Figure Skating Fashion Minute: NHK Trophy 2011--The Ladies!

An Aladdin Princess, A Golden Supermodel on Ice, and Best Costumed Lady at NHK Trophy 2011-2012 Goes To...

Jasmine Asada: Silver Medalist Mao Asada of Japan in her "Scheherazade" costume, NHK Trophy 2011 Sapporo Japan

The Ladies gave their costume BEST at this weekend's Grand Prix of Japan/NHK Trophy 20111-2012 and I was watching--on TV--from my big ol' couch here in LA. I was happy to see a lot of COLOR, creativity in design and expensive-looking Swarovski jeweled crystals (not the cheap kind thank you very much!) Who were my faves?

The Top Three: (Left to right) Silver went to Japan's Mao Asada, Gold Medalist Akiko Suzuki of Japan, and Bronze, Russia's Alena Leonova

Akiko Suzuki of Japan: Akiko won the Gold, at home and I've discussed her costumes here on my blog in my Skate Canada Fashion posting. I loved both her Free Skate (top photo with the other medalists) and her Short Program (above photo) costumes. My favorite of the two is this gunmetal grey SP one. She wears this while skating to Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody" and well, she looks like some Contessa who should have a fabulous Castle to come home to! The black leaf design encircled by crystals is original and elegant. Imagine extending this costume into a floor-length gown! Gorgeous.

Mao Asada of Japan: She got 2nd place in Sapporo. I also give her my "Fashion Silver" Award when it comes to her Grand Prix of Japan fashion. For her Free Dance to Liszt's (a popular choice this season!) "Liebestraume", she looks all things pretty in this lilac-colored ensemble. The delicate crystal flowers detail at the torso could go the route of "Toddlers & Tiaras" in a HOT Triple Lutz Minute, but it didn't. It looked restrained yet still theatrical at the same time and VERY expensive!

Not sure about that pretzel-twist knotted waistband (looks a bit odd and jarring there), but the beautiful top makes up for it. Now, what I just LOVED was...

Asada's Scheherazade costume. It's so OUT there, it's GOOOOD!!! She looks like a cross between Princess Jasmine of "Aladdin" and an extra in those old "Bob Hope Goes To (fill in the blank)" movies. It's not every day one sees an "I Dream of Jeannie"-like harem pant costume, so as a Fashion Designer, Mao made me smile with "Fashion Glee" when she stepped on the ice.

Kiira Korpi of Finland: The "Supermodel On Ice" Kiira, looked radiant in her canary yellow costume, which she wore to her "Over The Rainbow" Short Program. At first, I thought "what does her costume have to do with that?" but then I remembered the YELLOW BRICK road!!! Hello!!!

This was the Lycra and silk chiffon with an encrusted crystal Costume ROAD! The entire design was beautiful and made her look like she should be on the cover of a fashion magazine.

And then, for her Free Skate to Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm", she wore another red carpet mini stunner, with a black costume featuring "swirled" silver-grey crystal detail and original armhole-and-shoulder crystal accents.

I also loved her 1930's-looking finger wave hairstyle that went fabulously with her music and costume. She looked like one of those Hollywood Starlets in a Busby Berkeley musical movie!

Ashley Wagner of the USA: But to me, one of the best Fashion Ladies on the NHK Trophy Ice Title goes to Ashley Wagner of the USA. She missed the Medal podium by a little over 5 points but to me, she got the Fashion Gold. I've discussed her "Black Swan" costume here and in case you missed it: this was one of my FAVORITE costumes in YEARS!!! Stunning, gorgeous, dramatic and SO "Swan Lake" Ballerina.

But I didn't discuss her red halter-necklined Short Program costume which she performs to "Pollock". This looks like a more mature version of Maia Shibutani's red "Big Band" costume. The heavy crystal beading detail looks expensive as opposed to tacky and the silhouette works for her. It also makes a sweet-and-pretty contrast to what she then wears for her "Black Swan" Free Skate. Good Job Ashley! You make my "Best Costumed" Nick List!

Figure Skating Fashion Minute: NHK Trophy 2011--The Ice Dancers & The Pairs!

Fiery Latin Dances, Big Band Prepsters, Lovestruck Romantics with No Fashion Sense and more...

