See. My. VEST!
The Rockies are one of several teams to bring back the vest-style jersey from yesteryear, possibly in response to the World Series success of their vest-clad expansion cohorts, the Marlins. The baseball vest has a long, detailed history, that I won’t delve into here, but the resurgence seems to have been spurred by MLB teams adapting an alternate jersey look once a week for games. These alternate jerseys are great testing grounds to see how fans react to new ideas in color or design, but occasionally, they yield some groan-worthy results.
Which brings us to today’s Colorado Rockies outfit – the black vest and purple under shirt. This look was created around the 2005 season, but was only worn a handful of times due to the backlash from fans and players alike. Shortly after introducing this jersey combo, the Rockies dropped the purple shirt altogether, and instead opted for a black one, to tone down the somewhat outlandish color-blocking. Although Uniform Watch, the ultimate site for sports uniform history and discussion, lists the purple sleeve/black vest combo as one of their worst looks in history, I decided to try and modernize it, and give it a new lease (however briefly) on life.
As I already hopped into the pinstripes with yesterday’s look, I started with a nice, neutral, nearly grey jean before adding in the color. Now, I feel like a fitted henley, regardless of color, is a great staple for guys, and when you throw a black Burberry vest on top, it instantly adds a layer of polish, while maintaining an outdoorsy edge. In keeping with that Colorado, moutaineering feel, I found some stylish hiking boots to pair in into the look, as well as some locally made sunglasses and handcrafted wallet. All in all, I think it’s quite the improvement to the much-maligned Rockies look that’s fallen by the wayside, don’t you? As Montgomery Burns once said “I really like the vest!”
