Let's Have Fun Talking Costumes!

[Bluediamonds09]

Hey guys! Who, like me, has been spending a lot of free time watching figure skating from past seasons?

I thought it would be fun to discuss costumes. Part of the fun of figure skating is the costumes!

This thread is for all the disciplines: pairs, singles, and ice dance. We can discuss:

**Favorite designer (Ladu designs, Lisa McKinnon, Brad Griffies, new up and comers)
**Favorite costume of the 90's
**Funniest costume malfunction?
**Favorite costume of the 2000's
**Favorite costumes of 2010-up (notice how the styles change drastically each decade?)
**Green or yellow on the ice: an absolute no-no?
**Are illusion mesh long sleeves with rhinestones immature?
**What would you do to make this costume better?
**Gloves: no? yes? safety concerns?
**Favorite "simple elegance" costume?


Feel free to discuss costumes worn by not-so-noticed skaters, too. For example,

**What would I do to make Anna Khnychenkova's sp costume from 2018 Olympics better? I would lose the red glove and hair flower. Then the splash of gold sparkles stand out more.


**

 

[Arriba627]

I think Alexa Knierim's and Jessica Calalang's Lisa McKinnon costumes for this season are beautiful. I also like a lot of the Japanese designer Satomi Ito costumes. Recently, Shoma has had several costumes designed by Canadian designer, Mathieu Caron. The simplicity of them gives them a very classy touch. His Moonlight Sonata costume was a beauty.

Not sure if it's a new trend, but are more of the ladies' costumes longer this season? For some of the really small skaters, the fabric overwhelms them..Definitely not into gloves for men or ladies..

 

[Philippa8187]

Hey guys! Who, like me, has been spending a lot of free time watching figure skating from past seasons?

I thought it would be fun to discuss costumes. Part of the fun of figure skating is the costumes!

This thread is for all the disciplines: pairs, singles, and ice dance. We can discuss:

**Favorite designer (Ladu designs, Lisa McKinnon, Brad Griffies, new up and comers)
**Favorite costume of the 90's
**Funniest costume malfunction?
**Favorite costume of the 2000's
**Favorite costumes of 2010-up (notice how the styles change drastically each decade?)
**Green or yellow on the ice: an absolute no-no?
**Are illusion mesh long sleeves with rhinestones immature?
**What would you do to make this costume better?
**Gloves: no? yes? safety concerns?
**Favorite "simple elegance" costume?


Feel free to discuss costumes worn by not-so-noticed skaters, too. For example,

**What would I do to make Anna Khnychenkova's sp costume from 2018 Olympics better? I would lose the red glove and hair flower. Then the splash of gold sparkles stand out more.


**

The costume that made the biggest impact on me was a gala exhibition at the 1998 Olympics, worn by Marina Anissina. It was gold and absolutely stunning, especially with her beautiful red hair. I’ll always associate ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ with that program. I loved the costumes that both Gwendal and Marina wore for their free skate programs at that Olympics, and again in 2002.

Some of Yuma Kim’s outfits were gorgeous, and she is the only skater that I’ve seen wearing brown who looked good. That’s a difficult colour to pull off.

 

[Harriet]

Some of Yuma Kim’s outfits were gorgeous, and she is the only skater that I’ve seen wearing brown who looked good. That’s a difficult colour to pull off.

I'll add Aiza Mambekova to the short list of skaters who look absolutely stunning in brown. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCA2xpCxTvw

 

[lappo]

Brown it's not for everybody and I will add Zhenya Medvedeva to the list of ladies who wore it very well at the Olympics: https://hellogiggles.com/news/evgenia-medvedevas-anna-karenina/
Ditto for grey, it's an extremely difficult colour to pull off but not for the Queen! https://www.google.com/search?q=yun...WJ2hQKHS13CBUQ_AUoAXoECAQQAw&biw=1536&bih=754

As for your questions, my favourite designers are Olga Ryabenko (even though this season she seems uninspired) and whoever does the Korean girls' costumes; Yuna Kim has been one of the most consistently well dressed ladies, during her senior career, so kudos to her designers.
My favourite costume ever was her Kiss of the Vampire's dress, which inspired a Fendi bag: https://fs-gossips.com/yuna-kim-fendi-collaboration/
I like gloves but they have to go well with the program and the rest of the costume: for example I liked Medvedeva's Anna Karenina gloves (with all the three costumes) and the sparkly gloves she had with her W/E program; I didn't like her gloves in the 2016/7 SP. Another example I really liked were Trusova's gloves in her Big Spender SP.
I usually ike both green and yellow on the ice, for example Dabin Choi looked lovely in green at the Olympics.
As for the simple elegance, I like many of Papadakis's simple costumes: she looked especially good in her red costume in 2015/16 season.

 

[Philippa8187]

I'll add Aiza Mambekova to the short list of skaters who look absolutely stunning in brown. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCA2xpCxTvw

Thank you for posting this. I hadn’t seen this clip before, and I agree, Aiza’s costume is stunning!

