History of shocking uniforms for major sporting events

NEVER mind how our Olympic and Commonwealth Games athletes are going to fare on the track and in the pool — it’s what they’re wearing that often fiercely divides public opinion.

AUSSIE team uniforms — they can be almost as big a talking point as athletic performances and medal tallies.

Never mind how our Olympic and Commonwealth Games athletes are going to fare on the track and in the pool — it’s what they’re wearing that often fiercely divides public opinion.

Long before they stride out at Games opening ceremonies, the athletes (and to a larger extent the uniform designers) are prone to copping it from the fashion police.

Australia’s competition and ceremony uniforms for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April are being revealed on Friday.

Aussie athletes Gabi Simpson (netball), Britany Elmslie (swimming), Torita Blake (athletics), Matt Hauser (triathlon), Nic Beveridge (para-triathlon), Dom Bedggood (diving), Georgia Godwin (gymnastics) and James Roberts (swimming) will parade the kits at a function at Glitter Strip casino The Star.

The big question is, will this be another epic fashion fail?

Australia’s uniform for the last Commonwealth Games, in Glasgow, was widely panned as one of the worst ever.

The Aussie team shows off the 2014 Commonwealth Games uniforms for Glasgow. Picture: Sarah Matray

“What are they thinking?” news.com.au style commentator Melissa Hoyer opined when the uniforms were unveiled ahead of the 2014 Games.

“They are just a big no, no, no. A true fashion and uniform shocker!

“The array of different shades of green, to oversized lapels, chunky and clumpy knits and those horrible yellow trims around the skirts and jackets.

“Let’s not even start on the asymmetrical hemlines and shoulder attachments.”

Fashion designer Charlie Brown reckoned the Aussie male athletes’ jackets made them look like “Captain Kirk from Star Trek” while their bright green sweaters looked “homemade”.

Elle magazine deputy editor Damien Woolnough, meanwhile, said the uniforms summed up “why Olympians used to perform naked”.

News.com.au readers were asked if they thought the uniforms were ‘a breath of fresh air’ or ‘as ugly as sin’. More than 91 per cent of the poll’s 25,042 respondents plumped for ‘ugly’.

Still, the Aussie uniform was not considered nearly as terrible as Scotland’s.

It could be worse ... athletes from Scotland cheer as they arrive during the Opening Ceremony for the Glasgow Games in 2014. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Fashionistas gave the host nation the gold medal for the ugliest Games uniform, comprising garish blue shirts and dresses and fuchsia and mustard tartan kilts and shawls that resembled picnic rugs.

Slammed on social media as ‘embarrassing’ ‘shocking’ and humiliating’, the Scottish uniform even prompted one angry Glaswegian to launch an online petition — signed by more than 27,000 Scots — to have the ‘truly horrible’ kit replaced.

Our 2002 Winter Olympians were inspired by the Man from Snowy River.

But uniform fashion faux pas aren’t confined to the Commonwealth Games.

Australia’s 1984 Olympic uniform featured cringe-worthy koala, kookaburras and emu prints.

Our 2002 Winter Olympics uniform also drew a frosty reception from fashion critics, with its Man from Snowy River-inspired brown, orange, red, yellow and olive green outfits bagged as looking more like something out of a Harry Potter scene.

Australia’s Olympic team in 2008 looked like they could have also acted as cabin crew for the flight to Beijing.

The bright blue and white Aussie uniform for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was one of the most controversial ever.

Designer Sportscraft was even forced to pen a letter of defence after a public backlash over the radical departure from the green and gold.

Originally published as History of shocking uniforms for major sporting events