Gray uniforms =)

[PisteOff]

OK, so we can now legally have 'pastel' or light colored jacket and knickers. I would think gray would also be alright, since it is a 'light' color. I suppose an argument might be that gray would be too close to the color of the lame'..

I'd like to be gray though... =)

What do they say? Yay or nay to play with gray?

( How about I just go eat some hay. I could make things out of clay and lay by the bay, I just may. Whatd'ya say? --Happy Gilmore )


==PisteOff==

[Inquartata]

"All cats are grey in the dark". Just fence with the lights off.

[CvilleFencer]

If you are not yet doing NAC or international wear whatever you want. Go Pink Power Ranger or do the Venom look (my favorite). If you are just fencing on a divisional level and are not national or international, the you can wear pretty much any color you want. At least in the Virginia Division! Check the USFA web site but I am pretty sure that they say somewhere that you can wear what colors you want except at NAC and Internationals.

I have a painted mask and blue knickers. I do not were them all the time, but when I do I have never heard any complaints. From anyone that counts that is!

[Inquartata]

Heh, and I take it that "anyone that counts" is a class composed entirely of those who approve?

[CvilleFencer]

Originally posted by Inquartata
Heh, and I take it that "anyone that counts" is a class composed entirely of those who approve?

Yes! That is it exactly! I support fencing democracy composed entirely of people that agree with me! After all if you are not wise enough to realize my brilliant genius then you are not intelligent enough to trust with a sword! From this day forward I will be addressed only as His Dark Majesty Cvillefencer!

Um actually what I meant is there are a couple of fencers that made snide comments after I crushed them and left them broken in puddles of their own fear and ineptitude, but no Judges or Committee members have complained and all in all the response has been positive. Especially among the younger fencers. Also it seems that less experienced fencers seem to think that:
A. Painted masks are disconcerting.
B. If you have one you are better than you are since you have "custom" gear.

Unfortunately the folks that I need this kind of help against "A, B, C's" are frazzled by nothing less that a Desert Eagle 50 in my off hand and then Joe Hoffman just keeps sticking his foil down the barrel and ejecting my bullets! It is just not fair!

You can imagine how disappointed I was to find out that cheap theatrics were not going to be enough to beat skilled and experienced fencers! I am actually going to have to learn to fence better... but I do look really cool!

[Capt. Slo-mo]

As I think about how cool customized gear would be (my son wants to paint a skull or dragon on his mask)...it's kind of like wearing one of those wildly colored Euro skintight bodysuits for downhill skiing, with a fancy aerodynamic downhill helmet.

Sure, it looks neat, but don't wear it if you have to ski the greens locked into a snowplow!

I suspect it'll be the same for fencing. If you're one of but a few with fancy "look at me" threads, your fencing had better support the extra attention.

[bug]

where would you get colored uniforms? i don't really want one, the last thing i need is to draw more attention to myself, but i do wonder what they look like...i don't know if i would really like fencing in a pink or easter egg purple jacket...

[typoink]

To respond to a few things,

don't obsess on the light-color-only rules too much. I believe they only apply to national level competition. Otherwise, wear any color you want. It also, I believe, only applies to the target area, so if you're fencing foil, as long as you wear a "normal" lame, you even wear it to nationals. AND, less sure about this one, I think the rule only applies to foil, so epeeists and sabrists are pretty free to go hogwild.

Personally, I don't entirely think you need to be an awesome fencer to wear a colored uni or painted mask, either. One of the biggest problems with fencing today (as a major sport), is that it doesn't capture visual attention enough. The movements are wonderful, but the traditional fencing whites are not terribly striking. I think this is an excellent chance to boost the visual appeal of the sport. At the risk of sounding like a tool, we can make fencing "cooler."

My uniform is fairly subdued. It's traditional white for the torso and right (weapon) arm, but the left arm is black. Worn with a black-bibbed mask and black leather fencing glove, it's actually pretty striking.

If you ARE interested in colored equipment, triplette (triplette.com) offers a varying range of colors for their stuff. Only a handful of their items can be colored. Pretty much all their midrange stuff, which is what I wear (although I did get a cotton uni and am vaguely kicking myself for not going nylon).

Zivkovic Modern Fencing (zivkovic.com) appears to offer colored aluminum guards, too. Which I think are pretty slick. Not to mention the awesome (IMO) plexi masks.

Anybody else know any other sites dealing in colored / atradtional fencing supplies?

[a517dogg]

my jacket, underarm protector and knickers are mildew-colored. mmmm. my fencing is not only visually exciting, but also olfactorily exciting.

[CvilleFencer]

This Typoink fellow is incredibly wise and well informed as he/she says things very similar to what I have said in the past. That is the true test of fencing genius you know. Agreeing with me. Anyway if you like the colored/painted looks go for it!

