Top-10 best costumes in pairs. Season 2017-2018
It’s time for my annual fashion review and I’m gonna start with pairs.
Main trends of the season:
– men in black
– little red dress
– the best of Elie Saab
It’s became a tradition to note some skaters whose costumes didn’t get into the fashion rating but deserve being mentioned.
Ashley Cain – Timothy Leduc
Minimalism, laconism – yes, yes, yes, everything as I like. Jumpsuits don’t suit everyone, but Ashley looks great. Interesting and not banal geometry of the top. Looks very stylish. But for the Great Gatsby this outfit is not very suitable, I think it would have been better to keep this costumes for the short program to 50 Shades of Gray (anyway they made a new dress for the FP, which we’ll talk about later). As for Timothy costume, I don’t like this waistcoat over the mesh shirt.
Deanna Stellato – Nathan Bartholomew
I liked this variation on the theme of red dress. A plain skirt and a very open top. What is surprising, no mesh! Only a double strap on the back. Boldly. Interesting drops of violet, it gives some light mosaic effect. The partner is traditionally dressed in all black.
Miu Suzaki – Ryuichi Kihara
I love the emerald color, but it’s so rarely used in figure skating that I just can not pass by these costumes. The dress is simple and without extra details, they played a little with an ombre, the dress gives an impression of a fresh leaf. It reminded me of the works of Monique Lhuillier:
And what do I see?! The guy wears just a shirt and trousers. The shirt isn’t simple, it has interesting details. But still. No one wrapped in ruffles, no one dove into the pool with Swarovski crystals, smeared with glue … .. Apparently, all this luxury is reserved for men in single skating.
10. Natalia Zabijako – Alexander Enbert and Annika Hocke – Ruben Blommaert
Nice costumes for a gentle, lyrical program. Easy drapery, light ombre. Airy dress-marshmallow looks good on fragile Natalia. Sasha even dared to go beyond the black trousers. But, this wide shirt on not small and thin Sasha looked a little bit like pajamas. In general, everything is nice, but guys, with such appearance you can afford to wear much more interesting and sophisticated costumes!
The fringe still has the power ower figure skaters’ hearts and minds) And this we have not reached the ice dance yet, where latina without fringe is just a waste of money. A fringe skirt, open back, American armhole and jewelry on the neck are classics of the genre. Style proved by years:
Interesting that in this pair it was the male partner who was changing outfits. Ruben had two sets: a classic one “shirt-vest-trousers” and “Why only dancers can have a tight translucent shirt?” First one was closer to the libretto, the second made the program more abstract-dancing. Which do you like more?
I liked the costumes for the FP very much, they suited the program a lot. A beautiful combination of tender pink dress with gray lace, flowers in hair. All this perfectly emphasized the youth and freshness of the girl, the tenderness of the program.
The finishing on the dress echoes with the finishing on the partner’s sweater (the gray sweater is still a must have in the skaters’ wardrobe). Harmonious set of costumes, completely without styling to Romeo and Juliet theme, but at the same time everything is clear.
9. Cheng Peng – Yang Jin and Valentina Marchei – Ondrej Hotarek
Another classic of the genre “black trousers and white shirt” and the first in this review, but not the last chic red dress. Laconic cut, one bright detail – massive necklace. And as a result, elegant, expensive look. The dress definitely needs to be noted.
I like the idea of the costumes for FP. And if they had at their disposal a couple of meters of the skirt and not so fragile girl, it would have turned out a bomb – a luxurious, seductive butterfly. But, alas, they didn’t have neither one nor the other and as a result too little of skirt, too much transparency with some veins, which only emphasized the thinness of the girl. But at least they tired and Yang also has a stylish sweater with some buttons in national style.
Polka dot has become a notorious print this season, but polka dot can be very different. Valentina and Ondrej managed to tame this insidious print. Valentina has a nice sundress … ..summer, sun, Italy. I wish only the skirt was more pouffy to make the figure look more proportional.
Ondrej got polka dot only for small scarf. And that was a right decision, the main thing is not to overdo. One bright accent is more than enough to add playfulness to the classic black and white look. I also need to say that the suit looked excellent on Don Ondrej!
