Costume Rules Deductions

[babbyrabbit]

Another rink mom mentioned yesterday that the ladies can get a deduction if their shoulders are showing.

I had never heard this and couldnt find it anywhere. I just found where it said no garnishes. Im assuming feathers, flowers, anything tacky?

Can anyone shed some light on this?

[zaphyre14]

USFS Rule 4030 governs clothing and euqipment for singles skaters. There's nothing in there specifically about deductions. It does say that the clothing "should not give the effect of excessive nudity innapproriate for athletic competition."

When there is a costume deduction taken, there has to be a majority of the judges panel indicating it for the system to count it. "Tacky" is in the eye of the beholder.

[overedge]

I think what's defined as "excessive nudity" might also depend on the age of the skater. If a little girl is wearing some Vegas-hooker type thing, that might get a costume deduction.

Personally, I wouldn't put feathers on a costume simply because they are very difficult to secure completely. They might fall off and endanger your skater, or the skaters competing after her.

[Skittl1321]

Most competition announcements disallow feathers, so for that alone, I wouldn't put them on the costume. They might be okay at qualifying, but not local comps.


I thought it was actually in the rulebook... (eta: I just looked at it appears to only be for synchro that feathers are not allowed)

[RFOS]

In the U.S., the following rules are given for Singles pertaining to clothing/costumes (IIRC, you aren't in the U.S., but just FYI anyway ):

http://usfigureskating.org/content/2...20eReaders.pdf

4030 Clothing and Equipment – Singles
4031 The clothing of the competitors must be modest, dignified and appropriate for athletic competition, not garish or theatrical in design. Clothing may, however, reflect the character of the music.
A. The skating clothing worn in actual competition may not bear any form of advertising. However, warm-up suits may bear the name of a sponsor when a skater is on the ice. The sponsor’s name must not exceed 4.65 square inches (30 square centimeters).
4032 Clothing must not give the effect of excessive nudity inappropriate for athletic sport. Accessories and props are not permitted.
4033 Men must wear trousers; no tights for men are permitted. Ladies may wear skirts, trousers and tights (including unitards).
4034 Any ornamentation attached to the clothing must be firmly fastened so as not to fall off while skating under normal competitive conditions.

The ice dance rules (#6021) specifically state that the majority of the lady's upper body must be covered. The synchro rules (#7021) specifically ban feathers, but these are not mentioned in the rules for the other disciplines.

A female skater simply having her shoulders showing should not incur a deduction as long as it didn't otherwise give the impression of excessive nudity. (However, the rules for ice dance only say that the man's costume may not be sleeveless).

[Aussie Willy]

So many parents get the rules wrong and then spread that information around rinks. And then it freaks the less experienced parents out. It really annoys me when I hear things that parents have said that are totally incorrect.

[misskarne]

I wonder if for judges, excessive makeup would also come under that category when judging really young skaters?

There was a skater at one of our little Aussie Skate competitions. Her coach, the Russian coach at my rink, told her mother to put just "little tiny bit" of makeup on her. The kid turned up looking like a painted doll - fully six inches of foundation, bright red blush, bright red lipstick and lipliner, heavy mascara and lots of blue eyeshadow. She looked like a cheap prostitute. Russian coach was beside himself. In the lead up to this competition I overheard him giving very strict instructions to the girl's mother on how to do it... "she is not doll! she is not street girl! she is leeetle girl! baby girl!"

The girl is maybe six or seven. I was up helping the judges and when she skated towards us there were half-hidden looks of horror all down the table.

Aussie Willy, does excessive makeup like that put you off?

[Aussie Willy]

Aussie Willy, does excessive makeup like that put you off?

I suppose regardless of the kid being made up to look like a hooker, if it was just your standard make-up and not painting the kid up as a cat, then you would probably have to ignore it in your deductions.

However if the kid was painted as a cat or was wearing a wig, then you could definitely apply a deduction.

[jjane45]

misskarne and Aussie Willy, I can't stop laughing reading your post...

[Aussie Willy]

misskarne and Aussie Willy, I can't stop laughing reading your post...

