Criss Cross Ice Skating Dress

Today’s post features a fabulous crisscross ice skating dress worn by Jaclyn, who skates and coaches at the impressive Ice Den Chandler in Arizona.

My favorite features are the rhinestoning colors plus the decorative crisscross straps that are the focal point of the back.

Jaclyn and her coach, Tammy Jimenez, put their heads together to design the ideal dress for the music. “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone  is Jaclyn’s song choice.  The music is sultry and bluesy. Nina’s voice is a husky, throaty alto. Therefore, the ice skating dress that goes with that music needs to be dark, sexy, and subtle. 

Tammy and Jaclyn did an amazing job designing the perfect crisscross top for that song!

Jaclyn is short with broad shoulders. The narrow necklace look is great on her for several reasons:

1) It draws attention to her face and away from broad shoulders.

2) It creates an optical illusion of length all the way from Jaclyn’s hair to the bottom of the skirt, thereby making her look a little taller.

Furthermore, the rhinestone density at the neckline fades out as it goes down the bodice. This design element once again enhances the verticality by making the viewer’s eye travel down the length of the dress.

Also, the color of stones - hematite and silver shade - are subtle and smoky and perfect for the Nina Simone song!   

Had she chosen aurora borealis (which looks white and bright on black), the contrast would have been too strong for blues music. 

Likewise, had they chosen to use a color stone like light siam or blue zircon, the color contrast would not have suited the music as well as the tone-on-tone look of darker, charcoal-tone stones.

Click here for another example of a figure skater who added rhinestones to her economy skate dress to match with her music.

Sew Like A Pro™ DRESSMAKER’S TIP #1:   

Last topic on the front of this dress: bra cups.  I feel this dressmaking element is under-utilized in ice skating costumes as a whole.

Why use them in dance and skating costumes?

Bra cups offer support for larger breasted women and add padded shape for small breasted women. They come in many sizes and styles to suit your requirements. Get more information about the types of bra cups by checking out this blog.

Look at the back of this ice skating dress. What’s missing?

Flesh color mesh.

Yippee!

The dressmaker created a crisscross ice skating dress that is structurally sound (meaning Jaclyn won’t fall out of the dress) and visually interesting -- without using mesh.  Hallelujah!

Often times when flesh color mesh is used on any type of dance or skate dress, it detracts from the design because the mesh doesn’t match the skin tone well.  On this black skating costume, all you see are the decorative straps, which I love, love, LOVE.

Design-wise, the crisscross straps create lovely lines on Jaclyn’s body. 

The wide-narrow-wide-narrow effect is pleasant to look at and helps make her look taller. Well done!

This dressmaker uses mesh for some of her dresses.  But she incorporates the mesh into the design of the dress so it is aesthetically pleasing, not just there to hold the dress in place. Click here to see a mesh tango ice dance dress by the same dressmaker.

Check out this blog post featuring June, an ice dancer who makes her own costumes including custom dying the mesh to match her skin tone.  P.S. She has bra cups too. 😉

In the video, Jaclyn said she’s “double dipping” by using the costume for several figure skating categories.  I replied, Why not?  It’s a great dress!

Immediately, my brain thought of simple ways to change the dress for each category.

Are you in need of using a dress for several categories?

Making small to medium size changes can make big effects with little time or money.  Here are a few options that would give Jaclyn's costume a fresh look so she can get maximum diversity for minimal expense.

Sew Like A Pro™ DRESSMAKER’S TIP #2: 

ARM BANDS:  Bracelets, gloves and gauntlets are easy-to-make, low cost accessories that Jaclyn can slip on and off to change the look of her crisscross ice skating dress in only a few seconds.

Sew Like A Pro™ DRESSMAKER’S TIP #3:

In the video I commented that this costume would be lovely as a full-length evening gown.  But as I typed up the blog, I thought of another awesome option:

What about replacing the existing ice skating skirt with a new one?

When Jaclyn gets tired of the costume (or changes music) and wants a fresh look, why not change the skirt?  That way she can wear the awesome crisscross top for years without feeling like it's an old dress!

While this option may not something that can be added or removed in only a few seconds, permanently changing the skating skirt is a fun, economical option to re-create the costume so she can continue wearing it for another year or two. (P.S. I have made ballroom dancing costumes that could add or remove skirts in only a few seconds. Why not for skating dresses too?)

suggestion 1: Fringe or “flames” would be fabulous with this bodice.

These skirt styles have the density to go with the existing bodice and rhinestone colors. Since these types of skirts have a lot of movement, the dress would feel completely different, especially if the new skirt was several inches longer than the existing one.

suggestion 2:  An asymmetrical skirt made of the same fabric as the bodice would also be amazing.

The long, diagonal lines of the skirt would mimic the lines of the decorative back straps tying the new design together nicely.

What would you change on this crisscross ice skating dress to give it a fresh look ?

Leave a comment below after you watch the video.

As always, please share this post with all your dancing, skating, sewing friends! 

(Updated February, 2024: Please do not contact Tammy about making you a dress.  She no longer sews.)

THANKS FOR WATCHING.

Request a downloadable PDF of all 55 fabric stores be emailed to you.