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It's Ladies Time:












Ashley Wagner--I've discussed Gold Medalist at the US Nationals 2013 Ashley Wagner's Short and Long Program costumes for this 2012-2013 Season extensively on my blog HERE, and yes, I liked them both, especially her Free Skate one. For her Short Program to "Red Violin", I liked the swirl crystal detail and even though it did have a slightly more relaxed look to it...it had a modern, balletic appeal and I loved the back straps which looked like violin strings.







For her Free Skate to "Samson and Delilah", I thought her costume was Figure Skating Costume Couture. Perfection. The cut, the color, the draping and sequins. All of it.





Gracie Gold--Once again, I have written HERE about these costumes above--both her Short and Free Skate. Her costumes for both the Short Program and Free Skate were designed by Brad Griffies.
I liked her Short Program costume that she wore skating to "Hernando's Hideaway" by various artists.  The juxtaposition of the
solid fabric vs. the small-to-large sequin detail is very nice. For her Free Skate to Life is Beautiful soundtrack by Nicola Piovan,
Gracie wore this bright blue and sequin costume designed to look
strapless--with nude illusion at the upper chest and neck. It was very
pretty. 






Agnes Zawadzki--Oh yes, I have also discussed Miss Agnes. I LOVE LOVE LOVE her Short Program Costume that she wears to Sex and the City by A. Sigman. Exotic, colorful, well executed. Figure Skating Fab! Designed by Pat Pearsall, of course.




Christina Gao--The lovely Christina ended up 5th in the overall 2013 US Nationals standings. She wore this beautiful deep violet-blue costume for her Short Program to "Close Without Touching" by Kostia. I thought it was delicately elegant. I liked the sequined flower and asymmetrical chiffon "skirt".




For her Free Skate to "Libertango" by Astor Piazzolla, she wore a black sequined number that looked expensive and evoked visions of Haute Buenos Aires. Let me translate that: I LIKEY! And it is also a new costume! It is different from what she had been wearing for the Grand Prix Series (pictured below)...







Mirai Nagasu--Love me some Mirai. She ended up 7th at the 2013 U.S. Nationals last weekend. I've commented on this pink Short Program costume HERE.  She skated to "Downhill Special" by Benny Goodman and between the fringe, the bright pink, the crystals,the FAB back...I just didn't know which I liked more!





Angela Wang--Angela skated her Short Program to Music from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon soundtrack by Tan Duname. She ended up in 9th place overall but I thought this"one-shoulder" number was GREAT! We all know that RED symbolizes good fortune and joy in Chinese culture. So the different variations on the color was a good choice--especially for the music. The design was nice as well.





Hannah Miller--Hannah ended up 10th in the overall standings. For her Short Program to "Tanguera" by Sexteto Mayor (a Tango), she wore this very boldly designed costume. I liked the mixture of black with the pink and red but it still has elements of TLC's "Toddlers & Tiaras". I think she should have said "adios" to the choker detail and maybe looked into editing the wrist accents.




Caroline Zhang--Caroline finished 11th overall at the end of the 2013 Prudential U.S. Championships of Figure Skating. She wore this costume above to her "The Rushing Wings of Dawn" by Tim Janis Short Program. I really liked this--the nude (good skin color match!) illusion top section with the deep purple color of the rest of the costume was well executed. The sequins also looked expensive. This is a big point of contention with me. Kids: don't skimp on the crystals. SWAROVSKI. Always.




Ashley Cain--Finally, I wanted to briefly discuss Ashley Cain. She came in 12th overall. For her Short program skate to "Montserrat" by Orquesta del Plata (Tango music), she wore this red stretch lace costume.I thought it was a bit expected to wear red. But I give her points for NOT having any black color in this. Or a Red Rose in her hair. She was very late 80's in this ensemble. All she was missing were those Maripol "Madonna" black rubber bracelets, a tulle skirt from a second-hand store and she should have skating to "Borderline"--or "La Isla Bonita"!



** Next Up: The PAIRS and ICE DANCE Costume Recaps of the 2013 U.S. Championships of Figure Skating

Nebraska Gets Men-Dazzled:







Last week and weekend (from January 19-January 27th), were the 2013 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating
Championships--or US Nationals of Figure Skating for short. They occurred at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha,
Nebraska. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of Men's singles, Ladies singles, Pairs skating, and Ice Dancing
at the senior, junior and novice levels. For the first time, the event
was expanded to include juvenile and intermediate level competitions,
previously held at a separate event.






