Notre Dame Uniforms: We Need to Talk About These

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have mastered the art and science of looking cool. They know gold and blue never go out of style and that less is more, most of the time, that is. I love to give props to the cleanest Irish looks on this blog. However, sometimes we have to put a uni on blast. It’s time.

Lime Green Machine

I would be kinder to these basketball alternates if the Irish decided to forgo the pattern at the shoulders and the shorts and to switch the dialed-back slab serif script at the chest to the more memorable Celtic-inspired “Irish” characteristic of the Pat Connaughton era, see below. Keep the bold green color scheme, but spice up the script. The colors are bold, but they work. The Irish are picking green and sticking with it. It’s the pattern proportion that dings the Irish some points here.

Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

A Little Too Neutral

Going back to the plain, blocky letters. Now, look. I’ve liked Under Armour for its minimal Irish looks. They typically line up with the classic blue jersey and gold pants: everything you need, and nothing you don’t. However, there just isn’t enough going on with this basketball combo. Minimalism can pack a powerful punch. The green jersey game? Madonna blue? Elite looks. However, there is such a thing as doing too little. That same “Irish” from the gold jerseys in white here would be CLEAN. The shorts are fresh. They can stay.

Greened-Out Shamrock Series

Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Okay, I know this green Shamrock Series alternate from 2015 gets a lot of love. It’s just too much navy. I’ve said it before: This would have been so much sharper if they had just stuck to green and gold. You don’t have to include both gold and blue just to get both school colors in there if you’re going for a green look. Add some gold pants and gold numbers and you have yourself a crisp Irish alternate.

Basketball Blackout 2012

A blackout vibe would work best if you were to use it to play up the Notre Dame gold. YOU CAN’T SEE ANYTHING! Need I say more?

Follow me on Twitter.