Show a little personality and expression as you fence. Some people may whine but they are probably the same bunch that will whine for any changes. Fencing must become more visually appealing if it is to grow as a sport. IMHO of course.

So go on an spiff yourself up a little. Most people I talk to do not want to do it out of some kind of modesty issue. I have to turn sideways to fit my ego through the door so I have no such problems.

My next mask I think will be all bright yellow and a big lopsided smiley face. I may paint my guard to match! I think it would be cool.

Uhlmann/All-star, Triplette, and PBT are offering colored masks and lames. The do tend to remind one of power rangers as they are in primary colors but they are kind of cool as well.

[Inquartata]

And...the colored/customized uniform issue rears its head once again...

I still think that it's only the slaves to fashion and the egoists looking for another tool to put into their "Look at me!" bag who are really eager to go that route. ( You know who you are! ) I shudder when I see some of these people sashaying around at tournaments. But then, my conservatism is well known.

But if you feel the need to put pom-poms on the toes of your fencing shoes and sequins on your glove, and wear a
tiger-striped unitard with a matching face painted on your mask, hey, it's a matter of choice in a free country. Just don't be offended when I point and laugh at Nationals.

[a517dogg]

If i was good enough to afford to not care what directors and other fencers thought about me, i would get my mask Milanoli style. However, i am not.

[NJP3]

I have a red lamet from pbt and have fenced at NACs with it and they didnt seem to care about it not being a pastel color, I even asked and they said it was fine. I dont think that I am trying to draw attention, and I am certainly not good enough to show off. It is just simply that the typical colors of fencing are dull and mundane. Go ahead, point and laugh at nationals, I like it and thats all that matters!

P.S. I also whrere crazy colored, unmatching socks

[pammie003]

Good job on the socks thing. I often wear traditonal whites with striped socks myself. Not because I'm great or anything, but because I like them (and I only have one pair of white fencing socks).

[Feanor]

I would think that a colored lame, particularly one that was vibrantly colored would be an advantage to your opponent... The silver gray standard color seems to me to be almost perfect camoflage; subduing the target area and almost making it disappear in the background of motion. Gray seems to be a difficult color to focus on.

If you were wearing a red lame, I would almost think that you were going from a vague, obscure blur of gray, to a very distinct, sharply focused target area. Wasn't there a reason they made the old old classic fencing jackets with the bright red heart on them?

I think the old idea of dazzle paint camoflage (used on WWI era battleships) would be very interesting! *laughing* or you could imprint the image of a fencers outline on the entire frontal area of your uniform, only in a different orientation, crouched down, or turned left or right Or even paint the image of a fencing mask turn completely sideways on the front of your mask!

[Feanor]

Here's an example of dazzle paint camoflage... The black and white doesn't do it justice. Just imagine very bright reds, yellows, greens, etc... The exact opposite of what you would think camoflage should be before you laugh, just keep in mind that many U-Boat commanders stated that BAD misses were often attributed to long shots against dazzle painted ships...

Dazzle Paint

The idea was to break up the distinct shape of the ship so when you looked at it at 5000 yards thru a periscope right after you said "Was ist los?!"... You would have trouble identifying if the ship was coming toward you or going away from you or even if it was travelling left or right or still in the water! Sometimes they would paint a much darker image of the ships outline onto the ships side, only much smaller, so it looked like it was 3 miles away instead of 1000 yards

Pretty ingenious stuff until radar rolled around...

If you painted a very distinct picture of yourself on the front of your uniform at 3/4 size, maybe you could momentarily get your opponent to misjudge distance *laughing*

[damianip]

On the subject of the legality of colored uniforms:

m. 25.3
Characteristics of the clothing. Fencers' clothing must be made of sufficiently robust material and be clean and in good condition.
The material from which the equipment is made must not have a surface which is smooth enough to cause the point or the opponent's touch to glance off (cf. m.30).
Clothing must be made entirely in cloth able to resist a pressure of 800 Newtons. Very particular attention must be paid to the way the seams under the armpits, if there are any, are made.
An under-garment consisting of a protective under-plastron covering the vital upper areas of the body (following the design given in Annexe A to these Rules, ‚Safety norms for manufacturers™)
resistant to 800 Newtons is also mandatory.
Fencers' clothing may be of different colors, but on the body it must be a single color, white or a light shade.

(bold italics are mine)

So assuming that "body" means torso (since if we are wearing clothing, it is obviously on the body), one can wear whatever color knickers they choose. in fact, certain members of the Italian team have worn royal blue knickers at recent WCs.

I personally made sure of this when I recently bought a pair of blue knickers to go with my blue socks (if I'm going to fence like a clown, I may as well dress like one).


Paolo