The Importance of Fit: Tailoring Marching Band and Orchestra Attire

You might think that marching band and orchestra members are probably good at wearing just about any old uniform and tux, right? They both have a very distinctive look to them, after all. 

However, just like with any other team, there are actually many benefits to outfitting your orchestra or marching band members with a unique, tailored uniform.

A good uniform does wonders for morale regardless of the activity you’re performing, so don’t go around thinking that just throwing on any old suit or jacket will work the same way. It’s an investment, after all! Here's why you should consider tailoring band attire.

Benefits Of Tailored Band Attire

Here are some of the ways that tailored attires or uniforms are a great investment for a marching band or the members of an orchestra.

1. Fosters Team Unity

Cohesion is an invaluable tool during team efforts, especially for ones so numerous as a band or an orchestra. It gives each of its members, regardless of their role within the group, a sense of belonging and the clear idea that their efforts matter just as much as those of the people around them. Boosting morale is the best way to turn a sour experience as a team into a learning opportunity or even a group bonding moment. It’s not about suppressing individualism at all but about making individuals feel more connected to each other instead.

Team unity can be particularly important for a marching band since coordination and uniformity (no pun intended) are such a big part of their performance. The same is the case for orchestras, with the added factor that the music is supposed to take center stage; even so, uniforms are wonderful visual aids when you want the audience to easily distinguish individual players or members. 

 2. Improves Professionalism 

“Dress to impress” is not just a catchy little saying, you know? Dressing in tailored attires doesn’t just help members of a marching band or symphonic orchestra feel like part of something bigger, but it also telegraphs that feeling to the audience. Through a tailored uniform, a good visual impression can help an audience quickly distinguish a marching band from another and build a stronger sense of recognition and identity after they finish a performance.

Also, remember that people usually feel more satisfied after dealing with uniformed employees. 

While obviously, the band you manage is far from being store clerks, why should the experience be different when it comes to customer satisfaction? That’s what we mean when we talk about improving the image of professionalism; people will know that your band sounds amazing, so why shouldn’t they look the part?

3. Any Clothing Can Become A Uniform

While the idea of tailored attire is to create a full uniform for each member of your group, there’s some flexibility to that idea that can help out bands that are just starting out. For example, creating a tailored jacket and ornate hat, combined with other pieces of formal dresswear, is a fantastic way of giving a school band a sense of true identity that’s truly their school’s own. 

In the case of an orchestra, this is helpful for performances that are not strictly black tie affairs or that are thematic in nature; the typical formal suits can be combined or partially replaced with a piece of clothing that has a more appropriate level of flair, or that is distinctive enough as part of that same theme. In both cases, the goal of tailored attire is the same: To have a practical solution that is both affordable and offers tangible benefits to the band.

4. Create A Visual Identity For Players

Marching bands are about the visuals just as much as they are about the music. A visually impressive choreography will be so all the more if the uniforms the band is wearing are just as striking. Tailored band uniforms offer marching bands the opportunity to stand out even more than when wearing drab, run-of-the-mill attire. 

Tailored attires also help for big shows, like a football game, where the audience is large enough for even the people in the back to understand the dynamics of the performance. Whether it’s a solo player from the orchestra or the drum major of a marching band, musical performances of these types have many moving parts, and sometimes a part of them includes calling attention to specific groups or players, an easy task when they’re wearing tailored uniforms specifically made for it.

5. Make The Uniforms More Comfortable

Despite the coordination of their performances, the players that make up a marching band or an orchestra can be as varied as their instruments. A regular old band uniform will never fit two people the same way (let alone twenty or more); some will have broader shoulders, shorter legs, longer legs, etc. A tailored attire provides the players with a much more comfortable experience than gives them the physical freedom to focus entirely on their performance, and that applies for both marching bands that are doing incredible acrobatic feats, as well as orchestras that usually require amazing concentration and dexterity.

What We Learned About Tailored Band Attires

Uniforms are always more than just a piece of clothing. There’s power in them! Whether contributing to an increased sense of identity and band style, boosting the morale of the band, creating instant recognition with the audience, or simply helping with a sense of unity within the players, there’s little reason not to adopt tailoring band attire if you’re in charge of a band or orchestra. 

Cousin’s Concert Attire has a wide range of concert and marching band uniforms that can be tailored and fitted to each individual member of your team. 

Remember, it’s the little things that play the biggest parts!