While some viewers of the Winter Olympics are fixated on medal counts or the hundredths of seconds separating winners and losers of the luge and giant slalom, there’s also a style competition underway.
From the sleek speedskating and downhill racing suits to the over-the- top ice dancing costumes, it’s a race to the fashion podium for athletes from dozens of countries.
The United States has scored well overall in Vancouver. The opening statement was made when the American athletes wore Ralph Lauren’s classic parkas and fleece pants at the opening ceremony. (Good luck trying to find one of the reindeer knit hats or the boys’ hat with Olympic rings that Lindsey Vonn has sported in numerous photos: For now, they’re sold out on the company’s website.)
High marks also go to design leader Burton for the U.S. snowboarding outfits. Competitors such as Shaun White were kings of the hill wearing the company’s old-school plaid jackets and Gore-Tex pants that looked like distressed denim. And the serene blue of the U.S. speedskating uniforms belied the intensity of such competitors as Apolo Anton Ohno and Shani Davis.
We’d take points off the U.S. style score for the star-patterned Under Armour suits that had a cartoonish quality, worn by the freestyle skiers and others, and the faded denim-hued Nike podium jackets that might have looked great live but were dull on TV.
In contrast, it was hard to take your eyes off the bold Bogner jackets and vests worn by the German skiers. In their pink, white, black and yellow, the women looked like Neapolitan candies. The men wore a similar look, but with blue vests. (The German athletes doubly scored, considering the vests sell for $900 and the jackets are $1,200 on Bogner’s website.)
Other standout fashions have included the red Russian hockey jerseys emblazoned with a coat of arms and Cyrillic lettering, the slick gold-and-black uniforms worn by the Japanese speedskaters, the candy cane-striped suits worn by the Swiss skiers and the graphic black-and- white suits worn by Bulgaria’s downhillers.
The Canadian freestylers also sported a sweet freestyle suit on the slopes — in a deep red print. Speaking of red and Canada, the universal favorite accessory of the Games has to be the Hudson’s Bay Company’s red mittens with a maple leaf and Olympic rings. (While HBC was selling them for $10 in Vancouver, sites like eBay and Amazon listed the mitts at $39.99 earlier in the week.)
An entire story — or perhaps a cautionary tale — could be written on the topic of ice skating fashion. Yes, we know the costumes are supposed to help complete the artistic and athletic statement — but with all the rhinestones and trailing ribbons in the pairs and ice dancing outfits, it’s hard to concentrate on the triple toe loops and twizzles. The Russians have been particularly egregious aesthetic offenders this round of the Olympics, but we admit to getting a special thrill every time Johnny Weir glides onto the ice bedecked in beads and feathers. And props go to Vera Wang, who designed the cool snake motif outfit worn by Evan Lysacek.
Finally, how about the artistic value of the medals? With bold “statement” necklaces all the rage right now in the fashion industry, you can’t make a much stronger one than by wearing a wavy palm-sized pancake of metal. But considering the medals look more like hockey pucks than a piece of jewelry, we’ll subtract a few points.
Suzanne S. Brown: 303-954-1697 or sbrown@denverpost.com
