Do costumes augment or detract?

1 judge called the costume violation to Bobrova/Soloviev again today at Rostelecom Cup

2 judges called Costume/Prop violation to Max Aaron today

LeeJiHye19 said:

There is such a thing? :shocked: What are the rules?

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Rule 501

At ISU Championships, the Olympic Winter Games and International Competitions, the clothing of the Competitors must be modest, dignified and appropriate for athletic competition – not garish or theatrical in design. Clothing may, however, reflect the character of the music chosen. The clothing must not give the effect of excessive nudity inappropriate for the discipline. Men must wear full length trousers and must not wear tights. In addition, in Ice Dance, Ladies must wear a skirt. Accessories and props are not permitted.
Clothing that does not adhere to these guidelines will be penalized by a deduction (see Rule 353, paragraph 1.n).
For Ice Dance, exceptions to the restrictions may be announced by the IDTC if appropriate to the Rhythms selected for the Short Dance.

Radionova dress for SP this year is an example of how a costume can make a very beautiful girl with an amazing figure look bad. Ditto Tessa Virtue and her SD dress, even though the SC one is already a vast improvement compared to the "stuff" she wore at Autumn Classic. But they are known for frequent costume changes, so there is hope.
On the other hand, I really like Zijun Li costume, she is one of the most consistent skaters in the fashion department. And Kuchvalska's dress reminds me of Yuna's Scheherazade (in a positive way, of course!).

Biellmann said:

Dresses doesn't suit skaters like Hongo at all. Only in trainings outfit her bad posture doesn't look that bad

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Huh? I agree that her FS costume isn't flattering but the SP one is just fine and last season she had 2 great ones in which her losture didn't seem so bad. She can wear dresses alright.

I was at Mao Asada's exhibiton costume at Skate America this year. It does move beautifully as she skates, but otherwise it made my eyes hurt.

If you haven't seen it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPPAArR6HCU

NanaPat said:

I was at Mao Asada's exhibiton costume at Skate America this year. It does move beautifully as she skates, but otherwise it made my eyes hurt.

If you haven't seen it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPPAArR6HCU

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Uck, hideous doesn't seem a strong enough word for that dress.

I agree that Radionova's SP dress was bad. She has a short neck and tends to hunch her shoulders when she jumps, so it is NEVER a good thing when her costume has a high neckline---it makes her look as if her head is sitting right on her shoulders. Her FS costume was fine.

Courtney Hicks has had a history of abominable costumes. She does not have the typical 'ice ballerina' figure. She is short, very muscular, with broad shoulders, short legs, and a short-waisted torso with minimal waist definition. Any costume with a lot of frills or details just makes her look thick in the middle.

At CoR, her SP costume was very flattering because it was relatively plain and a good color for her. But the FS costume bared her shoulders and had intricate strap detail which wasn't really flattering. Tatiana Tarasova remarked that Courtney was 'too overweight' to be a figure skater. Which is definitely not the case, considering that she won the bronze medal and beat two teeny-tiny skaters (Li and Tursynbaeva)!

loopy said:

I thought that costume was some kind of perfection as is. It's the 'idea' of a bird, I loved it.

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I'm sorry but if i never tried to figure out what she was protraying here on this forum, i never ever ever would've known it was supposed to be some kind of bird which is still totally meh.

The closest thing that came to my mind was her trying to look like a dark version of Eve, but a bird? Nope, i never ever would've thought of that, not even in the slightest. Suppose she would be a bird, then the only thing i can think of is something looking half bird half human which is like soooo creepy, yuck!!


While we're at it i feel like discussing one more costume that could've been great.

Let's have a look at Anna's firebird costume shall we?

http://66.media.tumblr.com/45fab4d4db008974333bafcb30861079/tumblr_inline_nmz27biAvN1r28n5b_500.jpg

Now it starts out very pretty and stunning, exceeept her designer forgot to finish her costume as usual. If i take a look at her costume it looks like she's on fire, lordy lord what was she thinking? Is she supposed to be protraying someone being burnt at the stake, like...Joan of Arc? :rofl2: Nope, i'm seriously left clueless here other than laughing so hard at how odd and delirious she looks.

Well, lets see how she would've looked like a true firebird, and it's very simple, really.

All you have to do is replace all that delirious skin on her back and chest with the same reddish color that's on her sleeves. Add these tights below and there you have a real firebird costume instead of just some super tacky eery costume that makes no sense at all.

https://img0.etsystatic.com/030/0/7360282/il_570xN.652686650_sbld.jpg


Having said all that, i've said it before and i'll keep saying it. Skin on costumes never really adds to programs other than trying to show off skin which has absolutely nothing to do with the whole idea of figure skating itself. Showing your bare legs, back, torso etc also gives off a very disturbing and erotical vibe, like you want to suffer to look gorgeous which is top to bottom the dumbest thing that ever happened to figure skating in general, good heavens! :hslap:



I understand that most people love dresses, and so do i, but this is a winter sport on ice where it's cold, not dancing with the stars, the mardi gras carnival, or a beauty contest. :sarcasm: The bottom part always matters.

Firebird music is from the ballet - her dress is not far from the traditional costumes used: https://www.pinterest.com/cynthiavaiden/firebird/

The beauty of skating is it is both athletics and fantasy. Skaters can draw their own ideas on the ice by combining costumes and skating. It would be like watching a musical such as Hamilton where the actors are in their street clothing.

Not sure if folks will welcome these, but I always enjoy the analysis even when I disagree...

Here are Nick Verros fashion reviews for Skate America and Skate Canada 2016

SA men's and ladies'. http://nickverrreos.blogspot.ca/2016/10/ice-styleskate-america-2016-figure.html

SA pairs and dance. http://nickverrreos.blogspot.ca/2016/10/ice-styleskate-america-2016-figure_25.html

SC men's and ladies'. http://nickverrreos.blogspot.ca/2016/10/ice-style2016-skate-canada.html

SC pairs and dance http://nickverrreos.blogspot.ca/2016/11/ice-style2016-skate-canada.html

And even if you don't appreciate his analysis, his blogs provide a really convenient round up of the costume.

Enjoy!

This just HAS to be the worst:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/1b/1f/1d/1b1f1de7c61818376866c56219d9ad37.jpg

No way could I fully concentrate on Julia Sauter's short program ...

loopy said:

Firebird music is from the ballet - her dress is not far from the traditional costumes used: https://www.pinterest.com/cynthiavaiden/firebird/

The beauty of skating is it is both athletics and fantasy. Skaters can draw their own ideas on the ice by combining costumes and skating. It would be like watching a musical such as Hamilton where the actors are in their street clothing.

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I totally overlooked the first part of your post but lets have a look shall we?
Now if i'm correct you mean the traditional costumes like these right?

http://allrus.me/russian-tale-fire-bird/oadoidiaay-eoeea-aead-ioeoa/

http://www.artnet.com/artists/leon-bakst/costume-design-for-firebird-3fJ2-2Qq9rtTTmw0MfDlbg2

So her dress is not far from the traditional costumes right, yeah i don't think so and more importantly, no bare legs either. :luv17:




So all in all, i'm sorry but i fail to see anything athletic about her costume other than what i've already mentioned
And if you're talking about fantasy, it's already there in my previous post.

One last teeny tine thing though, i think Nick should stop analyzing costumes, for the love of god, please.