By Jenna Clarke and Mary Ward From The Sydney Morning Herald

The Olympic Ceremony: Where the sport is always great and the outfits resemble a Contiki tour.

BEST DRESSED

AUSTRALIA: As fresh as a lemon, lime and bitters on a hot day.

CAYMAN ISLANDS: With their unassuming straw hats and little cotton dresses they look like they’re on holiday.

DENMARK: Gigi Hadid meets Princess Mary. Simple red with a bold white sneaker, it’s a blue blazer, but the cut makes it seem like a dark wash denim.

UNITED STATES: The US took Opening Ceremony style to a new level this year. Their Ralph Lauren numbers had more red, white and blue than Taylor Swift’s 4th of July party.

COOK ISLANDS: Great green column dresses teamed with fresh flower crowns. The female athletes look like they’ve just come from a beach wedding.

MALDIVES: More like Mal-divas. A great gold and red combo with glitzy accessories.

THE NETHERLANDS: They look like what Germany were trying to achieve – simple grey red and blue colour palette. Just like an COS catalogue.

TONGA: WITH ABS LIKE THAT WHO NEEDS A UNIFORM? Tongan flagbearer Pita Taufatofua and his well oiled torso became the stars of the athletes’ parade.

SIERRA LEONE: One word for this dress: wearable. The nautical number can take you from day to night or Olympic Opening Ceremony to a cousin’s wedding.

RUSSIA: How do you bounce back from a doping scandal? Put on a happy face and a red velvet bow tie, that’s how.

WORST DRESSED

GHANA: Ghana are just attending an Ugly Sweater party? This is not a kitsch house party. While those skirts are very Gucci resort, this ensemble is busier than Pitt St during peak hour.

CUBA: In those tracksuits, designed by shoe designer Christian Louboutin, the Cubans appear to have dressed like the Florida retirees who are now allowed to holiday there.

EGYPT: Just look like they’re heading to work. The men dressed like Wall Street and the women from a Kath & Kim episode.

HONDURAS: Honduras’ mum was a worried about them going on school camp all the way to Rio, so she wrote their name on their clothes as she packed them in their bags.

OMG SWEDEN: Did the H&M design team get drunk with ABBA?

IRELAND: There was a bit of backlash from Irish designers when the country’s Olympic committee announced they had chosen US company New Balance to design and manufacture the country’s kit. The resulting blue and green onesie will surely encourage Ireland to think locally when prepping for Tokyo 2020.

CHINA: Local production houses were too busy making Australia’s uniform so Team China had to make do with leftover fabric. The result? Rainbow ties and red suits reminiscent of Baby John Burgess.

ITALY: Velour? Did Armani even know where they were going?

GERMANY: Miss Trunchbull called and wants her outfit back. Tights under skirts? Raincoats? Germany didn’t get the memo it isn’t the winter games.

POLAND: World number one-level athletic competition on the top, music festival on the bottom. “Oh hey, after I run this race let’s head to Coachella to catch the final Calvin Harris set, k?”

NORWAY: Any athlete with eyes who saw that pattern should have jumped ship to Denmark before they qualified.

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – AUGUST 05: Flag bearer Federica Pellegrini of Italy leads her team during the Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Maracana Stadium on August 5, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

JAPAN: The help desk at Westfield Parramatta called and want their uniforms back.

GREAT BRITAIN: Two months post-Brexit and Britain have already lost their European style. You had one job Stella McCartney, pretty sure ill-fitting coats wasn’t on the brief.

IMAGES:
Jessica Fox (C) and other members of the Australia team take part in the Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Maracana Stadium on August 5, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo: Getty
Caroline Wozniacki carries the flag of Denmark during the opening ceremony for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 5, 2016. Photo: Getty
Members of the United States team take part in the Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Maracana Stadium on August 5, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo: Getty
Pita Nikolas Aufatofua of Tonga carries the flag during the Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Maracana Stadium on August 5, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo: Getty
Sergei Tetiukhin carries the flag of Russia during the opening ceremony for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) Photo: AP
Mijain Nunez Lopez carries the flag of Cuba during the opening ceremony for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 5, 2016. Photo: AP
Flag bearer Patrick Barnes of Ireland leads his team during the Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Maracana Stadium on August 5, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo: Getty
Therese Alshammar carries the flag of Sweden during the opening ceremony for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 5, 2016. Photo: AP
Members of the China Olympic team takes part in the Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Maracana Stadium on August 5, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo: Getty
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – AUGUST 05: Flag bearer Federica Pellegrini of Italy leads her team during the Opening Ceremony (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) Photo: Getty
Tonga’s Australian-born flagbearer Pita Nikolas Aufatofua has proven that less is more. Courtesy of the Seven Network

For more on this story and video go to: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/rio-olympics-2016-opening-ceremony-best-and-worst-dressed-20160806-gqmisv.html

Related story:

West Palm-based clothing company dresses Cayman Islands Olympic team

From Palm Beach Post

Island Company — which has several stores, including in Palm Beach, Naples and on Grand Cayman — designed the 1930s throwback outfits worn by the Cayman Islands delegation during the Opening Ceremony of the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

The company’s creative director, Spencer Antle, posted a photo of the team members in their outfits Friday night on his Instagram account.

According to a report from Radio Cayman, the designs are based classic outfits of working class Cayman Islands residents.

“Island Company strongly supports the Cayman Islands and for the Cayman Olympic Team to approach Island Company for this involvement is a great honor,” Antle told Radio Cayman.

Want the look the Cayman Islands Olympic team is wearing?

A dress in the same pattern and a similar cut to those worn by the female Olympic team members is available on the Island Company website for $185, plus shipping.

The men are dressed in linen shirts — which sell for $135 to $145 plus shipping — and also appear to be wearing the company’s Beachcomber pants, which sell for $145.

IMAGES
Flag bearer Forbes Ronald of the Cayman Islands leads his team during the Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Maracana Stadium on August 5, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
A West Palm Beach-based clothing company dressed one of the Olympic teams for the Parade of Nations Friday night.

For more on this story go to: http://malled.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2016/08/05/west-palm-based-clothing-company-dresses-olympic-team/