If you have ever watched a marching band and wondered what that weird feather thing on their hats is, well, I’m here to tell you that it is called a plume. Now plumes come in all different varieties, but not every band wears them.
There are a multitude of reasons why you may not see a band wearing plumes. The first is that the hats they use are not made for plumes. Another reason could be that it is raining, as plumes can get severely damaged if they get wet. Another reason could be that the director feels that wearing plumes would cause them to get a lower score. That, in particular, has its own reasoning and issues, such as it could give away if someone has a super bouncy step or if they aren’t tilting at the same angle as everyone else for a visual. Another reason, and probably the worst reason I’ve heard, is that it is “too windy”. While yes, wind can be a factor that can damage plumes or make the band look bad because of the plumes in the wind, especially if the band hats are older, there needs to be another reason along with that.
A great example of the debate directors have as to whether or not to wear plumes happened this last weekend at the March to the Meridian contest. My old high school band made the decision not to wear plumes due to the wind. The issue I found with this was that they didn’t bring the plumes at all because of this decision. During the parade, most bands wore plumes even though it was windy because it was blocked by buildings. Except for my high school. Our hats are not extremely old, and so the plumes stayed in just fine; also, it wasn’t raining, so damage wouldn’t really occur.
The only possible other reason could be to avoid a lower score. The issue is that our band director never cared about that; the only times we went without our plumes were due to weather. For field marching that day, it made slightly more sense to go without plumes, as the other band in our class did the same. The field is also more open, so the wind would be worse than during the parade. Another reason this choice was questionable is that many uniforms will look odd without plumes, because if you see the top of the hats, you would see the hole for the plume, which just looks odd.
Overall, band directors need to decide what will benefit the band, but “it’s too windy” can not be their only reasoning. They need to take multiple things into account, including the possible damage to the plumes. The main thing I want to say, though, is that it really is their choice, and this is just my take on it, but choosing not to wear them is not a reason not to bring them, as you could easily change your mind when you get there and see what it is actually like.
