Late yesterday evening, the Vanderbilt Commodores unveiled a new all-white uniform.
The uniform was first shown via a hype video (and as is usual for these sorts of things, it features a lot of flashing lights and quick cuts, although there are a few good looks at the uniform as well):
New threads ❄️ pic.twitter.com/N4VPjVyAhE
— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) August 8, 2024
Shortly thereafter the school released two still photos of the uniforms:
Those come from a semi-cryptic tweet, with the text 8.8.24. I’m not sure if that means more will be coming today, or not. But anyway, we have more than enough to discuss the new look.
The helmet is white, with a thick black/gold/black stripe running from front to back, with the classic “V” logo on both sides. The cage is black.
Jersey and pants are also both white, and the jersey is very clean plain — featuring only numbers (gold numbers outlined in black) on the front and back, with TV numbers on both sleeve caps. Aside from the makers mark and SEC patch, the only other ornamentation on the jersey is a small “V” logo (gold with black outline) at the base of the collar. NOB is also gold with a black outline. The pants feature a thick black/gold/black stripe, mimicking that on the helmet. If socks (or compression pants) are worn, those will also be white.
Last year, Vanderbilt introduced new uniforms which brought back the old gold the team once wore. The new white uniforms use the same shade, which is a bonus.
I’m not overly enamored with all-white uniforms (especially with white helmets), but I don’t hate these. The jersey is pretty plain, and I’m not sure how well the NOB will be readable, but otherwise it’s a solid jersey. I do love the black/gold/black striping on the helmets and pants.
I know these uniforms weren’t designed for me, and the all-white look is de rigueur in college (and the pros, it seems) these days, so I’m just gonna roll with this one. And as far as all-white uniforms go, this is definitely one of the better ones. Yes, I wish Vandy would wear more black and gold, but considering how washed out their metallic gold looked, even when they looked like Vanderbilt, I’m definitely OK with these.
Your thoughts?
I don’t hate these, but this WFWS trend stinks…
“WFWS” is such a ridiculous thing to say. BFBS had some sense to it, at least until UW staff and commenters started branding every instance of a black uniform being released as BFBS. Then there was the short-lived GFGS.
Now we’re doing WFWS? White, seriously? The uniform colour that has been used by almost every single team since the beginning of organized sports?
As for this specific instance, a very quick Google image search reveals that Vanderbilt have been wearing all white uniforms since 2020.
If it’s the mono-colour look that is so offensive to you, just say that. Saying “WFWS” unironically is downright silly.
Yeah, Brian. Who do you think you are to express an opinion in the comments section. That’s downright silly. ; )
Not sure who I think I am, but I’m definitely a guy who is surprised to see the fuss that a seemingly innocuous comment has created. Wow!!!
Regardless, I stand by calling these types of uniforms as WFWS. It’s a trend that has gained a ton of steam over the last few years and I just find it boring.
If you don’t agree, that’s cool…
I think it is WFWS when teams who have never had a white helmet (or haven’t in the modern era), suddenly feel the need to add a white helmet to their white/road uniform to make it all white.
The Packers are the best example, since it makes no sense for them to ditch their iconic yellow helmet and pants.
I am a fan of all white (assuming colored or striped socks), I think the Colts and Dolphins (throwback) all white looks are some of the all time best uniforms. But they have always had white helmets. The issue is adding the white helmet just so you can go mono white. And the “clean”, “icy” and other silly adjectives certainly don’t help sell these as anything but playing to a trend.
This uniform looks good, but if you asked me what Vandy football looks like, they have a gold helmet (with a black alternate) so this is just a trend following move.
I didn’t wake up today thinking I would see Uni Watch member Brian taking one below the belt, but here we are.
I can see how my comment was overly harsh towards Brian, but I think it’s evident that my sentiments are anti-“WFWS” crowd, rather than anti-Brian.
You and me both!
I don’t have quite as strong a reaction to “WFWS” as you do, but it does feel a little like looking for something to get upset about.
Given that nearly every football team has a white jersey and white-over-white is a fairly common look, it’s not really that much of a stretch for teams to go all-white head-to-toe. A white helmet is often a nice change-up from a darker color and can look good on an all-white uniform.
