I’m back again with Kary Klismet, a longtime reader, contributor and all around great guy. Kary introduced his “Dressed for the Season” series back in 2023, and has been updating his DFTS columns for 2025. Since I took over for Paul as UW editor last May, Kary has treated us to “holiday appropriate” uniforms for Independence Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving (Part I and Part II), Christmas (Part I and Part II), Valentine’s Day, and finally, St. Paddy’s Day (Part I and Part II).
Today, Kary tooks a look at “Easter” apparel. There’s a lot to get to, so I’ll turn it over to Kary now.
Dressed for the Season: Easter
by Kary Klismet
Much like sports teams have color schemes that define their identities, we often associate holidays in American culture with their own sets of colors. While fans may don apparel in team colors to make their team loyalties known, so too will you see holiday enthusiasts dressing and decorating in the colors that fit the season. That confluence of customs helped sparked an idea for me to explore a series about sports uniforms that would fit well into the established visual programs of the holidays so many of us celebrate.
Next up for this series is an exploration into the top twelve uniforms that fit within the pastel color scheme our society associates with Easter. If the uniform could be placed neatly in the midst of a display like this without looking out of place, then it stands a great chance of making this list.
My rules for compiling this list were fairly simple. As a threshold matter, colors take precedence over religious imagery. While many people (myself included) have deeply held beliefs about the spiritual significance of Easter, this list focuses on those aspects of the season that everyone in our culture can commemorate. A little dash of Springtime pastels is something that’s available to us all!
To that point, colors really do matter (at least for this list)! The purpose is to highlight the sprightly shades of pastel most commonly associated with Easter. That means teams with Spring-themed uniforms where non-pastel colors dominate (like the Washington Nationals’ grey cherry blossom City Connect alternates) don’t make the cut.
Also of particular importance: no one-offs meant to pander to holiday consumers or promote certain causes. The uniforms have to be part of a team’s legitimate visual identity, with some emphasis placed on teams’ sustained use of the colors in question. That immediately disqualifies those cringe-worthy MLB pastel jerseys from a few years ago. (Oh, wait! That was an April Fool’s joke, thank goodness!)
And finally, only one entry per team or program. We don’t want certain clubs with seasonally appropriate color schemes to dominate these rankings.
With those guidelines in place, let’s see what eye-catching combinations made the list:
12. North Carolina Men’s Basketball – Blue Away Uniforms
The first six uniforms in our ratings represent an attempt to recreate the full complement of Peeps colors in monochromatic sports uniforms. And, of course, you can’t complete that spectrum of Spring colors without a cheery pastel blue. Thankfully, whether you call it powder blue, sky blue, or baby blue, there’s no shortage of teams so adorned in the sports world. And no one wears it better than the University of North Carolina men’s basketball team in their iconic Carolina blue road unis. A fitting classic to kick off the list.
11. Austin FC – Light Green Away Kits, 2022-23
As most of us all know from Uni Watch founder Paul Lukas’ tireless advocacy, green is a woefully underutilized color for sports uniforms. Pastel green, in particular, is practically unheard of. Nonetheless, one team pulled off the look with impeccable style, as Austin FC wore light green shirts and shorts as their standard road kits in 2022 and 2023. It’s the ideal shade of green to blend in with the fake filler grass in our Easter basket!
10. Villarreal CF – Yellow First Kits
Nothing signals the renewal of Spring like the yellow found on a fluffy baby chick, and we have just the team to fill that spot on our color palette. Villarreal, a fixture in Spain’s La Liga for nearly 25 years, has worn all-yellow kits since 1947. It’s such an established look for the team that they’re known by fans as “the Yellow Submarine.” And their lively shade of yellow is just light enough that no one is going to mistake it for “athletic gold.” A delightful ray of Springtime sunshine!
9. Atletico Madrid 2022-23 Orange Third Kits
It seems like orange is often overlooked as a Spring color, but no Easter bouquet is complete without some blooms of orange – perhaps some tulips or marigolds – in the arrangement. Finding a team to fill the pastel orange slot on the Easter color wheel was challenging since so many orange-clad teams wear darker or richer shades. But this list owes a debt of gratitude to European soccer’s custom of rotating through a full prism of colors for teams’ second and third kits. Another La Liga mainstay, Atletico Madrid wore third kits a couple of seasons ago that make them look like a giant orange cream candy, or perhaps a tasty confection for the Easter Bunny.