8. Wenjing Sui – Cong Han
Vinous is my favorite color on ice. And Hallelujah in vinous it’s a very dear combination for me. I like the very idea of dress and such deep neckline is also in fashion.
Dresses by Gauri and Nainika, Miu Miu and Elie Saab
But still, I have a feeling that something went wrong and the dress that should have been sexy, began to look like an apron putted on a naked body.
As for Han’s costume, I’m not a fan of pictures with rhinestones. This reminds me of T-shirts with shiny skulls / hello kitty / D & G letters. And this phoenix bird…..it looks ok, but doesn’t really match with Sui’s dress.
Сave paintings rhinestones pictures migrated to the FP. Well, there such finishing bring some national flavour and it was necessary to decorate the black costume somehow.
I like the idea to use the silhouette of a national dress. I also like dresses with sleeves) And it turned out very lovely, but for some reason a bit retro. I don’t know why. And I probably wouldn’t do the open back, because it doesn’t match with the whole idea of the dress.
7. Xiaoyu Yu – Hao Zhang and Tarah Kayne – Daniel O’Shea
Beautiful, elegant dress with a delicate finish. Such dresses are very popular in wedding fashion now. I have no complaints either about tailoring or about fashion, but for me it isn’t enough feathers swan in it. You can easily wear it for any lyrical program and no one will notice anything. So I wish the dress was a bit more thematic. Hao again has a stylish sweater with “leather” and transparent inserts. Actually he doesn’t afraid to experiment with fashion and usually has some interesting clothes.
Costumes for the FP I can take my fashion top just because of color of her dress. Dusty blue is not a usual guest neither on the ice nor on the red carpets. The color is “difficult” and it doesn’t suit everyone. But it looks perfect with Yu’s porcelain skin tone. The design of the dress also stands out. The length of the skirt is also not the most common for pair skating, interesting design of the neckline and delicate drapery on the bodice.
Elie Saab and J.Mendel
But unfortunately Hao’s costume doesn’t look that good. I don’t understand all this details. Why are those blue pieces of cloths there? I know that “put a blue piece of cloth on your costume – keep up with the trend” but still. What did they want to say? Oh and there’s also some kind of metal something ….. A chip on an electrical tape?
The heroes of the nomination “The most original choice of music”. Tarah’s dress is less refined than Yu’s (special refinement, in my opinion, requires skirt), but it gives more swan appearance. In many ways thanks to the design of the bodice. Simple, elegant and without feathers. But I’ wish Daniel have come up with something more interesting than black trousers with a shirt. The Swan Lake is such a rich theme for costumes!
Dress for the FP is one of my favorite dresses for Phantom of the Opera. It does not copy dresses from the movie, but it looks beautiful and romantic. I especially like the finishing of the corsage. It looks in theme of the movie and you can also find something similar in the collections of famous designers.
Elie Saab and Giambattista Valli
Daniel also got a costume in the spirit of the epoch. Gently blue shirt with a frill. The frill nicely matches with the finishing on her corsage. Looks romantic.
6. Marissa Castelli – Mervin Tran and Miriam Ziegler – Severin Kiefer
Marissa and Mervin continued not to please us with their skating, but their costumes were very good. Costumes for the SP I’ve discussed many times, so let’s skip to the free program.
Honestly, all the season I wanted to take this program and this amazing costumes and give to a stronger pair. And then I found out that a bag with the dress was stolen from Marissa’s car. What a jerks! Give the dress back! You don’t even know how much it can cost! Gorgeous dress of ash-rose shade with delicate sequins finishing, like a dew on petals.
Dresses by Krikor Jabotian
And I really like Mervin’s costume. The combination of classic gray trousers and elegant shirt of my favorite vinous color.
Costumes of the Austrian pair for the FP I also wanted to “steal” for someone else. The dress of simple silhouette tunic. Beautiful color of the night sky, shining sequins on it looks like stars. Some headbands in antique style would look great….. What a dress for a classical program it could have been!
