Best and Worst (Apparel) of 2014/2015 - Part 1, Toreadors and Anything But

Ever since Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet that 'the apparel oft proclaims the man', this phrase has been circling the globe, confusing people as to whether they should translate it into modern English as 'clothes make the man,' which is what it means literally, or 'clothes don't make the man,' which is what Shakespeare truly meant. Figure skating has distanced itself from this dilemma as it can only translate it as  'the costumes always make the figure skater.'

Costumes are as significant in figure skating as they are in theatre because both skaters and actors put on a performance and often play a role. So if an actor cannot play Hamlet in a clown costume, neither can a figure skater skate to its soundtrack in one. To celebrate the beauty and originality of figure skating costumes, I decided to write a series of blog entries which take a look at the best and worst costumes of the glorious season that has just ended.

The best costumes in figure skating are worn by the ice dancers. They are not restricted by jumps or death spirals or other elements which require aerodynamic costumes, so they can pretty much go wild with what they wear, and they often do.

This season saw male ice dancers wear one of the most beautiful traditional apparels of the world: that of Spanish toreadors. The ladies stood by their men in fierce red flamenco dresses, often wearing flowers in their hair, which was tied in a neat low bun. Each ice dance competition looked like a fashion show of Spanish haute couture, so it is after a lot of thinking that I give you the best Paso Doble costumes of the season:

Kaitlyn and Andrew won the Four Continents Championships this season
Photograph: David Ramos / Getty Images Europe

They skated to La Virgen de la Macarena
Photograph: David Ramos / Getty Images Europe 

Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje aced the Spanish look. His black costume was richly embroidered with a golden flowers-and-leaves pattern, just like real toreadors' are. It was tailored to perfection, from the shoulder pads to the high-waist pants and the chaquetilla (the short jacket). He was also sporting the trademark thin tie, the corbatin (which is sometimes red, sometimes black) and an immaculate white shirt. He looked flamboyant and mighty on the ice, which was partly due to the costume, partly due to him being an excellent performer.

Kaitlyn's dress matched her partner's costume by having the same golden pattern embroidered on the bodice. She was wearing red, which contrasted with Andrew's black. The colour is often associated with Spanish dance and in this case symbolised blood, as bull fighting is the bloodiest sport in the world. The dress was quite long so she could play with it during the routine, which is again something done very often by traditional female Spanish dancers.

The Canadians' costumes won first place in my books by a very short margin, which is why I simply have to give an honorary mention to the second-best Paso Doble apparel of the season:

Piper and Paul reached a milestone this season by attending their first ever Grand Prix Final
Photograph: Jamie McDonald / Getty Images Europe

They paired their paso doble with a Spanish waltz
Photograph: Chung Sung-Jun /
Getty Images Asia

Canada's second-best, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier came very close to defeating their countrymen, at least costume-wise, by wearing the most original costumes of the season. Ultimately though, their attires were not accurate enough, although they were spectacular. Paul's came very close to accuracy by checking all the points on the list, but Piper looked more like Countess Dracula than a Spanish dancer. The purple mantle was a clever addition to her costume not only because it represented the mantle toreadors use to tease bulls, but also because it enhanced her arm movements, which are an important part of any Spanish dance. The rest of her costume had little to do with the theme though.

Speaking of themes, you'd think ice dancers would not have a hard time finding costumes to match their short dances because each season they are told exactly what dance they must skate to. From then on, finding the appropriate costume is as easy as typing 'toreador costume' into Google Images. Seriously, go type it now and see what I mean. For some reason though, some skaters cannot get their costumes right. This season, in my opinion, there were no costumes farther from Paso Doble than these two:

Ksenia and Kirill's new costumes worn at the World Championships
Photograph: Xiaolu Ghu / Getty Images Asia

Their old costumes, shown here at Skate Canada
Photograph: Danielle Earl

Ksenia Monko and Kirill Khaliavin didn't have the Paso Doble apparel figured out from the very go, but at least earlier in the season their costumes resembled something Spanish. True, the embroidery looked more Russian than Spanish and he wasn't wearing a toreador costume, and everything was too sombre, but if I try really hard, I can catch a glimpse of Spanish flavour in there. Well, all of that came tumbling down at the World Championships. I'm guessing somebody told them their costumes weren't too pretty because they decided to change them...and gained nothing by it. The new costumes were less representative of Spain than the old ones. He wore a plain black shirt with a plain black pair of pants, so he looked like everything but a toreador. Her dress was more fit for a tango if you ask me, being extremely tight and also black. But the most confusing part was the white tail of said black dress. What was the point of that? It didn't look very flattering and it had nothing to do with the Paso Doble. All in all, their costumes, old and new, looked heavy and rigid, and took something away from their performance every time they skated.

Those were the best and worst Paso Doble costumes of the season in my opinion. Tell me what were some of your favourite short dance attires this season, and come back for more best and worst apparel. Next week I will look at the free dance costumes.