I was indifferent towards it, which I think is a terrible testament about the outfit. If I didn't know better, I would have thought those were regular, off-the-rack suits, not deliberately designed for this event by the prolific Ralph Lauren.

Personally, I think the outfit lacked style. It's nothing special, and not particularly flattering either. JMHO.

I loved the look; I find it to be a very classic, all-american style.

I felt the women could have had a better outfit...

I like it.

Also indifferent. I was surprised to hear they were designed for the occasion, too.

And might not have been the best planned look, given that it was 90+ degrees...I know the thought of a shirt/scarf/blazer/pants/hat ensemble makes me feel sticky right now!

I think Great Britain was the best dressed country.

love it! classic americana!!

Hate it. They could have been going to any ho-hum sailing competition or something. So boring.

I think they looked great but Slovakia had my favorite look of the whole night.

It's smart looking, but I'm not big on the Olympics, so I'm not the best one to judge.

I thought it was tacky.

I wrote about it on my blog... But in my view, the blazers were HORRIBLY made. AND, Ralph Lauren stuck a big @ss Polo logo right on the obtrusive pocket located over the left-side breast.

AND, regarding the poorly placed pocket... THERE WAS ONLY ONE!

It looked off when you got a closer look at them. And, I'm sorry, but where was the EFF-ing red?

Last time I checked, this was America... And our colors are RED, White & Blue. And the blue is NOT NAVY.

It was tacky and wanna-be "Classic Americana." It was "White New England Americana." And it was awful.

Umm, last I checked, blazers have a breast pocket. And ONLY one breast pocket. So, I don't think tacky is the word to describe - more like classic. I think it would have been tacky if they would have worn bright blue, red and white. They looked very nice, clean, and simple. Besides, these people are representing us...why complain and insult?

I thought it was a classic American look that flattered all 650 of the members and at that was very unifying.

Classic and chic. Loved it!

I'm with TheMissus. it's tacky!

I'm in agreement with TheMissus on all counts!

This was a pompous way for Ralph Lauren to promote itself and not our athletes. The uniform is a 9-piece outfit which doesn't take local weather conditions into account. This outfit forces our female athletes to wear neckscarves (!!!) when the heat and humidity are literally oppressive.

The look is more Euro than American. And don't even get me started on the frat-boy newscaps.

The look was so boring. I agree, skirts would have helped differentiate the women from the men. The hats were ridiculous. Very disappointing.

It almost brought tears to my eyes!In a good way. The entire team embraced the classic americana look. I also appreciated the women wearing pants. It beared a certain sense of equality that screamed "We are one" And who better to fit the winning team besides the ultimate American designer Ralph Lauren?

I loved it.

I loved it, mainly because I adore RL and all his "preppy-ness"

While the athletes from all the different countries were parading and being announced, my mom was acting like the fashion police and critiquing each country's outfit. Her comments ranged from thinking some outfits were stuck in the 1970's, some resembled airplane flight attendants, some seemed to be out of Willie Wonka...oh, and one of the country's she thought looked like leprechauns...I think one of the few countries she actually liked were India's outfits, along with maybe one or two African countries'.

love it!!! i wonder which fashion house design for the french team!

I thought the best dressed team was Ukraine. I never would have guessed bright blue and yellow would look so cute together. They look like little Lego dolls (I mean that in a good way). Okay, it's a little on the silly and quirky side, but I like it, it makes me smile.

http://tinyurl.com/5fkrkf

Japan, England and the US all had a similar preppy style. Which I think look good, but it just doesn't stand out as much.

The weirdest one was maybe Hungary:
http://tinyurl.com/5karua

My first thought upon seeing them was: "Did the women take a wrong turn into a paint-gun range?"

Being the home-team, and such a big deal is being made in China about all things Olympic this year, I was expecting China would be better dressed. But OMG, MY EYES! Who vomited up that color combination? And the styling... did they get a discount from a factory that was going to throw out these unsold suits from 1980?

http://www.chinasmack.com/pictures/chinese-olympic-team-to-wear-tomato-s...

I like the blazer look, but I disliked the hats and I think having a choice for women of either pants or a skirt would be nice. The huge Polo logo was beyond tacky - there's a time and place for advertising, Ralph, but this wasn't it.

I think it's the designer behind the outfits as well as the people behind them that is symbolic. Ralph Lauren is classic american and represents a part of american fashion that we should be representing at the olympics

totally agree with you, PIPEEPOODLE!
these athletes are representing us! no need to be insulting~ besides, they were only worn for a matter of minutes. AND can you think of any other fashion house who could have fully grasped that all american look as well?