8. Inter Miami – Pink Home Kits
Is there a color that screams “Easter” louder than pastel pink? Multiple generations’ worth of new Sunday-best outfits testify to its importance to the holiday. And MLS’s Inter Miami is precisely perched to play the pink-clad role on our list. Likely taking inspiration from Europe, where pink is not an uncommon color for second and third kits and is part of the well-established identities of clubs like Palermo in Italy and Evian in France, Inter Miami has doubled (or perhaps tripled) down on the the shade by pairing it with pink shorts and socks. For some reason, I’m suddenly craving Cotton Tails…
7. Kansas State Men’s Basketball – Lavender Alternate Uniforms
Unveiled as an homage to the Wildcats’ infamous two-tone purple road uniforms from the early ‘80s, Kansas State originally paired those ready-for-the-Spring-Cotillion pastel purple jerseys with darker shorts when they debuted in 2018. But they soon switched to matching shorts to create these all-lavender lovelies, which remain a part of their wardrobe to this day.
6. Japan Women’s National Soccer Team 2023 Second Kits
If uniforms consisting predominantly of one pastel color can be excellent signifiers of the Easter season, how much more so are uniforms that incorporate multiple shades of pastels? The next six uniforms on this list all fit that bill, and there’s no color combination more perfect for Easter than the pink and purple featured on the Japan Women’s National Soccer Team’s away second kits for the 2023 World Cup campaign. They’d be perfect camouflage if you ever needed to hide out in a field of Spring-blooming hyacinths!
5. (Tie) Miami Dolphins Mono-Teal and Mono-Orange Alternate Uniforms
This one’s a bit of a cheat since my own parameters dictate I choose only one uniform per team or program. But how do you choose between mono-pastel with pastel trim and mono-pastel with pastel trim? Some of Miami’s past uniforms evoked the ocean better, with a darker shade of aqua, but their Nike-fied current set leans much closer to teal. Indeed, I’d say the Dolphins would blend in quite nicely with this well-matched family on their way to Easter brunch.
4. San Diego Padres City Connect Uniforms
There’s a fine line (no pun intended) between highlighters and pastels. To my eyes, San Diego’s City Connect uniforms, introduced last year, fall just on the pastel side of that ledger. More to the point, I daresay they look like a box of pastels exploded all over their uniforms! The Padres pretty much have the entire Easter palette covered here.
3. Tennessee Lady Vols Softball Alternate Uniforms
There was no way that the University of Tennessee, with its vibrant shade of orange, wasn’t going to find a spot on this list. The hardest part was figuring out which team – and which uniforms – would best represent them.
It was tough to feature anyone other than the football team and their highly visible brand. However, the school’s women’s sports programs, which have incorporated light blue into their visual identity ever since the days of Pat Summitt’s dominant basketball teams, effectively up the Easter ante with two shades of pastels. And the interplay between both colors is perhaps best displayed in these beauties worn by the softball team.
2. Miami Heat – “Miami Vice” Alternate Uniforms
The pink and blue color scheme of the Heat’s “Miami Vice” alternates may have reflected the era-defining television show’s signature look (inspired in turn by Miami’s famous Art Deco scene), but the combination would be equally at home as part of any household’s Easter decorations. Although the editions with the half-and-half gradient are hard to resist, it’s the blue uniforms with pink trim (minimizing the use of black) that give off the most distinctive Easter vibes.
Unsurprisingly, Miami teams are well-represented on this list with no less than a quarter of the entries. It takes a special uniform to keep the city best known for pastels out of the top spot, and that’s exactly what we have with our top choice:
1. Forward Madison 2023 Away Kits
Have there ever been uniforms that look more like hand-dyed Easter eggs than these stunners unveiled in 2023 by the always-cheeky USL League One side from Wisconsin’s capital? The Flamingos have always been creative with their pink and blue color scheme, but by toning down the neon and concentrating on a mottled pastel design, Forward Madison has created the most Easter-appropriate uniforms that any team has worn.
So there you have it! What teams did I miss? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. And to everyone celebrating, Happy Easter!
