Costumes that do double duty | Golden Skate

Costumes that do double duty

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southwest wind

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
Costumes obviously serve lots of purpose - presever skater's modesty :rolleye: enhance the visual appeal of the program; provide some tie to the orgin of the program, entice the judges, etc. Also, they provide a fashion statement. Or they cover sins.

Sometimes, they really enhance the program...particulariy spins. I thought

Lambiel's zebra costume was over the top, but it looked great when he was spinning,,,the orange and white melded to a synchronous (for you Mathman)visual effect.

Johnny Weir's LP costume "feathers" and colors and hand/arm positions made his pancake/cannonball spin :)biggrin: ) really look like a swan.

Some ladies have skirts that scallop/flare out that look like a sine wave on its side.
Mathman, I challenge you to get a picture.

Some pairs teams have elements that flow together whne they are spinning.

Can anyone come up with other examples?

SWW
 
Mathman

Mathman

Joined
Jun 21, 2003
southwest wind said:
Some ladies have skirts that scallop/flare out that look like a sine wave on its side. Mathman, I challenge you to get a picture.
Click to expand...
Sine wave

Sine wave skirt

Sine wave skirt.

*Ahem* Did you know that the word "sine" comes from the Sanskrit "jiva," which means "bowstring." If you draw a picture of a circular arc (the bow) and it's chord (the bowstring) you can see why.

Actually, in modern usage, the sine is only an "ardha-jiva" (half bowstring).

MM :laugh:
 
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Mafke

Mafke

Medalist
Joined
Mar 22, 2004
A French skater (medalled at euros a few times, blanking on the name, began with a J) few years ago had a rainbowish costume that looked okay when skating but blended in just a kind of amazing way in jumps and especially spins, sort of pulsated.
 
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JonnyCoop

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 28, 2003
Sasha's original "Swan Lake" costume (before Robin Wagner screwed with the whole program). I can't after all this time remember the specifics, but when she did a spin in a certain position, the overall effect was in fact, swan-like and just really cool; very subtly done, unlike having a beak glove named Camille..... :sheesh:
 
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southwest wind

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
Mathman
Thank you for all three! You rose to the occasion! I work with a bunch of engineers and they would be proud of you! :bow:

Is the little girl Baby Mathman?

SWW
 
Mathman

Mathman

Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Sometimes the costume is the program. Like Plushenko's Sex Bomb or Petrenko's Mambo Number Five. (I also want to add, jopubert's "Ships of Columbus," LOL -- by the time you finish staring at the costume trying to figure it all out, the program's over.)
 
IDLERACER

IDLERACER

Medalist
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Tara Lipinski was well known for selecting costumes that would give the illusion that she actually had a bustline of some sort. The most obvious example being the one with the slanted stripes around her chest. Click HERE and scroll midway down the page to see what I'm talking about. I can't link directly to the picture because tripod websites only let you link to the thumbnails.​
 
Mathman

Mathman

Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Great pictures of Tara, IdleRacer.

But here is something even more interesting. It you click on "Michelle's diet secrets -- you, too, can be thin like Michelle," it takes you to an advertisement for "Nagasaki diet tea." There is no mention of any Michelle (Kwan or otherwise) on the site.

Is this one of those automatic webbot ads that pay for all these web pages? That's pretty cool technology, if so. Somehow the webbot can detect (by reading your cookies) that if you went to this Tara page, you also went to a Michelle page. So they insert the word "Michelle" into their ad.

The heck of it is, this strategy works! I clicked on the ad just because it has the word Michelle in the link.

MM
 
Mathman

Mathman

Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Costume, schmostume, have you ever seen such a beautiful lady?

Sure she can spin, but can she shimmy? :laugh: :love:
 
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southwest wind

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
Yes, Katia's costume there is great...when I saw that costume, it was in a group number with Shaelynn, Jennifer Robinson, Carolyn Costner and some junior skaters. Only Shaelynn and Katia could get all the tiers to go straight out...the others could not spin fast enough to maintain momentum.

SL and K looked like Christmas trees!

SWW
 
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JonnyCoop

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 28, 2003
iluvtodd said:
I love this one that Katia wore during her "Heartburn" program in 2005 SOI. Watch what happens when she spins!:clap:

http://theskatingtimes.com/images/2005/soi-bridgeport/soi37-0108.jpg

http://theskatingtimes.com/images/2005/soi-bridgeport/soi37-0107.jpg
Click to expand...

That does have a really cool effect; I didn't actually see Katia's program, but I remember Katarina Witt wearing a similar dress (I think hers was a tan color) at an exhibition from the 82 or 83 Worlds; she skated to 20s jazz music.
 
Mathman

Mathman

Joined
Jun 21, 2003
southwest wind said:
Is the little girl Baby Mathman?
Click to expand...
No, LOL, just a picture I found from a Google search on "tutu." Along with a bunch of pictures of South Africa's Bishop Desmond Tutu. (And of Bishop Tutu in a tutu. :laugh: )

I do have a new little granddaughter this year, though. Born in December. :)

MM
 
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STL_Blues_fan

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 24, 2004
Mafke, that was Stannik Janette (I think I spelled it right).

I think Kristy had a similar fringe dress in the late 1990's or was it Yuka? The dress was yellow. When they performed spinning, it was a similar effect to Katya's.

I am not sure if that's entirely appropriate to the topic, but weren't the gloves that Del and Shon wore with the mask simply amazing??? You don't notice anything untill they put their hands together and pulled apart one by one. That was very clever.
 
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julietvalcouer

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 10, 2005
Honestly? I thought that glove stunt was stupid. Bad enough ice dance gets razzed for the (admittedly truly) tacky costumes, no one needs to turn it into Cirque du Soleil, with a stunt that's obviously intended for the benefit of the television viewers. The gloves are too small for anyone in the audience, or the judges, to see in detail without the aid of a lens. Not to mention it's a distraction move--it requires no real artistry beyond remembering which hand goes which way, much as the drapey-flowy-gauzy look was started because it was a good way to mesmerize judges, get them watching the upper body to conceal that the feet weren't really doing anything.

If I wanted to to go to the circus, I'd go to the circus.
 
Joesitz (RIP)

Joesitz (RIP)

Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Sorry but I have to take the opposite view. I do not like costumes in figure skating as a sport. I prefer uniforms as is with all sports. All skaters should be equal in every which way and judged soley on their skating skills. I don't like to overhear that the skater would have done better if she had a better costume.

However, nothing wrong with costumes, makeup, hair grooming, and anything else that works for Show Skating a la COI and SOI.

Joe
 
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JonnyCoop

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 28, 2003
Does anyone remember a free skate that Vanessa Gusmeroli used at either the 99 or 00 Worlds where she was supposed to be a jewel thief and at one point she did something or other with a glove she was wearing and a "diamond bracelet" appeared? I know I'm describing it very vaguely, but to this day, even tho I have it on tape, I'm still not sure exactly what it was she did.
 
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soogar

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
What beautiful pictures of Tara:love: ! Seeing them only makes me miss her even more.
 
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