Elie Saab and Zuhair Murad
Severin has a shirt in tone of his partner’s dress, also with some rhinestones. Perhaps it would be better if the shirt was more fitted and tucked into trousers. Anyway, it looks very nice.
5. Meagan Duhamel – Eric Radford and Vanessa James – Morgan Cipres
Megan finally realised that pastel shades and all sorts of fashionable tiny laces are not for her. Her choice: laconic cut, rich colors and if she wants something shiny, then instead of the small sequins she should chose something large.
I like the black costumes for the SP more than the original gray ones. They are more elegant. Meagan’s dress reminded me of dresses from the collections of Zuhair Murad:
Eric as always dressed impeccably. Yes, it’s again something black and dark, but as they say fell the difference. How perfectly Eric’s costume is sewn and fitted!
There were several options for the free program. Top in rhinestones and a bright skirt – quite common idea in the evening fashion. It looks impressive on photo, but not always on the video. Sometimes it seems that skater skates topless.
Megan had another brave appearance – a gold dress with laces. Also a pretty popular idea in the fashion world.
Dresses by Krikor Jabotian
And finally there was a vinous set. Megan already had a similar dress for this program, only blue. But vinous looks good on her.
Eric instead of an elegant shirt, decided to try on something from Scott Moir’s wardrobe, with transparent inserts on the sides. Not the best decision for my taste, shirts suits him better.
Megan and Eric from season to season show us good costumes, I do not remember any big failures. But they always lacks something to break into to the top of the fashion rating.
Vanessa and Morgan with their bright, spectacular, sexy costumes in the past seasons raised the bar so high that it became difficult to live up to. For themselves. Of all their costumes for this season I want to note only Vanessa’s blue dress. It is really extraordinary, interesting and something new for the fs-fashion. If Vanessa were a single skater, she would win a fashion rating.
Atelier Versace and Herve Leger
But Morgan wears “leather” jacket with straps … how many times have we already seen such design on him? And this strange blue tape …. What functional and visual purpose does it have?
Ivory jumpsuit is interesting, but contradictory. The bodice has many beautiful finishes. The top reminds me of the wedding dress, so it was weird to see it in combination with the leggings. I also don;t like the gray, partly transparent sweater that Morgan wore, because it made him look too big and wide.
The black jumpsuit is very sexy and on Vanessa it looks amazing. But did we doubt? We have already seen it, two times, so for the third time it already does not make a stunning effect.
4. Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov
Ksenia and Fedor got in a similar situation. From season to season they showed great costumes, took prizes in the fashions rating. But this time, honestly, I was not impressed. Yes, everything is good and stylish, but there is a feeling that we have already seen it all.
Little black dress, laconic cut, minimum finishing, sexy open back. Super chic. But we have already seen it. The second dress also has everything what I like and it showed how fragile Ksenia was this season, but it was too simple for this program.
Jason Wu, Stephane Rolland and Christian Siriano
But I liked how Fedor used the jacket and he was dressed perfectly. In the free program his costume even more interesting than Ksenia’s dress. No cliche which we usually seen in male costumes for Karmen.
Ksenia’s dress again symbolized the triumph of my beloved minimalism. But … red dress and a little bit of black finishing … We’ve also already seen it. And this black laces on the bodice…..I couldn’t get rid of the thoughts that someone touched her with his dirty hands(
Elie Saab, Farah Angsana and Jason Wu
That’s why I liked the changes in the dress. The idea of a black, transparent bolero with large drop-sequins seems quite fresh for skating fashion. On close-ups, I really like the dress. But from afar the bolero still cuts the figure(
3. Kirsten Moore-Towers – Michael Marinaro
Kirsten and Michael for sure can be called a fashion breakthrough. They had one of my most favorite costumes of this season. It suits Kirsten a lot to be lady in red. Bright, stylish, hot dress! Interesting combination of a high collar and a deep V-neck line. Not too much finishing, just as much as necessary to create a chic look.
Elie Saab and Naeem Khan
In this case, I have nothing against Michael’s black costume. First, there are some bright details. Secondly, in combination with Kirsten’s dress something more complicated would have ruined the whole picture.