 

[Philippa8187]

Brown it's not for everybody and I will add Zhenya Medvedeva to the list of ladies who wore it very well at the Olympics: https://hellogiggles.com/news/evgenia-medvedevas-anna-karenina/
Ditto for grey, it's an extremely difficult colour to pull off but not for the Queen! https://www.google.com/search?q=yun...WJ2hQKHS13CBUQ_AUoAXoECAQQAw&biw=1536&bih=754

As for your questions, my favourite designers are Olga Ryabenko (even though this season she seems uninspired) and whoever does the Korean girls' costumes; Yuna Kim has been one of the most consistently well dressed ladies, during her senior career, so kudos to her designers.
My favourite costume ever was her Kiss of the Vampire's dress, which inspired a Fendi bag: https://fs-gossips.com/yuna-kim-fendi-collaboration/
I like gloves but they have to go well with the program and the rest of the costume: for example I liked Medvedeva's Anna Karenina gloves (with all the three costumes) and the sparkly gloves she had with her W/E program; I didn't like her gloves in the 2016/7 SP. Another example I really liked were Trusova's gloves in her Big Spender SP.
I usually ike both green and yellow on the ice, for example Dabin Choi looked lovely in green at the Olympics.
As for the simple elegance, I like many of Papadakis's simple costumes: she looked especially good in her red costume in 2015/16

Yes, and another skater who, in my view, wears a gorgeous green outfit is the dress Mai Mihara has chosen for her free skate program this season.

 

[purplecat]

**Funniest costume malfunction?

The first thing that comes to mind is when Tatiana Totmianina's sleeve got caught in Marinin's skate. Dick Button couldn't stop laughing!

 

[anonymoose_au]

The first thing that comes to mind is when Tatiana Totmianina's sleeve got caught in Marinin's skate. Dick Button couldn't stop laughing!

I was going to post that except I couldn't remember which couple it was. But when I saw it on YouTube I was between and Were they given a costume deduction? Seems cruel if so!

Regarding costumes, I'm infamous in the competition thread for my taste in them!

Among my most contraversial is T/M's Candyman, I love polkadots and thought they looked adorable. I was especially fond of Vladimir's polkadot tie

I love the colour green so I have no complaints about green costumes as long as it's not that baby pop green.

Yellow is also fine - I thought Deniss V's yellow pants were awesome! Maxim T's too.

The person who's costumes I side-eye most is Alexander Samarin's. He's had some shockers - the $2 shop Greatest Showman costume is one I can't forget. Aside from Jonathan G who didn't really try every single other skater I've seen has had a better one, including Novice and small Fed skaters.

 

[Amei]

Favorite "simple elegance" costume? Sasha Cohen's Badgley Mischka Swan Lake costume https://www.pinterest.es/pin/425871708509574868/

**Gloves: no? yes? safety concerns?

I believe most of the ladies skaters wear them gloves for safety reasons because they grab their blades frequently, they can definitely add or detract from a costume though; a noticeable miss for me is the attempts at "flesh" colored gloves that aren't the right shade then their hands are a weird color.

 

[anonymoose_au]

I believe most of the ladies skaters wear them gloves for safety reasons because they grab their blades frequently, they can definitely add or detract from a costume though; a noticeable miss for me is the attempts at "flesh" colored gloves that aren't the right shade then their hands are a weird color.

I gotta say what stands out to me in that costume is the stripes, it looks like Julia's dressed up as Wally/Waldo.

I like gloves, adds a bit of glamour I think, but flesh coloured ones that don't match the skaters actual flesh tone though are a no-no.

 

[katymay]

This year-and almost every year-Mariah Bell. She looks good in everything, and almost always finds costumes which enhance her natural attributes. (long pretty legs). The worst costuming-almost consistently- are the Eteri girls. Yes, there are some "wins"-like Alina's Olympic dress, Trusova's unitard etc. (But then a year later Alina was dressed like a Milk Maid from Oliver) Eteri's girls costuming is often too busy, garish or sadly matronly-making young teens look like overly done up 25 year olds.
My favorite this year was a girl whose name I can't remember-Junior lady from a small fed-skated to big band music and wore a simple tailored 40's era type Sailor dress. And yes, I loved Yulia's Waldo dress. Less is more.

 

[GoneWithTheWind]

My favorite this year was a girl whose name I can't remember-Junior lady from a small fed-skated to big band music and wore a simple tailored 40's era type Sailor dress.

I wonder if you're thinking of Olga Mikutina from Austria? She performed her short program to 'Sing, Sing, Sing' wearing a lovely blue sailor-style dress. Video here from her at Europeans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev95ap_kWkY

**Green or yellow on the ice: an absolute no-no?

One of my favourite costumes is a green one: Charlène Guignard's green dress from her and Marco's 2018-19 'La La Land' free dance was absolutely gorgeous and looked wonderful on the ice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLIemq2Cb_8

 

[gliese]

I believe most of the ladies skaters wear them gloves for safety reasons because they grab their blades frequently, they can definitely add or detract from a costume though; a noticeable miss for me is the attempts at "flesh" colored gloves that aren't the right shade then their hands are a weird color.

