Olympic style: Hockey fans, curling moms and Wayne Gretzky

Sports fans might frown on fashionistas for the time and money we spend on our appearance. But guess who has joined the party?  The stadiums here in Vancouver are packed with fans – from infants to grannies – who are wearing their hearts on their sleeves, sometimes literally.Amid negative headlines about bad weather and cancelled tickets, fashion is emerging as the good news story of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Hockey fans sport hair dyed in team colours. Curling moms forgo blush in favour of glittery flag decals. Children are decorated in Olympic pins. And you can’t walk three steps anywhere without seeing an official HBC Olympic scarf, jacket, hat or mittens.

At the Bay in downtown Vancouver, fans are lined up every day from 7 a.m. to shop the Olympic superstore. And at HBC’s posh VIP lounge in The Loden Hotel, designer Tu Ly and The Room creative director Nicholas Mellamphy have outfitted Wayne and Janet Gretzky, Sandra Oh and a host of athletes.

“It’s nostalgic, it’s fashionable and it makes you feel like you are part of the Games!” commented Gallant Law of his HBC buffalo check scarf and hand-knit curling sweater. The head of sponsorship marketing for Visa was attending a wine tasting with Margrit Mondavi–just one of many ancilliary events that is keeping the streets packed and taxis scarce here in Vancouver.

Mondavi, meanwhile, was rocking brown Issey Miyake tunic and pants–still stylish at 84!

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