While the theme of the 2016 Rio Olympics Opening Ceremony seemed to be 'prep school blazers' there were plenty of country's that ventured outside of the blazer and white pants memo. Here are a few of the highlights that you might have missed.
1. Tonga
I’m sure you’ve heard of Tonga's walk in the opening ceremony by now, or you’ve at least seen the picture of their flag carrier – Pita Taukatofua (who competes in Taekwondo). Who needs a costume when you have a well-oiled, shirtless man lead out your country?
2. Canada
I’m not sure what was happening with these uniforms but Canada decided on baggy blazers in red, with a layered bottom? They look mildly like something that you stole out of your father’s closet, but also like you're the coolest kid at the hockey game. They were designed by the Canadian brand Dsquared2.
3. Indonesia
And the award for the most regal outfit goes to Indonesia. Their traditional outfits were topped with large, glittering golden hats that were very popular on social media. While I'm not thrilled with the red and white blazers that the rest of the team was wearing, they get bonus points for not going with a safe tracksuit.
4. Sweden
While I wouldn't look at Sweden's shiny, neon yellow tracksuits and immediately think they were designed by H&M, that's who made them. If nothing else, they certainly stood out among the other countries. My personal favorite combination is the jacket paired with running shorts.
5. Montenegro
Beauxbatons (the magical school from Harry Potter) is a real school apparently and they sent their students as the Montenegro Olympians. Their matching light blue outfits could be replicas of those used in the films.
6. USA
The American Olympic outfits made our team look like they went to a prep school situated in Martha’s Vineyard. From the boat shoes to the white pants to the blazer it was very “My dad owns a yacht.” These costumes were designed by Ralph Lauren, who has designed the uniforms for the past five games. There has been criticism circling around them saying that when the blazer is buttoned up, it looks like the Russian flag.
7. Australia
If Team USA was a prep school then Australia was the rival prep school. While America’s boat shoes read “frat bro” Australia veered more towards “formal beach wedding.” Their outfits were designed by Australian brand Sportscraft, with shoes from Tom’s.
8. Croatia
They looked like they were the happiest NASCAR pit crew to make it to the Olympics. The red and white checkered uniforms are based on their flag, but put together it just looked mildly like an eyesore. Bonus points for the guts to propose that design, though.
9. South Korea
Korea got the prep school memo and was quite possibly the happiest prep school students at the Olympics. The dark blue blazers and matching white fedoras bring up images of Dalton Academy from Glee, but in the best way. They were designed by the Korean brand Beanpole, and were actually made with mosquito-proof materials.
10. Norway
Leave it to Norway to show up dressed like your divorced uncle who moved to the beach a couple years ago. Norway has been known to show up with unusual uniforms, though, making news for their 2010 curling team's truly phenomenal pants. They sported several flamboyant patterns to the Sochi Olympics in 2014 as well.
11. The Human Directional Arrows
My personal favorite of the night, though, were on the screen the entire time. That's right. The human directional arrows whose job was to tell the athletes where to go. They spent the whole night dancing, holding hands and wearing the best outfit of the night. Where do I sign up to be one?
