Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Olympic Fashion 2008

So last week, I did a prelude to the Olympic fashion this year. Now let's take a quick look at reality. Most teams weren't very exciting and the whole parade dragged, but here are a few of my highlights:
The much hyped up uniform of the US team by Ralph Lauren did not disappoint expectations. It was elegant, smart and clean cut, a very good representation of the US team.
Definitely not as bad and commercialized and humiliating as American Politics made it sound and appear (above right) like. The logos, even of the Olympics were discrete and appropriately sized. And as for the cutting, I cannot quite tell from the pictures, but they appear fine to me. Granted I wouldn't really wear this uniform out in public (being hip and fashionable obviously is not a priority), but given the occasion and how they had to design it for both sex, I thought it was really well done.
Another country I rather liked was Britain. I thought the uniform for women was much more feminine, with the navy dress, white blazer and belt, that gives it more shape. Though I must say, I think the over all look is compromised by the fact that so many of them are wearing the same thing. I know that is the idea of uniform, but... I guess that's why people don't like it when they clash clothes!
A few more examples of potentially cute looking outfits being compromised by replication: France (left) and Romania (right). The French looked simple yet chic (maybe minus the bag though...). The color of the Romanian team's outfit also looks very pretty (though I probably wouldn't wear it quite so matchy matchy). And check out those pumps!

Image Source: American Politics and Yahoo News

V-Neck Shirt By American Apparel

Remember how I did a post of the American Apparel Reglan shirt awhile ago, basically professing my love for them and acknoledging that I had worn them almost everyday last winter and realising I should probably buy new shirts? Well, now that it's summer, I can't really go around wearing the Reglan shirt -it's simply too hot. So not surprisingly, I decided to try out one of AA's oh-so-popular V-neck tees.

We all know that AA is really popular for it's deep V tee, but seriously, the V is so deep that I can't say I actually understand why people even feel comfortable wearing it casually (or not casually.) What's the point of a basic, boring tee if it's not comfortable and I have to spend the whole day pulling my shirt up?

So I stuck to the basic V-neck tee. Before trying on the tee, I imagined that an AA V-neck tee would magically transform my outfit to look cool and all, like you know how it always looks cool on whoever's wearing it in the photos you see in paparazzi or candid fashion photos? Alas, from what I could see in the AA changing room mirror, the tee totally did not make me look any cooler (not surprisingly I suppose.)
The coolest way to wear the AA tee is probably with skinny jeans or denim shorts -they really create a more unisex, effortless feel. Although admittedly, I've been wearing the tee with a denim skirt. And after wearing this outfit a few times, I'm really appreciating how brainless the combination is! (Brainless-ness is clearly one of the key factors to my favourite outfits.)

And yes, I realise the AA tee is totally last year's news, (or maybe even news from the year before,) but hey, at least I'm learning to appreciate this boring (but very useful) basic tee now.

Image Credit: www.americanapparel.net