This is an example of the white cotton socks that the Australian company, Bonds, manufactured for Games Force 20000 - the accredited workforce of volunteers, contracted staff and paid staff that provided skilled and unskilled labour for the Sydney 2000 Games. As official supplier of the Games Force uniforms, Bonds manufactured around 142,000 pairs of cotton socks for the Games Force team - around 80,000 personnel. These were distributed, along with the rest of the Games Force uniforms, by the Workforce Uniform Distribution Program at Eveleigh.

The basic Games Force uniform comprised drill trousers or a drill skirt, a polo shirt, waterproof jacket, wide-brimmed hat and a hip bag - personnel wore their own shoes. Additional accessories included water bottles, baseball caps and waterproof ponchos. A secondary range of casual clothing was designed for specific personnel, such as ball persons, tennis umpires, and badminton, boxing and wrestling referees. In addition, a formal uniform with drill trousers, business shirt, blazer and scarf or tie, served technical officials and games service personnel. Importantly, the overall image was bright, neat, casual and recognisable.

Wendy Paulucci, Bonds' in-house designer, worked with SOCOG for three years to develop a uniform that would reflect the bright, casual, and essentially Australian mood of the Sydney 2000 Games. The Fluid Energy graphic - a swirling, concentric design - was fundamental to the look and image of the Sydney 2000 Games, and was a key visual element of the Games Force uniform. This theme appeared on all polo shirts and wet-weather jackets to unify the Games Force personnel and to complement the look of the Games.

Enhancing this motif was a vibrant colour palette that was "a celebration of contrasts" and was "like the continent itself". This palette served to brighten the uniform and, most importantly, to delineate each of the service groups within the Games Force team. Sydney blue, the principal colour of the colour palette, was representative of games services; Sydney yellow of spectator services; Sydney purple of transport services; Sydney lime of security services; Sydney red of medical officials; Sydney indigo of technical officials; and Sydney aqua of SOBO - the Sydney Olympic Broadcasting Organisation. These colours appeared on the collars and sleeves of polo shirts and wet-weather jackets - key items within the basic uniform.

The white cotton socks were not designed specifically for the Games Force uniform, but were instead part of Bonds' standard product line.

Bonds manufactured the socks in cotton, nylon and elastine, in Australia circa 2000.

Though these socks are unused, they are identical to those that Games Force 2000 personnel wore as part of their uniform.

Made for and owned by the Olympic Coordination Authority/Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, and donated to the Powerhouse Museum after use in the Games.

Socks, cotton/nylon/elastine, Games Force 2000, Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games, made in Australia by Bonds, c.2000

Pair of Bonds socks, cotton, nylon, elastine, size 2-8

Made: 1995 - 2005

2001/84/598

1995 - 2005