The Ice Dance Medalists: (Left to right) Silver Medalists Weaver and Poje of Canada. Gold winners Shibutani and Shibutani of the USA, and Bronze Medalists Illinykh and Katsalapov, Grand Prix of Japan 2011

This weekend, Sapporo Japan and the Makomanai Sakisui Heim (say that three times!) Arena (above) was "Skating Central" and played host to the NHK Trophy/Grand Prix of Japan for 2011-2012. In my last post, I talked about The Men and their costumes--well, the ones I liked (for the most part) and now it's time to recap the Ice Dancers and the Pairs:

Reed and Reed of Japan: Brother and sister Ice Dancing team of Cathy and Chris Reed are half American and half Japanese--she renounced her US Citizenship in 2009 and he has dual citizenship (for now). They competed for Japan and in terms of their costumes (which is of course what I'm most interested in here!), I really liked their Short Program Latin-inspired outfits. Her black and pink fringed look with side "cut-out's" was electric, sexy and looked like a Brazilian Carnival performer. I also liked that the touches of pink were brought back to his look. I'm also a sucker for a MPN: Male Plunging Neckline!

Shibutani and Shibutani of the USA: Another brother and sister team--this time Maia and Alex Shibutani--got the Gold (Yeayyy Maia and Alex!) with their fabulous performances, infectious energy and "We are just SO happy to be here" smiles! Here, I want to highlight their Free Skate Costumes, in which they skated to Glenn Miller Orchestra's "In The Mood" "Moonlight Serenade" and "Chattanooga Choo Choo". They looked soooo cute together, I just wanna be their Gay Uncle and take them shopping and buy them tons of clothes!

Both of their costumes reflected the Big Band theme of their music really well: Her bright red halter-style crystal encrusted dress was very sweet and age-appropriate and packed a little bit of a punch. Alex's sweater vest, pinstripe pants and white shirt and tie look was straight out of some 40's college prepster from an Ivy League school sneaking out of class to go dancin'.

Weaver and Poje of Canada: These two skated to Je Suis Malade by Lara Fabian. This is a passionate song (the title means "I Am Sick") in which a woman is love sick over her partner ("My life ceases when you leave" goes the song). You would think that besides their presentation and skating they could somehow convey something with their costumes. But no, not so much. I understand that it's a contemporary song which requires contemporary "costumes" but these two looked like they had left a club in Brooklyn at 2:30am and didn't have enough money to catch a cab home back to New Jersey! First of all, I am not a fan of the tucked-in shirt and belted look for guys. It's mainly the belt I have a problem with; it just looks as if he got that from his closet. And her dress: I couldn't understand why that one strap was loose and hanging like that. I guess it was supposed to hint as if he had "passionately" pulled it off of her. But it just looked like a costume mistake. All that being said, they are a GORGEOUS couple!

The Pairs:

The Top Three: (Left to right) Silver Medalists Takahashi and Tran of Japan, Kavaguti and Smirnov of Russia who got the Gold, and Savchenko and Szolkowy of Germany with their Bronze Medals. I talked about the Russians Kavaguti and Smirnov and their costumes here so I won't go into that, but I will discuss...

Savchenko and Szolkowy of Germany: The only reason I am discussing these two is because of the fact that they are one of the top Pairs competitors and because they got third place at NHK this past weekend. I thought their Short Program Costumed, performed to "Angels and Demons" by Hans Zimmer, were on par with some of their previous season's kooky get-ups (which I liked!). Robin is in a black very tight jumpsuit straight out of some "Blades of Glory" remake, and Aliona is the so-called "Angel" in a very sassy and sexy white number. If that's an Angel, huney, time to book my ticket to HEAVEN!

On the other hand, NOTHING excited me about their Free Skate costumes. They skated something called "Pina" from a German 3D Dance Film (yeah, you read right!) of the same name. Anyhow, their costumes were so boring and uninspired that I want to YELL at the ice to bring back those Pink Panther outfits, like YESTERDAY--or wear those white and black jumpsuits all over again!!!

Berton and Hotarek of Italy: Stefania Berton and Ondrej Hotarek just missed the podium and garnered 4th place in Sapporo Japan. I liked, but not loved, their "Adagio in G minor for Organ and Strings" Free Skate costumes, seen above. The color is vibrant and perfect to get anyone's attention--even in the nose-bleed sections. But the scattered crystals look a little "Happy Hands at Home with the Bedazzler" and that diamante trim is straight out of Jo-Ann's Fabrics. Italians need to do better when it comes to costumes. Take a look at Carolina Kostner for a clue!

Takahashi and Tran of Japan: These two--who got the Silver Medal--wore one of my favorite costumes during the Pairs Free Dance competition. They looked quite elegant and "Figure Skating Costume" classic while skating to "Concerto de Quebec". Normally I wouldn't think of ombre-dyed muted olive, taupe and beige-y brown as colors that would make an impact as a figure skating costume, but they actually worked here (surprisingly!). The fact that they added them as almost a "detail/trim" and used the bright white as the most predominant color--in addition to the pretty well-placed mini flower crystals, it added to a nice costume story with their performance.

