ICE STYLE.....Skate America 2019 Figure Skating Costumes Recap: PAIRS!

Sequined Pairs--USA's Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc skating to their Free Skate--Skate America 2019 Las Vegas

In my final post of last weekend's 2019 Skate America, it's time to talk about the final discipline, PAIRS! If you missed my other Skate America 2019 Costumes Recaps, Click HERE for LADIES, HERE for MEN, and HERE for ICE DANCE. But for now, let's talk about PAIRS:

Cheng Peng and Yang Jin China Free Skate--China's Pairs team skated their Free Skate to Cloud Atlas (soundtrack) wearing these pretty costumes. The varying shades of blue were beautiful and while I liked his "different" vest/jacket with rhinestone trim, it was Cheng Peng who was the obvious costume STAR! Her dress featured a pale blue chiffon base with deep lilac and silver paillettes and sequined applique, along with a silver sequin "belt".

Elie Saab Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2019

The design was gorgeous, expensive-looking and effective for the skate. Her look was very much inspired (I think) by Lebanese Couturier Elie Saab. The gorgeous gown above (worth about $80,000 if one were wealthy enough to order it!) looks like a nice "Inspiration" starting point. As a fashion designer and fashion lover myself, I appreciated the obvious nod to Runway Couture.

Daria Pavliuchenko and Denis Khodykin Russia Free Skate--For their Free Skate to Tron Legacy (soundtrack) by Daft Punk, this Russian Pairs team of Pavliuchenko and Khodykin wore these theme-correct costumes. As you can see, especially for Daria, she was SOOOOOO Tron, her costume deserves the Gold Medal...in "Tron" Costuming! To note: I especially loved that they added sequined trim to the panels that are supposed to be "neon"-like; this was an ingenious way to give it that right "spark", especially for the ice stage. Oh, and in case you are wondering, I liked his tie-dye top/black pants look too!

Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc USA Free Skate--Cain-Gribble and LeDuc skated their Free Skate to The Middle of the World (from "Moonlight" soundtrack) by Nicholas Britell and Experience by Ludovico Einaudi. I thought these were gorgeous costumes for both Ashley and Timothy. I especially loved the dramatic back detail in Ashley's jumpsuit with its jagged-edge sequined applique and the combination of sheer with the stretch velvet. I also really liked how they both wore the pointed "hankie"/sequined scarf on their necks; they looked united as a costume team.

Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier USA Short Program--Americans Denney and Frazier wore these vibrant costumes for their Short Program to Quidam (Cirque du Soleil). I appreciated the bold deep lilac/royal purple color, the "Arabian Sheikha"-like costume of Haven with its wrap-around arm ties and extremely intricate sequin work. In addition, I also liked his draped top with subtle ombre dyeing.

Free Skate to Lion King Returns (soundtrack) by Hans Zimmer--For their Free Skate to "Lion King", they wore these black and brown costumes and while they might not have had the "color punch" of their Short program looks, they were subtly elegant and featured beautiful feather-like sequin detail on both of their ensembles.

Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson USA Free Skate--For their Free Skate to You Are the Reason (duet version) performed by Calum Scott, Leona Lewis, Calalang and Johnson wore these rather "figure skating traditional" costumes that were pretty and un-threatening (in a fashion sense). Her dress was like a costume version of a "Model Home" and his, to be honest, was slightly more fashion-exciting, in that I liked the sheerness and starry sky-like sequin work.

And...THAT'S IT for the 2019 Skate America Costumes! Stay tuned for more "Ice Style" Costume Recaps from this Grand Prix Season here on my BLOG.