Figure skating costumes: Behind the glitter and sequins

[lbc2138]

I think this thread is more geared to those who have skated or worked with competitive skaters during competitions and whatnot. I thought this would be a good place to discuss figure skating fashion, for both men and women. Something that is often discussed separately according to the figure skater of course but I thought a collective discussion on good/bad costumes would be great.

I also am just curious about the sport in terms of appearance, never having skated myself but I was a dancer so I understand all the tips and tricks dancers use for makeup, hair, etc.

Some questions to start off would be:

• What kind of materials are used for costumes?
• How do female skaters keep their hair in place? Especially knowing that they'll be rotating quite quickly during spins and jumps.
• What are some of the weird tips/tricks that skaters (particularly female skaters) use to avoid wardrobe malfunctions?
• Can anyone list/think of any wardrobe malfunctions that affected a person's skate?
• Do female skaters use waterproof makeup or not necessarily?

Sorry if this is just a giant silly question but I hope there are others that may be as curious as I am about the more "glamorous" side of competitive figure skating.

 

[ordinary person]

I think this thread is more geared to those who have skated or worked with competitive skaters during competitions and whatnot. I thought this would be a good place to discuss figure skating fashion, for both men and women. Something that is often discussed separately according to the figure skater of course but I thought a collective discussion on good/bad costumes would be great.

I also am just curious about the sport in terms of appearance, never having skated myself but I was a dancer so I understand all the tips and tricks dancers use for makeup, hair, etc.

Some questions to start off would be:

• What kind of materials are used for costumes?
• How do female skaters keep their hair in place? Especially knowing that they'll be rotating quite quickly during spins and jumps.
• What are some of the weird tips/tricks that skaters (particularly female skaters) use to avoid wardrobe malfunctions?
• Can anyone list/think of any wardrobe malfunctions that affected a person's skate?
• Do female skaters use waterproof makeup or not necessarily?

Sorry if this is just a giant silly question but I hope there are others that may be as curious as I am about the more "glamorous" side of competitive figure skating.

That's not a silly question at all but rather pretty interesting

 

[Meoima]

I also opened a thread long ago about make up in men field. In the end I still couldn't tell if some of my favourites use make-up or not.

 

[skatedreamer]

One of the best-known wardrobe malfunctions happened during the 1994 Olympics when one of Tonya Harding's skate laces broke and she didn't have a spare set (duh???). A minute or so into her free skate she stopped and skated over to the boards in tears saying she couldn't continue. The refs gave her a do-over, to be skated @ the end of the group, which forced Josee Chouinard of Canada to take the ice sooner than she had expected and rattled her concentration. Some people believe that this is one of the reasons Chouinard lost the bronze medal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms5Xk2vobiM

Meoima, I'm a cat person, too -- purrs to all your fur babies!

 

[Meoima]

One of the best-known wardrobe malfunctions happened during the 1994 Olympics when one of Tonya Harding's skate laces broke and she didn't have a spare set (duh???). A minute or so into her free skate she stopped and skated over to the boards in tears saying she couldn't continue. The refs gave her a do-over, to be skated @ the end of the group, which forced Josee Chouinard of Canada to take the ice sooner than she had expected and rattled her concentration. Some people believe that this is one of the reasons Chouinard lost the bronze medal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms5Xk2vobiM

I never understand Harding's problem. :scowl: If she did not lie, then she must have been followed by misfortune all of her life (it's hard to believe, though).

Meoima, I'm a cat person, too -- purrs to all your fur babies!

Yes cats are purrfect! Thank you.

 

[Krunchii]

I think some skaters use double sided tape to keep things from moving around too much, I know my friend who coaches little kids uses it sometimes because some of the kids complain about their costumes riding up or moving out of place when they jump, she has several rolls in her house, also she tends to use hairspray to keep their hair in place, there might be other tips and tricks, maybe gel or something but I'm not sure

 

[ioanablabla]

Nobunari Oda had a similar problem with the skatelace at a competion. I remember he had to stop and continue his skate and he got a deduction for it...

I checked and it was actually the Olympics too... pooor guy

 

[desertskates]

As for the Tonya Harding lace thing--I just wonder what the heck? I had a skate lace that had frayed for several months before it finally gave up, but if I had been in a competition, I would have been very sure to replace it. Laces that tough just don't suddenly snap.

 

[Meoima]

As for the Tonya Harding lace thing--I just wonder what the heck? I had a skate lace that had frayed for several months before it finally gave up, but if I had been in a competition, I would have been very sure to replace it. Laces that tough just don't suddenly snap.

Agree, I mean If I had been in competition, I would make sure to bring a 2nd pair of laces, it's just common sense to pay attention to those details, especially when you are at the OLYMPIC for God's sake!

 

[Petunia]

Some skaters use clear fishing line to sew their buns into place. I skate on a synchro team and we just gel the heck out of it and clip things from here to kingdom come. As for wardrobe, maybe someone with a good memory can help me out here but I remember either a pairs or dance team -- the hooks on her skate got caught on his costume and there was this lllooonnnngggg stretch of fabric across the ice until they got untangled. It was pretty funny actually. As for other wardrobe malfunctions? Mostly not an issue since the high-level skaters all have custom costumes that are fitted and re-fitted and re-fitted again to make sure nothing pops out.

 

[MalAssada]

I will be following the thread, I hope experts have some say on this

 

[StitchMonkey]

Gordeeva and Grinkov had an interesting wardrobe malfunction that officially went down as a withdrawal at the 1987 European Championships.

