Get your skates on

Go on, admit it.  If it weren’t for the ice skating competitions, you would not be remotely interested in the Winter Olympics.  Ok, that could just be me because I was fascinated and also slightly peturbed by the following:

1) How the flesh coloured tights always looked scarily unnatural

2) How much make-up they wore, especially when they do that close-up at the end of their routine and you can see the sweat trickling and running down their make-up.

3) How that smile at the end always looked so wooden and forced.

4) How much spangles, velvet, chiffon, sequins and all the rest of it was involved in their costumes.

Well, amidst all of that, there’s also that flared mini-skirt that is a key component of the skaters’ costumes, allowing them to do all of those terribly complicated jumps, spins, twists and twirls. In the spririt of reviving the ‘naff’, the skater’s skirt has been lauded as one of the ‘key’ skirt shapes for autumn winter 07-8 by the glossies.  They’re flirty, short and so flared that they stick out in a slightly intrusive, trianglar fashion as demonstrated by Christopher Kane’s creations.

A quick Google search will find you on some rather attrociously designed websites with some very cheesy models but I believe if you take a look closer, these skating skirts at Rivers Edge Dancewear which come in plain, metallic or velvet materials would suffice nicely should you wish to indulge in the inner Jayne Torvill in you.  I think the metallic ones with an all black ensemble of opaque tights, chunky sweater and some biker boots would also kill any ‘faux smiley skater’ sentiment in the skirt but still retain the flirtatious element of the skirt.

Dig a little deeper and you’ll find some ice skating costumes over at Figure Skating Deals that could be classified as being ‘so bad it’s good’.  I picked out the slightly ‘tamer’ ones here that should you wish to venture out in, with the right styling, could, dare I say, work on some random level or another.  For example, a Boombox-frequenter would work these like no other.  At $100 a pop, I’m in no way tempted to take this skating costume experimentation on board but if you ARE a skater, perhaps you could try and take your costume out of context and don it in reality.

I also had to post this silver and neon concoction created by Ice Wear.  I have no doubt, that someone could wear this out with no qualms at all and since it’s a custom-made-to-measure garment, on someone lithe and if worn with those green HoH-Kickers boots, some pink fuschia tights and a perky House of Flora perspex headband…hello wonderfully cartoonish outfit.

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Back to conservative reality though, I did pick up this vintage dress that has a SUPER flared short skirt, not really thinking about it as a seasonal skirt shape, which I will wear cinched in, with leather gauntlets and also the obligatory de-girlyfying chunky boots.

17 comments

  1. the only figure skating outfits i’ve ever adored were the ones vera wang designed for michelle kwan

  5. Man, I thought my sister and I were the only ones obsessed with ice skating. The luge, skeetshooting, and cross-country skiing? Boooooring. The thrill of ice-skating–the potential falls, the costumes, and the dramatic flourishes always had us checking our listings to find out what time they’d be on. Thanks for reminding me.
    Oh, and thanks for the birthday wishes!

  6. I agree with Sasha, Vera Wang’s dresses for Michelle Kwan are really nice.
    Although at the bad end of the spectrum, figure skating costumes can be truly awful (although they do have an amusing camp value), at the good end the dresses can be really beautiful! Sasha Cohen usually looks good, I remember for one World Championships she wore a pretty white dress by Badgley Mischka for her Swan Lake program: http://www.sashafans.com/media/gallery/2004worlds/long/9.jpg
    Tessa Virtue is another skater that often wears gorgeous dresses.
    Figure skating gets a bad rap for being cheesy and over the top, which is well-deserved in one sense, I see why it turns a lot of people off, but it’s not all bad…
    Susie, your outfit looks really cute! I love how you always manage to take pieces that could be too girly and toughen them up just enough.

  7. I am an ice skater and thus forced to wear those costumes. I must say they are incredibly practical on the ice, but I don’t think I could bear them as a fashion item.
    The reason the tights always look so unnatural is because they are like BAIGE, instead of your usual pale whitish shade (well especially if you are me).

  8. oh i love it! my sister and i would watch ice skating for hours too. i was thinking of making a few of my vintage dresses minis to update them. ok, when i say a few, i mean, just one…
    ; )

  9. the second last outfit is looking at a superhero while on acid however the last one looks cute

  10. Lately I’ve wanted to compile “Best Dressed” lists for the figure skating championships. Hopefully I’ll have time next year.
    Yes, figure skating does get a bad rap for being cheesy and yes, it is often justified. But it’s a very individual sport and I love the wide range of individual tastes. There’s nothing to stop someone going wild like Liberace on acid, but there’s also nothing to stop some incredibly beautiful, elegant, classic styles.
    I agree Sasha Cohen always looked great – midnight blue with a gold hem, set to Rachmaninov, is my all-time favourite. But another thing that sticks in my mind is 13-year-old Sarah Hughes at her first world championship, in a Black Swan costume complete with tutu, skating to Tchaikovsky. Of course tutus don’t look good on ice and of course it would have been laughable on an adult. But on a ballet-mad young girl, full of energy and out to show the world what she could do, it was fantastic.
    There’s more to life than just good taste, and I think that’s what a lot of people respond to even though they might try to excuse it on grounds of kitsch or camp.

  11. Hey, I used to figure skate for 10ish years…still go from time to time, but I don’t wear my dresses any more. Perhaps I’ll try rocking my dresses around town? Probably not as I’m not that daring, but you never know!? Maybe I’ll try to put together some SA outfit shots for fun?
    I agree w the others – Sasha Cohen and MK always looked good…esp MK – she’s my fave.
    🙂 D

  13. im slightly offended that u think all the skaters smiles looked forced and wooden. i am a skater myself and some dresses are really quite beautiful. but i think u should b a little more considerate to who reads this.and the jumps/spins r not terrible. life is more than just fashion, my dream is 2 go 2 the olympics. SO DONT RUIN IT 4 ME U STUPID GITS WHO THINK THEY R SOOOOOOOOOO COOL!

  15. There is always power-walking, or race-walking, outside or on an
    indoor track! This is a little bit different from the treadmill since
    you can actually go somewhere, trek up some steep streets in the
    neighborhood, do it on your lunch break if you work, etc

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