Through the Years: 49ers Fashion
With a new set of jerseys on the way, here's a flashback to how the team has looked over the years.
During the first round of this year's NFL Draft, the league, in partnership with Nike, announced that two divisions, the AFC East and NFC West, would take part in a new Rivalry uniform initiative this season. The uniforms, to be worn only once by each team and against a division opponent, would be inspired by each team's community history.
The 49ers shortly after would announce a brand refresh kit that would incorporate the themes of what we could expect in the new alternate uniforms including colors such as Montana Red, Heritage Cream, Primetime Black, and Gold Rush Gradient. Along with the colors, the branding will take a lot of cues from mid -1800’s California design and landscapes to create the new uniforms, as well as imagery for this upcoming season.
The uniforms themselves would be teased at the very end of this year's schedule release video, with the official announcement date being revealed several weeks later. After many teases from the 49ers social media team, the new uniforms will be unveiled on Thursday, August 28th. The most recent tease showed a darkened silhouette of the uniforms behind old west saloon doors, giving very few clues to what they will look like.
As we await the newest aesthetic in the rich history of 49ers football, let’s take a look back at the on-field fashion of the red and gold.
Inaugural Season Uniforms:
Although the San Francisco 49ers began playing football in 1946, the team would not permanently wear gold as part of their on-field wardrobe for another 18 years, beginning in the 1964 season. With the name coming from team owner Tony Morabito’s business partner, Allen E. Sorrell, the 49ers’ name is a reference to the many that traveled west as part of the California gold rush of 1849.
With the traditional red and white jerseys, the team originally donned white helmets and pants. This would be the only season they would fully utilize white helmets. The following season, 1947, the 49ers would only wear the white helmets and pants in one game, against the New York Yankees. In the rest of the games that season, the 49ers wore gold helmets and pants, giving a glimpse at what the future of the team would look like.
The gold was dropped for the 1948 season, with the team adopting silver helmets and pants that they would primarily use over the course of the next six seasons. A red helmet was introduced in 1950, that would be rotated with the silver helmet through the 1956 season.
1951: The Arrival of Stripes
For the 1951 season the 49ers added their trademark three stripes to the jersey sleeves. These would be a permanent fixture in some form ever since. The road whites from 1958 to 1963 would feature shoulder stripes similar to the modern Indianapolis Colts jerseys. A redesign in 2009 would have a cut off version of the stripes, and in 2017, they would only have 2 thicker stripes on the sleeves. They would revert back to the traditional three stripe look in 2022.
1964: The Iconic Look Arrives
The 1964 season would debut the iconic 49ers look that is historically associated with the franchise. The gold helmet and pants combination with red and white stripes was introduced, as was the classic SF oval. This look would go untouched and be worn in every game until the 1994 season. In 1994, to celebrate the NFL’s 75th anniversary, every team would wear throwback uniforms, and the 49ers would adopt throwback jerseys and pants first worn during the 1955 season that featured black drop shadow in the numbers.
1991: The Infamous One Day Helmet
In February 1991, the 49ers unveiled a brand new helmet design to be worn the following season. In an attempt to move away from the classic SF oval, a trendy, very 1990’s 49ers’ word mark was introduced on the side of the helmet during a press conference. Over the course of the next day, letters to local newspapers and telephone calls from angry fans to the team headquarters forced then owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. to pivot back to the classic design.
1996: A Change to Tradition
While the one-day helmet would never see the field, the 49ers were unable to escape the 90’s trend of darkening colors. In 1996, the 49ers unveiled a completely new uniform set featuring a darker red with black and gold trim on the number, the team logo over the sleeve stripes, and red and black stripes on the helmet and newly introduced white pants. The white pants would only make it to the 1998 preseason before being permanently replaced with gold.
2009: A Tradition Reborn
In the 2009 season, the 49ers would bring back a modified version of the classics as a full time set. These uniforms would capture the nostalgia and tradition of the championship teams of the 80’s and 90’s.
2015: Color Rushed
In the 2015 season, the NFL rolled out the color rush uniforms. The 49ers introduced the polarizing all black look with red numbers that were either loved for the modern style, or loathed for the lack of tradition. Love them or hate them, this set would last for three seasons, being worn for only three games over that span.
2025: Rivalry
As the Faithful await the unveiling of the Rivalry uniforms, the social media team has posted several cryptic videos teasing the new set. And while there is no certainty of what the design will be, one thing that can be assumed is that these new alternates will spark much debate among the fanbase. Good or bad, they will be worn only once during the 2025 season and then locked away as the rest of the NFL will roll out their versions over the following three seasons.
The 49ers have always maintained a traditional look on the field, with a clean and simplistic design. Will the new Rivalry uniforms follow that trend, or will they stand out as something completely different and unique? Since Nike has taken over most major sports, and their MLB City Connects and NBA City edition uniforms have significantly strayed from traditional styles, we should expect something radically different for the 49ers for Week 18 against the Seattle Seahawks.