Johnny Weir says it with fashion (while skiers shake that booty)

Johnny Weir, at the 2010 GLAAD Media Awards, has never been shy about making a fashion statement. Photograph by Greg Hernandez.

Johnny Weir – the famously out skater turned NBC commentator – told us at WAG magazine that he would pull no punches in anti-gay Russia. But leave it to the flamboyant fashionisto to make a statement with gold pearls and a white ensemble and blush and lipstick. Perhaps that’s why he and gold medalist Tara Lipinski are relegated to commentating on NBCSN instead of on NBC itself. Maybe the Peacock Network thinks they’re not ready for conservative prime time – though there are many in the blogosphere who’d rather listen to the free-wheeling Weir and Lipinski than the more staid Scott Hamilton, Andrea Joyce and Sandra Bezic.

Would the “Sleeping Hermaphroditus” (second century Roman copy of the Greek original, Carrera marble, Musée du Louvre) have made a good skier? S/he certainly has the tush for it.

In other fashion news, The New York Times had a fun story on skiers’ pronounced derrières that readers took way too seriously. Writer Sarah Lyall was criticized for everything from prurience to failure to supply consumer retail information in a piece on the downside of a profession that needs and develops powerful glutes and quads. (It’s hard to find jeans that fit.)

Hey, it’s not like Lyall has access to Macy’s up in the mountains. (FYI, though, Jag jeans offer room and style for those with junk in the trunk, and ladies might also want to consider this trick:  Buy your jeans one size larger but in petite. That way you get both a comfortable fit and a flattering line with the pants ending at the ankle.)

What I liked about the story was that Lyall interviewed male and female skiers. The layout featured a sweeping image of gold medalist Matthias Mayer, the new king of the downhill, seen from the back, which didn’t hurt either. Though much has been made of female booty, there are artistically few things lovelier than a sculpted male tush.

For those of us who’ve seen the generous backside denigrated for years, it’s nice to know that it can be a byproduct of a certain kind of athleticism.

And it certainly comes in handy in the falls that skiing flesh is invariably heir to.

Read more about Johnny Weir in WAG’s January “Super” issue on wagmag.com.