figure skating outfits

In the 1994 Olympics Katarina Witt did a Robin Hood routine in the green jerkin, white shirt and leggings. Pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable for female skaters

Earlier in her career she forced a change in the rules about costume because she wore a blue skirtless feather trimmed outfit which was deemed too revealing.

There will never be a happy solution, and the skaters do, I hope, get a say in what they wear.

The commentary directly references her outfit and the rule change. It's also interesting how they describe her skating in relation to the sort of image she is portraying on the ice.

You can always ask a referee about your marks and they can be re evaluated.

The only thing costume wise a judge can comment on is of your costume poses a risk to you or other skaters. Costumes with feathers are not allowed as the feathers could fall off causing you to trip or the next skater. If something falls off your costume you get a deduction.

We should write it, kim.

Sorry, I'm confused.

You said that 'Men also wear some revealing costumes some appear topless but have the mesh on them. Attention is generally directed towards the female in a pair, she has more presentation than the man, and can up the presentation marks (note the costume has nothing to do with the score) however the more eye catching her costume you will look at her more.'

I thought you were saying that women get looked at more for their costumes, and though marks can't be explicitly awarded for costume, you thought that the a woman's 'costume' will make you 'look at her more'.

Did you not mean what I thought there?

theamall judges are not allowed to judge on costume or appearence only on the technical side and have to point out or write why a deduction is given. For instance if you land a jump and place your hand on the ice ots a .5 deduction the same for a two foot landing, a fall is a point deduction off that move. Every move has a mark, your programme both short and long have a list of elements they must do to reach standard. The presentation mark is made up by how you hold yourself, arm momements and smiling so forth. At no point is your costume or makeup marked. A woman I often compete against does so with no make up on and plain all block colour dresses, sometimes she scores higher than me sometimes lower than me all depends on how we skate.

I coach a Tom boy she lives it and skates a catsuit, its all personal choice.

Subtle, does, subtle.

Thank goodness for elegant graceful women skaters with great legs in short skirts.

Is it ok if I continue to believe the world would be much blander without punctuation?

I think they look great and believe the world would be much blander without elegant graceful women skaters with great legs in short skirts...phwooooarr!

I totally agree with trekkie btw that it'd be very hard for an individual to change things from within. But things do change. Take ballet, and just look at how conventions for what people wear have changed!

Oh, and thanks for the Philippe Candeloro vids. He was my favourite skater - I tend to like the French male skaters a lot.

What's wrong with critique?

I would agree it's unfair to blame an athlete for what they wear, but surely critique is fine? Do you actually mean you would be offended at any mention of outfits that wasn't purely factual?

I thought you said women competitors get judged on their outfits?

Or you could skate in the same as the men wear ie trouser things.

Not saying you should - but that the prevailing fashions and acceptable modes of dress obviously have a hug influence on the costumes selected.

It would take a very unusual individual to say sod this I'm going to do my figure skating in a different sort of thing to everyone else. Maybe put no makeup on. Something. But I suspect it would adversely affect their marks / getting someone good to dance with them and so on and I bet the trainer etc would have a lot to say about it.

So it's not purely individual choice. Norms are adhered to, by both men and women. Perfectly understandably.

I just feel its unfair to critique a athlete on what she has worn to compete, look at Jessica Ennis and other track and field ladies running in Lycra knickers and a crop top! The men have longer shorts and tight vest tops! But the women choose the knickers! What does that say?

Figure skating is a sport and has a costume to compete. Day to day fasion is different and deserves to be discussed outside the realms of sport.

Male figure skaters aren't allowed to wear skirts for competition. They also have to wear a top with sleeves (armpits covered up) and trousers rather than tights. Partly, this is due to homophobia, although I suspect that most male skaters don't actually want to wear skirts anyway.

For skating exhibitions, pretty much anything goes.

A while back, a few of the top female skaters were experimenting with trousers and catsuits - Irina Slutskaya used to compete in spangly catsuits, as did some others. One of the dance skaters was actually prevented from competing in trousers, although I can't remember her name.

Many skaters might like the glitz and glamour that skating tends to encompass, and play up to it for presentation marks, but I do wonder about other girls who might enjoy skating and be good at it, who are put off by the hyper-femmey expectations of the judges and their peers? There is suitable dancewear out there that gives the right silhouette and range of movement, that doesn't involve faux-nudity or diamante.

I say this as a skating fan, and also as the mum of a rhythmic gymnast - RG has skating-style costumes now that seem to get more outlandish and expensive by the year. It is market-driven.

mab - of course you don't have to comply. Who is telling you you do have to comply?

Tell them to fuck right off if they try it, how rude!

But anyway, to get back to the point ... yes, kim, it'd be a fun dissertation to write, too. I would seriously love to do that.

Yes but that's fasion, and you don't have to comply if you don't want to, I don't believe me, I don't wear a skirt past my knee in day to day life, but when I've got to get my leg above my head then quickly in to another position I don't want to snag it and split my chin open again. Its a functional side to the costume. I could skate in a leotard but don't fancy the ice burn on my arse when I fall so the skirt helps

mab firstly the posters on here are individuals and not speaking for "the feminist movement"

and secondly lots of posters have said hey doesn't bother me

and thirdly if people don't like it then it's fashion / society etc the usual suspects they will get narked with rather than individual women competitors

Yes, I get that mab. Of course it is a job. And of course it has a fashion of its own. But do you not think it is interesting how that fashion works for women and men, and what it says about how we see women's bodies and men's bodies?

That's all I think anyone is getting at (?).

I don't feel 'sour' about it, I just find it really interesting. Same way I find the fashion for strapless wedding dresses interesting, and the fact that this is a different fashion from the one back when my mum, or my granny, or my great-gran, got married.

It's not true to say 'they just are'. People research this stuff, just like any other social trend, and there are actually reasons why. For starters, if you look at wedding dresses now, loads are like Kate Middleton's. That's a simple example of how things are influenced. And it would tell an alien from outer space who'd never known our culture, that we think this young woman is special and important, because of the man she married. Surely that is actually quite an important bit of cultural information?

I get that lots of people think this sort of stuff is trivial, beneath their notice because it's 'just fashion' or 'just clothes' or 'just feminism', but why be so keen to belittle other people's interests?

I think that looking at the difference between male and female fashion is intersting though mabongwen. Seems that female garb gets smaller and smaller and male gets baggier and baggier.

Am pleased for men that the option of a beard is back on the table though

I would really hate to think that when I was competing in a dress I loved that had a bit of fleshy panelling that the feminist movement was hating me for it

Not that I am saying that there is equality of flesh disclosure in figure skating.
But that to me it is less bothersome when all people involved are showing some and the primary purpose of showing it isn't to sexually arouse people.