Great Britain: The 2nd Worst Dressed Nation at the Olympics

Olympic Host Great Britain is Also Home to the 2nd Worst Dressed Olympic Team

With the Olympics now official over, we at Bows-n-Ties went back to take another look at the outfits seen during the Parade of Nations. While there were many nations that impressed us with their sense of style, there were others that committed major fashion Faux Pas. Hosting country, Great Britain, was certainly one of the worst fashion offenders. London may be home to the games this summer, but Great Britain didn’t do anything to set themselves in the right direction when it came to the ensembles they wore. The following are a few reasons why GB simply caused a disconnect with what they wore. We put Great Britain on the #2 spot on our list of the Worst Dressed Countries at this Year's Olympics. Here is why:

Tacky Track Suits
Track suits are perfect for wearing to the gym or to running practice, but the Olympics opening ceremony is something that is watched by millions of people. As a result, the fact that GB chose to wear track suits designed/produced by NEXT is nothing short of a mystery. The Olympics are of course all about athletics, but dressing in a way that makes you look as if you just left the gym is something that is nothing short of insulting at such a large event. It’s not necessarily the track suits themselves that caused a disconnect, but the fact that they chose to wear them in the first place; a poor choice by all accounts. Also, very little distinguished the men from the women on Team GB, which left little in the way of contrast.

Flashy Gold
As if wearing track suits to the Olympics opening ceremony isn’t bad enough, Great Britain decided that they needed to incorporate flashy gold into the pieces. It’s clear that the athletes were visible from miles away because of this, but was it worthwhile? Most people will say that it was not. The golf was extremely gaudy, and looked more kitschy than anything else. This is especially true considering the fact that it was combined with such bright whites. While contrast can be effective, this is a great example of how it can be taken too far in certain scenarios. Flashy golds and bright whites create a look that is attention-grabbing, but quite possibly for all the wrong reasons. We would have preferred if the Britain's athletic elite would have reserved the gold for the upcoming award ceremonies.

Takeaways for the Modern Man
The most important thing that you can take away from the way Great Britain dressed for the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony is that track suits are simply not adequate attire for such a huge event. After all, you would never wear a track suit to a black-tie event, and why should it be any different? This look did little to define the culture of GB, which is just one reason why it failed. It’s also wise to avoid wearing flashy metallic colors such as the gold that was part of these ensembles; it causes quite a few more problems than are worth dealing with. Avoid excessive, bold and flashy colors, sticking to neutrals for the most part if you’d like a professional looking ensemble.