Such a great list! Almost made me want to color some Easter eggs myself.
Thanks, Ingmar! I always appreciate your positive attitude and encouraging words!
Great list as always. Those Japan kits are underrated.
Thanks, Matt! Funny you should mention how those Japan uniforms are underrated. I actually agree with you!
When I originally created this list, those Japan kits hadn’t appeared on the playing field yet – just in promotional photos. I mentioned at the time that they might have rated higher if I’d seen them on the pitch. I thought about moving them up a couple of notches on this list when I updated it for Phil to run this year, but that felt like to much work. :^)
The Cymru (Wales) national football (soccer teams) has, like most, had change kits in all sorts of colours, but most commonly it’s in yellow and green, specifically to evoke that national flower the daffodil
link
Can’t get much more Spring/Easter – themed than that
I like it! Thanks for bringing these beauties to my attention!
Even though many people hated them, I think the Eagles blue/yellow throwbacks should’ve been on the list
Hi, Alex! Thanks for weighing in! Agreed that those Eagles throwbacks definitely had some Easter-worthy colors going on. I gave them some serious consideration for the list, but they wound up getting beaten out by some of the two-toned color combos. Tough to leave them out, but I was trying to maintain a strict 12-entry ranking back when I created this list (unlike some of my subsequent entries to the series).
The Dolphins uniforms have no business being on this list when the teal (or aqua) and orange they use is so saturated. Neither should the University of Tennessee when they use a shade of orange that is literally 100 percent saturated.
Your input is duly noted and given the consideration it deserves.
If the Dolphins were being considered despite their uniforms proably sticking out like a sore thumb on the easter display you listed due to being more saturated than anything else on that table, then the 2005-06 Werder Bremen green and orange half and half link should have been up for consideration too. Venezia could have made this list as well link
Chargers home Light Blue over Yellow always looked “Easter-ish” to me. And any time they play the Dolphins or Vikings I always call it an Easter Game.
Hi, Skott! The Chargers’ unis are similar to the Philadelphia Eagles’ throwbacks I discussed with Alex a few spots above in the comments. I gave them some consideration, but they ultimately lost out to a few teams that felt just a little more “Easter” to me. All that said, I agree that the Chargers against the Dolphins or Vikings would give off some serious Easter vibes!
A note on Thonon Évian Grand Genève Football Club, or Evian for short, they no longer play in pink. The team dropped the scheme (which they had only been wearing since 2009, two years after their founding) after they had went bankrupt and were refounded in 2017, changing to black and white, and then to navy a year later.
It’s really jarring for them to be mentioned in the same breadth as Palermo, who adopted pink and black on the suggestion of one of their founders and have been wearing the colour for over a hundred years.
“VampyrRabbit,” you remind me of some know-it-all students that a college professor of mine once described as “seldom right but never in doubt.” To be sure, I invite robust and respectful interaction about the entries on my list. And if you look around at the rest of the comments here, you’ll find people engaging in that very kind of discourse. In stark contrast, your arrogance and condescension are the outlier here, not the norm. And they are not worth any more of my time, so I will let this stand as the conclusion of my dialogue with you. I encourage you to find a forum where your particular style of communication is better received (wherever that might be). Good day, and good riddance.
I’m sorry I came off that way, and I’ll be better in the future.
Thank you. I truly appreciate it.
I realize the tone of my response to your previous comments was sharp. I take ownership of that. I have long been a champion of the contributors to this website – especially the volunteers, like me (though certainly not just me) – because I know how mentally exhausting it can be to feel like one has to defend one’s work against the nay-sayers and contrarians. I’ll always said with those who use their hard-earned time and effort to try to contribute something positive to this comm-uni-ty over those who seem to want to tear it down with a few ill-considered words.
In all candor, your included some points in your comments over which I would have been more than happy to engage you with enthusiasm and respect if they’d been presented in a similar fashion. With that said, based on your most recent comment, I am encouraged to know that such communications between us are a possibility in the future. I look forward to them. Cheers!
Proofreading my own response (ugh)!
