What’s in a Name? I Mean, a Name Brand

What’s in a name? To clarify, I mean in a name brand. I don’t know about other figure skaters, but I wore costumes my mother made for me.

My mom’s an excellent seamstress, so honestly it wasn’t that bad (although there were some stinkers…no offence mom…there was a learning curve!) and it allowed me to get pretty creative with my dress designs. She could just make them happen. *Poof* Other skaters had to put up with dresses from the local costumers, which were good too. But not very, you know, unique.

And I read a lot of old school awesome skaters wore costumes their mothers sewed for them. You know, in the old days.

But not anymore.

Now, they wear Vera Wang.

Vera Wang.

Now, I suppose I should back it up by saying that, yes, Vera Wang is the designer to beat and has been for the past I don’t know how many years. She’s especially famous for her wedding dresses. But before she was the designer she was…wait for it…an aspiring figure skater!

And actually, she did pretty well. She skated pairs and went to the 1968 US nationals. However, when she didn’t make the team she decided to go a different direction. Fashion. You know that.

What’s in a name?

Anyway, so she did the fashion thing but never forgot figure skating and in 2009 she was inducted into the Figure Skating Hall of Fame for her contributions to costume design. Now, isn’t that interesting.

That said these costumes aren’t any $80 homemade spandex dresses. They’re…works of art. That cost thousands of dollars.

Yes, they’re beautiful. So, so, so beautiful. And miles away better and shinier and more amazing than anything I’ve ever touched, let alone worn in competition. Or in life.

However. A dress you wear for a sport and only for a year—maybe—isn’t worth that much money.

I’m just throwing it out there.

And actually I don’t know how much a wedding dress is worth now that we’re on the subject. I mean…you wear it for a day. I wanted to rent one. I didn’t, but I wanted to.

Maybe I’m missing the point.

All this to say I think these dresses are a tad overpriced. That said, if (and that’s a very big if) someone happened to just give me a Vera Wang wedding skating dress let me tell you I’d hop on my skates so quickly you wouldn’t know I gave up the sport for greater loves.

(Does this make me a sellout?)

Other figure skating posts

• The Only Five Things You Need to Know About Figure Skating
• The Wonderful World of Men’s Pairs Figure Skating
• How to Fall without Hurting Yourself (on ice)

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