To close out our posts in this series, I'm going to do something a little different. We are gonna end this thing with a bang, folks! After looking through all my pictures for the 2010s, I realized that so many of them are doing interesting poses and/or faces that would be fun to caption. We will also comment on costumes too!
Here we go!!!
This is Ashley's short program dress from the 2014 Olympics. It is really pretty with a bunch of sheer paneling. There are now many replicas of this dress on eBay in a variety of colors. The purple one looks really cool!
On to the next one:
Mao is probably my top style icon for skating. Proof you can look great and land triple axels! Did I mention her awesome step sequences? I like whole feathery, birdlike quality of this dress, without it being over the top with feathers. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I do love feathers...
Next, we have someone who burst onto the scene a few years ago and is taking over the world!!!
Evgenia, that's your cue:
Evgenia Medvedeva is locking onto a target. She appears she about to hypnotize them with a really cool spin...
I am such a big fan of hers. She is just adorable but skates with such expression and maturity. She can do so many different styles too! And she's bringing gloves back. Why be cold while you're skating? Stone your gloves and make them part of the costume!
Ashley looking ravishing in red.
This was the start of her big breakthrough. After barely making the Olympic team in 2014, she worked her ass off and laid down this beauty of a program to Moulin Rouge. It is my favorite program of hers.
After losing her national title to Ashley Wagner in 2015, Gracie opted for red too. It is clearly the only winning color.
This one is nice too. She did so great with this program before her meltdown this season. Hang in there, Gracie. Everyone feels like Britney Spears circa 2007 at some point.
It happens to me pretty often. You can do this.
A picture of simpler times. She was poised to become "America's Sweetheart" for the 2014 Olympic Games.
Ugh. Maybe we can get past the point where this needs to be the case. Why can't skaters just be real? I mean, don't be a bitch, but why should they have to fit in to a small, perfect little box?
American figure skating royalty Meryl Davis and Charlie White, serving up Disney prince and princess realness. They are too humble to say this, so I will: Bow down bitches!
Seriously, the gold was theirs. Everyone knew this months in advance. With flawless performances like theirs to "Sheherazade", they most definitely deserved it. It's good to know they came dressed appropriately for their coronation ceremony. Nowadays, Charlie has taken on a more serious look without his flowing blonde locks. All versions of Charlie are great, but I must say I do miss the Disney Prince Charlie.
Here's Javier Fernandez. All bets are on him at the 2016 World Championships. He blows on his lucky dice and rolls. He rolled a 6, and now has to do a quad. He's attempting to distract everyone from the bet with his dazzling footwork while he sets up for the jump.
As far as costuming goes, this is standard for Javi. He does seem to like his suspenders, and not a lot of bling or frippery.
Bow down bitches, Part 2. All hail Queen Yuna Kim!
Yuna Kim came on to the scene like a lightning bolt leading up to the 2010 Olympics. She was the clear favorite going into the games. She was the holder of many world records, both in figure skating and fabulous costume choices (ok, I made the last part up), until that was recently beaten by Evgenia Medveva. She was also, in my opinion, robbed of a second gold at the 2014 Olympics, and later retired. All that aside, she has achieved a near-deity status in her home country of South Korea. Unfortunately, there have been no signs of her coming out of retirement for this next Olympics. We can only hope.
Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot are twinsies!
In the 2010s, we have started to see more female pair skaters and ice dancers wear pants and unitards. The trendsetter for this movement is undoubtedly Aliona Savchenko. And she has several world titles and Olympic medals, so she can do whatever the hell she wants.
Here we have an older picture of Patrick Chan, or PChiddy, from 2012. This is pretty colorful with some interesting details. It looks like it could be for a "Carmen" program, but thankfully, it was not. This was a really amazing program.
That was very different from his aesthetic now, but his skating style has remained mostly the same. Here he is now:
It is a more minimalist aesthetic, but goes will with the choreography and the music. Also, Eric Radford is a hell of a composer. This was great!
Tatiana Voloshozar and Maxim Trankov are putting a spell on you all!
This pairs team are chameleons of the sport. They can do great with any type of theme, and any type of costume. This is from their Swan Lake performance, but they can also do a classic waltz, Bollywood, or Dracula just as well.
The spell has also transformed them! They've gone from the Black Swans to a Disney Prince and Princess!
Will the 2018 Olympics feature more? Will they be there? They seem to be settling down and enjoying their family, so I doubt that.
Now for a triple-shot of our reigning World Champion:
Yuzuru Hanyu decides to do a cool variation on a lunge. This is the point where he gets the genius idea to make this a signature move!
This is from his short program from the 2014 Olympics. It was my first time seeing him skate, and I was blown away! I would say his costuming has changed dramatically from this photo to the last:
This next one was featured in my Skating Bloopers post last September, but it is hilarious, so I'm posting it again:
And finally, this season's short program to Prince's "Let's Go Crazy":
Are you not entertained! Check this out! Let's go crazy! At this point, the audience does in fact, go crazy.
I know there have been a lot of opinions on this costume either way, but I like it! It is something really different, and he spurred on several other lavender costumes in the men's event:
We've got Misha:
Misha Ge got his invitation to the Lavender club, which he graciously accepted. He rejoiced in a dramatic pose.
