Top-10 best costumes in pairs. Season 2016-2107
What’s the perfect thing to do on vacations? Right, to read about fashion. So let’s continue to discuss figure skating costumes of the past season.
Today we’re going to take a closer look at pairs’ wardrobe.
Main trends: black jumpsuits (they don’t suit everyone), tender dress with finishing aka Elie Saab. Of course there was ombre….fortunately not that much.
10. Kirsten Moore-Towers / Michael Marinaro, Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov, Miriam Ziegler /Severin Kiefer, Aliona Savchenko / Bruno Massot
Kirsten Moore-Towers clearly loves purple and its shades, Michael Marinaro has so far deserved only black. But he got some rhinestones on the collar.
The bodice of the dress looks impressive and expensive. The combination of dark top and a light ombre skirt inevitably brings to my mind assosiations with the dress by Elie Saab. *There should be a smile with rolling eyes*
But I don’t like the pintuck on Kirsten’s skirt (on the side). It’s simplifies the overall impression and make the bodice and the skirt look outside the box. But the idea was good.
I do not know how, but Tarasova-Morozov managed to get decent costumes for a short program. I was so surprised by this fact so they got the place in annual fashion ranking) I really like Evgenia’s dress – nice combination of gold and silver. Besides, the skirt with the fringe looked very good in this program.
This year dresses with a fringe are very popular:
dress by Michael Kors
Well, at least they managed not to spoil Vova and the overall impression of the pair. But this silver-gold shining something on his shirt looks quite cheap.
The whole season I wanted to steal this costumes of Austrians Miriam and Severine and pass them to Tarasova / Morozov for the FP. They really needed them more. The partner has a standard set “black trousers – white shirt” and an untied bow tie. Well, at least with some print. Miriam’s dress is elegant, like a small evening gown. That’s how Ekaterina Bobrova’s dress for the SD should have looked according to proportions and amount of fabric.
Finally I like how Bruno is dressed. In dark colors, simple, but elegant. All sorts of “fashionable” untucked wide sweaters with ombre effect is contraindicated for him.
Perhaps, the gray-red dress looks better with the partner’s costume. It is also brighter for the ice. But, it seems to me, this dress is a bit too simple for Alena, not for her status and age.
The variant with peach nighty I like more. It has something from style of 20-30th (especially with this hairdo) and from dishabille trend that hasn’t left us yet. The main disadvantage is that the color is not very good for ice, and it is difficult to see some finishing on it.
9. Lubov Iliushechkina / Dylan Moscovitch
In the previous review, I was a bit harsh criticising Madison Chock for drappering poor Evan in all black. Apparently I have to apologize. Seems that this is trend “Men in black.” Dylan joined, too. But here I have no questions. A beautiful black shirt has not spoiled a single man yet;)
Luba’s dress caused some discussions. I rather like it than not. A doll-dress. Such will look good only on girls with Luba’s body-type. But the guipure back was extra – too overdone.
Sasha Cohen does not understand why her clothes are so popular this season.
In the free program they added color. But, I’m not sure that I like the shine of fabric for Dylan’s shirt. It looks a bit cheap. Luba’s dress has interesting color combination, unbanal. Thanks to the simplicity of cut, all attention is focused on the game of shades. The combination seems a bit unusual, but some designers also choose it.
dress from collections of Balmain x HM and Zuhair Murad
8. Marissa Castelli / Mervin Tran, Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford
Stylish and interesting. Costumes have the common idea of asymmetry. Considering the fact that in pair skating guys prefer not to stand out with clothes, Mervyn has almost an “elaborate costume”. Something like that, I would gave to Alex Shibutani instead of his wide longsleeve for the FD.
Marissa has interesting dress, not too creative but interesting enough and finishing looks good. But every time looking at this dress Ashley Wagner came to my mind. It’s like shopping with a friend, when you both liked the same dress and couldn’t decide who gets it.
Costumes for the free program are simple but also elegant. Mervin wears black, but well-sewn black. Good idea with a red bar instead of the boring way to match both costumes – “pocket square in the color of girl’s dress”.
Marissa, like Meagan Duhamel, looks good in deep colors. Marissa isn’t tall, with an athletic body, so the dress designed to make her look more graceful. To make the neck longer, to show the waist, etc. Turned out well. The dress also has a beautiful back.
Costumes for the short program I like and don’t like. I like the concept itself. I like how Eric is dressed. The sweater is cool and stylish. I can easily imagine it with jeans. I like the top of Megan’s costume. But the jumpsuit …..People wear such when they want to highlight the beauty. Beauty of figure or lines. I don’t know what Meagan wanted to highlight….However, I don’t see her in a dress for this program either. Jumpsuit is an ideal solution for this program, but for a different skater. Well, maybe she shouldn’t prolong the finishing from bodice to leggings, maybe it would look better with shorts.
