page_title: Single skating
section_title: Clothing
hierarchical_section_title: Single skating / Rules and regulations / Clothing
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Katarina Witt ADN-ZB Thieme 5.1.1988-mm-Karl-Marx-Stadt: Vorschaumotiv zu den Europameisterschaften im Eiskunstlaufen vom 11. bis 17. Januar 1988 in Prag.- Die 22-jährige achtfache DDR-Meisterin, Olympiasiegerin und Weltmeisterin Katarina Witt (SC Karl-Marx-Stadt), hofft als Titelverteidigerin ihren sechsten EM-Erfolg in Reihenfolge zu erringen. Mit ihrer neuen Kür als "Carmen" stellte sie sich bei den DDR-Meisterschaften (Foto) im Dezember in Karl-Marx-Stadt vor.
context_page_description: Single skating is a discipline of figure skating in which male and female skaters compete individually. Men's singles and women's singles, along with the other figure skating disciplines of pair skating, ice dance, and synchronized skating, are governed by the International Skating Union. Figure skating is the oldest winter sport contested at the Olympics, with men's and women's single skating appearing as two of the four figure skating events at the London Games in 1908.
  Single skaters are required to perform two segments in all international competitions, the short program and the free skating program. Yuzuru Hanyu from Japan holds the three highest single men's short program scores; Russian skater Alena Kostornaia holds the highest single women's short program score. American Nathan Chen holds the highest single men's free skating program score; Alexandra Trusova from Russia holds the highest single women's free skating score. Compulsory figures, from which the sport of figure skating gets its name, were a crucial part of the sport for most of its history until the ISU voted to remove them in 1990.
context_section_description: As for the other disciplines of figure skating, the clothing worn by single skaters at ISU Championships, the Olympics, and international competitions must be "modest, dignified and appropriate for athletic competition—not garish or theatrical in design".  Props and accessories are not allowed.  Clothing can reflect the character of the skaters' chosen music and must not "give the effect of excessive nudity inappropriate for the discipline".
  All men must wear trousers, a rule that has been in effect since the 1994–1995 season.  Since 1988, the ISU required that women skaters wear skirts during competition, a rule dubbed "the Katarina Rule", after East German skater Katarina Witt, who "skated her tapdance-based short program in a showgirl-style light blue sequined leotard with high-cut legs, low-cut chest, and similarly colored feathers on her headdress and sleeves and around the hips as the only perfunctionary gesture in the way of a skirt".  Since 2003, though, women single skaters have been able to wear skirts, trousers, tights, and unitards. Decorations on costumes must be "non-detachable"; judges can deduct one point per program if part of the competitors' costumes or decorations fall on the ice.  If there is a costume or prop violation, the judges can deduct one point per program.
  If competitors do not adhere to these guidelines, the judges can deduct points from their total score, if most of the panel, including the referee, thinks a skater's outfit is inappropriate.  However, costume deductions are rare.  Juliet Newcomer from U.S. Figure Skating stated that by the time skaters get to a national or world championship, they have received enough feedback about their costumes and are no longer willing to take any more risks of losing points.  Former competitive skater and designer Braden Overett told the New York Post that there is "an informal review process before major competitions such as the Olympics, during which judges communicate their preferences".
  Also according to the New York Post, one of the goals of skaters and designers is to ensure that a costume's design, which can "make or break a performance", does not affect the skaters' scores.  According to former competitive skater and fashion writer Shalayne Pulia, figure skating costume designers are part of a skater's "support team".  Designers collaborate with skaters and their coaches to help them design costumes that fit the themes and requirements of their programs for months before the start of each season.  There have been calls to require figure skaters to wear uniforms like other competitive sports, in order to make the sport less expensive and more inclusive, and to emphasize its athletic side.
caption: Katarina Witt in 1988
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