2009-2010 Season in Review: Part 1 of 16
Men: Part 1 of 4
Welcome to Sparkly Onesies! This blog is brought to you by Elle and Bee, two fashion fans and college students. As a figure skating fashion blog, we plan to present and comment on costumes for programs and exhibitions as they are designed, debuted and changed around. During the off-season, we'll be doing retrospectives of seasons past, starting with the one that just concluded. We will also be commenting on skaters' fashion off-the-ice and show costumes whenever possible. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email us at sparklyonesies@gmail.com. Also, feel free to follow us on twitter; we are @sparklyonesies.
For our 2009-2010 retrospective, we decided to talk about the top twenty ranked skaters in each discipline. We wrote them all down immediately after Worlds, but didn't pay much attention to order. Of course, by the time we sat down to put these posts together, the World Rankings had been updated on the ISU website and the order of our list become somewhat nonsensical. With that said, here is part one of our 2009-2010 season in review. We are beginning with the men. Skaters are listed with their current world ranking following their names, in case you're wondering how they stand as of today.
Brandon Mroz. Current World Ranking: #23
Short Program: Temptation by Freed and Brown
We are not sure why Brandon Mroz, surely someone who can see well enough to land his jumps, would change his costume from the boring, uninteresting, golfer ensemble he wore at Skate America to the epic disaster he rocked the rest of the season. Elle thinks he killed a horde of traffic cones for the trim and Bee is inclined to agree. Did you notice that the black striped part of the top is actually translucent? Because it is. Bee actually likes the color orange for some unknown reason and she still hates this costume.
Free Skate: Symphony No. 5 in C minor by Ludwig van Beethoven/Romance No. 2 in F Major by Ludwig van Beethoven
Elle hates figure skating versions of real clothes, like jeans or sweaters. She would prefer skaters to either wear real clothes or suck it up and put on a onesie, but in this case, she doesn't know if a tuxedo or a figure skating tuxedo is worse. Bee just really hates navy blue. We both like the asymmetrical stripe down the front. (Bee secretly really, really likes this costume but pretends not to in order to maintain a healthy friendship with Elle, who is pretty intense about her hatred of skating suits.)
Adrian Schultheiss. Current World Ranking: #20
Short Program: My Way by David Mnatsakanyan/Christmas Fantasy by David Mnatsakanyan
We hadn't seen Adrian Schultheiss's short program before putting together this post. When we did, Elle said to Bee, "I know he's the creepy straightjacket guy, but is it just me or is Adrian Schultheiss pretty cute?" Bee strongly disagreed, and our opinions on this costume similarly can't be resolved. Elle likes the sparkly vest, particularly the subtle diamond pattern, and she thinks the gloves really work. Bee hates faux vests and gloves with a passion that will set the world aflame.
Free Skate: Teardrop by Massive Attack/Insane in the Brain by Cypress Hill/Smack my bitch up by Prodigy
Bee hates this costume so much that all she could say was that this is what would happen if BDSM clubs had an angel-themed night. Elle, with her newfound crush on Schultheiss, gives him props for just going there. Once you've decided you're going to portray a mental patient, complete with deranged laughs, and skate to the House theme song, what other costume can you really wear?
Denis Ten. Current World Ranking: #18.
Short Program: Sing Sing Sing by Louis Prima
The thing about Denis Ten is that he is is only sixteen. We like him and we remember what disastrous outfits we put together at sixteen, so we are tempted to let him get away with more than he should. However, this costume just doesn't work. Elle thinks that he's cute enough to pull off a vest and bow tie, even one with a diamond pattern made of rhinestones, but Bee is less forgiving. Bee thinks this costume might work if the vest weren't BRIGHT YELLOW, but the gloves and tight white shirt creep her out too much. Either way, Denis Ten is the sparkliest boy in the orchestra pit.
Free Skate: Paso Doble - Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo
We are pretty much in love with this costume. We were totally sold on Denis Ten when he showed us his man-Biellmanns, but this costume has only made us more fond of him. The neckline is tacky, and Bee will always hate black gloves, but we are so in love with the beading on this costume. We love the color on him. We don't love the red fading into black thing that this costume has going on (it reminds us of middle school in all the wrong ways), but we're dealing.
Sergei Voronov: Current World Ranking: #16
Short Program: Revolution Etude by Alexander Skriabin
This is where our opinions on figure skating costumes threatened to ruin our friendship. Bee dislikes both of Voronov's costumes for this season, whereas Elle thinks they're visually interesting and unusual. She likes that someone found a use for illusion mesh by sewing sparkly stuff on it. Bee at first refused to dignify the latticework pattern with commentary, and then relented and said Johnny Weir's swan costume did it better. Voronov and Ten clearly went costume shopping together.
Generally, our disputes over costumes can be settled by simply agreeing to disagree. In this case, we both feel so strongly that neither of us can see the other's side. Bee can't stand this costume. She thinks the writing looked like Voronov cut up Da Vinci's journals and glued them to himself, and she despises the buttons down the front. Elle thinks it's visually appealing and creative, in a way that adds to the program's story without being so crazy it distracts from it. The only thing she dislikes is the printed belt.
Stéphane Lambiel. Current World Ranking: #32
Short Program: Wilhelm Tell by Giacomo Rossini
We are both completely in love with Stéphane Lambiel. His spins are so enchanting that we can laugh off some of his costume mishaps (the magical zebra with wings, for instance) in ways we can not for other skaters. Elle's pretty sure that Lambiel is the only one who could pull off something like this. However, it's Bee's favorite men's costume of 2009-2010. Bee loves that it is structured menswear, but not a tuxedo. She thinks it makes him look like a Disney prince. (Elle would just like to point out that she loves the campy fake skating boots. A lot.)
Free Skate: La Traviata by Guiseppe Verdi
Stéphane's short and long program costumes follow a similar theme. Elle likes this one more, Bee likes it less. Bee just hates all vests by default, but forgives any fashion faux pas that Lambiel wants to make. The shirt is beautiful. Elle loves the shoulder detailing, Bee loves that it matches the detailing on the shirt cuffs.
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