The Best Dresses In Figure Skating

Since we have a thread for the worst dresses and our least favorite, why not have a thread for our favorite dresses/ costumes. Here are my picks:

Mao 2008:
http://sakafiora.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/webb-mao-asada.jpg Gorgeous

Mao 2007:
http://www.iceskatingintnl.com/images/worlds/worlds%202007%20asada%20lfs%208127.jpg One Of My All Time Favs. Love how simple it is but yet at the same time it captured my attention.

Mao 2007:
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/news/sports1.jpg Love the colours.

Yu Na Kim: Danse Macabre:
http://www1.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/ISU+Four+Continents+Figure+Skating+Championships+6MUl2XjVql4l.jpg

Yu Na Kim:
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/07k9g3aeBm1Ip/350x.jpg ( Best verison I could find at the moment, but it's a really stunning dress )

Sasha Cohen:
http://www.iceskatingintnl.com/images/sk8can/sk8can%202002%20cohen.jpg

Sasha Cohen:
http://www.iceskate.net/skater%20pix/cohen/sasha_cohen_2003worlds_qual2_by_gary_hershorn_reuters.jpg

Sasha Cohen:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/162/335381733_6b81963ab0.jpg

Sasha Cohen:
http://www.glogster.com/media/2/2/7/56/2075647.jpg

Sasha Cohen:
http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2009/0506/oly_g_scohen1_200.jpg

Michelle Kwan:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_YSXB_qSVX7g/TMfug0FFWlI/AAAAAAAAAn8/E3cHxpErzlc/s1600/96salome_pose.jpg Yes this is one of my favs.

Michelle Kwan:
http://cache4.asset-cache.net/xc/81396702.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=77BFBA49EF8789215ABF3343C02EA5487971669498C1E98A88BD63521131172E867178863DAEA403

Michelle Kwan:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/73/173055340_1b8e8a5910_o.jpg

Fumie Suguri:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/images/photos2008/sp20080622ita.jpg

Carolina Kostner:
http://lipovscak.com/ep2008/carolina_kostner19.jpg ( This has always been a favorite of mine )

Nancy Kerrigan:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BfuwGNsID-8/TQpVRj9vSXI/AAAAAAAAAH4/4oDWXn4_OkU/s1600/nancy-kerrigan-wearing_Vera_Wang_Costume.jpg ( A Classic )

I hope you enjoyed my picks and can't wait to see your picks either

Great choices Jtsmith1. Nancy's dress is gorgeous.

My list would be immense, so I'll add as I remember them.







This was Miki's best Cleopatra dress. I love the sleeves.
I'll add more later.

Sasha Cohen

Sasha Cohen

Sasha Cohen

Alissa Czisny -- Almost every dress Alissa sports lately should be on here, but this one is my favorite.

Jeremy Abbott

Fumie Suguri

Michelle Kwan

Michelle Kwan

Michelle Kwan -- I wish I could have found a better angle for this one...Ah well.

Akiko Suzuki

Yu-Na Kim

Yu-Na Kim

Mao Asada

Mao Asada

Well, these are the first that came to me.

Great idea Jtsmith1

Michelle & Sasha had plenty of beautiful dresses, it's hard to choose only one:










I love this dress of Caro from World Champs in 2004:



And this of Yuna:



And these of Mao:







You will never guess what my favourite colour is

alyssa wrote:

This was Miki's best Cleopatra dress. I love the sleeves.

I totally aggree with you about Miki´Cleopatra dresses. That one actually was the best I think and it´s a pity she mostly chose other outfits for her last seasons free.

Thinking about the best dresses in skating history this one of Michelle Kwan first came into my mind:



I´m still searching for one of Lu Chen´s costumes. I guess it was the one she wore at 1996 WC where she won. But I can´t find a good picture of it. It was a simple velvety dress in wine-red without any glitter things on it as far as I remember.

My favourite Mao dress is the gorgeous white one posted above. :-)

mash5 wrote:

I´m still searching for one of Lu Chen´s costumes. I guess it was the one she wore at 1996 WC where she won

She didn't win world title in 1996. Michelle Kwan did I think you meant 1995, didn't you?

europeanfan wrote:

She didn't win world title in 1996. Michelle Kwan did I think you meant 1995, didn't you?

Oh I´m sorry, then I mixed things up. I just "youtubed" it and I actually meant the dress she wore 1996 when she lost to Michelle Kwan. But let me add here although it´s not about dresses and despite I adore Michelle - Lu should have won in 1996, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gh9w2ZyODo

Maybe today skaters wouldn´t choose that kind of costume anymore because it might look a little oldfashioned ... but not in my eyes, it´s kind of timeless I think and it was a perfect fit for her. She also had some more beautiful dresses in a special (asian ?) style in different colours as f.i. in Nagano ... with transparent sleeves like Miki´s on the Cleopatra dress above.

Mao







These are my two favorite dresses worn by Mao. I think Mao looks best in pink and blue.

I love almost all of Michelle's dresses. She had good taste in costumes.

Her costume for Dante's prayer Ex was especially lovely. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEtWPqeF3UA&feature=related

Yukari Nakano's Aria dress was beautiful, too. Actually, I love all of her dresses, but this especially.

Sasha Cohen's Swan Lake Dress http://farm1.static.flickr.com/162/335381733_6b81963ab0.jpg

I'm actaully reading Sasha's book at the moment and in one of the chapters she talks about how her and Tatiana had very different taste when it came to that Swan Lake Dress

" The dress was more of a struggle. Tatiana and I have very different taste when in costumes, and she wanted me to be a full out swan for this one, feathers everywhere. My taste in costumes is much more conservative, so I went ahead and had the dress made by a Canadian designer without the suggested feathers on my shoulders and hair. When Tatiana first saw the dress, she said, "Oh ! Let me take that and fix it for you ! There are no feathers !" We compromised."

