ICE STYLE.....2018 Costumes Recap: Figure Skating COSTUMES 2018 MEN!

Costume Men--(L to R) Japan's Shoma Uno, Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu, USA's Jason Brown, and USA's Nathan Chen

In my last "Ice Style" post HERE, I discussed what I thought were the Costume Highlights of 2018 Figure Skating Costumes during the Grand Prix Season for the LADIES...so now, it is time to talk about THE MEN! Normally, there are two Costume Camps when it comes to Men's Figure Skating: 1) The Costume Guys, and the 2) The "Ross-Dress-For-Less" Guys; in other words, the ones who actually wear costumes and ones who well...DON'T (guess which ones I like?)...

It's All About The Top--(L to R) Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu, Russia's Mikhail Kolyada, USA's Jason Brown, Japan's Shoma Uno

Just like the LADIES, I am dividing this by the countries the skaters represented. Here are some of the costumes that were worn by some of the top MEN of Figure Skating in 2018, starting with...

JAPAN:

Shoma Uno Short Program to Stairway to Heaven by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant performed by Rodrigo y Gabriela, Ppa by Rodrigo y Gabriela--Shoma wore this purple costume for his Short program during the Grand Prix Season and it featured stretch velvet details. I don't know what a cropped bolero and harness-like accents has to do with "Stairway to Heaven" but I don't care; I liked this look on Shoma, from head to toe. It fit well, looked nice and I loved the contrast velvet details. 

Costume Change Alert! For the recent Japanese Nationals, Shoma switched it up and did a costume change. This time it was a black and gray look with rose gold beading and a "plunging" neckline. Of the two costume choices, I definitely prefer the purple velvet look the best. It is more elegant and streamline with a modern twist.

Shoma Uno Free Skate to Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy--I am a big fan of draped costumes on men. This was a beautiful example of this style on Shoma Uno. He wore this teal-green sequined costume for his Free Skate and it was both pretty and delicately fabulous, especially for this classic music. I loved the side wrap-draped detail, the minuscule crystal sequins and overall look. 

Yuzuru Hanyu Short Program to Otonal by Raul di Blasio--We all know Yuzuru loves this baby blue color so it wasn't a surprise to see this look on him. In fact, I almost thought this was an old costume he was bringing back (it wasn't). I liked the sequined "X"-like accents and ombre-dyeing effect. I also liked how the crystals flowed onto the black pants. I just wasn't a fan of the tulle ruffled neckline and all those necklaces.  I'm sure they all have great significance to him on a personal level, but with the costume they are distracting.

Yuzuru was also paying tribute to Johnny Weir with this program and he carried it through thoughtfully with his costume. Above is what Johnny wore back in 2005 when he skated to the same music.

Yuzuru Hanyu Free Skate to Origin ("Art on Ice") by Edvin Marton--Now THIS is FABULOUS! I loved this leaf-inspired costume worn by Yuzuru for his Free Skate. The design--especially that intricately beaded top section--looked very expensive and very Alexander McQueen-like. Yuzuru and his costumes always walk a very thin line of looking a bit too cheap and too-muchey but this was the opposite. In addition, it's always very important for figure skating costumes and figure skating costume designers to keep the interest up at THE TOP and this costume did just that. Absolutely beautiful. 

ISRAEL:

Alexei Bychenko Free Skate to Bram Stoker's Dracula (soundtrack) by Wojciech Kilar--When I first saw this costume on Alexei, I noticed the blood dripping from his shirt. I'll be honest: I thought it was it bit macabre to say the least but then I knew he was skating to "Dracula" so I guess it was part of the theme. In keeping with the theme, he also donned a white Period-like ruffled blouse and sleek black trousers. I kind of wished the sleeves were less blouson-y and overpowering and maybe the blood was more Swarovski crystal refined.

CZECH REPUBLIC:

Michal Brezina Short Program to Who Wants to Live Forever by Brian May, performed by Queen--Oh Michal. There's really not much I can talk about since this is not really a costume and more a look something a bouncer would wear at a Vegas club--or a kid in 1992 would wear TO A Vegas club! It's QUEEN after all that you are skating too! QUEEN! Try better next time.

Michal Brezina Free Skate to I'm a Man performed by The Spencer Davis Group
Thunderstruck performed by AC/DC--I guess this is Michal trying something that best resembles a costume. But it was still somewhat of a #Fail. For his Free Skate to AC/DC, he wore a white t-shirt, a see-through black long sleeve top over it and black pants. Oh, and that tacky 90's necklace. If there's something nice to say, I did like the sequined trim on the cuffs and bottom of the black top.  

KOREA:

Junhwan Cha Short Program to Waltz-Koda-Attaca (from "Cinderella") by Sergei Prokofiev
Midnight (from "Cinderella") by Sergei Prokofiev--For his Short program to "Cinderella", Junhwan wore this outfit of a black shirt and black pants. It was rather a disappointing excuse for a costume but at least there was a little bit of embellishment at the shoulder yokes of the shirt. 