Also, if you have not heard his podcast on Ice Talk yet, check it out! He has such great insights and perspectives. He also brought to light some of the struggles of skating in a country where skating is just getting started, and there often aren't many resources. He plans to focus more on choreography in the future, and has done such an awesome job with other skaters. He had announced his retirement before Worlds, but now says he will have to give it a lot of thought. We will have to wait and see what happens...
And we've got Shoma:
Shoma Uno was a member of the Lavender club for most of the season, then got tired of being all matchy with everyone, and left, leaving everyone sad 😢.
Bonus question: Is he doing a jump or a spin here? Either way, he has had a killer season this year!
Let's take a look at some happy skaters:
Miki Ando stars in the production of Cleopatra on Ice.
Miki is fierce and fabulous! She seems to favor these exotic-themed costumes, and she can rock them! It's definitely in her wheelhouse. These are also tasteful and not tacky hot messes.
Come closer. Ryan Bradley's gonna tell us a story. Hopefully it's the secret to land the perfect backflip on the ice! What? It's not?
He's mainly just wanting to show off his ruffles. This is a departure from many looks of the decade though. It's kind of a throwback to the 90s and early 2000s costumes.
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir look off into the sunset after winning their 2010 Olympic free dance.
These costumes were the perfect complement to the music and the flowiness of their free dance. One of my favorite dance performances ever. It evoked so much emotion.
Now for one of the showdowns in the men's event from 2010:
We have Johnny Weir, who thankfully has blossomed to his flashy, fabulous self here. I don't know what was going on in that 2000s post, but it just didn't seem right.
Another thing I love about Johnny is that we both started out idolizing the same skater: Oksana Baiul. And y'all know how I was talking about meltdowns earlier??? Oksana has a lot of "Britney in 2007" moments, but she was such an awesome skater, and I'm still a fan. She is one of my biggest influences in skating. Anyway, back to Johnny's story: he cites her as his reason for starting skating, and even hired Oksana's former coach Galina Zmievskaya, and mentor Viktor Petrenko to coach him leading up to the 2010 Olympics.
Johnny also had a reality show in 2010 called "Be Good, Johnny Weir". There were two seasons, and I prefer the first season. It focuses more on skating and preparation for the Olympics. Unfortunately, it has been kind of difficult to find. The second season is easier to find, but has a much more "stereotypical reality show" feel to it, and less skating.
We must now Johnny's rival, Evan Lysacek. So without further ado...
This costume is amazing, and designed by Vera Wang. I saw it in person at the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame Museum in Colorado Springs, and it is even better up close. It has a lot of intricate details that pictures and videos didn't capture well. Unfortunately, my picture of it did not turn out well. With it being all black and behind a glass case, all I got was glare.
While we are on the topic of rivalries, let's bring this one back...Evan didn't just have Johnny as a rival, he also had Evgeny Plushenko. And Plushenko was not pleased about taking silver to someone with no quad. Every skater, current and retired, had to throw in their two cents about it. But hey, isn't all this drama part of the fun of watching the Olympics? Anyway, by now I'm sure you've heard that Plushenko has officially retired and is starting a skating school. He is also going to coach Adelina Sodnikova, the 2014 Olympic Champion.
Adelina Sodnikova is ready to throw down and fight the judges who don't give her the scores she wants.
Ok guys, I was just gonna leave this alone, but everyone's talking about it, so it appears inevitable. I just don't know, y'all. She is just not my favorite. Yes, she is great technically, but her performances just did not speak to me. They lacked that "it" factor, you know? I definitely do not agree with her scoring higher than Yuna Kim. And there was all the talk of collusion with the ISU and the Russian Federation. Not sure how much of that is true and how much was speculation. I also didn't like her attitude after she won the gold. Instead of winning graciously and acknowledging the talents of her competitors (for a good example, please witness how all the skaters interacted at the 2017 Worlds), she bragged that she won because she was better. My only hope of this situation being salvaged is in working with Plushenko. I have always loved his skating, so maybe he can make her less boring.
Now, let's get back to my dream showdown:
Evgenia vs Yuna. I realize this is in all likelihood a pipedream, but could you imagine? With this and the craziness that will be the men's competition, this could be the most anticipated and watched figure skating event since the 1988 Olympics!
And yeah, I guess this was supposed to be about costumes, so look! They are in sync! Similar color schemes, same fabric, same neckline and skirt length!
Finally, I wanted to close it out with this picture:
Another one of my favorites. Joannie Rochette skated a beautiful program at the 2010 Olympics just days after losing her mother. It was such an emotionally-full performance without a dry eye in the room. That earned her a well deserved bronze medal, and I'm sure her mother would be proud. Lovely costume too.
Well, folks, that's a wrap for this series. It has been a blast finding pictures, doing research, and creating story lines for this series. Thanks so much to everyone who has been reading these and providing comments and support. I appreciate it so much!
I'm always got something in the works, as I have a lot of ideas and opinions on our favorite topic: figure skating! Please stay tuned!
Icy Trails wishes you happiness and joy! ⛸
