Branded Clothing - Nickname

[J Pearce]

At my fulltime job I use my discretion, generally full blacks if onstage, smartish black top if at FOH.

 

The venues I casual at require blacks (used to be branded, but this seems to have died a death) for most shows, long sleeved blacks for more formal shows, black suit for orchestra shows.

 

Most of this is moot as I live in black clothes anyway... On the few occasions I’ve had personalised stuff made as a batch I’ve gone with my surname and if required a suitable job title - silly nicknames aren’t really for me.

[kitlane]

If I am working on a performance (relatively rare these days) I would always wear blacks, regardless of my location. You never know when you might be called upon to do something unexpected (emergency dash onstage with a handheld mic, evacuation, onstage announcement, clearing a stuck cloth, pushing the revolve when the motor fails, taking over from an incapacitated collegue).

[Junior8]

I've always loathed the fashion for blacks which was worming its way in as long ago as 1972. I always assumed it came in with the fashion for open stages.

[sandall]

If I am working on a performance (relatively rare these days) I would always wear blacks, regardless of my location.

Isn't wearing blacks just part of "if you aren't performing then stay out of the light"? I remember one props mistress who would always lead her team out for "live" scene changes wearing full blacks, complemented by gleaming white trainers - by far the brightest things on stage !!

[alistermorton]

Some theatres specifically ban the wearing of blacks for backstage crew who will appear on stage during changes, requiring them to be in costume as fits the production.

[paulears]

I hated the introduction of cargo shorts - black shorts, black top and black steelies and gleaming never seen the sun white legs.

 

In fairness, a big place near me have all their crew in branded blacks with the venue name and Tech Crew on the back. I hate that too. I have a Strand T-Shirt from the late 70s with lighting in big white letters on the back. I never ever wore it then, but now wear it in bed, to keep warm in hotels or other places where heating is rubbish. So it's not a new thing. The little Strand on the front is fine, the huge lighting on the back less so.

[Bryson]

I always liked black embroidery on black. The embroidery was just shiny enough to be distinguishable. Nothing on the back.

 

I had a Meyer/Led Zeppelin shirt which I loved the front of. Very subtle Zeppelin logo on a big expanse of black...but the back was a mess of Meyer Leo stuff so totally useless as blacks. I still sometimes use it as pyjamas.

 

I stopped wearing blacks on purpose when I started taking on Technical Director work. You need to be distinguishable from the crew, and it made client interaction a lot easier. I own virtually no blacks of any kind kind any more.

[david.elsbury]

I had a Meyer/Led Zeppelin shirt which I loved the front of. Very subtle Zeppelin logo on a big expanse of black...but the back was a mess of Meyer Leo stuff so totally useless as blacks. I still sometimes use it as pyjamas.

Was that the promo they ran about 12 years ago? I ended up with a few of those shirts and they really didn’t last well at all.

[Bryson]

 

Was that the promo they ran about 12 years ago? I ended up with a few of those shirts and they really didn’t last well at all.

 

Yikes. Yes, it probably was that long ago. Oh my.

[savage1]

Hi,

 

We have been given the opportunity to have some branded clothing for a production we're working on for next year with the option of having our nickname on it. I dont know what name to put on mine. I will be lighting rigger, programmer and operator with a bit of designing. The director thinks I should have mine as "LX Legend" but I do want to seem obnoxious to the rest of the crew so wanted something a bit more subtle without using my real name. Any suggestions? What do you guys get put on the clothing if you have the same kind of thing?

 

Thanks

 

I may be missing the obvious here but why not put your nickname on it? if you don't have one leave blank or stick your name in... mo point in makeing something up for a show.

[gareth]

Again, just to reiterate the point about names/nicknames writ large on black making one look like a bit of a t!t... to give an example, earlier this year I was at a venue where one of the house techs wore a black hoodie with their name and the word "Freelance" printed on the back in huge white letters. It looked absolutely ridiculous, like something a school-kid would wear if they were trying to give the impression to their mates of being some sort of tech 'hot-shot'.