Thursday, February 18, 2010

pretty in pink

I enjoy flamboyant displays of a man’s feminine side, I do. Although I stop short of supporting my buddy Keith’s affection for his man-purse, I am enamored with many outward displays that involve men doing what might more typically be considered girly stuff. If you men want to wear eyeliner, paint your nails, wear skinny jeans with heels, whatever- you just go right ahead and let your freak flags fly, it won’t bother me one bit. Especially if you are in the public eye, entertaining the masses! It’s part of what makes you stand out, it is a clear expression of your self-actualized gender identification.

So when I sat down to watch the figure skating this week, I harbored no ill will toward what would inevitably be a flashing parade of costumes meant to dazzle and excite. In the pairs, there is also the issue of matching with one’s partner, and the fact that there’s a female perched up on your head while you spin ‘round and ‘round on skinny blades atop the ice really eliminates any doubt that your costume choice was carefully choreographed.

Sure, I snickered at some, I mean come on.



seriously?


But others looked pretty good, dressed more like mere mortals with the man sporting a sort of trouser look



I was giggling about the contrast between the athletes who were showcased during Monday night’s primetime Olympic broadcast. The mirrored goggles and rugged scruff of the moguls skiers segued into pair after pair of shiny sparkly skaters. It was funny.

Then last night, I watched part of the men’s short program, where the skaters had no scantily clad female counterpart buffer. They were just out there, strutting their stuff. The first guy I watched was wearing this, which I thought was kind of cool, another take on the trouser look, but this time a bit more of a clubbing feel to his getup:



But then this doofus came on the scene,


prompting me to take to my facebook page and exclaim:


“I never thought I'd wish for sparkly spandex on a male figure skater, but the jaunty overalls and flannel are somehow much worse.”

I clearly tempted the gods with that sentiment, because you-know-who was next on the ice


Followed by a bedazzled skeleton
.
And a bird man



Be careful what you wish for
.
I can hardly wait for the long program tonight!

10 comments:

  1. OK. But hey! that skeleton was from Belgium (my home country)-- be nice!

    If you really want to see kooky, check this out (and be very very glad that NBC isn't showing the ice dancing...:

    tinyurl.com/yfap6vd

    ReplyDelete
  2. staying up too late in PAFebruary 18, 2010 at 6:24 AM

    I share your sentiments. Nothing upset me more than seeing the "normal" looking men fall so often...I was sure that proper dressing would help them land their jumps :)
    who knew I was going to get a real eye opener the next night.
    All I can say is that Vera Wang has quite the range. wedding dresses all the way to bird man!
    the best combo would be watching the crashes on the alpine slopes with skiers dressed in the ice skating costumes...could be a winning combination!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Vera Wang actually designed the birdman outfit. So, I guess it's lucky he wasn't in dress with a tight bodice and bell skirt.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh. My. God. I love this! Who needs a tv? I get all the men's skating news I need from you!

    Love it.

    Ellie

    ReplyDelete
  5. "You know who" is hilarious, as is your clubber friend, J.

    Obviously, I've been missing out. Tonight's long program is very tempting.

    What does your boy make of all these getups??

    beth

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great post! I was thinking the same thing as I was watching. I used to love to watch Olympic figure skating but I don't recall outfits that actually distracted me from watching the skating part of it. But I still flinch every time someone falls or slips up..

    ReplyDelete
  7. Vera Wang, really? Should there be an Olympic Outfit Spending Cap, to make it more even? And maybe some rules, like: Only x number of square feet of that beige fake-skin stuff per outfit?

    Moving on: shouldn't we mention those odd plaid jackets the snowboarders were wearing? Suppose it's a we're-so-cool-we-can-even-wear-really-ugly-jackets-that-look-like-shopping-bags kind of thing?

    Aside: My security word is "Worida." As, "I'm worida guy's gonna drop that girl."

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yes, I did know that was Vera Wang.. and that guy was lovely to watch. I just could not resist the opportunity to point out his ..um, feathers.

    Marty, I kind of like the snowboarders' plaid jackets! It's well in line with the skater fashion we see around CA.

    Have you guys seen the pants on that one curling team? Awe-some.

    Jacquie

    ReplyDelete
  9. Before the games started, I'm sure I read that Vera's feathers had been removed. Obviously that was a false rumor.

    ReplyDelete
  10. My feelings exactly! Each one was more stunning (not in a good way) than the last!

    Truly the worst was the "overalls" complete with fake patch on the rump. What were they thinking???

    ReplyDelete