Cowboys uniform discussion

[NICK]

For how many years did they have the two-tone pants? Did it start in 1964 or 1967? According to Gridiron-Uniforms, they stopped using the two-tone pants after 1973. Is that accurate as far as you can tell?

I am finding a lot of what we read on the cowboy uniform is simply not accurate. There are a few articles I have read that at first I scoffed at but now have come to believe they are more true than not. Apparently the two tone pants started in 64 and went right up until Bum Bright bought the team in the mid 80's. Things started to change around that time period and then also when Jerry jones bought the team in 1989. For the most part the three pants I posted were it up until the mid 80's. The grey and green from 65 to 73, the blue silver gray and green from 74 to 79, the two tone silver blue pants definitely 1980, but may have also been used prior to 1980, but I doubt it. There may have been a version in 64 that was different then the ones used in 65 through 73 not sure, hard to tell from photos and that's basically the point of this thread.

When I would try to make unis, the pant color would drive me crazy because in one photo they looked one color and another photo they looked a different color. Turns out most of the photos are not accurate. And then I would try to figure out how green pants came into the cowboy uniform from the late 80's until now. Turns out the greenish blue has always been there hidden behind the lack of color photographic technology.

One story of the green says Tex Schramm saw the color and loved the color enough to incorporate it in the uniform. Another story says that Tex wanted the cowboys uniform to look good on tv as that was the biggest market. The greenish color looked great on film and on tv because it looked silver grey blue and blended with the cowboy uniform. I believe the looked good on tv story. Here's why:

The cowboys began in 1960, the black and white era of television. The cowboys were owned by Clint Murchison Jr, the son of very powerful oil tycoon Clint Murchison Sr. The cowboys franchise had to be a winner. Tex Schramm was brought in because he was tight with money and a marketing genius. Tom Landry was brought in because he was a very successful innovative coach that had southern roots and was very disciplined as a coach, as a Christian, and as a public image.

The first couple of years, the white helmets on royal blue looked ok during the black and white tv era. As the color era began, Dallas was a losing franchise. Tex wanted to boost the cowboys image and wanted the team to look fantastic on tv. Ironically the Detroit lions wore a uniform that was similar to what Tex would dress out the cowboys in. Maybe he liked the lions concept and decided to make it better, probably, I don't know. The whole key to the success of the cowboys and the nfl was tv. Tex was able to get Dallas on national tv more than any other franchise and as the team began to win, their popularity grew as well as their marketing value. The uniform had to look better than everyone else's on tv and film. Because the color era had limitations with various shades of color able to be captured on film, Tex had to come up with colors that blended well and looked good on television.

My theory is the two tone pants, the lighter bluish grey on the front is for the fans in the stands, the greenish blue grey is for the fans at home because it looks silver blue grey on tv and film.

[NICK]

Also... is there any chance you'd be willing to make some new pants for my Historic Cowboys project for the uniforms with the two-tone pants? If that's possible in 08 of course. I'm happy with the uniforms for the most part, but the pants from the late 60s and early 70s are definitely a bit off.

I can give it a shot. You would either have to send me your uniform dat for a specific uniform or I could just send you the dds image of the pants and you could import it. Haven't worked on 08 stuff in a long time so I'm rusty. I believe I still have all of the templates I made somewhere.

Now the question is do you want the real colors or do you want how they looked on tv and in pics. Me, I want how they looked on tv. They always looked better on tv than in pics.

I really don't buy it that Tex liked the color that obviously clashes with the uniform in every way. I can envision Naval Officer Roger Staubach loathing that obnoxious color and having to wear it when it looks ridiculous.

Tex may have even preferred dark blue, not navy blue, dark blue but used royal because it looked dark on film and tv, I don't know. Makes me wonder though.

The royal blue on the helmet looked dark anyway unless you were very close to the helmet or in the right light, so he left it alone.

[RevanFan]

Also... is there any chance you'd be willing to make some new pants for my Historic Cowboys project for the uniforms with the two-tone pants? If that's possible in 08 of course. I'm happy with the uniforms for the most part, but the pants from the late 60s and early 70s are definitely a bit off.

I can give it a shot. You would either have to send me your uniform dat for a specific uniform or I could just send you the dds image of the pants and you could import it. Haven't worked on 08 stuff in a long time so I'm rusty. I believe I still have all of the templates I made somewhere.

Now the question is do you want the real colors or do you want how they looked on tv and in pics. Me, I want how they looked on tv. They always looked better on tv than in pics.

I really don't buy it that Tex liked the color that obviously clashes with the uniform in every way. I can envision Naval Officer Roger Staubach loathing that obnoxious color and having to wear it when it looks ridiculous.

Tex may have even preferred dark blue, not navy blue, dark blue but used royal because it looked dark on film and tv, I don't know. Makes me wonder though.

The royal blue on the helmet looked dark anyway unless you were very close to the helmet or in the right light, so he left it alone.

Don't worry about it right now. If you could let me know exactly when they switched to the single tone (as in, which exact season), please do. After that, I'll figure out just how many pants sets I need. Probably only a few. I would probably just ask that you send the graphic to me and I'll import it using DEXEXPAND. I try to have every little detail noted in my mod, so there are a ton of different uniforms in the 1960s to 1980s period. Every decal they had, every change in stripe size... everything I noticed I tried to have represented. So... there's a lot of uniforms. If you sent just the pants graphics, I would import them myself with DEX.

When that time eventually comes, I'll send you my Cowboys UNIFORMS.dat file so you can see what I already have, but I would likely only ask for the pants graphics. And as for which look I'd want, I'd probably go with "how it looked on TV."

