Ravens helmet: This is it and nothing more? | STAFF COMMENTARY

We normally don’t like to get caught up in fashion debates on this page. Casual, business, vintage, classic, we are aware that trends come and go and that designers and apparel makers rake in impressive sums pursuing them, but we lack an essential ingredient necessary for a robust discourse on this subject. It’s not our lack of knowledge. When did that ever stop us? It’s simply a lack of interest. And in this, we suspect we have a lot of company. How many readers still regularly wear outfits from Hutzler’s, the Baltimore department store chain that closed its doors in 1990? Well, unless they preferred Hochschild Kohn or Stewart & Co.

But like much of Baltimore, we find ourselves intrigued by an unlikely fashion exchange tapping on our chamber door: the new “Purple Rising” Baltimore Ravens football helmet, which is destined to be used for just one game in the upcoming 2024 season.

A helmet? What’s the big deal, you might ask? What are you, hearing birds again? Caught up with memories of your lost Lenore?

Here’s the deal. It’s all purple. The image of the Raven is forward-facing. It has gold “talon” stripes and a gold face mask that blend nicely with the purple uniform. It’s sleek and it’s a little bit, dare we say, hip. But here’s the best part. It’s getting all kinds of attention from Ravens fans who apparently have nothing better to do in the dog days of June than post comments on social media about an “alternate” helmet. That’s right, hardcore football fans are expressing strong opinion about color schemes and design elements.

Among the many we saw on X: “Designed by a toddler.” “It looks like a bumper sticker.” “This helmet is atrocious and the fans should be livid.” “I wanted to wait but that Raven helmet trash.” Or, our personal favorite: “I’ve seen a ton of people on Twitter make helmet concepts 100 times better.”

What’s great about the comments is how they mirror the way sports fans talk about players or games or coaches (we envision them with a cold beer in the hand as they type) but are directing themselves to fashion. May we humbly recommend that some of these folks be recruited for the New York Fashion Week (set to begin the day after the Ravens open the NFL season on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sept. 5). It would make the “premier” event so much more entertaining for us regular folks.

Baltimore Sun editorial writers offer opinions and analysis on news and issues relevant to readers. They operate separately from the newsroom.