Who's Who in the Figure Skating Fashion World? | Golden Skate

Who's Who in the Figure Skating Fashion World?

April

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 4, 2003
Hello,

I am a huge fan of figure skating. I am not that suave on techique, but I surely am a fan of skating attire. Who are your picks for the best dressed skaters? Who are some of the top designers?

Michelle Kwan--SP The Feeling Begins
Maria B- all of her designs

Who lacks stye?

Weiss-All bland and predictable
 

berthes ghost

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
It's very hard to get info on designers unless one is in the skating world. For a fan, the best one gets is when Peggy casually mentions her friends.

AFAIK, the big 3 are:

1. Jeff Billings: nominated for Emmies, he designs all the costumes for SOI. Skaters include Lulu, Angela, MK & Sarah.

2. Lauren Sheean: She was big in the 80s & 90s, maybe a bit "over" by now. Skaters include Kristi, Jill, Surya, Scott D, Nicole, & Debi.

3. Vera Wang: Only designed for Nancy and MK, and Peggy as a pro, but gets lots of press.

I won't get into who's well dressed and who's not, as it's all subjective. I mean, somebody must think Ice Dancers are stylish or they wouldn't keep wearing those hideous attrocities.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Berthes Ghost - Your take on ice dancers is a hoot. I have to agree with you.

My suggestion for good skating attire: any style the designer would like, but nothing too close to the knees for the ladies. IMO, the shorter the skirt the more the skater show's off her balletic line and posture. Sequins, rhinestones, beads, etc., to attract the audience and not distract the skating.

Men's costumes - as simple as possible. This is a sport. Save the glitz for the exhibition.

Joe
 

lil_icesk8er915

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Cool!

Cool topic! Here are mine:

Shizuka Arakawa--Swan Lake SP

Michelle Kwan-2002-2003 Short (I agree April, that dress was was great!), "Fields of Gold" and "Fallin"

Sasha Cohen--2001-2002 Short, 2002-2003 Short and Long at Nationals (I agree aly*cutie, that dress was beautiful!), "Hernando's Hideaway"

Ann Patrice McDonough--2001-2002 Short and Long, 2002-2003 Short and Long

Nicole Bobek Costumes

Tara Lipinski--1997-1998 Long

Surya Bonaly Costumes
 

Antilles

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
My personal fave costumes are Marina Anissina in her Romeo and Juliet dress, The first pink dress that Megan Wing wore this year in her FD, Alexei's MITIM (2002) LP costume. Michelle's FOG dress.

That's what I can think of off the top of my head. That being said, costumes are subjective, and it doesn't really matter what a skater wears. So long as the outfit isn't so distracting you only see it, and not the skater, and so long as it doesn't become dangerous to the skaters, they can wear whatever they want.
 

SusanBeth

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Jennifer Robinson always looks so elegant.

I've always wondered, why ice dancers get away with those long, ragged skirts that hide the line of their bodies. You would think, the judges would mark down for that. That is- if the judges are actually watching.
 

NanSinger2

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Re: Cool!

lil_icesk8er915 said:
Cool topic! Here are mine:

Shizuka Arakawa--Swan Lake SP

Michelle Kwan-2002-2003 Short (I agree April, that dress was was great!), "Fields of Gold" and "Fallin"

Sasha Cohen--2001-2002 Short, 2002-2003 Short and Long at Nationals (I agree aly*cutie, that dress was beautiful!), "Hernando's Hideaway"

Ann Patrice McDonough--2001-2002 Short and Long, 2002-2003 Short and Long

Nicole Bobek Costumes

ITA with these. I don't like Irina's costumes or Sarah's for the most part.
 

BravesSkateFan

Medalist
Joined
Aug 7, 2003
best dressed

I loved both Michelle's dresses from the 01-02 season (Shez and Rcah) and her LP dress from this year (Blue Aranjuez dress). AP's dresses are always really pretty and I loved Sasha's Malaguena dress and the blue one she wore for the Nats exhibiton. I liked both the blue and the white dresses that Fumie wore for her Swan Lake LP as well. Alexei's MITIM, timmy's An American in Paris, L&T's OD and LP costumes from this season and I LOVE S&Z's Turandot costumes too.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
I have to say that anything Jef Billings has a hand in is the BEST... he really knows how to "dress a skater" for "any occasion"

Josée Chouinard is also becoming quite the fasion designer... some of her dresses she designed are just gorgeous!
 

Sweetie

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 7, 2003
I *loved* Shae-Lynn Bourne's FD dress this season... it worked with the music and I liked the lace-ish top and the raggedness of the purple skirt.
 

sk8guy2k2

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
I think that Michelle's are absolutely wonderful-so elegant, but I can't help notice that the one she wore for "Aranjuez" looks like the yellow one which looks like the red one which looks like the purple one and so on....
 

April

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 4, 2003
Oh,

AP-her outfits seems a bit flashy, but it works on her. Many people couldn't get away with it. I hope she changes her look, something subdue pleasing to the eyes.

