The PLL has dropped its latest collection of throwback uniforms. They have been doing this for a while now, with what seems to be relatively decent success. One weekend out of the year, each PLL team rocks a porthole mesh uniform designed in a historic fashion. The irony here is that the PLL is half a decade old, replicating vintage looks as if these teams have any history. I’m not hating on these, as capitalizing on the recent trend of porthole mesh uniforms is certainly a smart move by the PLL, but I have always questioned their design decisions when it comes to these throwback uniforms. Designing a uniform is certainly not easy, but it isn’t that hard either.
The PLL has never really hit the uniform game out of the park for me, and I’m somewhat of a uniform purist. Fan reception to new uniforms since the inception of the league has always been very mixed, with public opinion swaying in a more negative direction. While this is my personal opinion, it only takes less than two minutes to open Instagram or Twitter to see what fans think about new PLL uniforms. Time after time, I want to like any new PLL uniform, but I find myself being constantly disappointed for a number of reasons. For these 2024 PLL throwback uniforms, I am left yet again scratching my head. Yes, they are throwing it back, but you cannot make up history from thin air.
Last year, the throwback uniforms were actually very solid all around. They featured team names and numbers etched across the front, which is what fans have wanted for years. They had simple design elements that catered to each team’s strengths, even if I did not enjoy the throwback logos themselves. The 2024 PLL throwback uniforms resort back to not having team names or numbers on the front, and seemingly have design features to coincide with “fake” histories of the team. The best example of this is “STATE” being slated across the front of the Carolina uniforms. What is this paying homage to? North Carolina State University? Just an extremely odd decision here, as even Carolina fans are questioning why this decision was made.
Then you have Boston and Denver, the only teams in the PLL that have actual history to their names, and the league is just making design aspects up to go along with the early 1900s theme. Could we not actually get throwback uniforms for these teams that played into the real history they have? The Archers feature a block U with Utah etched across the bottom line of the U. This looks bad for a number of reasons. I’m sure it may be paying homage to something particular in sports culture past, but just because you can do a throwback doesn’t mean you should. The best example of this comes from the NFL, where the New York Giants are throwing it back to uniforms that have no correlation to the fans and flat out look ugly.
I will give credit to the team logos, as ALL OF THEM knock it out of the park this time around. They are consistent, charming, and look very professional. I just wish that these took more of a center stage instead of playing around with the early 1900s aesthetic. I don’t want to sound like a negative nelly or a hater, but I really want more from these uniforms. Fans shouldn’t be moaning and groaning every time a new uniform drops. They should all be universally loved or at least respected similar to the 2023 throwbacks. I only write articles like this from a point of passion, as someone who wants to buy PLL gear and see the league represented visually in a fashion that matches the quality of play on the field.
