ICE STYLE.....Figure Skating Costumes Recap/Highlights of the Sochi 2014 Olympics, Ladies Free Skate Costumes!

Activewear Winning Ladies: (L to R) Bronze medalist Carolina Kostner of Italy, gold medal winner Adelina Sotnikova and silver medalist Kim Yu-Na of Republic of Korea--Medals Plaza Sochi Russia

Well, kids the Figure Skating Finals are OVER (sigh!). It was an exciting night watching the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Ladies Finals where the top ladies of figure skating skated FOR THEIR LIFE! In fabulous--and some not so-fabulous--costumes...

 The Top: (L to R) Silver medalists Yu-Na Kim of the Republic of Korea, Gold medalists Adelina Sotnikova of Russia and Bronze winner Carolina Kostner  of Italy--Iceberg Skating Palace Sochi Russia

Now, naturally it wouldn't be Figure Skating without DRAMA and after the Russian Adelina Sotnikova earned higher scores than Republic of Korea's Yu-Na Kim--who many professional figure skating commentators argued, should have actually won--many cried "Sketchy". You can read all about that HERE but now it's time to discuss the COSTUMES...It's my Sochi Olympics Ladies Figure Skating Costume Recap--The Free Skate Finals:

Let's begin with a little bit of "Oh No She Didn't":

Mae Berenice Meite of France Free Skate to Europa by Jean-Pierre Danel, We Will Rock You KCPK, La Grange by Jean-Pierre Danel: Take a look at Mae Berenice--she wanted to cause a "sensation" at the Sochi Olympics and she did...with her very original sequined-and-black Lycra jumpsuit. This costume was designed by one of the Figure Skating Costume Designer Faves, Brad Griffies of Atlanta Georgia (he designs for Gracie Gold and Princess Alexandria of Hanover, Grace Kelly's Granddaughter). It's not every day one sees a Ladies Figure Skater in an International competition--or the OLYMPICS (!) no less--wearing a costume with "pants". Trust me, this ain't the norm, as they say. But I have a feeling Meite doesn't want to be the "norm", or conform or even care. This is what she wore last season for her Free Skate to Selections from "Zarafa" and "Dead Can Dance" and Soundtrack to "Belphegor":

Cleopatra Fab: France's Mae Berenice Meite in last season's costume/free skate

I'll be honest about what she wore for her Free Skate at the Sochi Olympics: I'm not a fan, however the bead-work on the top section and those turquoise, black and silver sequins are exquisite. Secretly, I wished she would have gone back to her Cleopatra/Whitney Houston "Queen of the Night" look above.

Kooky Grade: 9.8/10

Costume Grade: 5/10

Kanako Murakami of Japan, Free Skate to Papa Can You Hear Me (from "Yentl" soundtrack) by Barbara Streisand: Correct me if I am wrong (and many of you out there on the web do!), but isn't "Yentl" about an Ashkenazi JEWISH girl who decides she wants to dress and live like a man in order to receive Orthodox Jewish education? So....why is Kanako wearing a CROSS on her costume? This is so wrong on a couple of levels that well, I should just leave it at that. But seriously: a Cross? I don't get it.

Costume Score: 4/10 (it's a very nicely made/designed costume but the cross??!!)

Anne Line Gjersem of Norway, Free Skate to Westside Story by Leonard Bernstein: How do you say "poor thang" in Norwegian? This costume is straight out of a low-level skating costume shop; the cheap stretch lace and wonky-looking crystals...I am guessing that the Norway Figure Skating Association either A) did not sponsor her or B) give her money to have a custom high-end costume but seriously, it's THE OLYMPICS! 

Costume Score: 3.5/10

And then, there's her fly-away hair:

Pony Tail Fly-Away Don't: She's a GORGEOUS girl; but again, it's THE OLYMPICS! Every other ladies figure skater had their hair slicked...done. Yet Anne Line looks as if she just left her gym after doing the tread mill for an hour.