I thought her scooped back with back strapped detail was also a nice addition, especially since she was so "covered up" in the front. And PS: Tran's costume wasn't so bad as well. It coordinated with hers perfectly and hey, compared to what BA-BA-Boring Robin Szalkowy of the German pair wore, this is FAB-u-LOUS!

*Up Next: The Ladies of NHK Trophy 2011--Princess Jasmine of Aladdin Meets a Yellow-and-crystals clad Finnish Queen...

Figure Skating Fashion Minute: NHK Trophy 2011--The Men!

Oh The Boys...

Gold Medal Boy: Japan's Daisuke Takahashi skated an electrifying Free Skate which got him the top prize. His Free Skate costume was not a favorite of mine, unfortunately. I am just NOT A FAN of the tucked-in shirt, black pants and belt look. A BELT!!! Seriously???

This weekend was the Grand Prix of Japan--also called the 2011 NHK Trophy--held in Sapporo Japan. The event is organized by the Japan Skating Federation. As is custom, I have to give my "Nick V. Figure Skating Costumes" Two Cents to all the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. And of course, this was no exception.

First up: The Men...

Daisuke Takahashi of Japan: I wasn't a fan of his Free Skate costume (see above why) but I did like his Short Program ensemble. He's known for his (slightly) over-the-top costumes but for this season, they've been pretty tame. Daisuke is looking leaner and meaner--and also more sensual (yes, I said that!), and I really liked his "In The Garden of Souls" look. The slicked back hair, the fluttery chiffon with sequins top...the overall effect was actually quite disarming and beautiful at the same time.

Takahiko Kozuka of Japan: Silver Medalist Takahiko Kozuka wore the same outfit for his "Fantasia for Nausicaa" Free Skate that he wore at Skate America. I didn't like it then and I still don't like it...The tucked-in shirt, black pants and belt from "Men's Wearhouse" is TIRED and oh so 1992.

Ross Miner of the USA: Ross got the third place Bronze (Go Ross!) and I liked his "The Untouchables" Free Skate costume. It was sleek and modern. I would have liked a little color but the blue-black contrast seaming and detail was enough for me. He looked like a detective in the future--like in the year 2052!

Samuel Contesti of Italy: 4th place Contesti wore a very creative and "costume-y" ensemble for his Free Skate to "La Vie En Rose" ,"Ca Gaze" and "La Valse a Mile Temps". He looked like a cross between a French waiter in some Parisian Left Bank Cafe and Marcel Marceau:

The red-and-white striped shirt, the suspenders/braces and the neck scarf were fun and classic Contesti! I guess I was just happy to see a male competitor NOT wearing a belted ensemble and giving an interesting interpretation to the music he was skating to.

Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic: 5th Place Tomas skated his Short Program to the hip hop version of "Carmina Burana" wearing a very interesting all black with belted detail costume that looked like a futurist tux and straight jacket from a sanitarium--all at the same time! I actually liked it. Just for the fact that it was different.

Now, for his "Sing Sing Sing" and "La Vie En Rose" Free Skate, he went with a bright blue and bubblegum pink argyle/diamond print oversized necktie, suspenders, white pleated tuxedo shirt and black pants. Yes, I LOVE pops of color and therefore, me likey--I'd love to have an ascot in that print and Lord knows I would even wear it!!

Tatsuki Machida of Japan: His "Don Quixote" Free Skate costume was one of my favorites. The black with gold applique bolero jacket, pants and white shirt were a perfect backdrop to the music.

Brandon Mroz of the USA: Finally, there is Brandon Mroz. Brandon mesmerized the Sapporo Japan audience as he landed a quadruple lutz in an international competition at the 2011 NHK Trophy in his "Mack The Knife" Short Program. It was UNBELIEVABLE!! His black shirt, pin-striped trousers and undone bow tie costume worked seamlessly with the music. Ten "Nick Figure Skating Costume Points"!

For his Free Skate to Bizet's "Carmen", he wore a blood-red ruffled neckline shirt, a sleeveless Toreador sequined-and-flower appliqued vest and very skinny high-waited bull-fighter pants. His costume was Fabulous. I liked a vest interpretation to the iconic Toreador jacket. He did look a little like a Bulgarian folklore dancer but I was happy he "gave" costume! Unfortunately, his skating fell short and did not have the passion that a "Carmen" performance should exude. I think he needs to go to Madrid or Sevilla, take in a Flamenco show, get some lessons or go see a bullfight! Hopefully, next time his performance and skating will match the passion of his costume.

*Next Up: More Grand Prix of Japan/NHK Trophy 2011 Costumes! Stay tuned...