Yeah I just thought I would share that with you guys. I always find it interesting when figure skaters go on to explain what goes on behind the scene when picking on dresses and such. I also wonder if Tatiana had the same reaction with any of Mao's dresses ??

How can we forget the girls from Finland:
Laura:
http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/02/26/gal_skating_laura_lepisto.jpg
http://img.mtv3.fi/mn_kuvat/mtv3/urheilu/luistelu/2009/625317.jpg ( Front/sideways)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FSnQeZ7ljuM/TPzx-LZZ5xI/AAAAAAAAAwE/v3X9RnDhf98/s1600/Laura2.jpg( Beautiful back)
http://wintergames.ap.org/Content/preview/2010/20100123/15/fde2a36d9117426482e9754dc48a0980.jpg
Purple is a gorgeous colour on Laura

Kiira Korpi:
https://media.photobucket.com/image/Kiira%20Korpi/bloodylamer/bastardly-photos/0505/album14/kiira-korpi-03250608.jpg
http://img.allvoices.com/thumbs/event/609/480/67460384-kiira-korpi.jpg( Just like a Barbie doll )
https://2img.net/r/ihimizer/i/kiira.jpg/sr=1

Interesting Fluff Pieces on Dresses:
Sasha Cohen:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SMYcXTQoIY
Vera Wang on Nancy Kerrigan's Skating Dresses:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-gTH-RDYJQ

Anyone else thinks that they should do a fluff piece on Mao and all of her skating dresses ?! I do !! Besides all the jumps, spins, and spirals fashion is also a huge part of figure skating and I would love if they did a major fluff piece on skaters ( male and female, singles, dance, and pairs ) just so would could get a glimpse of what goes on when choosing a dress/coustume. I've always been very curious of how Mao picks her dresses.

While we're on the subject of Kiira, her current FS dress for Evita is also beautiful.

^ Love Kiira's evita dress!

Yu-Na is actually one of the best dressed skaters out there, along with Sasha, Alissa and Michelle. I love all the Mao dresses posted here alrdy too!!


Faves include:









Mao faves






sorry if the pics are kinda big 8D;;

Jtsmith1 wrote:

Yu Na Kim:
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/07k9g3aeBm1Ip/350x.jpg ( Best verison I could find at the moment, but it's a really stunning dress )

Actually, I love Yuna's Meditations dress the best:



I think she and Sasha have the best costumes ever. Michelle Kwan also counts, because her Vera Wang dresses are to die for.

I also think Alissa Cziny has a better sense of style than most skaters:







For Mao:









And my favorite dress of hers:

Really nice dresses of Alissa and Kiira and Mao !

For all lovers of the colour blue (also my prefered one) ... I just found another beautiful dress by K. Yamaguchi :



I began thinking about the other disciplines but that´s more difficult than looking for the best ladies´ costumes.

I liked what Xue (and Hongbo) wore here ... again in blue :



... and V. James / Y. Bonheur :



S. and J. Kerr :



O.K., enough blue now.

alyssa wrote:

I think it's one of the best dresses ever I absolutely love it



Eeeee... did he wear beads? How did he jump with them?

Well it looks like Sasha's dresses are the overall favorites among us. I can't argue there. Here dresses were never too simple, and never too over the top. Usually just right in the pocket.

Let's see... most of the costumes that came to my mind first have already been posted...

I also think Caroline usually has really great dresses:



And I always really loved this one:



Also, I know this is off topic, but I came across this pic of Michelle which I've never seen before, and though it was a cool photo which she also looked great in:


And these don't really count, but they did have some freakin awesome costumes on skating with the stars:






I don't know about this thing Johnny wore on the show though.... It's certainly entertaining, but do I like it??.... Ehhhhh it should probably be in the worst costumes thread, but here ya go!:

I love this picture of Miki Ando:



It's definitely one of her best dresses.

Star85, picture of Michelle Kwan which you sent, remind me of main character from "Beverlly Hills 90210" (I don't remember her name)

2007/2008 is really Mao's best season.
I love Mao's SP dress at Japan National which I knew after
that it was Mai's dress which Mao borrowed. (Mai seems to
have better taste.) and I love Mao's FS dress at Japan National
too. When I first saw it, I thought she was really like a swan
but after someone show My Fair Lady's costume so I realized
that this is not a swan image but My Fair Lady's image.

Here's four more I found:


One of Carolina's best dresses, imo.

Irina looked great in pants.


More from Sasha. These last two are gorgeous, I just don't like the style of the skirts.


I love the colors of Alissa's dress. Kimmie's design is lovely. Shizuka looks so mature in this costume.

Of course I cannot forget Dai's La Strada:

Cute.

Then there is Mirai Nagasu! I love her, she has so much potential! And she has wonderful taste. I've always loved her dresses. Here are a few -

This dresses are so gorgeous . I think short Ball Gowns in any light color with embroidery will look very gorgeous .or short embroidered Red Dresses .

europeanfan wrote:

Great idea Jtsmith1



Mao:







You will never guess what my favourite colour is

These are indeed gorgeous dresses.

The pix where young Mao is wearing blue off the shoulder dress and holding a pink flower--which performance is that from? I'd like to know which event, whether it was short or long or exhibition program, etc. Can someone help a new, uneducated Mao fan? Thanks in advance.

I'm not sure which event the picture is from, but Mao wore that dress for her 2004-2005 Sp Over the rainbow. I think the picture is from 2004 nationals, but I'm not sure.
That dress was borrowed from Mai, who wore that dress for her 2002-2003 FP.