Q. I have heard there has been criticism of the outfits that Ralph Lauren designed for the USA team to wear during the Olympics Opening Ceremony. Do you know what the complaints were? 

A. I, too, heard that and have been unable to pin down just exactly what they did not like, but do have some opinions of my own

Ralph Lauren has designed outfits for the American athletes for both the Summer and Winter Olympics since 2008. Since the U.S. is competing in many different sports categories, a variety of clothes have featured the patriotic red, white, and blue, using the three colors in various different ways. This year’s collection has certainly become the topic of conversation in the fashion world with praise, complaint, and some simple just non-enthusiasm.

Here is an example of where I can take the overlap of the fashion world and the entertainment world and provide some advice for the non-Olympic male. For those of my readers who look to my column for guidance about what is expected in the way of correct attire, I feel it’s my responsibility to point out the elements that are not strictly correct for a well-dressed man to wear. The RL Olympic designs are stretching what is considered appropriate for the sake of being different. 

I found quite a few styles and combinations that I had problems with. Particularly there were mixes that I felt actually broke many of the rules of dressing well. This is especially true for the blazer outfits they wore for the opening ceremony; they were wrong in several different ways. Among the various mistakes I noticed were: 

BLAZERS – There were two different types of blazers, navy blue ones and white ones. The blue blazers were embellished with showy red-and-white striped trim on all the edges of the jackets as well as on the sleeves and pockets. The white blazers had similar trim in red-and-navy. In addition to the colored trim, both color jackets had the Ralph Lauren polo player symbol and the Olympics symbol adorning the front of the jacket. These were too busy and a bit too focused on the designer branding. 

SHIRTS – The shirts were a bold navy-and-white stripe fabric (casual) with a spread collar (dressy). The casual vs. dressy wasn’t inventive; it was just in opposition to each other. Such a casual shirt pattern called for a simple straight-point collar or a conservative button-down collar. Further, the sleeves on the shirts were too short; they did not extend the requisite half-inch beyond the jackets’ sleeve. This is always a mistake.

TIES – The ties were preppy navy blue knits that are usually fine with a blazer, but not fine here because they used the wrong knot. Knit ties are traditional and should be tied in either a conventional four-in-hand knot or a small triangular single-Windsor knot; instead, they were tied in a more formal large Windsor knot (which does go with a dressy spread-collar shirt, but does not go with such a casual bold-striped shirt). Conflicting styles. 

PANTS – Here was the biggest mistake, because they were unpressed, faded blue denim jeans that introduced a too-casual look and the wrong shade of blue. They did not work well with the crisp dark blue in the blazers, the shirts, and the ties. Many years ago as a young designer, Ralph Lauren caused a sensation in the fashion world by showing up for a black-tie event wearing a beautiful tuxedo jacket with well-tailored dark blue jeans. He could get away with such an overt example of  breaking the rules because he is Ralph Lauren; it was his use of the oft-repeated  “sprezzatura” – wearing something that was purposely not exactly right.  

While there are those insisting blue jeans are quintessentially American, that doesn’t mean the choice always works. And as casual pants they are actually hotter and more rain absorbing in the summer downpour than dress pants would have been. It mostly came off as an opportunity to promote RL jeans.

SHOES – Again, he broke the rules of traditional good taste by choosing white bucks, the ultimate Ivy League look that always says “look at me.” One social influencer described it as “Do you know who my daddy is energy?” They work with a dressier seersucker suit, but do not go with the over-decorated blazers, the noticeable shirts, and the streetwear jeans.       All in all, it added up to a disappointing not-quite-right total of too many attention-grabbing elements that said “much too much” of everything!   

Please send your men’s dress and grooming questions to MALE CALL: Lois.Fenton@prodigy.net