The Urban Grind

Whenever people ask me if I follow any sports, I always tell them I enjoy watching figure skating. It’s especially fun to watch during the Olympics. Otherwise, I’m one of those people who would rather go out their and engage in some kind of sport, rather than just passively watching. As a teenager, I used to play *lots* of tennis. And I used to do some ice skating as well.

The thing I like most about figure skating is that it’s a combination of an athletic and an artistic competition. The added bonus is you get to check out the hair and makeup too.

Anyway, two nights ago, I was watching the ice dancing pairs long program, where I saw some horrendous costumes. It was quite a shame since the skaters were all attractive. Furthermore, the wild costumes actually distracted from the actual routines.

The first example is the Russian pair Domnina and Shabalin, who I believe will receive a bronze medal. Here’s the aborigine costume they wore for their short program. They actually had to tone down their costume, which caused some offense to aborigine groups.

Here was their equally outrageous costume for their long program.

Also, I’m sure Ms. Domnina is an attractive woman. But you just can’t tell with all that’s going on in her costumer. along with her way-too-bright blonde hair. I read in one article that they were disappointed with their score. No doubt the judges were distracted by the weird costumes.

Anyway, Domnina and Shabalin weren’t the only ones with horrendous costumes.

The other pairs coupe with terrible costumes was Belbin and Agosto. Let me just say that Tanith Belbin is drop dead gorgeous. But still, it’s no excuse to have wear such distracting costumes.

Here’s a video of Belbin and Agosto skating at nationals. They wore almost the exact costume for their short program in the Vancouver Olympics.

For me, the lifts looked especially awkward with all those ruffles on Tanith’s skirt.

Here’s what they wore for their long program. You can’t really see from this photo, but there was way to much going with these costumes.

Unlike these two pairs, the Canadian team of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir both looked amazing, and skated beautifully. They won the gold. This is what they wore for their long program. As you can see, it’s simple and elegant. The focus is on the skaters movements, rather than all the ruffles and other regalia on their costumes. Virtue and Moir are the couple on the right.

Posted February 24th, 2010 under Bad Fashion. RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback.