Olympic Fashion

02.21.10

I am an Olympics junkie. If the Olympics are on, I am watching them on the edge of my seat, cheering for Team USA.

The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics is no different. I stayed up late to make sure that the Russian skater Yevgeny Pleshenko didn't knock Evan Lysacek out of the gold medal spot and I watched in awe of Shaun White's half-pipe preformance. I was thrilled to hear that Lindsay Vonn overcame her shin injury to win a gold medal and I was heartbroken when I watched Lindsay Jacobellis become disqualified in the snowboard cross.

As an added bonus, I have found these Olympic games not only exciting, but also extremely fashionable. If you follow us on Twitter, you may have already seen some of my comments - but in case you don't - I wanted to highlight them again here.

1. The Team USA uniforms designed by Ralph Lauren and worn by the athletes during the Opening Ceremonies epitomized classic American sportswear. Red, cream and navy, they included turtlenecks, down and knitwear. I can imagine that they will sell out quickly at participating Ralph Lauren stores.

2. The USA snowboarding team debuted faux denim boarding pants topped with plaid jackets, and in some cases, helmets. The faux denim pants were so realistic - including whiskers, faux holes and embellished wear and tear - that many people thought that the riders were actually wearing jeans. The combination of denim and plaid is so distinctly American and so "of the moment."

3. Evan Lysacek - America's first gold medalist in figure skating since 1988! - wore costumes designed by Vera Wang. A former figure skater herself, Wang created two sleek and edgy outfits that were both fashionable and functional. Evan skated in head to toe black, adorned with black feathers in the short program and silver beaded snakes in the long program. Both outfits were truly amazing and distinguished themselves as fashion pieces instead of costumes.

4. The athletes of Team USA who make it to the medal podium seem to all arrive in a blue ombre light-weight down jacket with just the right amount of sheen. I love it. I want one. They fit well, the shade of blue is gorgeous and the subtle color fade is unexpected.

5. The Japanese male snowboarders shredded the half-pipe in brightly colored and patterned outfits. Classic crayola colors were used in a paint-splatter pattern as well as color-blocking.
They truly epitomized Japanese street style and made for a sharp contrast against the stark white snow of the pipe. 

Were there any fashion faux pas at the Olympics? Well, there were plenty of boring, purely functional outfits, but the only real fashion faux pas that I spotted were the red, white and blue argyle pants that the Norwegian curling team wore. But, they certainly got them some attention which may have been their purpose in the first place.

I am looking forward to another exciting week of Olympics. I plan to watch women's figure skating, both men's and women's hockey and any other event that is broadcast this week. I will be excited to cheer Team USA on to more medals, hear about all of the inspiring "behind-the-scenes" stories and - of course - keep an eye out for fashion in unexpected places.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   --Marisa