CMU School of Drama


Saturday, February 15, 2014

18 Of The Most Eye-Catching Costumes From The Olympic Figure Skating Team Event

www.huffingtonpost.com: With competition underway and the first medals already handed out in Olympic figure skating in Sochi, fans of the games' most glamorous sport have already gotten down to business evaluating the on-ice fashions on display during the inaugural team event.

9 comments:

Jess Bergson said...

As a kid, I absolutely loved watching Olympic figure skating. Not only is the sport so graceful and beautiful to watch because of the movements of the athletes, but also because of the athlete's costumes. It is interesting to think about how what we wear can impact what others think about us in almost every aspect of life. However, in the Olympics, especially with figure skating, what people wear is especially important. Unlike other sports where people are concentrated on time and speed, with figure skating people are concentrated on how the athlete looks. The costumes that Olympic figure skaters are so important because they give the audience and judges a look to judge the athlete on before the performance even officially begins.

Becki Liu said...

I love costumes for this kind of stuff! I really would love to design for dance, figure skating, acrobatics, etc. I think the movements that people make are such great opportunities for designers to take advantage of. I actually felt kind of bad looking and reading about the not so nice costumes. I wish I was able to watch the olympics more. One day it would be super fun to design one of these costumes

Sydney Remson said...

I was surprised by this article because it included the looks that the authors were not fans of as well. I thought it was interesting to read the critiques of the costumes because its something that I'm not really familiar with the standards for. The costumes are of a very unique genre, so it was interesting to see the judgements. Some of the pieces that they were critical of I understand, for example the pairs that did not match very well. But some of them I didn't really understand the criticisms of. The firebird costume they critiqued for being to extreme, but it seems hard to judge that because many of the costumes are pretty extreme.

Emily Bordelon said...

I really loved the first few, especially Yulia Lipnitskaya, Gracie Gold, and Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte's. I thought that the Italians brought something completely different from what is traditionally thought of as a figure skating outfit. My least favorite was definitely the Ukraine's costumes. The neon costume on Yuri Rudyk does not look good, and does not compliment the outfit on his partner, Julia Lavrentieva. It just is not graceful or interesting to look at, just obnoxious.

Albert Cisneros said...

I love this article because it shows how the olympics are not just a sporting event, but also an exhibition of world cultures and art. These costumes, like all costumes are a product of hard work, artistry, and beauty. I think many people overlook the artistry of the olympics because they are focusing solely on the athletic events, but the events are about so much more. Our very own Suttirat made a statement in the design world with her fabulous opening ceremonies at the London Olympics. All of this just goes to show how much the olympics means to the world as not just an athletic event, but a cultural exhibition as well.

Hunter said...

This is one of those sects of design that I don't really think about very often. I suppose it's because I very rarely come into contact with figure skating costumes day to day. This is an interesting article because I rarely see an author list costumes he didn't like along with the ones he did. That is nice to have as a reader because you can see if you agree with the authors tastes.

Unknown said...

It was definitely interesting to see both sides of the story in this article. From what the authors obviously liked from what they were not so impressed with. Figuring skating is something I have always truly admired and am just now really paying attention to more of the design aspects that go into the Olympics and events such as this. The thought that a design for a costume for a figure skating competition can make or break a routine, is absolutely fascinating.

Sabria Trotter said...

I was really surprised by the variety of style in the costumes. When I usually think about ice skating costumes, I think about rhinestones and sequins, however there were some costumes that were more themed to the actual performances. I really liked the Italian costumes because they seemed related to the dance they were doing while also showcasing the movements. I am interested in the balance that some of the skaters have found between having flashy, practical and relevant costumes this year, because that often seems to be missing from the sport.

AnnaAzizzyRosati said...

There is so much thought that has to go into costumes designed for dance. I love the challenge of creating something that is beautiful and effective not only when it is worn statically, but also when it is in motion. Because the core of these costumes is for a sport, the designers have the added challenge of creating something that enhances the performance without overpowering it.