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ICE STYLE....2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championships COSTUMES RECAP: ICE DANCE

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Purple Rhumba: Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue during their Free Dance--2018 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships, SAP Center San Jose, California

To wrap up my 2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championships ICE STYLE COSTUMES blog, it's time to discuss the FABULOUS ICE DANCE COSTUMES!!! In case you have missed my other Costumes Recaps on the 2018 U.S. Nationals, click HERE for the LADIES, HERE for the MEN and HERE for the PAIRS. With that out of the way, let's discuss all the Cha-Cha, Rhumba and Sexy-Licious Crystals and Stretch Netting on display for the ICE DANCERS at the 2018 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships, beginning with the eventual (and surprise) Gold medalists...

Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue Short Dance to Samba: Le Serpent by Guem et Zaka; Rhumba: Cuando Calienta El Sol by Tayla Ferro; and Samba: Sambando by Los Ritmos Calientas--For their Latin-inspired Short Program, Madison and Zachary wore these purple/deep violet-based costumes. I loved these looks on them for many reasons: They were stage impacting, very Cha-Cha Fab, and UBER SEXY! Her open side-and-back asymmetrical one-sleeved dress was HOT and I also liked the sequin detail and paillettes at the hem. Oh and not leaving Zach too far behind, he looked great as well! His v-neck top was sexy and included color and sequin elements taken from her costume. They get a 9/10 in my Costume Book! And in case you want to know, Madison's mom, Susan Hubbell makes all the costumes. I met her in San Jose and gave her a big approving "Nick Hug"!

Free Dance to Across the Sky - Instrumental by Rag N'Bone Man and Caught Out in the Rain by Beth Hart--For their very sensuous Free Dance, Madison wore a deep gray sequined dress that was beautiful, fluid and fashionable. Zach donned a black "Dinner Jacket", white dress short and pants. I'm thinking his look was of a guy who began the night in a tuxedo but after some hours with Madison, he let it all loose! Speaking of loose, during the "Kiss & Cry", he took off the black jacket to reveal the fact that his "dress shirt" was...

Muscle Boy: No dress shirt at all but a sleeveless "Muscle" shirt. I have one costume request for Zachary: PLEASE ditch that black jacket and just wear this at the Olympics for the Free Dance. Pretty Please. 


Guillaume Cizeron goes sleeveless and trust me, so can you!


Maia and Alex Shibutani Short Dance to Mambo: Mambo No. 5 by Perez Prado; Cha Cha: Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White by Perez Prado and Samba: Mambo Jumbo/Mambo No. 8 by Perez Prado--I LOVE these costumes! All season long at every event they have competed at, I have always bowed down to how great these are: These were BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO! They looked so fabulous, I almost wanted to jump through the TV and do Twizzles with them every time I saw them. I thought her bubblegum pink with gold and silver crystals dress was A STUNNER. And Alex was no Costume Chopped Liver: I thought his nude bedazzled shirt with black pants look was sexy and a perfect costume partner to her colorful eye candy costume. 

Maia's costume was designed and created by Lisa McKinnon so Kudos for creating ONE OF THE BEST FIGURE SKATING COSTUMES of the season! 

Free Dance to Paradise by Coldplay: For their Free Dance, they went much more subdued--keeping in mind their emotional and modern music. I liked the red and black colors and I especially liked her softly draped chiffon dress featuring subtle hints of ombre dying. I also appreciated how his shirt perfectly matched her dress coloring. This might not have been as impressive as their Short Dance costumes but they were quietly beautiful and appropriate for this Free Dance.  Unfortunately, as we have seen with the US Nationals and Hubbell and Donohue--as well as Virtue and Moir, Papadakis and Cizeron--quietly beautiful ain't cutting it...it's all about SEX SEX SEX, or at least, intense sensuality. It's obvious the Shibs can't do that (hello they are brother and sister!) but maybe somehow, in their costumes, they can "sex" it up? Perhaps? I'm not saying they should, but it's obvious this is the direction the judges are liking for 2018 and the upcoming Olympics. 



Madison Chock and Evan Bates Short Dance to Salsa: Aguanile by Mark Anthony; Rhumba: Que lio by Mark Anthony; Samba: Vivir mi vida by Mark Anthony--Speaking of sexy...you can't get any more sexy than these costumes worn by Madison and Evan for their muy caliente Latino Short Dance. The costumes featured a black color base with emerald green/aquamarine sequined detail and...all that FABULOUS fringe (Love it Madison!). 