Jason Brown has talk about how he does his ponytail. He has also posted a pic of all his products. The answer seems to be "use a lot stuff"

 

[desertskates]

Agree, I mean If I had been in competition, I would make sure to bring a 2nd pair of laces, it's just common sense to pay attention to those details, especially when you are at the OLYMPIC for God's sake!

That's why the situation made me so angry--the Olympics! She should have been removed from the building on the basis of sheer stupidity.

 

[karne]

One of the best-known wardrobe malfunctions happened during the 1994 Olympics when one of Tonya Harding's skate laces broke and she didn't have a spare set (duh???). A minute or so into her free skate she stopped and skated over to the boards in tears saying she couldn't continue. The refs gave her a do-over, to be skated @ the end of the group, which forced Josee Chouinard of Canada to take the ice sooner than she had expected and rattled her concentration. Some people believe that this is one of the reasons Chouinard lost the bronze medal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms5Xk2vobiM

Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I have three pairs of spare laces that live permanently in my skate bag. How can anyone not have spares?


Anyway, the answer to the hair question is: a LOT of hairspray. And bobby pins.

 

[Meoima]

Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I have three pairs of spare laces that live permanently in my skate bag. How can anyone not have spares?
Anyway, the answer to the hair question is: a LOT of hairspray. And bobby pins.

It's Tonya Harding, what do you expect? Even American couldn't stand her attitude. hwell: Poor her.

 

[Skategmt]

At the Sochi Olympics, Maia Shibutani's dress got caught on Alex's shirt during a lift making her have to stay in the lift for an extra second so she good detatch. This resulted in a deduction.

 

[StitchMonkey]

Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I have three pairs of spare laces that live permanently in my skate bag. How can anyone not have spares?


Anyway, the answer to the hair question is: a LOT of hairspray. And bobby pins.

Because she came from that type of background that holds on by a thin line and gets used to things going wrong and deals with it. To most of us, yeah you bring a spare pair, because for most of us, the cost is not worth it. But when you grow up broke. . . not knowing if the cost of laces is going to mean the difference between getting evicted or not, or the heat being turned off mid winter or not, you likely don't grow up with the mentality to have the insurance like that. When you grow up seeing the laces as the choice between spare laces and a meal today, no surprised many pick meal today. And when you live financially on the edge, not being able to play it safe, you get used to things going wrong. I am sure laces are not the first problem she had in her life that could have been solved by replacing something sooner and I suspect often times she just was not able to afford the replacement. When you can't afford to plan for problems, you end up encountering problems, and when you encounter them, you start to view them as normal. My guess is to her, laces break eventually, sometimes they happen at the Olympics. For many of us the peace of mind of having a spare pare of laces is well worth it. Hell may of us likely would skip a meal for the peace of mind. But if is normal to always be fearful of the heat/power being turned off, or being evicted, (or in Tanya's case getting beat up by her mother or husband) or where your next meal will come from. . . . how much peace of mind is a spare pair of laces really going to give you?

Though in fairness Michelle Kwan had a boot heal come loose at world's that her dad fixed with a small nail laying around. . . . so it can happen to anyone it seems.

 

[Chipi]

Excuse, excuse and excuse. How much a pair of laces costed those days?

 

[StitchMonkey]

Excuse, excuse and excuse. How much a pair of laces costed those days?

probably more than a fast food burger. . . i.e. a meal.

Likewise probably on par with a cheap eyeliner. If you are out of eyeliner, that is likely more noticeable to the judges than worn out laces. How about a pair of ear plugs so you can actually sleep on the plane maybe? If you pro-rate the cost of each puff of her inhaler, i suspect the laces cost more than a few.

Every little thing adds up. I suspect there is very long list of things most skaters do that Tanya did not, it just happened that the laces broke this time. Why would she think having laces is more important than say a small sewing kit/safety pins to fix costume problems? I suspect she lacked that as well, it just was not an issue. Lots of things can go wrong, you can't predict which one will. Had she brought a pair of laces, and needed a sewing kit/safety pin, we would be having the same conversation of lack of planning.

I was mostly trying to give some understanding to the thought process behind not having a spare, and my guess is that she always is worried about something going wrong and has just gotten used to it. If you get used to knowing all the variable "what ifs" that you can't control, and just dealing with them, it does not surprise me that you stop trying to avoid them and just deal as they come. If i recall correctly she originally tried to fix it with half the old lace and a different laces on the top part, ie she tried to deal with the problem with what she had around. I somewhat respect her "just deal" approach even if it did not work out well, she was willing to try it with the fix it with duct tape type approach.

I am guessing alot of people had parents in their lives telling them to plan for contingencies and do things like bring laces. . . do we really think Tanya's mother taught her that?

And frankly I have to go back to Kwan. If anyone was in a position to have her gear inspected and guaranteed in good working order, it likely was her, but even she had an issue. Crap happens, when it happens alot, it just become more normal and less of a big deal.

 

[desertskates]

There is some stuff that goes specifically into skating with a partner. These are things I personally did differently during a brief pairs stint. Always a bun and not a ponytail to avoid whipping him in the face, always tucking my lace ties in so that he couldn't catch them and fall, and a zippered dress so a misplaced hand couldn't unfasten anything. I also got rid of my beloved longer nails for more sure holds and to prevent any ouchies for him. And NO necklaces or earrings that aren't small studs. Minor adjustments