ICE STYLE.....Costumes Highlights from NHK Trophy and Internationaux de France 2021

Skating Style--Costumes from  Internationaux de France and NHK Trophy 2021 (L to R) Alena Kosternaia of Russia, Papadakis and Cizeron of France, Komatsubara and Koleto of Japan, and Muramoto and Takahashi of Japan

The Grand Prix of Figure Skating competition series continues and there have been several events since I last blogged on the "Ice Style" of this 2021-2022 Grand Prix series...so here's a brief BLOG COSTUME RECAP of some I wanted to highlight from the recent NHK Trophy (Japan) and Internationaux de France (France) Grand Prix that I have not discussed so far...for the most part! Let's begin with...

NHK Trophy 2021:

Misato Komatsubara and Tim Koleto Japan, Free Dance to Sayuri’s Theme (Memoirs of a Geisha soundtrack), Going to School (Memoirs of a Geisha soundtrack), The Chairman’s Waltz (Memoirs of a Geisha soundtrack), and Sayuri’s Theme and End Credits (Memoirs of a Geisha soundtrack) by John Williams, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman--Skating to Memoirs of a Geisha, Komatsubara and Koleto looked DIVINE in these beautiful, delicate costumes. The designs were obviously inspired by the film and the Japanese background of the story. Misato wore a pretty kimono-inspired dress in ombre-shaded light blue featuring slightly flared sleeves and a gorgeous inset Obi in peach with red and gold trim. Her makeup and hair looked STUNNING! Tim also looked great in a matching color long-sleeve top with branch-like details and dark blue-violet pants. Both were quite beautiful.

9.50

Kana Muramoto and Daisuke Takahashi Japan, Rhythm Dance to Soran Bushi by Maia Barouh, Koto by CloZee--Skating to "Nippon Blues", Samurai-style "Glitch Pop" music, Muramoto and Takahashi wore these vivid and stage-strong costumes in red and black. Both looked like characters from an Anime Samurai film! I loved the geometric, angular lines, sharp silhouettes, and powerful colors. They certainly made a costume statement with these!

9.45

Kana Muramoto and Daisuke Takahashi Japan, Free Dance to La Bayadere, Act 2 No.29 Andante, La Bayadere, Act 2 No.30 Tempo Di Valse, La Bayadere, Act 2 No.37 Allegretto , La Bayadere, Act 2 No.39 Vivace by Leon Minkus, perf. by Evergreen Symphony Orchestra & Kevin Galiè--La Bayadere is a classical ballet set in Royal India involving eternal love, mystery, fate, and vengeance. In these costumes, Muramoto and Takahashi embody the iconic Pas de deux of ballet dancers performing a love dance...or skate as it were. I really loved the homage to the classical ballet music and theme with these also-classical costumes. They were rich, impactful, and true to the theme. I especially loved her red with gold jeweled trim costume. If there was any minor issue, it was with the odd nude illusion panel in the front of Takahashi's costume; the color didn't really match his tone and was distracting...they should just remove it.

9.00

Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalopov Russia, Rhythm Dance to You Can Leave Your Hat On (from "Nine  1/2 weeks") performed by Joe Cocker and Brick House by The Commodores--For their blues and funk-inspired Rythm Dance Sinitsina and Katsalapov decided to look like Nouveau Riche GenZ'ers in Versace-like looks ready to go to "The Club" in Ibiza...and yet, the music was NOT Ibiza-like. While I liked the Versace-like shirt print and her UBER sexy costume (OMG HER ABS!!!), I almost wanted them to be skating to Lady Gaga's "Donatella" song and not Joe Cocker and The Commodores!

8.00

Sinitsina and Katsalapov Russia Free Dance to Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninov,

Variations on a Theme of Paganini by Sergei Rachmaninov--This Russian ice dance pair skated gloriously...and the liquid soft-as-silk costumes mirrored their effortless skate. I liked her blue dress with matching illusion/chiffon sleeves but I especially liked Nikita's slate gray silky shirt look. It was so wise to put him in that because, literally, he skated as soft and silky as that top looked on him!

9.20

Eunsoo Lim Korea Free Skate East of Eden (soundtrack) by Lee Holdridge, Searching for Eden by Karl Hugo--This is one of the prettiest and most Haute-looking costumes on the Grand Prix 2021-2022 season! This design was elegant, expensive-looking, and just right for the skate and music. I loved the softly fluttering ruffles, the corset-like shape of the bodice accentuated by the stunning sequins, and that beautiful sweetheart neckline was EVERYTHING! She looked like a Figure Skating Princess.

