What to Wear: Parade of Nations

What to Wear: Parade of Nations

Not that anyone asked me, but I thought I’d take a stab at coming up with a better Ralph Lauren uniform for the US Olympic team:

Women
Dress – Celine pleated wrap dress. These women have the best figures in America…they deserve to show them off a bit. A wrap dress is flattering on everyone from the tiniest gymnast to the tallest basketball player.
Belt – A navy wide belt.
Shoes – Basic peep-toe navy wedges.
Jacket – For people wanting more coverage. Wear this linen jacket with the belt on top.

Men
Shirt – A classic white shirt rolled at the sleeves. No gigantic Ralph Lauren logo.
Tie – Navy and red stripes.
Pants – Basic blue slacks.
Shoes – Brown slip-ons.
Belt – Brown suede.

That took me 15 minutes and doesn’t involve any ridiculous sneakers, hats, ascots or logos. More appropriate for the hot weather and event, and also more like how Americans regularly dress.

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There are 12 comments for this article
  1. Amy at 7:19 pm

    THANK YOU! I was so unimpressed with what they came up with for the US to wear. I know there might be some traditions when it comes to what they wear for the opening ceremonies, but I like your ideas much better! I felt so sorry for them having to wear what they did – they must have been so hot an uncomfortable.

  2. Jessica at 7:22 pm

    I love everything, except I still think the men need jackets. I agree that the more casual look is more like what Americans would wear day-to-day, but the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics is hardly an everyday event!

  3. Leslie at 7:40 pm

    you’re a genius. those swimmers would look rather hot in that outfit you put together! 🙂

    love the red dress, too, and i agree that it would look great on all sorts. great job. ralph ought to give you a call.

  4. mrsem Author at 8:29 pm

    If it were less than 90 degrees, definitely a jacket for the men. And no track suits like some countries (cough Canada and Australia cough) went for.

  5. Alicia at 12:26 am

    Way better than the Ralph Lauren get-up… I agree that the blazers are a nice touch for the men and I love the dress for the women – they looked pretty blah in the unisex outfit that Ralph came up with! In the Style section of the NY Times there is some interesting commentary on the fashions of the parade – he liked the Australian’s track suits!

  6. Lindsay at 3:01 am

    “Not that anyone asked me, […]”

    Oh, but they SO should have! I love it. 🙂

  7. Anonymous at 4:24 pm

    I personally LOVED the African native dress. Such lovely colors and pride in their origins. Obviously the USA couldn’t have similar attire.

  8. mrsem Author at 4:27 pm

    I love the African outfits too. What would be the US equivalent?

  9. Jenny M at 8:43 pm

    Much better!!! I am so excited- we are headed to San Fran in early Sept. and your posting of cooler temps is so exciting! It was 107 last weekend in Texas!!! (and I was in a tennis tournament- awful)

  10. porter hovey at 1:27 am

    Yes, I totally agree. The RL outfits were horrible. Anything would be better. Jeans and tight t-shirts would be cute. Or letter jackets. Lovely combination that you put together. Super cute and I just adore that red dress!! We should show off how hot these athletes bodies are!

  11. stella g. at 2:54 am

    thank you! i’m so glad someone else thinks suits-for-all is ridiculous. i didn’t get a chance to watch the walk-in so i looked up some pictures afterwards. i kept looking for the girls – i couldn’t believe they were dressed just like the guys! so silly.

  12. Katie at 4:15 pm

    That’s almost exactly what I was envisioning for them! Except the dress I had in mind was a red and white print, high waisted, draped number with a low/no back. It’s HOT there and these ladies have amazing muscles and backs. They should show off the results of all their hard work!

    Our team looked like they were roasting in the sun.