And such a lovely dress for the free program. Gentle-lavender, with an open back and a delicate finishing with silver rhinestones. What a pretty thing! I admired it all season. Michael wore classic male costume “white shirt – black pants” looked good and did not take too much attention)
By Georges Hobeika
2-1 Aliona Savchenko – Bruno Massot and Alexa Scimeca – Chris Knierim
I couldn’t decide who should win. In my opinion both pairs deserve a fashion award this season.
I liked their Flamenco SP and liked the costumes for it. Bruno in black. Black shirt over a black tank top. And the fiery dress for Alena. Elongated from the back side, with an open back and a nude illusion mesh of excellent quality. I like that the effect of the flame was created only by rhinestones, not pieces of fabric. Plus a stylish, thin belt. Great look, with no typical roses in hair)
And then they returned the old program, but sewed new costumes, which in my opinion were much better than the past ones. Bruno looked absolutely charming in a classic costume with a gray waistcoat and a bright bow tie. As for Aliona’s dress, again our beloved fringe) But she, in my opinion, managed to create the most sophisticated image. She also complemented the dress with accessories and hairdo in style. The dress looked gorgeous in motion!
MIKAELD, Nina Ricci and Kate Moss for Topshop
I also liked the second variant of costumes for the FP more. Bruno has a beautiful shirt, with a very beautifully designed collar. Not black, his costume is well matched with Aliona’s dress and did not make him look wider that he’s.
Alena has a delicate stunning dress, with a slightly longer skirt (by the standards of pair skating), our favorite ombre, belt that highlighted the waist, open back and even sleeves, as I like. How could I not appreciate such a beautiful, gentle, flying dress?
Marchesa and Sherri Hill
Alexa Scimeca – Chris Knierim. Another costumes and overall appearance of the pair, which I admired all season.
In the free program we can see my beloved simplicity and plainness. No finishing, no rhinestones, but how splendidly delicate Alexa looked in this gently purple dress! Fully closed front side, slightly asymmetrical skirt and open back. The image was very tender and romantic.
Naeem Khan and Valentino
Perhaps, for Chris, they could have came up with something more interesting than the absolute must have of a male fs-fashion – a gray gradient sweater. But on the other hand, he’s playing a ghost ….
And my favorite costumes of the season.
Elegant Chris in a dark blue costume and Alexa in this absolutely gorgeous dress. It seems that this dress of color nude, with a blue belt-ribbon, deep V-neck and rhinestone has just come from the podiums of the fashion week. Many designers like to use such belts:
Elie Saab, Ralph & Russo
What can I say? Beautiful, expensive and perfectly matching costumes worthy the Olympic Games.
Related topics: Alexa Scimeca Chris Knierim, aliona savchenko bruno massot, Annika Hocke Ruben Blommaert, Ashley Cain Timothy LeDuc, Cheng Peng Yang Jin, Deanna Stellato Nathan Bartholomew, figure skating costumes, figure skating dresses, ice style, Kirsten Moore-Towers Michael Marinaro, Ksenia Stolbova Fedor Klimov, Marissa Castelli Mervin Tran, Meagan Duhamel Eric Radford, Miriam Ziegler Severin Kiefer, Miu Suzaki Ryuichi Kihara, Natalia Zabijako Alexander Enbert, pairs, Tarah Kayne Daniel O Shea, Valentina Marchei Ondrej Hotarek, Vanessa James Morgan Cipres, Wenjing Sui Cong Han, Xiaoyu Yu Hao Zhang
I would add the Tessa Virtue’s Moulin Rouge Dress!!!
This was only about pairs. Men, ladies and ice dance will be later)
I have no idea why Tarasova and Morozov didn’t rank high in this list. I guess you simply forgot about them, right? :D ;D
Oh no, I didn’t forget about them. Actually they are the winners…but of another ranking))))
Excellent choices!
I also loved Deanna Stellato’s red dress and the Japanese pair’s green costumes.
I was obsessed with Aliona and Bruno’s silver short program costumes at the Olympics. And I’m glad you noticed Kirsten and Michael!!! They were very high on my ranking too!
I can never support a man who wears a blue stripe on his jacket…