Attire

In this edition, we look at the importance of… attire.

A great man once sung, “I just hope you understand, sometimes the clothes do not make the man.”

Well, George Michael, sometimes they do.

For an a cappella group, it’s important to keep in mind how attire is going to effect the overall image of your group. True, the music itself remains most important. But over time, the field of visual presentation has grown in collegiate a cappella, evolving from bobs and sways to full on choreography and your occasional mid-song stomp routine. With so much emphasis on what the audience is seeing, you can’t overlook the most basic element of your ocular performance—what you’re wearing.

Some groups are all about the formal wear, be it the tuxes and evening gowns you’ll see out of a group like the Harvard-Radcliffe Veritones, or the slightly toned down sports coats look you’ll see out of the Brown Derbies, or the Binghamton Crosbys. These looks communicate an aura of gravitas—formal attire equating to a big time group. This works especially well in the competition setting, where the nice threads can be a confidence boosters.

Some groups espouse the uniform jersey or t-shirt look, such as is the case for the Potsdam Pointercounts. This choice of attire makes the groups look something like a sports teams. With that comes several messages—that they’re high energy and fun, and most importantly, they function as a unit. This too can be a good look for competition, but I would suggest it works best when a group is touring or acting as a guest group at a college that is foreign to them.

Another option is to go with an unconventional, unique choice in attire, such as Mt. Santonio College's Fermata Nowhere's choice for the 2009 ICCA Finals, wearing orange jumpsuits. The look was bright, different and altogether memorable--lending itself perfectly to the genuinely different brand of performance that the group was bringing to the stage that night.

Still other groups choose quirky, uniform attire. For example, you have Brigham Young Noteworthy in 2007, with jeans, black tops, green ties and pink undershirts, or Orange Appeal, with black shirts and jeans, but different colored ties and Converse All-Star sneakers. Each of these looks is sharp, distinctive, and sets a tone for the group as uniform, and yet distinct from any other group you might see--formal with a bit of casual flair.

Attire is by no means the be all, end all in an a cappella performance, but it does go a long way toward setting a first impression, and establishing an identity for a group. Hence, it is pretty darn important.