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  1. #1
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    Land of free, home of beret! Olympic uniforms for USA’s preppy squad




    U.S. Olympians Told To Ditch The Cowboy Hats In Favor Of . . . Berets…

    Will they also wave white flags?


    Land of free, home of beret!
    Olympic uniforms for USA’s preppy squad

    By DAVID K. LI and ANDY SOLTIS

    Last Updated: 9:37 AM, July 11, 2012

    Posted: 1:30 AM, July 11, 2012
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    Our Olympic heroes will be headed off to London this month — looking as if they’re decked out for a Hamptons lawn party.

    Ralph Lauren yesterday unveiled the preppy parade uniforms that Team USA members will wear at the July 27 opening ceremony, stirring an uproar over pricey duds fit for a regatta.

    The outfits include blue blazers, cream-colored trousers, white skirts — and berets.

    “2012 US Olympic team is wearing berets. Really? America?” tweeted John Lee Rudnicki, a Los Angeles entertainment lawyer. “How many people in the US have you ever seen wear a beret? Five?”
    TOP THIS! This model dons a chichi new uniform that will have our Olympians looking ready for a Newport yacht club.

    “What the France?” tweeted Greg “Hollea” Rachal, a political activist and former Jacksonville, Fla., City Council candidate.

    The company said the outfits embody “the spirit of American athleticism and sportsmanship.”

    They’re free for the athletes, but won’t be cheap for us everyday couch potatoes.

    A men’s shirt goes for $89.50 and flat-front trousers cost $295.

    A women’s blazer sells for $598.

    Women can also spend $29 for flip-flops, $50 for a vintage jersey tank top and $55 for a newsboy cap. A $10 polo-pony pin is a bargain.

    For men, the team’s red-and-navy tie goes for $125, a belt is $85 and the obligatory white shoes — it is before Labor Day, after all — run $165 a pair.

    More casual menswear includes $40 sports caps, $29 sandals and $145 polo shirts.

    There’s also other Team USA gear, including a $225 backpack, a $225 duffle, $60 beach towels and a $164 twill tote bag.

    The double-breasted men’s blazers and the women’s blazers feature both the official Olympic and Paralympic Team patches as well as an embroidered Big Pony, the Lauren logo, on the chest.

    Despite the critics, the outfits won the gold with some fans.

    US soccer cutie Heather Mitts, who modeled the caps on the “Today” show yesterday, thought her beret partner, medal-hopeful fencer Tim Morehouse, looked really sharp.

    “Great to meet you today,” Mitts, a two-time gold-medalist, tweeted to Morehouse. “You rocked the beret. Good luck in London. Will be cheering you on!”

    On “Today,” Morehouse, a two-time Olympian who grew up in The Bronx, declared his outfit “really cool.”

    Ryan Lochte, the 27-year-old upstate New Yorker who is looking to add to his six Olympic swimming medals, told USA Today he liked the “very clean-cut” look.

    “The Olympic wear makes me feel so patriotic, and RL even provided clothing for my family, and they love it,” he said.

    Paula Scott, from Scottsdale, Ariz., said outside the Upper East Side Ralph Lauren store that the designs were “classic and not tacky at all.”

    “Ralph Lauren is always very classic. It’s so all American,” Scott, 47, said.

    US Olympic berets aren’t new. Powder-blue versions were such a hit when the Americans wore them at the Winter Olympics in 2002 that they quickly sold out at stores around the Salt Lake City host site.

    David Lauren, the company’s executive vice president of advertising, marketing and corporate communications, said the retro look of the uniforms was inspired by photos from the US Olympic Committee’s archives.

    These included photographs from the 1948 London Summer Games.

    “Knowing that we were going back to England, there was a feeling of ‘Chariots of Fire,’ ” Lauren said of the design team.

    He said the outfits represented “an updated take on Old World elegance.” And the berets? He called them “really fun.”

    The outfits, as well as the more casual garb for wear in the Olympic Village — all provided by Lauren — were under wraps until they went on sale yesterday.

    A portion of the proceeds from are earmarked for Team USA.

    This is the third time Ralph Lauren has been the official outfitter for the US Olympic and Paralympic Teams.

