Certainly no latex outfits were seen at the 2016 Olympic opening ceremonies (none of us were expecting any, were we?) but there was color and a good amount of diversity in what was worn. It was textile art of the highest order from some of the world’s biggest designers and even some traditional garb seen on the waving smiling athletes as they came into Maracanã Stadium.
Lots was made about Ralph Lauren’s entry for Team USA. His color scheme for the shirts the U.S. athletes wore (red, white and blue, imagine that?) was said to resemble the Russia flag colors in the way the design was laid out. Still, his blazers and skinny white jeans looked clean and perfect.
On the modern side of things, blazers did seem to be the order of the day: Canadian athletes walked in wearing bright red jackets with a white maple leaf on the back; Australia’s participants wore gray blazers and white shorts; Portugal short tight jackets…and jeans; Norway’s white jackets were adorned with dizzying red and blue curly cues.
The non-traditional (at least for a modern look, yet certainly “traditional” in the real sense) Burundi athletes sported leopard print, holding wooden staffs….while sporting bright green Nikes. The Cameroon team wore dashikis, a good portion of the Indonesian contingent came in wearing gold crowns and causing more controversy than Ralph Lauren’s colors even, the Tonga team had their taekwondo competitor, Pita Nikolas Taufatofua bare-chested and well oiled, bearing their flag.
When it came to these particular Olympic games nobody actually knew (or even still knows) what to expect. Deplorable athlete housing conditions, Zika virus scares and the recent mugging of Ryan Lochte and his teammates certainly speaks to certain obstacles heretofore unrealized in Olympic history.
Still the men and women coming into that stadium looked great in whatever wardrobe they were wearing.