^{The results are part of the criteria used for the 2013 World Junior Championships, 2013 Four Continents Championships and 2013 World Championships. In other words, these US Championships were like the "Miss USA" pageant selecting who gets to go to "Miss Universe". Leave it to me to find a away to put Figure Skating AND Beauty pageants in one BLOG posting!}






Now, let's get to the Good Stuff: The Costumes! As you know, I love discussing all things Figure Skating Costumes--and from the page views/visits I get here on NICKVERREOS.COM, I guess someone else likes reading it...so let's begin with the Men of the U.S. Nationals 2013--Now, I have  already discussed several of these costumes throughout  the season last year when these skaters competed in various competitions so I'm sure if you Google my name and the skaters names and the word "Costumes", you'll find something I've said about them and their ensembles. For sure. With that...Here are my Costume High-lights (and some low): 





Adam Rippon--I just wanted to highlight Adam Rippon's look for his Short Program to Giacomo Puccini's "Nessum Dorma". I think last year when he debuted this, I wasn't a 100 % fan. And I'm still not. I would say, I'm about 60% there. I like the ombre coloring effect on the shirt and the delicate sprinkles of crystals at the collar, shoulders and below the elbow at the sleeves. But I just wished he would have made the costume look more "complete" rather than just slapping a pair of black pants on to go with it. A suggestion would be to maybe add a stripe of color matching the shirt at the side-seams of the pants--with crystals of course. SOMETHING. On a good note, the haircut is sooo cute and becoming on him (he used to be a "curly/moppy" top of a fellow!).





Jason Brown-- For his Short program at the U.S. Nationals 2013, he skated to "The Question of U" by Prince. You cannot skate to Prince and not wear something that has A) Ruffles, B) Asymmetry and C) Look slightly "Kooky Baroque". And Jason hit all of these points, so for that I give him my "Nick Costume Credit". Now, if I can just find some hair-cutting scissors...




Jeremy Abbott--I have discussed Jeremy's Short Program costume to "Spy" extensively HERE back on my Skate America 2012 post. I LOVE this--he looks like a super hipster secret spy in this--Love the shoulder holster and fingerless gloves. He looks HOT.





For Jeremy's Long Program costume to "Bring Him Home" from "Les Miserables", I was bored beyond belief. In my Skate America 2012 post, I said this: "I am bored of seeing so many black/brown pants...the costume is still a very
integral part of one's performance and while I get that this one is
depressing and serious, the costume doesn't have to be depressing also; a
beige shirt and brown pants? Jeremy, please, I want to see just a
little bit more". Yep, I said that. I do like that the pants are super-tight and accentuate his super-muscled legs. Yes, I also said that.







Ross Miner--For his Short Program, Ross skated to "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" by Sergei Rachmaninoff wearing this royal blue and black costume. This was a Costume Change (Mon Diue!) from what he wore back in November of last year at the NHK Trophy 2012 when he wore this:




Back then I commented that it was a bit "Captain Kirk of Star Trek" but I liked the color blocking--a big 2012-2013 Fashion Trend. I do like the change however. The color blocking is still there but the color has been punched up and I really admire the black sequined cuff and neckline band detail. A definite change for the better.





I also liked the costume Ross wore to his Long Program to "Captain Blood" by Erich Korngold. I reviewed it HERE. I'm usually NOT a fan of the "Ross Dress For Less" belts a lot of these male skaters wear to cinch their pants, but here this is not just any belt, it looks "Costume-y" and something that goes with the theme and music. Both his costumes, by the way, were designed by Chase Tyler, The Work Room Productions.





Max Aaron--Gold Medal winner Max Aaron, skated his Short Program to "Tron: Legacy" by Daft Punk. I liked his costume because it completely reflected the film and the costumes seen in it. He still looked modern and had enough Figure Skating Costume" stage presence. 








For his Free Skate/Long Program to Music from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, in which he landed TWO quads and won his first US Figure Skating Championships title, he wore this above. At first glance I thought, "boy this is sooo uninteresting", and wondered if this was his "practice outfit" . But then, I quickly realized that Max went the traditional musical theater route and wore almost an exact copy of the look worn by George Chakiris who played "Bernardo" in the 1961 Movie Musical "West Side Story":





So, I get what he was going for but still think it is a bit of a miss. For a skating costume it would have been almost impossible to directly translate the "period" aspect of the film character to the ice and make it look interesting. Hence, the practice outfit aspect to the entire look. In these situations I think he should have abandoned the need to be so literal in translation and been a bit more original in his approach.







**Up Next: The Ladies Costume Recap of the U.S. Championships of Figure Skating!