You Jia Shao

Fewer Olympics have been more fashionable in recent history. We had the honor of viewing Kate Middleton and the rest of the royal crew in full garb on several occasions, the chance to gab about Ralph Lauren and his supposed ‘faux-pas’ of manufacturing U.S. Olympic clothing in a country other than the United States, and, most importantly, there were cuties aplenty who showed us their athletic prowess while ‘medaling,’ and helped ensure NBC make good on their multi-milion dollar Olympic-sized investment.

However, this Olympic also heralds another era. The Chinese reminded us of their ever-growing strength and presence once again, many times surpassing us in gold medal count. Now, to be sure, none of us have forgotten about 2008, or possibly can for the coming five decades, but the Chinese will not let a chance slip by without reminding us of their ensuing dominance.

On a similar note, Ralph Lauren had manufactured his U.S. Olympic team clothing in China. As a fashionista, I hold no special grudges against the clothing. The Prince of Prep presented us with a preppy set of Olympic uniforms. To his defense, it is not easy to make Olympic sporty uniforms. One’s designs have to conform to the varying public ideas of Americana, be plenty photogenic as the media transmission is of paramount importance, be versatile enough to fit varying body shapes and and be on-trend enough to the fit the context of British Olympics. I was not disappointed, but I was disappointed with the reception of the idea of his clothing being manufactured in China. I believe that the American public is somewhat naive in the thought that in this one-off circumstance of designing Team USA clothing, Ralph Lauren would somehow contract this very important task to a solitary factory in the United States when he hasn’t had manufacturing done in the States for years. For better or worse, the American workforce is not equipped to handle the workload or the task of making clothing on this scale. In addition, the man probably has many other things to worry about besides making sure that the American public is happy with this one aspect of his clothing.

On another note, this Olympic was especially aesthetically-pleasing with Ryan Lochte and Gabby Douglas, along with a number of other Olympic beauties. I am always thankful for the Summer Olympics for its skin-baring qualities. However, I was confused about the usage of the word ‘medal’ as a verb. It seems to me that it’s an extension of laziness. It seems as though it’s almost to much sometimes to ask someone to put on clothing. Alas, what is to be? I hope that despite the challenge of Chinese dominance, we as Americans find our place and can put emphasis on the important things. Surely, our future depends on it.