Alexarae is wearing her black mesh FlowSuit with custom crystals that she stoned herself! Below Alexarae shares her passion for fashion design on ice, and gives us tips on crystalizing garments.
Alexarae Sackett is from Rochester, Minnesota and has been skating for over 14 years with the Rochester Figure Skating Club. She love dogs, skating, sparkles, and fashion.
Her interest in fashion sparked when she was first learning to sew. Her very first sewing machine was hot pink and had silver sparkles! Alexarae's grandmother had taught her how to sew the basics, like napkins and working on achieving straight lines. As her skills progressed, she then ventured into making full garments like as shirts, dresses, pj’s and more.
"I have always been that person who wanted to create something new and unique in the fashion world. We have all loved the super sparkly skating dresses that are always too expensive to afford, so I started looking at plain dresses to see what kind of designs I could come up with myself."
Crystalizing Tips from Alexarae
When crystalizing dresses and or your FlowSuit, follow the the seam-lines to help with straight lines. When coming up with cool designs, I tend to think of themes. For example, my long program this year is Paris-themed. When I think of Paris, I think of all the sparkling lights. So on my dress, I have a lot of different size crystals spread throughout the dress to give it a starry night in Paris look.
When It comes to performing in skating, the main goal is to tell a story. When I crystal my competition attire, I try to contribute to the story I am telling when I skate. When It comes to the type of glue to use, there are many types of fabric glues. I found that E6000 works best for me. When crystalizing, you want to remember that it can get a little messy, but all the hard work that you put into your outfit will give you the benefit of showing off your work! Always remember that no design is the wrong design, just have fun with it and use lots of sparkles!