The Olympics are a lot of things. They’re competitive, patriotic, inspiring, shocking, amazing, controversial, and thrilling. What the Olympics are not exactly known for is fashion, yet every two years, alternating between summer and winter games, every country must don a new and “up-to-date” set of clothes, usually designed by a major brand.
Canada’s official Olympic clothing is available through Hudson’s Bay (Official Outfitter of the Canadian Olympic Team), Canadian Tire/Sport Chek/Sports Experts (Official Sports Store of Canada’s Olympic Team) and Adidas (Official Supplier of Footwear to the Canadian Olympic Team and an Official Licensee of High Performance Apparel) both at retail and online. Don’t be fooled by impostors. Nike, Roots and many other companies have stepped up to the plate in the past, too. It doesn’t mean it’s always good.
Here are few fashion fails you can look forward to at this year’s Sochi 2014 Olympics:
The Norwegian Curling Team
Remember the flashy pants the Norwegian curling team donned in Vancouver 2010? They had a few different versions of an argyle print pant in red and blue, their country’s colours. This year, they’re back bigger and better: they have full suits, this time in a zig-zag pattern. They’re funny and definitely get noticed on the ice, but we don’t think they’ll be selling many of these to fashionistas around the world.
The Canadian Hockey Jerseys
We’re sad to say, but this year’s team Canada hockey jerseys are just plain bad. There isn’t even a whole maple leaf on the front! Tsk. Enough said.
Team USA’s silver jackets
So most of team USA’s Nike-designed clothes are actually pretty great (I reluctantly admit I like some pieces better than what I see in the Canadian collection, and the Ralph Lauren coats are really nice). But their silver “Aeroloft 800 Summit Jacket” their athletes will wear to collect medals? Awful. Also, not practical – it’s not exactly cold in Sochi, like we might expect (hello 10 degrees Celsius and higher, lately!) and these jackets are down-filled puffers that look like they came from outer space. Americans will be sweating on the podium and if they win silver medals, we won’t even be able to see them against these horrific coats.
Team Germany’s everything
People are saying team Germany’s rainbow apparel is a subtle backlash at Russia’s anti-gay laws coming into the Olympics. Team Germany says it has nothing to do with that, their clothes are just “trendy.” Since when was throwing up every colour onto puffy, shapeless clothes trendy? At least we’ll be able to spot the Germans wherever they are.
We’re sure more awful Olympic fashion will crop up over the two weeks of the games and we can’t wait to see it. More importantly, we’ll be cheering for team Canada – no matter what they’re wearing.
