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Less is More.

If you have ever watched figure skating, you must have noticed the elaborate dresses that female figure skaters wear.  What you might not know is how much they have changed from the beginning of the sport.  The dresses that are worn have been highly influenced by society and media technologies.

In the first olympic figure skating event, participants dressed in attire such as this.  Notice how much of the body is covered…virtually everything.

Here we see Peggy Fleming–an olympic gold medalist in the 1960’s.  This is after women started revealing more in their day to day attire.  The length of her skirt shows that figure skating dresses are keeping up with what is in style outside of the sport.

By the 1980’s, women have totally changed their appearance.  Breasts are revealed, along with the majority of the legs.  Dresses are also much tighter and now incorporate an array of materials and different crystals.

By 2009, the types of dresses seen on the competitive figure skating track are nothing like the originals.  Exposure of the body is something that is thought of while designing these dresses–custom designers and their skaters think of what will appeal the most to both the audience and their music, and if you want to be competitive you must have a custom dress.  This also shows how much money plays a role in figure skating.

Of course music, choreography and dresses are going to change with time but the extent to which they have changed is highly influenced by technology.  The sport of figure skating is a dying art, and I believe that some skaters choose their costumes based on how attractive they would be to the average viewer.  Music videos, ad’s, movies and other sources of technology have taught us that being beautiful requires not only an amazing figure, but clothing that is revealing and “sexy.”  Figure skating dresses have definitely transformed into something sexier than an ankle length skirt and turtleneck.  At one point, the skirts were so short that people were able to see the leotard bodice underneath while the skater was standing upright–this was not done because they needed a shorter skirt for certain moves or aerodynamics, they simply created this style because they knew that it would interest viewers.  Should the sport have to sacrafice it’s natural beauty just for viewers ratings and competition turn-outs?  The sport has already gone to mostly online viewing at icenetwork.com.  This site is a site that requires viewers to pay to watch figure skating competitions.  The site is pushing away average viewers and is making the sport even more exclusive.

The majority of dresses are still respected by the skating community, though some have been looked down upon.  Mainly ones that reveal too much skin and give the sport a bad name.  When someone is channel surfing and sees a figure skater revealing the majority of their body, the respect for the sport is lost.  There is truly a point where dresses go to far.

For a skater to not wear a dress that would cover their breast is revolting.  This picture, however vulgar some may think, shows skating at its worst.  For the average viewer to look at this photograph or see it occur on national television, they would no longer feel the desire to watch the sport because it appears somewhat as a circus.

So why does technology have to influence a sport so much to the point that we cannot even enjoy the the music and choreography without being distracted by revealing dresses?  If a skater was to wear something like Peggy Fleming did in the 1960’s, would they be more respected or would people chose to change the channel immediately?  After taking a close look at these pictures and realizing how much influence popular culture has on the figure skating community, I was astounded.  What skaters wear somewhat dictates how many average people watch the sport.  To me this means that there is hardly any true love for the actual sport and the media has made us think the sport is something “sexy” instead of beautiful and graceful.