JK-she is opposite of AP. she needs some flash. Her outfits are wonderful, just a tad plain. By far, the piece dress was her 2003 US LP one. JK is getting better each year.

MK-she has the best dresses, at times. What gets me is her affinity to find colors that blaze, scream, or shout "all-eyes-on-me"--that canary yellow, blues, tans. With that, I think she should be commended for taking more risks in the hue direction. By season end, no doubt, MK has plicked up another gown that's alway more "appropriate" and "practical" for her musical selections (music has "coloring" that cannot be ignored).

Sasha-sasha has style and flair. Her dedication to find the right look is great. I like the more subdue on her. The dropped V line, risky business I say, was not her best outfit. SC is however getting drawn into a traditional style, coach T, enough said. I hope her flair isn't driven away to much, daring colors would work for her.

Sarah-well sarah, please stay competitive. Her dress warrant a fashion thumps up. Her appearance ( yes, subjective and a bit shallow, we all know looking good counts, get over it) improvements only make her more charming on ice.

The US men don't carry a flame for fashion. The guys are in a fashion rut, in my humble opinion. TG and JW may rise to the challenge and create new male fashions.
 

berthes ghost

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
"I have to say that anything Jef Billings has a hand in is the BEST... he really knows how to "dress a skater" for "any occasion"

Jeff has designed dozens of winners over the years, but also some things for which I will never forgive him. The group number costumes from 00 SOI: like getting slapped accross the face. I also wouldn't be surprised if he had a hand in those hideous ketsup to mustard fade things that Meno & Sand wore (97 worlds for example) and that Sasha keeps cutting up and making her own. Ugh.
 

kappa_1

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 2, 2003
...I can't help notice that the one she wore for "Aranjuez" looks like the yellow one which looks like the red one which looks like the purple one and so on....



Could not have said it better myself.

I also love anything worn by Sasha and Liashenko's recent dresses.
 

Panther2000

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
For me here is my quick list

Michelle of Course:)
I loved both Dresses for the olympics in 2002. That indgo Blue dress was to die for with that hemline.
Both Versions of her East of Eden Dress( exhibtions)
This Past season. Both dresses were great.
But, I think my total favorite dress was the in 1998. Her Long program Dress( the plane Blue one) I think Billings did that dress for her. It was So simple but yet she made it look Classy & beautiful.
Sasha:
She too has beautif dresses.
I liked the blue one with the see through top this season.
I think my Favorite of hers was her 2000 LP. The white one. That one looked really good on her.
Her SP Dress from this past season was pertty too. Not Great but pretty. I hated that LP dress she designed. It would have been better if she had done something different with the neckline. That low cut does not suit her.

Fumei(sp) I love her taste in Dress. Thought, most of them look almost the same. They suite her perfectly.

Sarah: There are only a few that I like. The Dark Blue ( SP at the olympics) & the Black Peek A Boo dress that she wore during ( I think) Nationals. That is it.

Jeniffer Robinson: She is always nicely dressed.
:)
 

Verbalgirl77

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I think Nicole Bobek's outfits from the 1995 season were unbelieveably stunning. Just gorgeous.

I like Michelle's TFB dress from this season, but I'm beginning to think she and Vera are allergic to long sleeves, lol. Her Red Violin is a fave of mine as well.

I don't usually like Irina's outfits but her Carmen LP dress was quite pretty on her.

Josée Chouinard is also becoming quite the fasion designer... some of her dresses she designed are just gorgeous!

What dresses has she designed? I know the outfits she wore during her amateur days were always beautiful.
 

StillBlueLake

Rinkside
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I like Michelle's dresses, but her LP's are starting to look the same (Red Schez, Yellow Aranjuez, Blue Aranjuez). I liked the SP dress for TFB very daring design and a different look. However, she obviously hates sleeves, so that's bound to be a constant :laugh:

I hated Sasha's Maleguena dress at first but it grew on me. And it was better than that LP dress (Nats and Worlds). I didn't think that one looked good at all. It looked ok in the photos where she first announced that she'd be skating in it, but when I saw it on TV, I didn't like it at all.

Sarah's SP dress at Nats was gorgeous, but the rest for this season I didn't feel were terribly attractive. Especially the SP dress for Worlds, I didn't feel that it suited her.

Irina's outfits are usually not that great.
 

Lucy25

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
I find it amusing that people either love Sasha's 2003 LP dress, or absolutley hated it. I am in the latter group - I thought it was awful. I liked all the blue dresses she wore earlier in the season, though.

I loved Michelle's 2003 SP dress the best, but tend to like all her dresses. Her 2003 LP dress is one of my least favorites, though. Kind of the worst of the best.

The only dress of Irina's I have liked is her Schindler's List exhibition dress. It had beautiful colors and a good fit. I prefer her in shorted skirts, and wish she'd quit the longer ones. I know why she wears the long ones, but I don't agree with the reasoning. She has beautiful, fit legs - show them off!

AP's dresses are way too over done. Jenny Kirk and Fumie always look classy.
 
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