    Additional reporting by Gillian Kleiman

    Read more: US Olympians get preppy new uniforms from Ralph Lauren - NYPOST.com




    Hmmm Flags and outfits all made in China...are you impressed yet???

  2. #2
    Senior Member AirborneSapper7's Avatar
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    US Olympic uniforms look French, made in China

    By Donna Cassata July 13, 2012 6:55 am

    WASHINGTON (AP) - Uniforms for U.S. Olympic athletes are American red, white and blue - but made in China. That has members of Congress fuming.

    Republicans and Democrats railed Thursday about the U.S. Olympic Committee's decision to dress the U.S. team in Chinese manufactured berets, blazers and pants while the American textile industry struggles economically with many U.S. workers desperate for jobs.

    "I am so upset. I think the Olympic committee should be ashamed of themselves. I think they should be embarrassed. I think they should take all the uniforms, put them in a big pile and burn them and start all over again," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, told reporters at a news conference on taxes.

    "If they have to wear nothing but a singlet that says USA on it, painted by hand, then that's what they should wear," he said, referring to an athletic jersey.

    House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters at her weekly news conference that she's proud of the nation's Olympic athletes, but "they should be wearing uniforms that are made in America."

    House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, said simply of the USOC, "You'd think they'd know better."

    In a statement, the U.S. Olympic Committee defended the choice of designer Ralph Lauren for the clothing at the London Games, which begin later this month.

    "Unlike most Olympic teams around the world, the U.S. Olympic Team is privately funded and we're grateful for the support of our sponsors," USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky said in a statement. "We're proud of our partnership with Ralph Lauren, an iconic American company, and excited to watch America's finest athletes compete at the upcoming Games in London."

    Ralph Lauren also is dressing the Olympic and Paralympic teams for the closing ceremony and providing casual clothes to be worn around the Olympic Village. Nike has made many of the competition uniforms for the U.S. and outfits for the medal stand.

    On Twitter, Sandusky called the outrage over the made-in-China uniforms nonsense. The designer, Sandusky wrote, "financially supports our team. An American company that supports American athletes."

    Ralph Lauren's company declined to comment on the criticism.

    In fact, this is not the first time that Ralph Lauren has designed the Olympic uniforms. Yet that did little to quell the anger among lawmakers. .

    "It is not just a label, it's an economic solution," said Rep. Steve Israel, a Democrat, "Today there are 600,000 vacant manufacturing jobs in this country and the Olympic committee is outsourcing the manufacturing of uniforms to China? That is not just outrageous, it's just plain dumb. It is self-defeating."

    Israel urged the USOC to reverse the decision and ensure U.S. athletes wear uniforms that are made in America.

    Sens. Sherrod Brown and Kirsten Gillibrand, both Democrats, sent letters to Lawrence Probst III, chairman of the USOC, complaining about the made-in-China uniforms. Brown suggested that the USOC find a manufacturer with a facility in the United States, suggesting the Hugo Boss plant in Cleveland.

    "There is no compelling reason why all of the uniforms cannot be made here on U.S. soil at the same price, at better quality," Gillibrand and Israel wrote.

    In a tweet, U.S. track and field Olympian Nick Symmonds, who will compete in the 800-meter run at the London Games, wrote: "Our Ralph Lauren outfits for the Olympic opening ceremonies were made in China. So, um, thanks China."

    This is hardly the first time patriotism has been discussed when it comes to Olympic clothing. The must-have souvenir of the 2002 Salt Lake Games was a fleece beret, something that athletes wore in the opening ceremony and prompted countless people to spend hours on lines waiting to purchase during those Olympics.

    Those berets were made by Roots, a Canadian company that was the official U.S. team outfitter for that opening ceremony. ABC World News reported Wednesday night that the uniforms were made in China.

    ---
    Associated Press writers Tim Reynolds in Miami, Alan Fram and Jim Abrams in Washington and Samantha Critchell in New York contributed to this report.

    » US Olympic uniforms look French, made in China » News -- GOPUSA
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  3. #3
    Senior Member SicNTiredInSoCal's Avatar
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    I dislike everything about them. They are very "militant" looking - no preppy. Ugly.
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