Happy to oblige

[madm]

4033 Men must wear trousers; no tights for men are permitted. Ladies may wear skirts, trousers and tights (including unitards).

I recall last year that Andrew Speroff and Gretchen Donlan got a 1 pt costume deduction at Indy because he was wearing pants that looked like ballet tights (they were skating to Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty, so it seemed appropriate). By the time Sectionals and Nationals came, he had switched his costume to be the typical men's skating pants. The judges did him a favor by pointing out the problem before the qualifying season began.

[madm]

I wonder if for judges, excessive makeup would also come under that category when judging really young skaters?

Excessive makeup that appears theatrical is prohibited. That is why S/S (German pair team) drew only a tear on her face when they skated their clown routine a few years ago. They could not have faces painted entirely white with clown makeup. The same is true if one were to skate to Stray Cat Strut or Lion King - you could not do full-on cat makeup. Just a hint of cat whiskers and eyes would be OK (no fake ears allowed either as those are props). In recent history it seems that a few jewels glued on the face are acceptable, for example, Meryl Davis in their Bollywood dance number.

As for gaudy excessive makeup on a young skater, there is probably no rule prohibiting it but the judges would likely talk to the coach about toning it down.

[Ageless]

Aren't there also deductions for costume malfunctions? I believe synchro has this, but what about singles, dance and pairs.

[gkelly]

Aren't there also deductions for costume malfunctions? I believe synchro has this, but what about singles, dance and pairs.

See the rules RFOS quoted above for singles:

4031 The clothing of the competitors must be modest, dignified and appropriate for athletic competition, not garish or theatrical in design. Clothing may, however, reflect the character of the music.
4032 Clothing must not give the effect of excessive nudity inappropriate for athletic sport.

A malfunction that results in actual nudity or body parts being uncovered in ways that are obviously not modest or appropriate for athletic sport would violate these provisions.

4034 Any ornamentation attached to the clothing must be firmly fastened so as not to fall off while skating under normal competitive conditions.

A malfunction that results in ornamentation falling on the ice would violate this one.

More often it's bobby pins that fall on the ice, and that slows down the competition while the next skater has to hunt for them before it's safe to start her program.

Recently I saw a case where a bunch of small glittery bits (stones? attached to fabric?) fell off and eventually the referee decided to resurface that end of the ice again before proceeding with the competition. To me, that was a more appropriate reason for a deduction than showing a little too much skin or fake skin.

[Aussie Willy]

Recently I saw a case where a bunch of small glittery bits (stones? attached to fabric?) fell off and eventually the referee decided to resurface that end of the ice again before proceeding with the competition. To me, that was a more appropriate reason for a deduction than showing a little too much skin or fake skin.

Also a reason why feathers are not good.

We had a girl once do a Tina Turner number in a gold dress with that plastic fringing. Dress shed everywhere and spent about 5 minutes picking bits of it up off the ice after she finished.

It's also those times when people thrown bags of Skittles or other small lollies onto the ice. Pain in the butt to try and clear those things off.

[misskarne]

One of the four jobs I will do at the big competition this weekend is skate around the ice surface after each Theatre on Ice team to make sure nothing is left behind. I'm hoping it'll be a sensible weekend.

Although apparently you're not allowed live animals or trampolines. Who knew?

[Rochelle]

Although apparently you're not allowed live animals or trampolines. Who knew?

Live animals on the ice? If that rule wasn't in place, could you imagine some over zealous Preliminary 101 Dalmations showcase or theater on ice program? ....

[misskarne]

Live animals on the ice? If that rule wasn't in place, could you imagine some over zealous Preliminary 101 Dalmations showcase or theater on ice program? ....

The rules were being read out in the committee meeting while we were discussing if we thought we needed someone on skates, and while those two were the most hilarious, there were other ones that made us

When questioned if this was really NEEDED to be written in, reader raises her eyebrows and says: "The French."

And then I kinda went, well, considering tech support has to start their troubleshooting with "is it switched on" these days...

[timing]

A trampoline was used one year. I wonder if a live animal was used too.

[Clarice]

I've been in a rink that was posted "No hamsters." I've always wondered about that.