The NBA All Star game is tonight and with each year’s game comes a new uniform. While the minimalist black and white uniforms certainly look stylish, they lack some of the flair we’d expect for the All Star Game. In a game that’s all about having fun, being flashy, and giving up on the concept of defense you’d expect to see something a little more fun. Luckily apparel company Stance didn’t get the memo about the uniforms and are making tie dye East/West socks the official sock of the 2015 All Star Game.
The original basketball uniform is much like the invention of basketball, pretty simple and humble. Originally all it took to suit up on the court was what you had been wearing that day with a pair of flat, comfortable shoes. Ten people on a court wearing loose trousers, short sleeve shirts, and wool socks seems fitting for a time when the game was played with a peach basket. Soon the game became more formalized and uniforms evolved with it. Uniforms of sleeveless or short sleeve shirts, depending on gender, medium length shorts, and wool socks worn over the knees became standard. These uniforms lasted until the 1930s and the invention of nylon. Nylon was much lighter, breathable, and easier to wash than wool.
Once synthetic materials were brought into uniforms things were fairly constant from the 1930s to about the 1970s with medium length shorts and form fitting shirts before shorts began to rise and shirts became tighter in the 1980s. As the shorts became shorter, the socks became longer and change was coming. If the first half of the history of basketball was short shorts and tube socks, the second half is baggy shorts and technology laden fabrics. Beginning with Michael Jordan the NBA uniform became baggier and more like the ones we know today. The biggest advances haven’t been especially visible, having more to do with the fabrics of the uniforms particularly the socks. Present day basketball socks are built with a wide variety of technology for everything from moisture control to compression.