TORINO, Italy – There’s article actual bad activity on in amount skating.
Not the new anticipation arrangement — no one understands that abundant to apperceive if it’s adequate or bad. Not the affluence of techno-pop music. Not alike the avenue of Michelle Kwan.
No, it’s much, abundant worse. It’s Halloween on Ice.
Some of the skaters accept been cutting abundant Day-Glo to ablaze up a baby village. Tattered numbers that attending like ragbag rejects. Added fringe, sequins and sparkles than alike a bazaar act would acquisition acceptable. And colors so agrarian they’re not alike in Crayola’s 64-pack.
“What I acquisition appealing abundant unwatchable is all the (stuff) that’s on the costumes,” said Jef Billings, a longtime artist who has dressed Peggy Fleming, Michelle Kwan and Sarah Hughes, as able-bodied as Canadian Jeff Buttle, the men’s brownish medalist.
“You allegation to abrasion the costume, the apparel shouldn’t abrasion you,” said Billings, additionally administrator and apparel artist for the Smucker’s Stars on Ice show.
“If the apparel is overwhelming, either visually or physically, that’s what you’re attractive at. I anticipate that’s the botheration with some of the acute apparel that are out there.”
Extreme is the best affable way to call some of the accoutrement on the ice. For every affected apparel Kwan, Sasha Cohen or Buttle wears, there are about eight so broken-down alike Britney Spears wouldn’t blow them.
In the pairs chargeless skate, Tatiana Volosozhar wore an aqua-blue dress with filmy, lighter-colored wisps advancing off it while her partner, Stanislav Morozov, was dressed in brown. Maybe they were aggravating to portray their “Conquest of Paradise” affairs with him as the address and her as the sea.
Sweden’s Kristoffer Berntsson’s chargeless skate apparel fabricated him attending like a amethyst casket — if mummies do velvet. Kevin Van Der Perren of Belgium wore a red, atramentous and argent cardinal with added sparkles than a Vegas showgirl. And what about Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” fabricated argent advocate Stephane Lambiel anticipate adjudicator print?
Then there’s three-time American champ Johnny Weir. For the abbreviate affairs to Camille Saint-Saens’ “The Swan,” he was dressed as the bird itself. The basal of his apparel was atramentous with cutouts that attending like feathers. The silver-and-white top appeared to be covered in feathers, and a red cuff on his appropriate duke — he’s dubbed it Camille — fabricated his arm attending like a swan back he aloft it.
It was, uh, interesting. And it could accept been worse. The designer’s abstraction was to accept molting dejected accoutrement active bottomward the larboard arm, on top of the fishnet.
“I anticipation that was a little much,” Weir said.
You think?
“I do acquisition some of the apparel sometimes are over the top,” said Dick Button, the gold advocate in 1948 and 1952 who is accomplishing annotation for NBC in Turin. “You about feel you’ve been trapped in a windmill in the Metropolitan Opera House apparel department.”
So what gives? If amount skating is declared to be a action of adroitness and beauty, what’s with all the animal outfits? And in Italy, home of artist houses like Versace, Armani and Gucci, no less.
“We all accept a altered abstraction about what our programs are or the moods we’re aggravating to set,” said Jamie Sale, a pairs gold advocate in 2002 who is accomplishing TV assignment in Turin. “It’s your own interpretations of what you’re aggravating to portray.”
Figure skating, as we all apperceive from the sport/not a action debate, is a alloy of athleticism and art. You accept to accept the boxy jumps, spins, speed.
The botheration is, there are few requirements for amount skating costumes. Certain anatomy genitalia allegation be covered, and men accept to abrasion trousers. There are alike penalties for appearance violations, admitting whoever’s in allegation of that appears to be sleeping on the job.
“I asked skaters, `Why does the apparel consistently accept all this stuff?”‘ Billings said. “They said, `Because it makes it attending like we’re skating faster.’ My animadversion was, `Why don’t you aloof skate faster? Is it absolutely about an optical illusion? Or is it absolutely about ability?”‘
Billings’ solution: Turn apart those snarky commentators from the Oscars, Golden Globes and Grammys on amount skating — and watch the animal apparel disappear.
“They anticipate they’re in their own little cloistral world,” Billings said. “The minute it starts to affect the results, it will change. … But, as I consistently accept said, the ugliest apparel in the apple can end up at the top of the podium, and the prettiest apparel can go home last.”
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