Megan, how many times have I said that deep, rich shades look better on you?! All this tender colors and flowers are not for you. I know, ash rose is a trandy shade and many designers use such decoration. It just doesn’t look good on you. Consult with Marissa Castelli, you have a similar types with her, but this season she chose dresses better.
The dress is lovely. So I suggest giving it to one of Chinese girls-statuettes.
First Eric had a shirt of the same ash-rose shade with delicate silver finish. Finishing was beautiful, the shirt reminded me of botton shirt that nobles wore in past centuries, which did not really fit in with the program. That’s why I was extremely happy when Eric replaced it with a beautiful, elegant dark-blue shirt. This season Eric gets the title of one of the most well-dressed partners.
7. Cheng Peng / Yang Jin and Xiaoyu Yu / Hao Zhang
Why do I have a feeling that these Chinese pairs sewed their costumes in the same atelier? Otherways “flowery decor on tender dresses” captured the minds and imagination of suspiciously large number of designers)
Yan has a traditional basic set with a white shirt. Well, the trousers are gray, the shirt is not “for the office”, but in a romantic style with wide sleeves and shirtfront.
Cheng’s dress is gentle, lovely and suits young girl a lot. But it would be suitable for any lyrical program. I just wanted something more thematic for the Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
Hao Zhang continues to surprise me. In terms of costumes he’s more brave than many young skaters) I also want to praise his designer who managed to create a real costume for Hao without turning him into big wardrobe in ruffles. Great costume with gorgeous shirt of electric blue color and sophisticated finishing on the collar. Very beautiful shirt!
Her dress is of the same color shade with same beautiful silver finishing on the bodice. This dress could have easily get the title of “small evening gown”. But….this rhombus cutout … .what is it for? What did the designer want to say? In my opinion, it ruined an excellent dress, instead of a red carpet, I start to think about belly dancing.
In the free program Hao again has an interesting sweater. Texturally interesting. With various pintucks on the fabric. I don’t know why but I have some associations with armor or something like that. Xiaoyu in her almost white dress with floral decor (missed it?) looked even more feminine and fragile near such a courageous partner.
But I don’t like two things about her dress. First, the placement of the flower application like a cross on her chest. Second, the nude illusion mesh. It’s just superfluous, it would be better to make a dress with straps, anyway this rhinestones on “sleeves” are not even visible.
Variety of flowery finishing:
Elie Saab
Paolo Sebastian
6. Natalia Zabijako / Alexander Enbert
I always welcome good historical costumes. Especially well-made. Alexander looks incredibly in uniform! And when the uniform suits, it absolutely does not matter for me how much it corresponds to the historical reality. Looks damn good! Yeah I’m still talking about the costume.
Natasha has a charming Empire-style dress with a satin ribbon under her breasts and puff sleeves. The top layer of the dress is a very beautiful laces “frosty pattern”. It is a pity that this beauty is not really seen. Perhaps they should have made the underlayer of more bright color to show the laces.
Usually, I’m not a fan of such a large painting on the fabric. Somehow it causes a strong association with the “bad retro”, but Natasha’s dress for the free program draws my attention. Probably because of beautiful combination of gray and delicate pink colors, light fabric. I wish she had a better nude mesh. I also have a feeling that I’ve seen something similar in high-fashion. But unfortunately I did not remember where exactly. So if you find it please let me know.
Some associations with Elie Saab Summer 2015
But as for me this dress doesn’t really go well with this program. It’d look better in “Winter” by Vivaldi.
Alexander wears simple ombre gray. Well, nothing can spoil an appearance of a handsome man.
5. Ioulia Chtchetinina / Noah Scherer, Sumire Suto / Francis Boudreau-Audet and Miu Suzaki / Ryuichi Kihara
To my surprise, some pair whom I even don’t know (shame on me) had really good costumes. Funny if all their costumes together cost less than one dress os some primas. Well, more expensive does not always mean better.
This dress caught my eye already on the warm-up. It stood out and got the note “Oh what a charming thing with daisy print”. After taking a closer look turned out that daisies aren’t actually daisies….but that’s not the point. The dress is bright, playful, girlish. Besides we don’t usually see much prints in figure skating, maximum polka dot, sometimes stripes.
Ah there also was a partner…in black and white….Well, who cares. The dress is great!)
Another pair who successfully used contrasting color combination. We have seen a lot of variations on the theme “Japanese national costumes” in figure skating. But I really liked these ones! The contrasting combination of black and white and moderate laconism make them look very trendy and modern. Such a stylish concept for national costume. And what I especially like is that partner is also dressed in style and does not play the role of a background for the girl’s dress.
Black and white combination in collections of Naeem Khan и Rochas
And let the Japanese pairs have no sports successes, this season they surprised me with costumes. I can’t believe my own eyes! No ruffles, no rhinestones, no plush! Apparently, only Japanese male single skaters deserve all this luxury. I can not find another explanation for this phenomenon. But, nevertheless, the Japanese guy Riyuchi Kihara wears jeans and just a T-shirt.
Her dress amazed me even more. sharp laconism. Stylish, and quitw hot. I can easily imagine Ksenia Stolbova wearing such a dress.
4. Tarah Kayne / Daniel O Shea and Wenjing Sui Cong Han
In terms of fashion I noticed this pair last season. They have interesting ideas and definitely have a sense of style. They kept a short program from last year, but changed their costumes. It was a good idea, because the past ones were beautiful (they got into my past season’s ranking), but too classic for ‘Take me to church’. These I like more.
Brown and its shades (such as chocolate and cognac) for some reason are undeservedly ignored in figure skating. Fortunately, in the fashion world they are not forgotten.
Dresses by Marchesa и J. Mendel
Daniel is dressed simply, almost in his own everyday clothes, but still there’re some details on the sweater which allow it to be considered a costume. Chocolate shade suits Tarah a lot. Simple cut, light fabric on the skirt, minimum of finishing. The dress looks stylish. Especially I like the belt) Well, I would love to have something like that in my closet.
Costumes for the free program I also wanted to “steal” together with program for someone else. Bright, colorful, thematic costumes! It was like a sip of delicious cocktail among safe monotony) The top of the dress looks very high-fashion. Loved it. Plus Tarah always appeared with an interesting hairdo and make-up. This is also important.
Daniel wears a moderately realistic armor-costume. In thematic costumes, it is always important not to get carried away and not to overdo. These costumes are a really good work!
The costumes for the hot blues also turned out hot. Firstly, because I believe that there’s no sexier clothes for a man than a good suit. Of course, ideally there should be Alex Shibutani’s unbuttoned jacket from the SD. Unfortunately it’s impossible to jump triples in such jacket( Anyway I like Con Han’s costume. Jewelry buttons didn’t spoil the impression, adding details and differing it from clothes bought on shopping.
Wenjing’s dress is kind of mixture of evening dress and a lacy nightgown. And this is exactly what this program needs. It’s trendy. It’s beautiful. It looks expensive.
And here’s our top-3. Well, ut wasn’t easy)
3. Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov
Ksenia, Meagan, who copied from whom?!) Such a coincidence that the two top pairs had so similar ideas! Well, ideas are similar but Ksenia has a better execution.
Of all the followers of the trend of floral application, Ksenia went further than everyone. She was the closest to the original, when the flower application is not placed on the fabric, but almost on the naked body (on a tiny barely noticeable mesh).
Our beloved Elie Saab and Zuhair Murad
Ksenia had the most daring and naked option – almost Aphrodite in the sea foam. But to wear such a dress, you need to be in perfect shape. Alas, only towards the end of the season Ksenia was able to gain it.
The second dress has something antique. Small contrasting black details on the shoulders are also quite a fashionable thing.
The dress was more moderate. Elegant and beautiful in it’s own way. But it was less in match with her partner’s costume.
Black costumes for the program about depression. Fedor’s sweater has asymmetrical finishing in the style of “leather” elements. Probably for better matching with Ksenia’s costume. These details have something in common with the color and texture of the gray part on her jumpsuit.
Jumpsuit suits Ksenia more than Meagan and less then Vanessa (sorry, girls, no chances here). In their case, black laconic suits were to emphasize the beauty of the lines and modern choreography. The asymmetric tricolor top of looks very stylish. Alas, not from the first attempt she managed to choose the right underwear.
2. Vanessa James / Morgan Cipres
From Vanessa and Morgan I always expect WOW in costumes. For the “50 shades of grey. Episode 2” it was almost impossible to do something better then Vanessa’s last season super-sexy jumpsuit, but she coped with this task. The dress turned out very thematic and very hot. There is a hint of corset, some “leather” details, teasing transparent inserts and deep neckline.
Dresses by Chanel, Cushnie et Ochs and Catherine Malandrino
Morgan is always bold enough in terms of costume and has never hid in the shadow of his partner. And even in all black manages to look bright. Leather jacket and trousers … ..yeah he looks super handsome!)
