Althouse: "… every douchebag in an ’80s teen movie. It’s like they took James Spader and turned him into clothing."

August 9, 2016

"… every douchebag in an ’80s teen movie. It’s like they took James Spader and turned him into clothing."

"Ralph Lauren needs to have this commission forcibly yanked out of his hands. It’s time for Michael Kors to have a shot at the U.S. team uniforms."

39 comments:

PB said...: Please eradicate the short sports/suit coat for men along with the skin-tight pants. Please.; 8/9/16, 11:23 AM
rhhardin said...: More plaids.; 8/9/16, 11:25 AM
rhhardin said...: Teen movies are awful.

Juno is great, so it's not teens per se.; 8/9/16, 11:27 AM
mockturtle said...: Anglophile that I am, I thought the UK contingent looked great. They are representing their countries, not making a fashion statement.; 8/9/16, 11:42 AM
CJ said...: There's obviously some kind of standard to which the national team designers must adhere -the fashion should be judged on that basis.; 8/9/16, 11:43 AM
rhhardin said...: Rush is in the plain blue suit talk mode. I've found that Klavan's podcast is posted around 1:30 eastern time, which gives something else to listen to that's actually interesting.

Through the magic of software, it's possible to still record Rush to the HD archive while playing and listening to the Klavan podcast at the same time, with a single computer.; 8/9/16, 11:44 AM
bagoh20 said...: Maybe the ancient Greeks knew something about making athletic young people look good. "Better than nothing is a high standard."; 8/9/16, 11:54 AM
bleh said...: I really liked our outfits. The comment you highlight makes no sense at all. James Spader and Billy Zabka never dressed anything remotely like that in a movie.; 8/9/16, 12:02 PM
'TreHammer said...: I liked the shoes.; 8/9/16, 12:02 PM
Etienne said...: Michael Kors

Give me f'n break...; 8/9/16, 12:13 PM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: James Spader is cooler than Tom and Lorenzo.; 8/9/16, 12:20 PM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: Tom & Lorenzo had some interesting things to say about the reasoning behind the costuming decisions in Mad Men.; 8/9/16, 12:31 PM
jr565 said...: I really liked our outfits. The comment you highlight makes no sense at all. James Spader and Billy Zabka never dressed anything remotely like that in a movie.

in PRetty in Pink Spader was a little more douchey in that he wore a buttoned down shirt open with no undershirt under a suit jacket. These guys are wearing a casual t shirt.

Both have shoes with no socks. I dont know if it looks douchey on these people so much as overly casual.

But I do note that if they dress overly conservative we are told they look like accountants. and if they dress more casaully they look like flight attendants. And if they look more casual than that they loook like James Spader from the 80's. Im not sure then if there would be any look that these athletes could have worn that wouldn't get them singled out for wearing the wrong thing.; 8/9/16, 12:41 PM
jr565 said...: South Africa looks like they're dressing up like Kick Ass, from the movie Kick Ass (appropriately named) (in 2nd link about trends of Olympics)
Is it better to look like that? or like a busboy at a country club?; 8/9/16, 12:48 PM
Jaq said...: Cargo shorts, a Gilligan hat, and muscle tees for the men. All with proper flag motifs, and they can wear a navy blazer over it if the situation calls for it.

Women? Sun dresses and straw hats. Always appropriate for young women.; 8/9/16, 1:02 PM
JAORE said...: Tom and Lorenzo also had a post on the best dressed teams. Fist out of the box? Australia. And the men were in , horror of horrors, shorts!

Ms. Althouse might have to find another go-to source of fashion witticism.; 8/9/16, 1:20 PM
Marc in Eugene said...: Why are there children carrying potted plants at the head of each contingent? Is that the nod to 'climate change' that people were talking about? I really don't understand, all too often.; 8/9/16, 1:26 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Let's switch to neon, sleeveless "Sun's Out, Guns Out," shirts.

I actually like all of the outfits at the link. They look like uniforms because they are uniforms.; 8/9/16, 1:39 PM
Ficta said...: I'm not a fashion hound, but I liked them, they made me think of the "Men's Olympic Team" outfits in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes; 8/9/16, 1:46 PM
mgarbowski said...: The Spader reference is not that the athletes are dressed like James Spader. They're saying the outfits they wear make them look like d-bags. And James Spader in a 1980s movie is the definition of d-bag.
Pretty in Pink
Mannequin
Less Than Zero; 8/9/16, 1:48 PM
Wilbur said...: Zimbabwe ... landscapers?

