Friday, May 9, 2014

#FashionFriday

Once again, a disclaimer that I am the opposite of a fashion authority. But I persevere.

And speaking of questionable fashion sense, I've picked the 90s as the theme for today's roundup. Unlike its mainstream counterpart, I think for figure skating fashion the 90s were the formative years, planting the seeds of some of the bold styles we see on the ice today.

LIKE: Pretty much everything Michelle Kwan ever wore, post-1994, especially the Vera Wang stuff.



Her dress at Nagano in 1998 is my favorite. I love the periwinkle color, the simple cut, the shimmery effect of the velvety fabric, and the way it complemented her every move.

NO LIKE: Pretty much everything Oksana Baiul ever wore on the ice in the 90s.



These dresses are exemplary of a more traditional, ornate Russian-inspired style. But I can't even. The feathery furry stuff and dangly crystals. Noooope. I always found Oksana's skating style a bit sloppy, and these dresses seem to magnify her weaknesses--and I daresay may have actually interfered with her skating. And I'd say the same about Irina Slutskaya, who sported very similar attire on the ice.

LIKE: Nancy Kerrigan's short program dress in 1994.


This Vera Wang dress is one of the most elegant skating dresses I've ever seen. The contrast between the black and white is striking, The sheer sleeves are lovely, as is the hint of sparkle on the wrists.


NO LIKE: Tara Lipinski's 1998 long program dress



Ok I don't totally hate this dress, and any lapses in fashion Tara may have had in the 90s have been more than erased by her recent stints as a high-profile fashion commentator. But I do really really dislike the sheer sleves on this dress from her Olympic gold medal freeskate. It looks like she has the chicken pox, or measles. Cut off the sleeves, and ease up on the crystal dangly bits and you've got a beautiful dress.

On a related note, I found this great Cosmo piece on figure skating fashion from February that really gets into modern ladies figure skating fashion. It does a much better job than I of explaining it.






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