Morgan. forgive me all my jukes about amount of rhinestones on some of your previous costumes) But without them you are also damn handsome! Even wearing everyday clothes. Suspicious, but everything looks good on you!)
I don’t know what else Vanessa could have weore to highlight…..to highlight everything. There are several associations here – latex and catwoman, leather. In any case – it was wow. She wore just a tight-fitting black suit and outshined everyone. Of course not the least role played an ideal figure. And do not look down on leather dresses, they walked along the red carpet too:
- Aliona Savchenko and Fedor Klimov
Surprise-sirprise) Why? Because I couldn’t answer the question “Whose costumes were best”, but I could easily answer questions “Who had the most beautiful dress?” and “who was the best-dressed partner?”.
I admired Aliona’s dress the whole season. It looked great both on TV and live. I was ready to give some extra points in PCS solely for the dress) The dress is gorgeous. The color of the milky surface of the sea in the early morning, the colors of the morning mist with golden glimpses of the sun. It is an expensive and very feminine couture dress. The more surprising it was to see such dress on Aliona, who is a regular guest in “Take it off immediately” rubric.
And the dress from the podium. Elie Saab, of course)
Fedor, you made me speechless. I know that the idea was a “conductor”, hence one tucked sleeve. But I see a gorgeously dressed nobleman man. Aristocracy in every detail. True gentleman, dressed according to the latest fashion of his time. In this program, and in this costume an incredible happened and Fedor outshined Ksenia.
Related topics: aliona savchenko bruno massot, Cheng Peng Yang Jin, Evgenia Tarasova Vladimir Morozov, figure skating costumes, figure skating dresses, ice style, Ioulia Chtchetinina Noah Scherer, Kirsten Moore-Towers Michael Marinaro, Ksenia Stolbova Fedor Klimov, Lubov Iliushechkina Dylan Moscovitch, Marissa Castelli Mervin Tran, Meagan Duhamel Eric Radford, Miriam Ziegler Severin Kiefer, Miu Suzaki Ryuichi Kihara, Natalia Zabijako Alexander Enbert, pairs, Sumire Suto Francis Boudreau-Audet, Tarah Kayne Daniel O Shea, Vanessa James Morgan Cipres, Wenjing Sui Cong Han, Xiaoyu Yu Hao Zhang
WARNING: This will be a very long comment – pairs costumes are the best part of life for me :)
I think we have the same thoughts on Tarasova/Morozov’s costumes – good choice for the SP, not so lucky in the FS. But the gold stuff on his shirt reminds me of a Godiva chocolate wrapper for some reason.
Also the Austrians’ costumes are lovely!
The first time I saw Aliona’s red and gray dress, I didn’t like it very much. It wasn’t really her style. So I was happy to see the peach dress. It reminds me of The Great Gatsby. But as you said, peach is very light on the ice, especially for a fair-skinned blonde.
I really liked Luba and Dylan’s unique costumes. Red and violet are a rare combination but I love how the colors combine. They look very classy.
Marissa and Mervin really did a good job. Stylish but not overdone. That’s all I have to say.
Disclaimer: Eric would look hot in anything. Literally anything. He could probably wear poor Vova Morozov’s flapping blue FP shirt and look amazing :) So the fact that he is blessed with two good costumes is just a bonus. But they are both very nice, cool costumes. I give Meagan credit for trying a dress that’s completely different than what she usually wears. But why be a fragile flower when you are a lioness? I think if she was to do a dress with this, it should be similar to Ashley Wagner’s 2013-2014 SP dress. Halter neck looks great on her body so that’s something to keep in mind for next year.
I feel like Cheng Peng’s FP dress is similar to Xiaoyu Yu’s “Humility and Love” dress. But it looks lovely on her, especially with her beautiful skin tone and features, so if she wants to borrow a Xiaoyu look, I don’t mind.
When we did the review of costumes at the Grand Prix Final, I wanted to say Yu/Zhang, but something stopped me. Now I realize – it’s that cutout! However, they chose a lovely shade of blue and great fabric. I associate Hao’s FP shirt with armor too. He looks like he should be commanding an army of medieval Chinese soldiers. It also reminds me of Jason Brown’s SP costume this season. Xiaoyu looks like a princess, but the mesh sleeves are completely unnecessary. I wish more skaters would make their costumes look like real clothes.
Alexander’s could’ve stepped straight from the pages of a Tolstoy novel; in fact, his costume echoes Soloviev’s Anna Karenina jacket. Natalia’s dress appears quite plain at first but close up, it’s quite pretty. A shame it’s only seen from the stands where the beauty can’t be appreciated. To me, her dress belongs in Pride and Prejudice.
