(CNN) -- When people across the world tune in to the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics on Friday, regular TV programming will be set aside for pageantry and pomp. Amid all the attention to the "Made in China" controversy about Team USA's uniforms, little has been written about their design. But if numerous online slide shows ranking the best and worst of the opening ceremonies uniforms are any indication, the design is what we're most interested in. Opinion: Why not make Olympic uniforms in China? Nations did not always wear uniforms in the Olympic Games, and the United States did not adopt a cohesive look until about 1920.
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Paul Achter: In Olympics, uniform is a calculated part of each nation's global image
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Achter: Team USA's 2012 opening ceremony uniforms draw from military style
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Critics charge that military fashions are a problem because they aestheticize war, he says
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Achter: How about getting Betsey Johnson to design our uniform for the next Olympics?
The 2012 Olympics uniforms are another in a long series of salutes to and affirmations of the @placeholder military.