Kaetlyn Osmond Canada, Free Skate to Mission Cleopatre (soundtrack) by Philippe Chany, Numerobis Theme (from Mission Cleopatre soundtrack) by Philippe Chany, Asterix and Obelix (from Mission Cleopatre soundtrack) by Philippe Chany, Cleopatra and Caesar by Claude-Michel Schoenberg and David Nixon: One of my favorite costumes of the season; gorgeous, well-made, glorious and perfect for the "Cleopatra" skate. The jeweled sequins are exquisite.

Costume Score: 9.8/10

So-Youn Park of Republic of Korea, Free Skate to Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Andrew Lloyd Webber: This is a beautiful costume. The black, with silver and light blue crystal front detail costume was marvelous. Well made and very good design.

Costume Score: 9/10

Polina Edmunds of the U.S., Free Skate to "Solveig's Song" and "Morning" from Peer Gynt by Edvard Grieg: I love this ice blue with silver crystals costume designed by Lilya Dukler. The neckline detail is exquisite and I like the criss-cross sequin detail at the torso as well as the yellow "teardrop" sequins in her neckline. Also, notice the skirt's hem is finished with crystals. This is a very good costume; finished. I also love that from head to toe, she is "done"--her hair crystals go perfectly with the costume.

Costume Score: 8.9/10

Valentina Marchei of Italy, Free Skate to Nyah (from "Mission Impossible" soundtrack) by Hans Zimmer: Of all the black costumes worn by the Ladies (there were a lot), this blouson sequined with side-slit style is one of my faves. I like the silhouette and unusual design. It was a "mini-me" of a gown one would see on the red carpet at an awards show.

Costume Score: 7.9/10

Mao Asada of Japan, Free Skate to "Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor" by Sergei Rachmaninoff: I've said this before--this is one of my FAVORITE costumes of the season. Simply beautiful, creative, impacting, expensive-looking. I love the colors and the three-dimensional aspect of the costume. It also screams FASHION! It's easily a design that could have been done by the Jean Paul Gaultier design team or Los Angeles-based designers Rodarte.

Costume Score: 9.7/10

Julia Lipnitskaia of Russia, Free Skate to Music from the Schindler's List soundtrack by John Williams: The Russian favorite to win the Gold (up until the Ladies Short), Julia, wore this red "coat" dress/costume evoking the little girl in the red coat  in "Schindler's List". I liked this costume. I appreciated the interpretation of it and the elegant black sequin trim. The black gloves were perfect for it as well. Well done little Julia!

Costume Score: 9.5/10

Gracie Gold of the U.S., Free Skate to Music from Sleeping Beauty by Petr I. Tchaikovski: This costume on Gracie for her Free Skate is one of the best costumes for the Ladies this season. It's outstanding, very "Ice Princess", well-made and evokes "Old Hollywood Glamour". It's not by happenstance, by the way that it looks "Old Hollywood Glamour" because that's what Gold and her legendary coach, Frank Carroll, wanted when they asked figure skating costume designer "extraordinaire" Brad Griffies to create a costume for her:

 Brad Griffies sketches of Gracie Gold's costume for her Free Skate 

Oh and yes, I give Gracie a Costume Score of  9.8/10

Ashley Wagner of the U.S., Free Skate to Samson and Delilah by Camille Saint-Saens: Ashely changed her program--and costume--for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. This was a big topic of discussion among the figure skating crowd. I loved both the program--and costume change. This canary yellow costume, designed by Jan Longmire, was exotic and more impacting than what she had been wearing for her 2012-2013 Season Free Skate to Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet"...

Costume Score: 9.3/10

US Nationals 2014: This is the costume she wore at the U.S. Nationals, January 2014 for the "Romeo and Juliet" Free Skate

Skate America: This is what Ashley wore for her Free Skate--also to Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" at Skate America 2013, October 2013

We saw Ashley skate her "Samson and Delilah" Free Skate at the ISU World Team Trophy in April 2013, as well as...