I find it weird the way Yulia grabs her blade. She grabs her blade in the least safe way to do it. In that spin grabbing the boot would be safer and more practical (and hurts way less in my experience). I find biellmanns are fine and don't really hurt without gloves neither do camel grabs. Especially once you have calluses. But if they are going to wear gloves, I wish they would match them to the dress instead of wearing flesh colored gloves.

 

[lappo]

This is an example where of flesh colored gloves done right, IMO:

Figure skating: Alena Kostornaia wins, Rika Kihira 4th at Grand Prix Final

Russia's Alena Kostornaia wins the women's competition at the Grand Prix Final, while Japan's Rika Kihira misses her title defense when she finishes fourth.

english.kyodonews.net

Notice that they are of the same tone of her skin and they replicate the decoration of the costume; otherwise, I usually don't like them.

 

[katymay]

I wonder if you're thinking of Olga Mikutina from Austria? She performed her short program to 'Sing, Sing, Sing' wearing a lovely blue sailor-style dress. Video here from her at Europeans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev95ap_kWkY


One of my favourite costumes is a green one: Charlène Guignard's green dress from her and Marco's 2018-19 'La La Land' free dance was absolutely gorgeous and looked wonderful on the ice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLIemq2Cb_8

I can't view it, but yes, I'm sure that is her, Austria rings a bell, and it was Sing Sing Sing. The dress was simple, but I loved it.

 

[Amei]

And yes, I loved Yulia's Waldo dress. Less is more.

When I googled that program, there were some side-by-side pictures that fans had made of Lipnitskaia on vacation wearing similar look outfit to her costume so it was a costume she likely had input on

This year-and almost every year-Mariah Bell. She looks good in everything, and almost always finds costumes which enhance her natural attributes. (long pretty legs). The worst costuming-almost consistently- are the Eteri girls. Yes, there are some "wins"-like Alina's Olympic dress, Trusova's unitard etc. (But then a year later Alina was dressed like a Milk Maid from Oliver) Eteri's girls costuming is often too busy, garish or sadly matronly-making young teens look like overly done up 25 year olds.

Agree that Mariah Bell gets some really good costumes the last couple years, her costumes from 2016 were a bit ugly especially the FS dress. I don't particularly agree that Eteri's skaters are consistently bad costumes, I like most of their skaters costumes the 2 that I think usually have ugly costumes are Valieva and Medvedeva, though I wasn't really a fan of Medvedeva's costumes when she was with Orser either. I do give Eteri and the designer of Shcherbakova's FS dress from last year credit for not making it a stereotypical Firebird costume.

 

[Amei]

I have a question for everyone: What's your favorite "I can't believe the skater is wearing that" costume? In the spirit of keeping this thread positive, I'm thinking of the reaction being funny "I can't believe the skater is wearing that", are not devolving the conversation into inappropriate costumes either by offensiveness of the outfit or age-inappropriate.

My favorite is from Savechenko and Szolkowy at the 2010 Olympics and Send in the Clowns, all I have to say is I'm thankful it was their SP and not the FS so these costumes aren't immortalized in podium pictures
https://youtu.be/yOBEzJY_uF4?t=255

 

[Philippa8187]

I have a question for everyone: What's your favorite "I can't believe the skater is wearing that" costume? In the spirit of keeping this thread positive, I'm thinking of the reaction being funny "I can't believe the skater is wearing that", are not devolving the conversation into inappropriate costumes either by offensiveness of the outfit or age-inappropriate.

My favorite is from Savechenko and Szolkowy at the 2010 Olympics and Send in the Clowns, all I have to say is I'm thankful it was their SP and not the FS so these costumes aren't immortalized in podium pictures
https://youtu.be/yOBEzJY_uF4?t=255

They’re definitely brave!

 

[Philippa8187]

Hey guys! Who, like me, has been spending a lot of free time watching figure skating from past seasons?

I thought it would be fun to discuss costumes. Part of the fun of figure skating is the costumes!

This thread is for all the disciplines: pairs, singles, and ice dance. We can discuss:

**Favorite designer (Ladu designs, Lisa McKinnon, Brad Griffies, new up and comers)
**Favorite costume of the 90's
**Funniest costume malfunction?
**Favorite costume of the 2000's
**Favorite costumes of 2010-up (notice how the styles change drastically each decade?)
**Green or yellow on the ice: an absolute no-no?
**Are illusion mesh long sleeves with rhinestones immature?
**What would you do to make this costume better?
**Gloves: no? yes? safety concerns?
**Favorite "simple elegance" costume?


Feel free to discuss costumes worn by not-so-noticed skaters, too. For example,

**What would I do to make Anna Khnychenkova's sp costume from 2018 Olympics better? I would lose the red glove and hair flower. Then the splash of gold sparkles stand out more.


**

I can’t pick a favourite costume from 2010 upwards as I have a few. My favourite dress from 2018/19 season was the outfit Wenjing Sui wore in the short program at the 2019 World Championships. I thought it was elegant, sparkling and a beautiful colour.