The most passive-aggressive reviews of the United States Olympic team’s new gear from Ralph Lauren were probably those directed at Zach Parise by his Minnesota Wild teammates. They stashed dozens of 8-by-10-inch photos of Parise wearing the Olympic team’s garish new sweater around the Wild’s locker room before he arrived for work Thursday. “I got a lot of requests,” Parise said with a sheepish smile, “from guys who want to get that sweater.” The best part of his public — at least on Twitter — humiliation? He may never get another chance to wear the outfit. The United States hockey team will arrive at the Sochi Olympics after the opening ceremony, at which the sweater will make its runway debut, and will depart before the Games end. But since Parise’s teammates are only amateur critics, The New York Times asked some professionals to weigh in.
CATHY HORYN, the fashion critic for The Times: The peacoat is terrific; the cardigan invites comparisons to hideous Christmas sweaters.
That was my initial reaction to Ralph Lauren’s uniforms for the United States Olympic team, and it is likely to be the general reaction. The peacoat, with its distinctive red blanket stripe, is a spruced-up classic that is easy to like, even covet. And it looks sharp with the uniform’s white pants and red-laced black ski boots.
