Men: Part 3 of 4
Kevin van der Perren. Current World Ranking: #15
Short Program: Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgski
Despite the fact that we run a figure skating fashion blog, we both believe that if viewers remember your costume more than your skating, you're doing it wrong. Not only is this costume one of the most heavily criticized costumes of this season, it distracts from the fact that Kevin van der Perren is actually a good skater. Bee almost died watching his 4T+3T+3T in his free skate at Worlds and yet when prompted to talk about KVDP, the first thing that comes to mind is this costume. Costumes should enhance the skating, not overwhelm it. Bottom line, you're a figure skater, not a Cinco de Mayo decoration.
Why do so many figure skaters think that mixing red and purple is a good idea? It's not. There are so many things that are wrong with this costume that we are just going to focus on one. We hate gloves on figure skating costumes on principle, but this costume has thumbless gloves. As if fingerless gloves weren't bad enough.
Nobunari Oda. Current World Ranking #5
Short Program: Totentantz by Franz Liszt
Elle had a bit of a crisis while writing about this costume. "I'm bored of black unitards with sparkly embellishment," she wrote to Bee. We don't hate the costume Oda wore to the Olympics (top), but we don't love it either. To put it simply, we're bored. It doesn't stand out. There is so much going on here and yet we just don't find it interesting. However, our opinion of this costume improved dramatically after we saw the awful version he wore for Japanese Nationals (bottom).
Bee really liked this costume until Elle pointed out that Oda's pants are gray and, therefore, do not match his tuxedo jacket. Bee thinks that this is the best skating suit of the season, regardless, but Elle hates tuxedos on the ice so much that she can't even appreciate this at all. Bee does, however, concede that this is poorly tailored for Oda's body and that the pants are just baggy enough to make him look sloppy.
Brian Joubert. Current World Ranking: #6
Short Program: Rise by Safri Duo
Elle tried to defend this costume. She pointed out to Bee what a nice compromise it was between street clothes and a sparkly onesie, pairing a sparkly top with normal pants. She mentioned how good Joubert looks in black. She remarked that it looked like Joubert was decorated with sparkly racing stripes. But then Bee said, "This is what 'that guy' wears when he tries to neg you in a club and then is shocked when you turn him down." And Elle couldn't deny it.
This is not good. It looks like Joubert put on his favorite black onesie and let his costumer staple on an entire basket of leftover fabric scraps. Bee sews, and that uneven neckline makes her fingers twitch. She wants to get her hands on this costume and fix it. Elle thinks the costume is a mess, but awards it fifty extra points for being on Joubert's body, which is beyond any criticism.
Michal Brezina. Current World Ranking: #4
Short Program: Puttin' On The Ritz by Irving Berlin
This costume has Alban Preaubert Disease. Turning your normal clothes ridiculous colors and gluing rhinestones on them does not make them figure skating costumes. (In case you missed it, that argyle pattern is actually composed of rhinestones.) Elle hated this costume on sight, and when asked to defend that opinion all she could say was, "Coral argyle sweater vest," as if that explained everything. Bee initially liked it, but changed her mind when she realized Brezina was younger than her, since she would never have guessed in this costume. We would like there to be a rule against cute young blond boys dressing like grandpas.
Brezina's music choices are charming, but we're not sure why an American in Paris would dress like this. Again, Brezina, if you're already wearing clothes that look bad, putting more sparkles on them is not the answer. We like the style and cut of the vest, but the white-on-black thing isn't working at all. At least he's not wearing gloves.
Johnny Weir. Current World Ranking: #12
Oh, Johnny Weir. We are both such unrepentant Johnny fans and costumes like this are why. We aren't really sure why this costume has come under so much scrutiny when you look at what all the other men are wearing. From all the uproar over Johnny wearing a corset, you'd think he'd be stepping onto the ice in a Victorian overbust with whalebones. Of course, we had our own drama over this costume, too, but nothing like it was in the media. We disagree on costumes all the time, but in this case we disagreed very strongly on specific things. Everything Elle liked about this costume, Bee didn't. Elle loves the asymmetrical back of the corset, and especially the cutout down Johnny's right arm, to the point that these kinds of creative touches are what interests her in what Johnny could do with a design career. Bee hates both these elements, but she does like the overall aesthetic of the costume.
As pretty much everyone in the entire world knows, after receiving threats for using real fur in his costume at Nationals, Johnny Weir returned to the free skate costume he had been using earlier in the season for the Olympics. We're pretty sad about that because we loved the Nationals costume. We like the winged costume, too, but the fur one was amazing. Johnny designs his own costumes and after sifting through hundreds of photos of disastrous figure skating costumes, we are now firmly convinced that he's a genius. This costume is just that much better than what everyone else is wearing. Johnny's done the black/white/gray thing before, and it really works on him. Unlike Kevin van der Perren, Johnny's beaded ribcage actually looks good. In fact, what really baffles us is the fact that we love this costume despite its inclusion of elements that usually ruin costumes for us. We never knew white gloves could look so good. Bee, who normally dislikes asymmetry, loves the wing. Similarly, with the Nationals costume, if we'd heard that Johnny Weir was wearing a black onesie with a silver ribcage decoration topped by white fur, we would be horrified. Which only makes the fact that we love it more impressive. Johnny really knows what looks good on him.
[Photo Credits: KVDP FS, Oda SP2&FS, Joubert SP, Brezina SP2, Weir FS1 (Olympics): Getty. KVDP SP, Joubert FS2, Brezina SP1, Weir SP, FS1 (Nationals)&FS2 (Olympics): Reuters. Oda SP1, Joubert FS1, Brezina FS, Weir FS2 (Nationals): AP.]
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