Best of 2009-2010

Now that we're finished with our 2009-2010 Retrospective, we wanted to summarize our feelings about this season. These are our examples of the most well-designed, well-executed, appropriate, aesthetically-pleasing costumes from this season. The skaters in this post exemplify what we're looking for in costumes when we're judging them.

Men's Singles

There are two typical strategies for men's costumes: the more menswear-inspired approach, and the sparkly onesie. We've decided to include our favorite examples of both types of costume.

Men's Singles (Menswear) - Jeremy Abbott SP

Jeremy managed to wear menswear, look good, and not bore us. It's an understated costume, but it stands out because it fits him well and looks great. There are no sparkly argyle patterns, neon colors, or visible chest hair. In fact, we think this costume is the kind of thing a wide range of skaters could pull off. This is the answer to skaters who complain about the lack of masculinity in skating costumes. There's not a rhinestone in sight here, but Jeremy looks stylish and this costume definitely stuck in our heads—for the right reasons.

Men's Singles (Onesies) - Johnny Weir FS

Of the two options for men's costumes, the onesie is harder to get right. While poorly done menswear is boring or underwhelming, poorly executed onesies can be disastrous. This costume is simple, yet effective. It's not just a bodysuit with glitter and fur slapped on; it is carefully considered and designed to flatter Johnny’s body. And while it is flattering on Johnny, it is not so specific that it would look out of place on other male skaters.

Ladies' Singles - Rachael Flatt FS

When we first wrote about this costume, we said that if skating had a uniform, we'd want the ladies' uniform to be this. Two months later, our opinion remains the same. This costume has everything we're looking for in a skating dress. We love the empire waistline and the symmetrical hem and the gold crystal trim on the top. This is the dress that will go on the poster for Bee's campaign to make sweetheart necklines obligatory. We went absolutely crazy for Yu-Na's short program dress, but we think that Flatt's costume presented a more clear example of what a good ladies' dress should have.

Pairs - Annabelle Langlois and Cody Hay SP

Although there were costumes that we individually preferred, these were the only costumes that we both completely loved. Langlois and Hay simply did not make a single wrong step. It's often difficult to find pairs costumes that look coordinated without looking like the exact same costume. Langlois and Hay's costumer accomplished it by choosing a color that looks great on both skaters, which is not an easy task. We love Langlois's dress, and it works perfectly with Hay's shirt. These might not be the most creative costumes out there, but there is literally nothing we object to.

Ice Dance (Compulsory Dance) - Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte

We love both Cappellini and Lanotte in these costumes from Euros. It's important to remember that the compulsory dance this season was an Argentine tango. Lanotte's wonderful well-tailored vest and pocket square fit the tango much better than the lackluster tuxedos many ice dance men went with. (This is why we chose Cappellini and Lanotte over Davis and White for this category, despite our eternal love for Meryl's Nationals dress.) Cappellini's dress is also gorgeous. We loved black and gold when Yu-Na Kim and Mirai Nagasu wore it, and we love it here. And we're total pushovers for pretty beading.

Ice Dance (Original) - Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates

Original Dance was a very polarizing event this season. So many of the costumes were tacky or offensive. Yet, original dance managed to provide us with some stunning examples of how to costume yourself properly. We were really impressed by the American skaters in this event. Overall, our choice for best Original Dance costume went to Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates. We felt their western style costumes were culturally respectful, well constructed, well fitting, and aesthetically pleasing on both skaters. While we felt Samuelson and Bates fulfilled all of our criteria for best costume, we have to also mention Davis and White, since they had one of the most talked about original dances of all time and did so in costumes worthy of that respect.

Ice Dance (Free) - N/A
Unlike the other two dances, there weren't any free dance costumes that really stood out to us as exemplary. None of the top 20 Ice Dance teams really showed exactly what we were looking for. Our favorite dress from free dance was Federica Faiella's, but we could not list them here in good conscience, considering Scali's costume.

[Photo Credits: Abbott 1, 2, 4, 5&8, Bates/Samuelson 4&8, Cappellini/Lanotte 1&2, Flatt 2, 3, 4&6, Langlois/Hay 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7&8, Weir 1&2: Reuters. Bates/Samuelson 1, 2, 3, 5, 6&7, Cappellini/Lanotte 3, 4&6, Flatt 1, 5&8, Weir 3&7: Getty. Abbott 3, 6&7, Cappellini/Lanotte 5, Flatt 7, Langlois/Hay 4, Weir 4, 5, 6&8: AP.]