Evan Hot: I also liked how Evan was looking muy hot with the skin tight top, plunging neckline and see-through side panels. It's nice to see that it's not always about the woman in these performances/skates. 


2 Lower Photos by David Paul

Free Dance to Imagine by John Lennon: Madison and Evan wore these blue costumes for their Free Skate and they were beautiful. The John Lennon music was sublime and their subtly sensuous costumes mirrored this. There was a somber yet elegant glamour to these that I admired. And Thank you Evan for that plunging neckline...again!


Photo by David Paul

Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker Short Dance to Samba: Get Busy by Sean Paul; Rhumba: Mil Pasos (Kizomba Remix) by Soha; Samba: Fireball performed by Pitbull feat. John Ryan--Gorgeous and Latino Hot is all I can say for these costumes. OK, I can say more: I liked these looks worn by Kaitlin and Jean-Luc for their Short Dance, especially her Couture-worthy red-and-gold dress which was very Balmain-meets-Givenchy! I also loved Jean-Luc's black see-through striped shirt and black pants ensemble; he looked like a very sultry Argentinian tango dance partner. 


 
2 Lower Photos by David Paul

Free Dance to Liebestraum arranged by Maxime Rodriguez--These lilac-hued costumes were pretty and worked nicely with Kaitlin and Jean-Luc's Free Dance. Her dress had beautiful movement with the lightly gathered waist and volant flounces on the neckline. I wished his shirt was in the light baby blue of the top of her costume but other than that, these were very nice.

Elliana Pogrebinsky and Alex Benoit Short Dance to Samba: Simba by Dan Nekonecny; Rhumba: Lo So Che Finira by Anna Tatangelo; Merengue: Bailar by Elvis Crespo, Erick Orrosquieta, Robert Fernandez--Here's another HOT HOT HOT couple and their costumes showed it! I loved Elliana's pink and turquoise fringed look; it was sexy, bold and looked amazing on her. Alex's all black costume was a nice counter-balance. I loved his SUPER plunging neckline and sheer side panels. 


Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter Short Dance to Rhumba: Mambo Italiano by Bob Merrill; Slow Rhumba: El Perdedor by Enrique Inglesias feat. Antonio Solis and Samba: Big Bagz by Alex Romano--These were great costumes worn by Lorraine and Quinn for their Short Dance. I especially liked her "Gladiator Goddess"-like detailing, front bustier gathering and "open sides" design. I also loved his sequined top and very Ice Dance-On Trend plunging neckline.


Lower Photo by David Paul

Rachel Parsons and Michael Parsons Short Dance to Rhumba: Mambo Molly by Mambo Molly ; Slow Rhumba: Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime by Zuchero and Mambo: Congo Crazed by Mambo Molly--While these costumes weren't Latino Bright and Bold, they were sleek and still muy HOT! I liked her asymmetrical hem dress featuring silver sequins in her neckline and sides. I especially loved the costume tie-in in his look and especially his v-neck shirt--which featured similar silver crystal embellishment down the sides of his sleeves. One request: Michael's costume can be slightly tighter and his v-neck, a little more plunging #JustSaying .

Photos by David Paul

Free Dance to Ghost Dances: La Partida by Victor Jara; Sikuriadas by Inti Illimani and Quiaquenpita by Inti Illimani--First off: This was an odd dance and odd music choice of neo-folkloric Chilean music. It was just unusual since one doesn't normally hear this type of music in Ice Dance. With that said, as someone who grew up in South America, I actually liked it--and I also liked the costumes. The designs reflected a "South American Indigenous Tribe" look to them and still were sexy enough (for a brother-and-sister team) to remain part of this season's trend for SEXY-LICIOUS Ice Dances. I still couldn't help but notice how slightly odd (OK, maybe A LOT odd!) it was seeing the 2 WHITEST KIDS...in these South America Indigenous/Tribe-like costumes; it was a bit too Not-PC Halloween-esque. But...with that being said, I love this team! I think they are the future of American Ice Dance.

That's a WRAP for my ICE STYLE COSTUMES Blog of the 2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championships!! Can't wait to discuss the Figure Skating costumes of the 2018 Winter Olympics!

**Until then: UP NEXT, don't miss my BLOG RECAP on attending the 2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championships with lots of behind-the-scenes photos!

And don't forget about my NEW "The Pageant Coloring Book"! Where you can create your very own Evening Gown Competition with 25 of my hand-drawn Pageant Queen illustrations. Click HERE to purchase NOW on amazon.com:

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