Best and Worst (Apparel) of 2014/2015 - Part 2, The Beatles in Full Season

Sometimes more is less, and although this doesn't usually apply to figure skating ('the more spectacular, the better' is how the motto goes here), this saying certainly seems to summarise the ice dancers' approach to their free dance costumes this season.

Choosing to dial down the theatrics in the free dance might have been a consequence of this being the first season after the Olympic Games. Skaters tried so hard to impress last season, that they might have felt they needed to take a breather this time around. Or perhaps they kept it simple because the paso doble was flamboyant enough to draw attention on its own. Whatever the reason, this season was, costume-wise, one of the plainest.

There were a few exemptions from the rule, of course, and they stood out like gems in a bowl of rocks. That's not to say that the simpler costumes were ugly, even ordinary rocks have their own wild-sort-of-beauty after all, but they simply couldn't compare to the more sophisticated ones, out of which the best was:

The Four Seasons arrangement was signed by Max Richter
Photograph: Xiaolu Chu / Getty Images Asia

Older versions of the costumes
Photograph: David Ramos / Getty Images Europe

Yes, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje win best costumes again in my books. It's not only because theirs were fancier than most of the rest, but also because they fitted the style and theme of the music perfectly. The Canadians danced to Antonio Vivaldi's  Four Seasons and they decided to wear a bit of those seasons. The colours of Kaitlyn's dress were those of a perfect summer sunset, but she also had autumn leaves climbing up her torso and arms. Andrew, on the other hand, was wearing the sombre grays of winter, with bits of scorched-looking fabric crawling down his torso, arms and back as if he were slowly decaying.

They seemed to put a lot of effort into perfecting their costumes, which I also appreciate. Length was something they kept fiddling with, whether it was the length of her dress or of his sleeves. Colour was also an issue. At some point Kaitlyn's dress was more yellow and had less leaves. As for Andrew, he wore blue and jeans for most of the season before switching to normal pants and gray, in other words to a more refined look.

Contrasting with the Canadians' gorgeous costumes were a lot of plain, ordinary, nothing-special-about-them attires. I gave a lot of thought to what the worst of them was, so here it is:

The version of Eleanor Rigby the Russians skated to was a cover performed by Joshua Bell and Frankie Moreno
Photograph: Xiaolu Chu / Getty Images Asia

Alexandra and Ivan won their first European medal this season
Photograph: Oleg Nikishin / Getty Images Europe

Let me begin by saying that there was nothing wrong with Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin's costumes. They were not hideous or inappropriate. That being said, there was nothing great about them either. They sort of just were.

They chose to skate to a softer version of The Beatles' Eleanor Rigby, which may be why they decided to wear the simplest costumes they could find or think of. However, the song is not in itself simple. It is incredibly sad, speaking about the futility and loneliness of life. They could have played on that and worn something that emphasized the feelings of the music. Instead, they seemed to be wearing practice clothes.

The most exciting thing about them was the back of Alexandra's dress, which let's be honest, isn't all that special. Something as easy as taking some of the grey from Ivan's costume and 'infecting' Alexandra's pink with it would have made a huge difference in my books. That could have been a symbol for a life that starts with great hopes and ends miserably, all those hopes crushed and dead, which is what the song is about.

So, do you agree with my choices of best and worst free dance costumes of the season or do you have others in mind? Let me know and come back next Wednesday for a look at the ladies' short dance costumes.