No Babushkas Here!
Top Three Ladies: (left to right) Silver Medalist from USA Gracie Gold, Gold Medalist from Finland Kiira Korpi,
and Bronze Medalist from USA Agnes Zawadzki--ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Rostelecom Cup 2012, Megasport Sports Center, Moscow, Russia.
The ladies of international figure skating were in fine form at this weekend's Rostelecom Cup/Cup of Russia 2012. For all the buzz about how great the Russian ladies are this season and the lack of buzz for the US girls, guess who ended up on the podium? No Russians and TWO Americans!. Yep, who knew! Two American ladies got to the medals podium: Agnes Zawadzki (Bronze) and Gracie Gold (Silver)--but in the end it was the Finnish beauty, Kiira Korpi, who went home with the top prize. Now, enough about who got the medals...let's take a look at some who caught my attention in regards to their costumes:
Bollywood Goes to Russia: Alena Leonova of Russia skated her Short Program to "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Indian Hip Hop" at this past weekend's "Rostelecom Cup/Cup of Russia 2012". I absolutely LOVED her apple green costume. It had great jigsaw-puzzle-like detail in the torso with sequin detail and gold metal trim. The design had draping, chiffon "skirt", arm and body straps as well as the India-influenced bindi and center part hair decoration.
It's very Zuhair Murad Spring 2011 Couture Meets Aishwarya Rai
It's a nice step up from some of her "Costume Koo-Koo" Short Program Costumes, including:
Alena Leonova Short Program costume to "Pirates of the Caribbean" by Hans Zimmer, 2011-2012 Season
Alena Leonova Short Program costumes to "Polka" (Circus) by Alfred Schnittke and "La Strada" by Nino Rota, 2010-2011 Season
Caroline Zhang of USA: Caroline skated her Short Program to "The Rushing Wings of Dawn" by Tim Janis in this costume above. I think it's a very nice design. I like the black "leaf" applique with crystals strewn throughout. In the photo, the skin-colored illusion seems a bit off, in terms of color. I wish it was lighter--and I wish the armholes were much closer to her....armhole. Besides that, it was very nice.
For her Free Skate to "Nessun Dorma" by Giacomo Puccini, Zhang wore a dark purple stretch velvet and chiffon costume featuring sequin applique and nude crystal illusion. Once again, the nude illusion was off. By many shades. But, besides this, it was a nice costume try. I'd really LOVE to see Caroline and her costume designer "step it up" in terms of coming up with a pretty but yet still fashionably directional (and still appropriate for the program) look.
Gracie Gold of USA: Gracie--who got the Silver Medal overall at this weekend's "Rostelecom Cup/Cup of Russia 2012"--skated her Short Program to "Hernando's Hideaway" by various artists. Her costumes for both the Short Program and Free Skate were designed by Brad Griffies. I think this red one above is just great! The juxtaposition of the solid fabric vs. the small-to-large sequin detail is very nice. The costume fits the requirements (for me) of looking a little bit "Red Carpet Couture" and at the same time, still giving a Figure Skating Costume "homage".
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. Nothing costume "earth shattering", but yes, very pretty. Good job on both costumes! An overall 8.5...out of 10, I would say.
Viktoria Helgesson of Sweden: For her Free Skate--in this costume--Viktoria skated to "Spellbound Concerto" by Miklos Rozsa. This baby blue costume is pretty and has elements of both Lebanese Couture dressmaking (the likes of Zuhair Murad and Elie Saab)--and yes, PAGEANT GOWNS. And that's why, I like it.
Polina Korobeynikova of Russia: Polina skated her Free Skate to Music from Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky. I cannot understand what this costume above had anything to do with Swan Lake or Tchaikovsky. It looks a bit half-hazard, kooky and too Cirque du Soleil for such a classic number.
Agnes Zawadzki of USA: Agnes--the other Medal Podium American--who got the Bronze at the "Rostelecom Cup/Cup of Russia 2012" skated her Free Skate to Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" by the Boston Pops Orchestra. Her Costume was designed by Pat Pearsall. I thought this was a very well done costume. The crystal effect down the torso, bust and wrist area was excellent. As a whole, the design--and costume--looked very European and chic.
Kiira Korpi of Finland: Kiira skated to Music from the Once Upon a Time in America soundtrack by Ennio Morricone. I talked about this costume HERE on my "Cup of China 2012" Blog Posting and essentially, I LIKEY.
***Next Up: The Pairs and Ice Dance of the "Rostelecom Cup/Cup of Russia 2012"!