Tom and Lorenzo clearly have never done any landscaping work. I'll leave it at that.; 8/9/16, 1:50 PM
rehajm said...: If you want the prototypical 80s douche you pick anthony michael hall.

Tom and Lorenzo have a communal crush on James.; 8/9/16, 2:00 PM
MacMacConnell said...: Tom and Lorenzo don't like Ralph because he's straight. Why wouldn't Ralph costume the Olympians in traditional American costumes. The only criticism I have is that the pants are too tight and jackets too short. Of course that's the FASHION trend of the last decade, it exposes a guy's ass and junk, something I'm sure Tom and Lorenzo love.
Ralph like Brooks Brothers are the original American style. Anyone miss Levi's Olympic cowboy outfits? How about Halston's Olypic studio 54 outfits?; 8/9/16, 2:16 PM
traditionalguy said...: I suspect that the Olympic guys thought PEDs being banned meant no Performance Enhancing Duds are allowed.; 8/9/16, 2:25 PM
readering said...: It's for Television. Should be a little over the top. They wear it well. And I'm no particular RL fan. Ovepriced.; 8/9/16, 2:26 PM
MacMacConnell said...: @Ficta
"Men's Olympic Team" outfits in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", you can't get anymore American tailoring than that, prue Brooks, navy blazer, white OCBD, rep tie, oxford gray pants and white bucks.; 8/9/16, 2:34 PM
SukieTawdry said...: I didn't think much of anyone's opening ceremony garb this year although I thought the Peruvians looked great. A simple and stylish look that evoked their traditional dress and worked equally well for the men and women. Loved the ladies' pashminas and the men's hats!; 8/9/16, 2:45 PM
Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: What's wrong with dressing as did contestants in the original Olympic games?
http://olympic-games-history.blogspot.com/2011/09/ancient-olympic-games.html; 8/9/16, 2:54 PM
Big Mike said...: I was wondering what tom & Lorenzo would say when they finally got around to saying it.

Not Ralph Lauren's best effort, that's for certain.; 8/9/16, 3:23 PM
jr565 said...: It could be worse. The athletes could wearing stuff like this:

http://fashionista.com/2016/01/gucci-mens-fall-2016; 8/9/16, 3:46 PM
jr565 said...: Or this:
http://www.refinery29.com/5638

Imagine if the whole team came out dressed like any one of these monstrosities.; 8/9/16, 3:48 PM
Bill Peschel said...: I can appreciate bitchiness for its own sake, so T&L were amusing.

I just don't understand those shoes on the American team. Who wants to be told to watch men's feet?; 8/9/16, 4:00 PM
William said...: Dowdy clothes are the national costume of Great Britain. Even their soccer yobs look dowdy........The good thing about designing clothes for Olympic athletes is that you don't have to hide paunches or minimize fat asses. You can be more daring in your fashion choices when you have an Olympic body. Except for weight lifters and shot putters. They're eyesores and shouldn't be allowed to participate in the opening ceremonies.; 8/9/16, 4:31 PM
Jaq said...: The Olympics should be a global fertility festival.; 8/9/16, 4:52 PM
Bad Lieutenant said...: Blogger tim in vermont said...
The Olympics should be a global fertility festival.
8/9/16, 4:52 PM

It's not?; 8/9/16, 5:19 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: RL was probably excited to be able to use tight, white pants. Those could only be part of uniforms for very fit people.; 8/9/16, 5:27 PM
wildswan said...: "jr565 said...
The athletes could wearing stuff like this"

Or this:
http://destinationkors.michaelkors.com/runway/lookbooks/spring-2016-men/; 8/9/16, 6:30 PM
SweatBee said...: I didn't care for the shirts on the U.S. team. They needed eye patches to complete the preppy pirate ensemble.; 8/9/16, 7:40 PM
Herb said...: other than the shirt didnt mind them. the shirts made them look like the russian navy; 8/10/16, 10:00 AM