…I’ll always *side with those who use their hard-earned time…
…In all candor, *you included some points…
A brand new uniform looks like it may qualify to make the cut? Vancouver Rise in the new pro women’s soccer league in Canada. The Northern Super League.
link
Nice, Wade! Thanks for the suggestion! There’s a good argument that they might deserve to take the place of the Austin FC entry now that they’ve moved away from those great light green kits from a couple of years ago. I love how the Rise’s light green gradient morphs into a little touch of yellow. It works for both Spring AND to make me thirsty for a lemon-lime soft drink! :^)
I often wonder if some of the powered blue uniforms could make this list…. Specifically the ones the Mariners wore way back when.
The Powder Blue and yellow kind of reminds me of some Easter items I “found” (always in the oven, since it seemed like it rained every Easter in Seattle growing up) when I was a kid.
Maybe the Blue Jays powder blues would qualify for this as well?
Hi, Sean! There are definitely some great powder blue uniforms that I could have chosen from among various MLB teams. The main reason I went with North Carolina for the “pastel blue” slot is that most MLB teams have tended to wear light blue as a supporting or subordinate color for their road uniforms. Yes, some teams have revived the look for alternates in recent years, but they typically pair them with less pastel colors. All that to say, you can make a good case for several of those lovely MLB powder blue uniforms, but I’m not sure any of them would have topped UNC in my mind.
I would have included the ABA’s Denver Nuggets lavender road uniforms from 1971-73.
Great choice, Paul! The only reason I didn’t give those uniforms more consideration is that I’ve seen some evidence suggesting that they were originally a darker purple when they were first introduced and they fabric dye faded pretty quickly after a few washes. But there’s no question that they lighter purple would be a good fit for the Easter theme. As a Nuggets fan and a Denver resident, maybe I should have given them more consideration, but I do feel pretty strongly about the team I did include.
I hate Peeps but I love this!
Ha! Thanks, Calandra! Same here! But there’s no denying those Peeps colors are the epitome of Easter!
As I was scrolling, I had an escalating feeling of “Oh come on, where are the Mingos?” Chuffed to see that 2023 beauty atop the list. But holy cow I’d forgotten that Japan women’s kit. Easily my choice for most-Easterish uni.
Thanks, Scott! As I mentioned to Matt Card above, I might have rated those Japan unis a bit higher if I had to do these rankings over again. But I think Forward Madison would still top my list because the first thing I thought of when I saw them is that they looked like Easter eggs I used to dye as a kid. That visual is pretty well embedded in my brain!
The night before Easter, the Houston Dash played played the Kansas City Current and looked like a damn field of Easter eggs! Orange for one team, sea foam green for the other. Wow.
Wow! You aren’t kidding with that (link)! Happy Easter to them – and everyone who watched that game!
link
Scotland alternate rugby kit from 2 years ago.
Whoa! That purple is so pastel, it’s almost pink! That definitely gives off some serious Easter vibes!
Just wondering, Kary, did you consider the Oklahoma City Thunder’s darker-than-white primaries (because one never knows what sets are primary homes and aways anymore)? Not doubting your choice of the Tar Heels, just wondering if the Thunder’s sky blues were in the hunt? (Oh, did I really say hunt? Sorry, unintended!)
HI, Terry. I’ll admit that the Thunder never really crossed my mind for this list. I enjoy their primary shade of blue – darker than baby, blue, lighter than royal blue, similar in some ways to the “steel blue” worn by my favorite hockey team, the Colorado Avalanche. Still, I felt like the lighter blue worn by the Tar Heels was a better fit for the “pastel blue” look I was going for with slots 6 through 12 of this list.
Could the Thunder have been considered for the “multiple shades of Easter colors” section of this list? Maybe. I just liked the ones I chose better. They just felt – and still feel – a bit more “Easter-y” to me than the Thunder.
Also, puns – intended, or unintended (which I often stumble myself into) – are always welcome here! Well done, Terry (whether you meant to do it or not)!
One of my first thoughts is of the old Jokerit hockey jerseys from the 1992-97. Purple and teal with bright yellow numbers.
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Great suggestion, Will! Although the number of adds that Jokerit (along with many of their counterparts in various pro sports leagues across Europe) wear on their uniforms always makes my toes curl, there’s no denying that they have quite unique and recognizable uniforms. Although they didn’t quite cross my radar for this Easter list, let’s just say they’re definitely in the running for a few other entries in the Dressed for the Season series if I decide to generate some new ones. Cheers!