More like a matter of hours. The opening ceremonies lasted quite a while.

I agree with Fab -- white skirts for the women would have been better. Also I thought those caps were ridiculous.

come on, I loved USA outfits, they were one of my favourites)
watch Russia-classic skirt and trainers look horrible together.=/// I have been disappointed.(((

I thought they looked better in closeups than in the long walk shot (esp the ladies jacket, very cute close-up) but where's the color Red??

liked the outfits, minus the giant logo, which i thought was tacky. i actually liked the women in pants. i would have hated to see flippy tennis skirts on them, mostly because i hate flippy tennis skirts, but also because it would have ruined the look that ralph lauren was going for.

love it....GO USA

love it. we look nice.

I liked the outfits overall (even without the red). I think the skirt idea for the ladies would have been lovely too but I think it's possible they chose not to so they didn't offend any of the other countries present. Some cultures/societies still don't like women showing their bodies off, and at such a major world event it could have been seen as tacky to have the ladies even in tennis skirts. Just a thought...

I thought they were one of the best dressed teams (this is coming from a Dutch person)! They had the classic American look, and they were stylish without being too boring. I didn't think it mattered that the men and women were dressed the same. That shows the strength of the design; it's diverse enough to be unisex.
Congrats too Ralph Lauren and the USA for having such a great looking and strong team!

Oh and TrendyTurtle, there were plenty of teams that had women wearing skirts so I don't think that was a reason for the pants

I thought everyone looked like men too, Fab...

Ralph is an American staple, i love it.

i love the blazers! they're so chic. then again, this is totally my style, and i'm not surprised some people don't like it. WAY better than the cowboy hats from a few olympics ago.

Is this the US Olympic team or some private school kids at a pep rally? Nothing about these outfits say USA except that they were designed by RL.

I hated it. I felt it didn't speak to what they did and where their passions laid, it looked like they were some prep school in a parade. What is wrong with simple, comfortable athletic clothing?

It was waaaayy better than what some other countries had on! I loved it, US were by far the best dressed.

I thought they were just ok. My first impression was that they were the navy coming in...where was the red? Didn't like the hats, but did like the blazers. Agree that the women could have been different with skirts. Also, I think Bermuda shorts would have looked really good instead of the pants. RL didn't seem to take into account the temperature! Don't mind the logo as I didn't even notice it, and it such Polo style to have the logo somewhere.

bontongirl I totally agree with you!! RL is the classic Americana designer. We looked classic and stylish. The only "fly in the ointement" was the Polo Pony on the breast pocket. RL did not need to advertise and it took away from the look. By the way the neck ties and scarves did have red in them. I love the look. GO USA!!!!!!!!!

I thought they looked fabulous. I like how he made it so everyone looked the same as to represent one united country not divided by gender.

Personally, I would have hated to be in a skirt (some of those looked incredibly stuffy) for hours. It may have been a few moments on screen, but those people were wearing those backstage for hours waiting for the Parade of Nations. I would have liked to be comfortable and they looked incredibly comfortable.

Regarding to blazers, blazers have only one breast pocket\0 and it's always on the left. I've never seen a breast pocket on the right unless it's double breast pockets. Women typically don't have a breast pocket, but since was about unity it makes sense. It's crisp, clean and probably incredibly comfortable. The hats made sense too. I wouldn't have anyone seen my sweaty head. It probably was incredibly hot in the stadium.

i thought it was a great look especially representing for the US of A...but the part when you (Fab) talked about the the women i did not see anyting wrong with them at all. I mean the point was also to look like they are all united and Ralph did a great job. And do you see some of them in the crowd that did their own style also

since I didn't watch the opening I can't say. But, the white pants do stand out,I'll say that. Something to distinguish the women from the men might have been more interesting.

Love the look for men. However, I think they could have added a more feminine touch to the ladies' uniform.

I didn't mind the unisex look. In fact I preferred it. They're athletes coming to a international platform to perform their best and I think thats what should stand out not their gender.

With that said the irritation I feel comes from the "All American" look comments. "All American" is a narrow view of America, and despite my love for preppy, I think its tacky to continue to represent all of America via this very exclusive lifestyle associated with this kind of clothing. Plus I don't think the military feel or sheer amount of clothing is comfortable or friendly to other nations.

here's some pics for people who didn't get to see it all
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/sport/olympics2008/features/article_14...