Can Australia just settle on a sports uniform already?
Like most Australians, I get a swell of pride when I see the green and gold battling away on the sports field. Doesn’t matter the sport, event or who we’re playing again.
Despite not usually enjoying watching sport, when it comes to competing against the world I enjoy nothing more then seeing the green and gold trump anyone who gets in our way.
With this in mind though I’m the first to acknowledge that green and gold doesn’t look too crash hot off the field. That’s why we always have a separate uniform for off field antics.
Yesterday corporate uniform designers Table Eight Corporate unveiled the Australian team uniform for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
Unfortunately, to say our sports team is having an national identity crisis would be an understatement.
Whilst they’ve managed to keep the green and gold intact for onfield play, Table Eight’s off field designs are reminiscent of something you’d expect the Wiggles to wear if they’d been invited out to corporate dinner.
Both sexes are donned in ridiculously shiny cheap looking grey pants, shorts and a skirt making our athletes look more at home on Lygon Street then the world stage.
The guys are then demoralised in a ridiculously bright orange shirt and deep blue polo shirt.
The orange shirt is just a giant no on its own and the polo shirt? Firstly what the hell are you doing wearing a polo shirt with business slacks, and secondly – tucking it in?! WHO TUCKS IN A POLO SHIRT?!
For the ladies we’ve got an uninspiring ill fitting grey woman suit that looks like it fell off the bargain rack at Myer, and what appears to be a yellow top someone stole from a primary school student. All that’s missing is some knee high 1980′s principal socks in beige.
Clearly whoever put Table Eight in charge has given them absolutely no guidelines and the company has taken it upon themselves to try and re-invent our look.
The problem?
What the hell does orange, bright blue, light green and yellow have to do with Australia?! Show anyone these colors and you’d be hard pressed for them to make the link.
It’s obvious that Table Eight have gone for the desert sand, sun, ocean and greenery colors in a weak attempt to represent Australia but unfortunately it just doesn’t work. When it comes to sport Australia will always be known for green and gold and the ever more appropriate dark blue of our flag.
For me this means a much more respectable suit offering, similar or identical to what was worn at the Sydney Olympic games;
Can whoever is in charge of handing out the responsibility of designing our national sporting attire please in future provide some ground rules and limitations. Lest our country continue to be a visual laughing stock on the world stage.
Why on earth do we have to deviate from what is a classical smart look? Sure it might not scream ‘LOOK AT ME!‘ or ‘HAY EVERYONE, I LOOK SO RIDICULOUS I COULD ONLY BE FROM AUSTRALIA!‘ and it does look a bit flight attendanty, but hey it’s still a damn sight more respectable then turning our athletes into kindergarten teachers.
Table Eight, hang your heads in shame.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:49 am Leper(Quote)
The designs aren’t clothes that are meant to be worn, they’re clothes that have been designed to show off the artistic capabilities of the designers to other designers.
The folks at Table Eight and everyone else in the fashion industry are probably quite proud of the innovative and bold design, while the rest of Australia has a similar reaction to you and wonders why the hell we send our athletes overseas dressed in brightly-coloured clownsuits.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:11 pm Andrew M(Quote)
As someone who lived in India for a few months during the same seasons the CWG are running, I can tell you, that the uniform would have been designed with comfort in mind.
it will be sweltering hot, and humid as buggery, so whoever did the design will have had that in their brief.
It’s also damn hard to do anything inventive with green and gold!
September 5th, 2010 at 9:39 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
@Leper
To what end though?
I mean this year Table Eight design some ridiculous costumes for our atheletes to wear… then some other designer company tries to one up them and on and on it goes.
Sports uniforms (off-field) should have some aura of respectibility around them, letting the fashion industry turn it into a catwalk competition is ridiculous.
@Andrew
Yeah I agree green and gold isn’t appropriate for off field uniforms, but that’s where the dark blue comes in. Green and gold rocks the field and dark blue looks decent off field.
Why do they have to completely stuff up what already works!