[cyclone2426]

for the uniforms with the two-tone pants? If that's possible in 08 of course

Definitely possible in 08, just need to add that U/V shape on the crotch area, then just adjust the color on the back parts of the pants, nothing too crazy:

(Click for full size)

[NICK]

Not sure what year exactly the cowboys went from two tone to single color pants. Still researching this. I do know this though, The dallas cowboys had royal blue for their helmet decals on the white helmet in the early 60's, the light metallic blue helmet, and the silver helmet until Bum Bright bought the team in the 80's. The decals then changed to a navy blue so dark that it looked black and stayed that way until Nike came into the picture. Nike changed the blue decals on the helmet to a blue in between navy and royal. They may even be the original royal, but you wouldn't be able to see that unless you were in the right light, usually sunlight and close to it. I redid a cowboys helmet originally a 1992 version with basically a flat silver metallic with a slight blue hue to it and navy decals. I did the helmet light metallic blue, but looks blue silver at a distance. The helmet also has royal decals I built myself and then clearcoated that look dark blue from only 10 feet away, but up close and in the light matches my tony dorsett 1977 royal blue jersey perfectly.

Now I know folks are going to say there are plenty of helmets online for sale that are gameworn and don't have royal decals. Three explanations for this. 1. The helmet is from the era after Bum Bright bought the team, 2. If it is from the 60's or 70's the decals have darkened with age unless they were clear coated over like some model of nfl helmets used. 3. The royal doesn't pop royal because the decals are not in the right lighting even during photographing. And another possibility, the helmet was redecaled at some point with darker blue decals.

1976 - CLICK THUMBNAILS





Top images clearly show helmet decals as royal blue. You can just barely make out the red stripe of Staubach's helmet directly behind Landry's fedora. Also slightly on Richards helmet coming into the shot from the left. The cliff harris helmet decals have darkened and yellowed with time and the fact that this helmet was on display in a smoke filled bar. The red stripe was simply laid over the top of the original royal blue stripe as is the case with most original 1976 cowboy helmets. It's as if they handed the players a red stripe and said put this on the left side of your helmet. Most of them look sloppy. The actual Royal stripe color can just barely be seen under the red stripe. The royal blue double star was untouched as this was a maxpro helmet where the decals were under the clearcoat helmet shell preserving them from deteriorating. Now on the regular helmets mostly protuff decals were used where clear vinyl was placed over the top of the decal which would protect the decal from tearing during helmet to helmet contact, but would also for the most part help to reflect light and could darken the appearance of the true shade of blue. There were some helmets that did not have the protuff decals and can be found on helmets around 71 and 72 and the mid and late 60's. Craig Morton's helmet for instance in Superbowl 5.



what is dexexpand?

[RevanFan]

for the uniforms with the two-tone pants? If that's possible in 08 of course

Definitely possible in 08, just need to add that U/V shape on the crotch area, then just adjust the color on the back parts of the pants, nothing too crazy:

(Click for full size)

Could you possibly share your template for the hip and thigh (if that is your template?) If it's not yours, do you know whose it is?

[cyclone2426]

Could you possibly share your template for the hip and thigh (if that is your template?) If it's not yours, do you know whose it is?

C'mon you know I do all my own stuff lol. Do you want the actual template, or just those particular hip and thigh graphics?

[RevanFan]

Could you possibly share your template for the hip and thigh (if that is your template?) If it's not yours, do you know whose it is?

C'mon you know I do all my own stuff lol. Do you want the actual template, or just those particular hip and thigh graphics?

Probably the template, because NICK was going to look into working on it to get the colors just right. Might want to even send it to him... or both of us.

By the way, I still use your 2012 Cowboys uniforms in my mod. The Nike Elite ones. Q made some additions such as some one-off decals they had, but the base is still your work. It really is fantastic stuff.

[cyclone2426]

By the way, I still use your 2012 Cowboys uniforms in my mod. The Nike Elite ones. Q made some additions such as some one-off decals they had, but the base is still your work. It really is fantastic stuff.

Thanks, appreciate it. This topic came about at a good time though, I was actually working on the Cowboys for a late 60s mod I'm doing, so made me reassess the pants.

[RevanFan]

Upon further review of Gridiron-Uniforms.com, it would seem they say that Dallas had two tone pants from 1964 to 1973 and again from 1978 to 1985. According to their graphics of the uniforms, 1964-1970 had the front as a darker tone with the back and crotch as a lighter tone.

Spoiler:

From 1971 to 1973, the front stayed the same color, but the back and crotch became darker than the front.

Spoiler:

Then, according to GUD, from 1974 to 1977, they had only one tone. Personally, in this photo I can't tell if the front and crotch are the same tone or not. Looks close though. It still used the same "template", but the tones look like they match, or are close to a match.

Spoiler:

Then, in 1978, Dallas went BACK to using two-tone pants, with them changing the front pants color to be quite a bit lighter, with the back and crotch being darker (what looks like their original front color.) They would use this color scheme for the pants on the white uniform until 1981, and on the blue uniform until 1980.

Spoiler:

In 1981, they changed the style and colors of the blue uniform, but still had it be two toned. Just different tones.

Spoiler:

And in 1982, they changed the white uniform and made the front lighter and changed both tones. You can tell when comparing the old 1978-1981 uniform side-by-side with the new 1982 uniform here.

Spoiler:

It would appear the blue uniform stayed the same for some time, but in 1985, they changed the white uniform to have the back and crotch color be a bit darker and a better match for the front color. Looks close to but a bit lighter than 1978-1981.

Spoiler:

Then in 1986, they went back to only one tone and have been one tone since.

Spoiler:

Also if you ever want to make a custom template for the late 1980s pants, here's a good pic from 1987.

Spoiler:

...Yikes. That took a while to write and Google. Does all this look right to you, NICK, or do you think the pics are deceiving us?