Shit! Whatever happened to a nice neutral navy blue or red blazer with a small US flag patch on the breast with a white shirt and navy blue trousers? You know, sedate and classy … what is with the ugly sweater party clothing?
Can you imagine how the USA Hockey team feels?
First, they were given these Union Pacific shield jerseys, which are beyond pathetic. And then, they have to wear Grandma’s Christmas Sweaters for the opening ceremonies.
Nike screwed up the hockey jerseys… Not surprising. I would have said “thank god” they didn’t get the OC outfit contract, but maybe, just maybe they would have come up with something better than these awful things.
As to the Hockey jerseys, why can’t we just go with the simple “USA” in block letters like they had in the 1980 games? (There is a pic of a similar-looking jersey at the bottom of the link I posted for this year’s jersey.)
Simple is usually the way to go for jerseys. USA is hard to screw up, but Nike did it.
The U.S. doesn’t, actually. These are the worst by a long short, and the Norwegians still majorly beat our action on ugly.
Yeah, those jerseys are bad. What’s the point of putting fake laces on the front?
What’s the point? Design is the interplay of shape, color, texture as well as meaning. I’d assume that older hockey uniforms had laces, so it’s an homage to the past.
On a general note, what most people don’t seem to appreciate in this thread is that there is an element of pageantry to the Olympic Games and a big part of this pageantry has found expression through the national uniform.
I think they’ve done a marvelous job.
America’s national expression of pageantry: “We don’t have to prove anything”
That’s certainly not what I see in that outfit. I see a tremendous amount of thought behind the concept and design.
As a 20+ year graphic designer, I wonder what the opinion of other designers are.
Designers?
I imagine that one’s reaction to the Olympic outfits is tied heavily to one’s tolerance for kitsch. Seeing big buff athletes walking around in snuggly patchwork Americana makes me happy, and it seems almost avant-garde when compared to sportswear’s ubiquitous sleek, streamlined, modern look.
The other Olympic outfits are kitschy too, but more tame. I could totally rock that moose sweater. 
I see a tremendous amount of drugs behind the design, and about 5 seconds of thought. Fugly doesn’t cover it. Everyong involved with the design out to be taken out back and shot for the good of the People of the World.
Homage to the past? How about if you want to pay homage to the past, you just put actual, you know, LACES on the damn jersey? Fake laces are not paying any homage to anything other than tasteless design.
And the stars? WTF? These uniforms are being worn by grown men, not some 12-year old girls for a “princess pageant”.
What you don’t seem to get, is that pageantry or not, these uniforms represent us, the American people. I don’t want anyone to represent my country wearing an outfit that looks like some drunken grandmothers stitched it together during a quilting bee/drinking game. Yeah, the grandmas had some fun, but look at the results.
“Design is the interplay of shape, color, texture and meaning”? Wow, that’s deep. Could design also include something tasteful and stylish, that doesn’t make our athletes look like a bunch of red, white and blue clowns? It looks like Betsy Ross threw up all over these sweaters.
And yet that’s the suit that will be worn.
I’d try to get used to it if I were you.
But I hate to get in the way of a good snit.
So by all means, be peeved.
I completely agree. It’s a fun look. Textural. Happy.
It’s the opposite of what I normally expect to see American athletes wear.
Happy?
You and I have very different definitions of that word, apparently.
But then I’m not a designer, so what do I know?
Glad I have your permission to dislike the design. :rolleyes: And this isn’t a “snit”. It is a critique. The outfits are fugly.
Why do I have to get used to it? I don’t like it. I am not alone. Just because you do like it doesn’t somehow make you the swami of taste. Or texture. Unless, of course it’s bad taste and bad texture that we are talking about.
Hey, if you like the ugly Christmas sweater look, good for you. You are not alone. There are a ton of women over 50 in the US that have closets full of them. Just go to any mall in Anytown USA during the Christmas season and you’ll see them. But no one has ever accused any of those women to be fashionistas. In fact, I’ll bet Stacy and Clinton would make the US Olympic Team throw these things in their trash cans before heading out on the town for a shopping spree. The bad news is these outfits cost over $6k, and “What Not To Wear” doesn’t give you that kind of cash.
I wouldn’t let my dog curl up on one of these sweaters to take a nap. A dump, sure, but not a nap. I wouldn’t want the poor little guy to have doggy nightmares.
You can’t talk about the US Hockey Pajamas without linking to US’s secret weapon, Phil Kessel, the super sexy tiger.
And, as a counterpoint to them, check out the Slovakian jerseys. That’s what a beautiful, inspired, patriotic, and forward-thinking hockey jersey looks like (minus the fake-ass laces, of course.)
I mean, just compare it to 1980 – no comparison, at all.
I’ve sat though countless design critiques and I can’t remember the last one that was so … so … simple.
A critique requires you to not only say you don’t like a design, but to describe why you don’t like a design, what you think would work better.
So by all means critique. But try to go beyond merely proclaiming the design is “fugly”.
Well, you’ve managed to make me feel a little better about the uniforms now. I love the concept of a quilting bee / drinking game.
Adding more words does not always add more meaning.
*I’m *a graphic designer and I’ve sat through plenty of client meetings where the client comes in and goes “ummmmmmm… nope.”
“Fugly” is valid in this case because they are, in every sense, “fucking ugly” – atleast according to traditional Western aesthetic standards of “ugly as fuck.” No symmetry, cluttered, cartoonish silhouette (those oversized boots make them look like Megaman), etc etc. You know, fuck ugly. But as you say, it’s pageantry, and in pageantry you can only stand out by being the loudest person in the room, and in that sense they’re successful, in that they are the knitted essence of a thousand screaming refugee orphans.
(I like them, but I like them because they’re so outrageously hideous. That seems to be the point, after all.)
So I’m guessing seeing who can come up with the worst fashion will be a new Olympic event?
These things are truly hideous.
ZebraShaSha - Agree with you completely on both Slovakia’s jersey (a thing of beauty), and the 1980 jerseys. Those are the best national jerseys the USA has worn in my lifetime. The only thing that keeps the Slovakia jersey from getting a 100% grade from me is the hideous Nike “swoosh” on the front. Not Slovakia’s fault, but I hate Nike for slapping their logo on the front of a jersey instead of on the sleeve, like most other companies.
Remember thesehideous jerseys? Nike created these also, and I absolutely loathed the “S” on these. This design hung around for quite a while, and if my memory serves, the national baseball team wore a similar jersey when they played as well.
But the “wavy S” is much better than the Union and Pacific Shield they are wearing this year. I NEVER thought I’d ever say I’d prefer the “wavy S” to anything, but i do now. Only Nike could out-ugly themselves.
I know it’s all about money and generating jersey sales for Nike, but can’t they tweak the jerseys a bit without changing the USA font/theme on the front of the jersey? Why does Nike have to piss all over the design? They clearly have the ability to create beautiful and stylish (see Slovakia). I just don’t understand who OK’s these USA things.