The Olympics Are Coming!!

THE OLYMPICS ARE COMING!! THE OLYMPICS ARE COMING!!

Well, they'll be here in TWO days. `=D And, I, for one am psyched. Now, you're probably wondering what the Olympics has to do with fashion. Well, just about everything. Not that couture gowns & designer handbags aren't everything in fashion, they are. But, athletes and the sports they do have an influence on everyday dressing. We probably wouldn't have Polo if we didn't have polo players, and Lacoste if no one played tennis. Okay, maybe not, but you get the idea. With the games in Vancouver coming up (opening ceremony is Feb. 12 on NBC), alot of focus is on the USA Olympic Team's uniform. That's what everyone always wants to see during the Olympics.

For the last few years, the Canadian clothing company, Roots, has designed the team uniforms for both the USA & Canada during the Olympics (both summer & winter). However, that all changed in April of 2008, when Ralph Lauren won the contract to outfit the USA team for the Beijing Summer Games. I remember watching the opening ceremony and getting excited to see the USA team in their RL uniforms, and I have to say, you couldn't mistake them for another company. I always thought that seemed to be the problem when Roots did the USA team uniform, they looked like the Canadian team. The USA team looked every bit of summer Americana that only Ralph Lauren could do.


(USA Summer 2008 Olympic Uniform)

If there were any other way for the USA team to look more American, this was it. I was in love with their uniform, and almost bought something from the line myself, but I held back since...Well, I was broke at the time. LOL.

As much as I love the games, I wasn't all into the Beijing Games b/c I'm more of a winter girl. My birthday is in the winter, and my favorite sport is a winter sport (figure skating)... AND part of the Winter Olympics.

This year, the 2010 Winter Olympics will be taking place in Vancouver , CA. I've noticed that these winter games has brought on a big surge of American pride, but I say it's b/c Canada is close to the USA. The last time the USA hosted the winter games was in 2002, in Salt Lake City, Utah, not long after 9/11.

On Friday, when Team USA marches into Vancouver at the opening ceremony, they'll be sporting Polo once again!! I've seen the mens' collection at work, and I already love it. It's really nothing new, and not exactly a departure from what Polo does normally.



Women's Skinny Fit Polo $125

What I like about Polo doing the Olympic uniforms is that once they go on sale, you can wear these items year round, Olympic year or not. It's a great way to show off your American pride, or pride for another country, since Polo has an option on it's site to select another country to put on the polo. If only they had the Philippines, I'd soOo order mine NOW. LOL.

Now, for the Olympic fan looking for the more, "souvenir" type of memorabilia, Polo has you mind also!




Awesome, no? LOL. I'd probably wear this, just not together.

My favorite part of the opening ceremonies is always seeing the athletes rock the team uniform. Since it's not Friday yet, the Ralph Lauren site has a feature that lets shoppers take a peek at some of the athletes representing USA. I chose the figure skaters b/c they're the ones I'm more familiar with.

Tanith Belbin & Benjamin Agosto:

I was never into ice dancing, but I've seen these two perform in person and they're amazing. They're considered major medal contenders this year for the games, and the irony is that Tanith is Canadian. LOL. They won a silver in Turin, 2006, and were lucky to just get there to skate since it took awhile for Tanith to gain US citizenship (in order to represent the US in an international event, you must be an American citizen). In Turin, Tanith was also named the "Hottest Olympian." LOL.

Evan Lysacek is our hope for a gold medal in the men's event. If he ends up with the gold, he'd join a handful of male skaters who have achieved the same feat. It's scary to think, the last man who won gold for the USA (in figure skating) at the winter games was 22 years ago!! I haven't seen him skate in person, but I have watched his career since he debuted as a senior. He's only gotten better, and I have a slight bias with him b/c he's coached by Michelle Kwan's former coach, Frank Carroll.

Now that I've given you a brief history of the Winter Games' uniforms (sort of) and a slight overview of some of the athletes, I hope you all tune in while the games are on, even if you're into a sport or not. It's just a nice time to cheer on the USA and keep things light, even though there are more important things going on in the world. And, remember, it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game. Corny? Yes. However, I've seen athletes during the games give their best and their all, to come so close to a medal, but coming up short and learning something that they'll keep with them for the rest of their lives. I consider that more important than winning a medal.



"Success isn't always measured by a gold medal."