’s it. Oh, and front numbers!
I kept the core look of this throwback jersey intact. Just like the Outlaws, a new logo was designed to move away from the goofy cartoons. A similar block “U”, with a two tone arrow splitting the negative space is featured on the jersey. Similar elements can be seen on the helmet, but with the arrow striking through the “U”. The five stripes pattern on the sleeves is also used on the shorts and to finish it off, a double dose of front numbers.
Readers? What do you think?
GTGFTU Braves at Phillies 6/27/2019
Glad the PLL is getting some love. They’ve done a great job with the fauxbacks – these are even better!
Love the color palette of the 8 team league.
GTGFTS – Game 5, 1956 World Series. Don Larsen’s perfect game.
Really like these throwbacks – feel much more lacrosse-ish.
The PLL uniforms are outstanding. I always am ready for a new sport and uniform to throw my creativity into.
The three stripes on the Waterdogs jersey and shorts may have to be changed as to not offend a certain German shoe company.
There seems to be a wide variety in the PLL uniforms. Denver’s entire front is a giant uniform number, where Philadelphia has a number small enough to be an afterthought, and New York doesn’t have one at all! Is there a rule regarding whether there must be a number? That said, these are nicely done. Love the variety in colors.
I kind of liked the Boston unis in the original article, but I think they are the worst on-field look. So that redesign is certainly welcome.