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Golden Or Not? Tell Us What You Think Of New U.S. Olympic Uniforms

This image released by Ralph Lauren shows American hockey player Zach Parise wearing the official uniform that Team USA will wear during opening ceremonies for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
AP
This image released by Ralph Lauren shows American hockey player Zach Parise wearing the official uniform that Team USA will wear during opening ceremonies for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

We're not exactly fashionistas here at The Two-Way, but even with our skewed sense of style, we're not sure what to make of the Ralph Lauren-designed uniforms to be worn by the U.S. Olympic team at the opening ceremony in Sochi on Feb. 7.

In this image provided by Loudmouth Golf, members of Norway's Men's Olympic Curling Team are shown in uniform.
Cassie Kovacevich / AP
/
AP
In this image provided by Loudmouth Golf, members of Norway's Men's Olympic Curling Team are shown in uniform.

As one of our colleagues said, the uniform "looks like something your grandmother would knit you for Christmas." CBS Sports made a similar observation: "It's almost like an ugly Christmas sweater vest mixed with some yoga pants."

Gawker called the red, white and blue cardigan sweater with alpaca earflap hat and sweatpants "hideously ugly." The Today show was kinder, describing the "knit patchwork cardigans" as featuring "a classic color palette of red, white and navy" that is "quite patriotic."

At the time of the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London, the U.S. uniforms (also designed by Ralph Lauren) sparked controversy, too. As The Two-Way's Eyder Peralta reported at the time, it had mainly to do with the clothing being made in China instead of the U.S. That concern has been remedied this time around, so regardless of how you feel about the look of the latest uniforms, you can be assured they are "Made in USA."

While the U.S. team might not be entirely happy with the choice of apparel (although we've heard no specific complaints), it clearly could be worse, as evidenced by the Norwegian curling team's uniform, or the uniform worn by Spanish athletes in 2012.

Even so, we understand that these things are subjective, so we're looking for input from our readers. You can vote in the poll below:

You can follow NPR's coverage of the Sochi Olympics at our new blog, The Edge.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Scott Neuman is a reporter and editor, working mainly on breaking news for NPR's digital and radio platforms.
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