9.75

Kaori Sakamoto Japan--I gave my "review" of Kaori's costume in a previous post but here it is again for those who missed it: Free Skate to No More Fight Left In Me by Imany, Armand Amar, Tris by Ellie Goulding, Junkie XL: For her Free Skate, Sakamoto wore this royal blue costume that made a strong color impression, especially against the white of the ice rink. Just as in the Short Program costume, the side jeweled sequin detail was utilized here to a nice effect, providing a nucleus to the stripes enveloping the design. I personally didn't think it was necessary to add the little crystals in the bustline especially since there was already so much else happening, but overall, I liked this costume.

8.99

Shoma Uno Japan--I also commented on  Shoma's costume in a previous ICE STYLE post but I loved it so much, I had to repeat my comments here again: Free Skate to Bolero (Boléro IV New Breath) by Maurice Ravel, performed by Tomotaka Okamoto: Caron also created this gorgeous costume worn by Uno for his Free Skate to Ravel's "Bolero". This black and gold ensemble was giving me Toreador Couture vibes with its cropped bolero vest, gold side trim crystal detail, and super sleek lines. It was modern, stylish and yet, still had enough costume flair.

9.75

Internationaux de France 2021:

Mariah Bell USA Short Program to River Flows In You by Yiruma--Mariah wore this simple royal blue costume for her Short Program. While simple and lovely from the front, it looked a bit too "I just bought this at a skating rink store" especially for an international pre-Olympic competition. But once she turned around and showed the sequined back...it got a little better, which at least added some luxe detail to an otherwise "Off the Rack" costume.

7.75

Mariah Bell Free Skate to Hallelujah performed by K.D. Lang--For her Free Skate, Mariah wore this red costume which was a major style "step up" from her Short Program look. I liked the strong color and geometrically shaped rhinestone appliques and asymmetrical lines of the costume. This is more of what I'd like to see Mariah wear!

9.00

Yuhana Yokoi Japan, Free Skate to Fat Bottomed Girls, We Will Rock You, and We Are the Champions by Queen--Surprise! Surprise! I LOVE this costume! I am a big fan of Queen and a big fan of this look on Yuhana which appropriately pays homage to the bigger-than-life band and music with its BOLD highlighter yellow sequined costume. The look is designed to get your attention (as if the music wasn't enough!) and it succeeds. The angular pointed details on the torso are fabulous as they give you a Rock Star Stage Impact, only heightened by all that display of stunning crystal work: One of the BEST!

9.75 

Alena Kosternaia Russia, Free Skate to It's a Money (Instrumental), Lovely by Billie Eilish, Lovely (Cover version) by Galpe--For her Free Skate, Alena wore this royal blue/violet costume featuring a side display of multicolored sequined applique reminiscent of thunder/lightning. The look was accessorized with studded leather-like cuffs to give it more of a "Rock & Roll"/hipster edge, I presume. Speaking of accessories, she also added blue and gold sparkles to her face makeup...

I liked the sparkles and I liked her costume.

9.00

By the way, these were much more face sparkles than she had before at her last Grand Prix, at Skate Canada International 2021:

Fewer Face Sparkles and (slightly) Different Costume: Her costume was also slightly different--at Skate Canada International 2021 (above), the costume had black studded straps and more sequined applique at the neckline.

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron France, Free Dance to Elegie by Gabriel Faure--Perfection doesn't even go far enough to describe Papadakis and Cizeron--both in their skate and choices of costumes. For their modern dance-meets-tango OUTSTANDING Free Dance, she wore this sexy golden sequined dress with fishtail hems and front torso "cut-out". Gabriella looked so good that she could have either stepped out of a Tango Competition (The Winner of course!) or a Red Carpet event. Guillaume for his part highlighted his perfectly toned body with a skin-tight copper/golden-hued top and black second-skin pants. I appreciated the fact that there was a hint of gold in him which almost looked as if it "rubbed" off from her. J'adore.

9.50

France vs. Italy--This was a change for him from what they last wore in Gran Premio D'Italia Grand Prix Italy...Previously, he had worn a bold red top which certainly deepened the "tango" in their Free Dance (and matched her nail polish!) but admittedly, the new copper/gold one is a better and more modern choice.