Junhwan Cha Free Skate to Romeo and Juliet (soundtrack) by Craig Armstrong--For his Free Skate, he wore black Tuxedo pants and a purple lace and sequined shirt. There were hints of the "Rome and Juliet" vibe with the intricate shirt but it was still a lackluster show of costume; he looked very dated and Junior-like.

RUSSIA:

Sergei Voronov Short Program to Prelude No. 5 in G minor op. 23 by Sergei Rachmaninov--Sergei wore this look of black pant (how not original!?) and a color-blocked sweater top. Even though it wasn't much of a costume, it did look modern for the classical music choice and the colors stood out on the ice stage. 

Sergei Voronov Free Skate to Way Down We Go (from "Logan" trailer) performed by Kaleo--At first glance, I was a bit taken aback by the "gash" detail across his torso in his costume. I knew he was skating to "Logan" but didn't put it all together until I Googled the film and saw this image:

Now the costume made some sense. Even though the film isn't "Period" necessarily, his costume looked a little Medieval in its coloring and design.

Mikhail Kolyada Short Program to I Belong to You - Mon Coeur s'ouvre a ta voix by Muse--Mikhail looked quite sleek and modern in this black, silver and white outfit worn for his Short program. It was graphic and really highlighted his perfectly fit little body: It's wise to keep Mikhail's costumes very close and fitted.

Mikhail Kolyada Free Skate to Adagio from Carmen Suite by Georges Bizet, Rodion Shchedrin
Habanera from Carmen Suite No. 2 by Georges Bizet--I LOVED this "Carmen" inspired costume on Mikhail. It was strong, powerful and sleek. Mikhail was a sexy Toreador in this blood-red bolero-like jacket with black embellishments; it really evoked Spain and Bizet's classic opera. I also loved the mini cummerbund and super tight black pants. This was a TEN for me! 

CANADA:

Keegan Messing Short Program to You've Got A Friend In Me by Randy Newman performed by Michael Buble--Keegan wore this costume for his Michael Buble Short Program. He looked cute and nicely put-together. I just wished the colors weren't so drab; that gray was the opposite of costume-inspiring!

Keegan Messing Free Skate to The Sober Dawn (from "City Lights") by Charlie Chaplin
The Reel Chaplin: A Symphonic Adventure, Pt. 2 by Charlie Chaplin--Keegan reprised his "Charlie Chaplin" shtick--and costume!--for his 2018-2019 Season Free Skate. The costume is spot-on with Chaplin and while I know he's supposed to look a bit "un-kept" (ill-fitting jacket, etc.), I just wished his grooming (hair) was tighter and sleeker. 

USA:

Jason Brown Short Program to Love Is a Bitch by Two Feet--I really liked this sleek look from Jason Brown, especially since he's more known for More Is More when it come to his costumes. The design seemed edited and right for his skate and music. It was as if after he cut his hair, he also wanted to "cut" some of the over-the-top costumes as well. In regards to this look, I loved the "slashed"-like color-and-sequined details on his turtleneck top especially. 

Jason Brown Free Skate to Old Friends by Paul Simon, performed by Simon & Garfunkel, Bookends by Paul Simon, performed by Simon & Garfunkel, A Hazy Shade of Winter by Paul Simon, performed by Simon & Garfunkel--The music is mid-sixties and so was this costume worn by Jason for his Fee Skate to Simon & Garfunkel. I liked the strong blue colors and stripes on this shirt, adding interest to an otherwise not-so-exciting outfit. Not sure what else I would have done here but part of me wishes there was (Uh Oh, here we go!) MORE!

Vincent Zhou Free Skate to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (soundtrack) by Tan Dun
Rising Sun by Kiyoshi Yoshida--For his Free Skate to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Vincent naturally went with a Chinese traditional look, albeit in a costume interpretation. I liked the white wrap-like jacket with slightly flared sleeves and black waist tie. I also thought it was a nice addition to include the web-like black crystal sequins to add interest to the ensemble.

Nathan Chen Short Program to Caravan by Duke Ellington performed by Boston Brass--Skating to this American Jazz standard "Caravan", Nathan decided that he would don a non-costume in this white dress shirt with rolled-up sleeves, gray vest and black pants. I get it: he's skating to jazzy music and perhaps he just wanted to look like one of the members of the jazz band. But it seemed as if he just went into his closet and looked for the closest thing he had resembling a "I'm-going-to-a-dress-up-event" outfit. I wished the shirt looked nicer and that there was some resemblance of a "Custom" vest; it was just so boring. 

Nathan Chen Free Skate to Land of All by Woodkid--The music comes from the soundtrack of a movie called "Desierto". I had to look it up because frankly, I just didn't understand the whole tie-dye shirt look on Nathan. Once again, this was a non-costume costume and I guess that's how Nathan likes it. Even when there was such hullabaloo about Vera Wang designing his Olympics costumes, there were still a slight let-down--especially for Fashion Watchers such as myself. I know no one (except me!) is looking at Nathan for costume but rather his quads but....it would be nice to see something.

**NEXT UP: 2018 Figure Skating Costumes of THE PAIRS!!