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The official sweaters of the USA Olympic team — as modeled by these Today show fartknockers above — went on sale on Ralph Lauren’s website for the cool price of $595. Like anyone would actually pay nearly $600 for a hideous sweater that looks like it cost $8 at a thrift shop, right? Wrong. Because they immediately sold out and now those with the entrepreneurial spirit are selling them on Ebay for thousands of dollars. USA! USA! From the Huffington Post:
Despite the mixed reviews, the $595 sweaters and matching $195 pants have already sold out on Ralph Lauren’s website. For those yearning to wrap their bodies in the chunky knit, however, a select few are selling on Ebay for prices as steep as $3,000.
Correction: They were selling for prices as steep as $3,000. At the time of this writing they’ve gone up way past that.
On the plus side, at least you’re paying the price of a modest used car for good old American craftsmanship:
While the opening ceremony outfits for the London Games were made in China—a decision that received much criticism–this year Lauren opted for American producers.
“I guess in searching for vendors, somehow they found us,” Elizabeth Park, owner of City of Commerce factory where the sweaters were produced, told The Los Angeles Times. “We were so shocked.”
“One sweater takes more than 12 hours. Lots of hand whip-stitching, and it goes through many hands,” Park told the news outlet.
Call me old fashioned, but if I’m going to pay $5,000 for a sweater, not only do I want child labor from China to stitch it, but I want an actual proof of certificate and maybe a handwritten letter from that child. Getting actual Americans to produce overpriced, disposable crap is pretty much the least American thing I’ve ever heard of.