BFBS is a somewhat valid thing to get worked up over (in my opinion) because so many teams seem to just shoehorn black in as a “tough” color.
I understand we all roll our eyes at all the hype talk over “icy whites” or whatever, but that’s just part of sports uniform design culture these days and it’s easy to ignore.
Taste is subjective and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but “WFWS” just seems like we’re trying to overlay annoyance at BFBS onto a current trend.
Thank you for understanding the true intention of my comment.
Somebody give Brian a heads up. I heard shots fired.
Had Brian done his research, he would have known that Vanderbilt has been playing football for 134 seasons. And apparently the Commodores have worn an all-white uniform for four long years. So these couldn’t POSSIBLY be considered WFWS. /s
I spent another five seconds on Google and found an example from 2014.
Either way, it’s pretty clear that we haven’t identified “WFWS” as a trend before the last year or so, so your snarky comment bears no relevance to what I said.
I guess it’s more “all-white for all-white’s sake.” Yes, every team wears some amount of white, and many have long worn all white, but other teams introducing mono-white options is clearly a trend/fad in the same way that BFBS and GFGS were and are.
Sure, but while we’re splitting hairs, the Mets’ black jersey is the textbook standard for BFBS, and yet we’ve never seen them in black pants.
Team Brian.
(Who’s making the t-shirts?)
Mine are ready :)
link
I’m on Team Brian.
Not the hero we deserve, but the hero we needed.
Thank you for your support… ;-)
Stripe those socks and you’ve got something.
The gold looks like an apricot crayola.
Yawn. These don’t look bad though. As a Packers fan, I can say at least the helmet stripe matches the rest of the uniform.
I’m actually digging this uni set.
I think what we all can agree with is:
a.) there are some all-white sets that don’t look right for a particular team.
b.) there are some all-black sets that don’t look right for a particular team.
c.) BFBS can be seen as annoying because traditionally, teams used white as the base for one set of unis, and either gray or a team color as the base for other sets of unis.
d.) the WFWS nomenclature will probably not catch on because we are used to seeing white as the standard.
e.) execution is KEY. Some teams execute BFBS (or WFWS, GFGS, etc) with little flaws, and others fumble the ball with excruciating execution.
“Execution is Key”
This uniform would look boring/amateur without the pants stripe.
I actually think these are timeless.
Every time one of these new uniform posts goes up my immediate thought is either “this would look better with pants stripes” or “thank goodness they don’t have stripeless pants”
Its literally as simple as that.
Agreed! Now the design/type of stripe is definitely up for debate lol
Looks good. As a Saints, fan, I wish they’d do something similar for our Color Rush unis. Scrap the terrible black helmet for a beautiful white one.
Purdue, Wake Forest, Colorado, and Vanderbilt have never done anything to separate themselves aesthetically in my eyes. They all wear similar combos and I could see any of them wearing this exact uniform. I’m a fan of having lots of combos in college, but the pitfall is when you wear similar colors to other teams and end up having no distinguishable characteristic.
The anchor chain down the helmet stripe made Vandy stand out a couple years ago. Purdue and the railroad track stripe did the same, although I thought they leaned too hard into the cowcatcher motif.
Beyond that, I agree.
Is anybody out there jumping up and down yelling “YES YES YES”? Another all white uniform (yawning)…..
I am proud of this community, for even the seemingly harshest of comments are still quite benign and well-intended. It’s refreshing, to be honest. Love the passion!
That said, I love these white unis – “cleanliness” is always a good thing in unis IMO, and if you’re gonna wear road unis – which everyone has to!!! – might as well make ’em look so fresh and so clean!
If you do the uni right, you can’t go wrong.
Looks naval. Makes sense.
I love all white uniforms only when they have a white helmet. These are good, but would be better if they had matching sleeve cap stripes.
I think there are sleeve cuffs in there that match the pants stripes but I might wish for it more than it is actually true. Oh no, it is actually what I wish for…
The 8.8.24 means that the set is in the CFB 25 game as of that date.