Natalia’s FP dress reminds me of Maria Sotskova’s SP dress; butterfly prints are popular! I agree it doesn’t match the program, but it’s a pretty dress in its own right.
The Swiss girl’s dress is adorable, it seems very Anna Cappellini. The Japanese pairs both look amazing! It’s funny you mention Miu Suzaki’s dress on Ksenia Stolbova because I was thinking the same thing. Maybe because it’s similar to her gray dress from 2015-2016.
Kayne/O’Shea’s SP costumes are great – simple but sultry. They look like real clothes. As for the FP costumes, I love Tarah’s dress but I would gladly remove the tight bands around his arms. They don’t look comfortable!
Sui/Han’s costumes suit the program, they’re sassy and cool. Bold colors like dark blue are great on Wenjing. And I love her haircut so much that I got the same style (for some reason people said I look like her, so I went all out).
As for their FP costumes, which we haven’t discussed, I couldn’t help but think she stole the dress from Mao Asada’s I Got Rhythm SP.
Like Meagan, Ksenia was a lioness dressed as a flower. Sadly, we didn’t see the lioness emerge this season until the free program at Worlds. Ash rose is not the first color I would choose for her, but the dress was lovely. The ivory dress somehow reminds me of Natalia’s SP dress. But I feel like Ksenia wasn’t sure whether to do a high neck or a low neck, so she settled on an interesting mesh. Since “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”, I’ve been a big fan of jumpsuits for Ksenia. This one suited the program and showcased their lines, but I can’t help thinking they could’ve done more to it. Maybe she could take advice from Vanessa on cutouts for next season.
Vanessa and Morgan have always been masters of packaging. Vanessa’s SP dress could definitely melt down the ice and keeps with the theme of the program. I think Morgan’s costume would’ve been perfect for Chock/Bates’ SD; that’s exactly what Evan needed to stand out. Vanessa is clearly not a shy girl when it comes to the FP jumpsuit :) With that much gorgeousness, I doubt anyone noticed that the legwarmers are half over the skates, Medvedeva style. But I don’t Morgan’s FP costume suits the program. He looks very handsome, but the program is dark and haunting, and the clothes belong on a runway. Just my opinion.
Eric will always be the handsomest skater in my eyes. But Fedor really impressed me with his SP costume. Again, I think of Pride and Prejudice. Watching him, I keep thinking “Should I hold out my hand so he can kiss it?” Morgan looks like a bad-boy who rides a motorcycle and plays electric guitar, but Fedor looks dapper, refined, and handsome in a quiet way. And we all know hot bad-boys never stick around anyways :)
Aliona’s dress is gorgeous because it doesn’t scream for attention. It’s like an impressionist painting – you want to come closer and see all the details. Simple, stunning, and perfect for the program. Bruno’s costume was okay but as you said, please tuck the shirt.
On a side note, I also liked Alexa Scimeca Knierim’s dress for the short program. But of course, it had flowers on the bodice, and we’ve seen a lot of those lately :)
You know how much I love long comments!)
‘The first time I saw Aliona’s red and gray dress, I didn’t like it very much. It wasn’t really her style.’
The dress is nice and would look great on a young skater who just starts her career in seniors. Maybe Aliona can give it to some German girl? Costumes are quite expensive so it could be both a present from idol and a good support for young skater.
‘Disclaimer: Eric would look hot in anything. Literally anything. He could probably wear poor Vova Morozov’s flapping blue FP shirt and look amazing :) ‘
Oh no) No, no, no and another 17 times no) He’d better skate shirtless.
‘As for their FP costumes, which we haven’t discussed, I couldn’t help but think she stole the dress from Mao Asada’s I Got Rhythm SP.’
Sui’s dress for the FP was just too ordinary. You can order such on-line. Such girl simply deserves something way more unique.
Meagn, Ksenia, we have more than enough tender flowers in figure skating, we want to see some gorgeous lionesses!
‘Aliona’s dress is gorgeous because it doesn’t scream for attention. It’s like an impressionist painting’
Exactly, you found a great comparison!
That’s a very good idea about Aliona’s red and gray dress to a young skater! I think it would look great on a brunette.
Eric skating shirtless? Now there’s a thought…
Sui, Meagan, Aliona, Alexa, and Ksenia are the five gorgeous lionesses of the sport, and they all deserve costumes straight from heaven.
Impressionist painting…yes, I was watching documentaries on art galleries lately :)