On July 30, 2015, The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps unveiled their new ‘blackout’ uniforms. These uniforms were totally black with a few silver decorations on the front, which is a huge change from their traditional uniforms. They had a uniform change because it fit their show’s theme better, but many people saw it in a different light.
The Cadets’ normal uniforms
The Cadets’ new uniforms
To start off, new uniforms are extremely expensive, costing about $150 for each uniform. Buying 150 new uniforms at that price costs $22,500. The reason this purchase is controversial is because members of The Cadets pay $4,000 to march each year. Critics of this purchase say that the money used to buy the new uniforms could have been used to save each member some money when marching. The other big controversy with this purchase is that The Cadets purchased these uniforms nine days before finals. After finals, these uniforms will never be used again, which also makes the purchase questionable.
That argument is just a small one regarding uniforms in drum corps. The biggest argument is that corps should stay with a single uniform for multiple years instead of buying new ones each year. Corps that buy new uniforms usually make them fit the theme of their show, but critics say that this takes away the character of the corps and makes them unidentifiable. A good example is Carolina Crown, who sported brown uniforms in 2008, switched to white in 2010, then a different uniform each year since then. These uniforms are very expensive, and as said above, the kids end up paying for them. If corps recycled uniforms, then the price of marching would be lowered significantly.