Ashley Wagner at the Trophee Eric Bombard 2012, November 2012--I admit that I like this version of the "Samson and Delilah" yellow costume better than what she wore at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Ladies Free Skate Finals, but they are both beautiful and exquisitely done.

 Jan Longmire's Sketch of Ashley Wagner's Free Skate Costume for Sochi Olympics 2014

Carolina Kostner of Italy, Free Skate to Bolero by Maurice Ravel: Carolina wore a black and sheer costume with "icicle" sequin detail costume with a curved mini, long sleeves and open back. It was beautiful, elegant and well-designed. Just like her Short Program, she continued the no-nude illusion back detail; instead there was an elastic back strap and it was actually nude.open--in her back.

 Costume Score: 8.9/10

Kim Yun-Na/Yun-Na Kim of the Republic of Kotrea, Free Skate to "Adios Nonino" by Astor Piazzolla: This music is a Tango and her costume coloring reflected that. Her costume--which featured a mock-neck long sleeved look with black and plum color blocking with front torso sequin applique...

Kim Yu-Na Costume: The costume also had a side front slit. There was a "sheer" inset panel in the front as well...

Kim Yu-Na sat the Korean Nationals: she wore (almost) the same costume except for the fact that there was a bit of a "nude" illusion inset in the costume. For the Sochi 2014 Olympics, that fabric was sheer black as opposed to nude. Slight "costume change" difference. I wasn't a huge fan of how dark the entire look was (especially with the high neck), but the beadwork and construction were perfection.

Costume Score: 9.4/10

Adelina Sotnikova of Russia, Free Skate to Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A Minor Op. 28 for Violin and Orchestra by Camille Saint-Saens: Adelina skated her gold medal-winning Olympic skate wearing this. Her costume was a deep gray with gold "Caviar" beaded paillette detail. Of note, she wore opaque gloves. I think they were trying to match her skin but well, not so mucheey. I don't think this glove detail was so much of a "fashion" statement but more for protection form bleeding and cutting herself from touching the skate's blade. Overall, it was an OK costume but not great in my eyes.

Costume Score: 7/10

Oh and there was also a Wardrobe Malfunction:

Tights Wardrobe Malfunction: During Adelina's gold medal-winning skate, her nude tights which were stretched over her skates, lifted up on one of her skates--disrupting the leg--and costume line. Hashtag #UhOh #FigureSkating #Costume

What Adelina wore at the Sochi 2014
Winter Olympics was a costume change from what I had seen her wear
before---(above) at the ISU Grand Prix Finals in Japan, December
2013

Congratulations to Adelina--and Yu-Na and Carolina!

NICK APPEARANCES.....Los Angeles Times Google+ Hangout Talking Olympics Figure Skating Costumes

Skating Dish Pair Fab: Laura Davis, L.A. Times Deputy Mobile Editor and Nick Verreos--LA Times Google+ Hang Out On Air Discussing Figure Skating Costumes--L.A. Times offices

A couple of days ago, I was invited to give my "Nick Two Cents" on Figure Skating Costumes at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at a very special L.A. Times Google+ Hang Out On Air. I didn't know what to expect in terms of what even a Google+ Hang Out On Air even was...but as always "I am game" and up for anything. As it turned it, I had a FABULOUS time and so much fun! PS: Love me some Google+ Hang Out On Air!

L.A. Times--Sochi Olympics Talking figure skating fashion with Nick Verreos

L.A. Times Deputy Mobile Editor Laura Davis and Fashion Designer "Project Runway: Under The Gunn" Mentor Nick Verreos--L.A. Times Google+ Hang Out On Air "Figure Skating Costumes Talk"

I spoke about Figure Skating Costumes/Fashion with the wonderful Laura Davis, L.A. Time Deputy Mobile Editor (she is ALL THINGS Social Media with the L.A. Times!). She's also a former figure skater herself! And for the segment, she even brought two of her costumes from "back in the day":

Stretch Velvet and Crystals: The one on the left--in case you are wondering was for a skate to "Miss Saigon", of course!

Vintage Nick: I even brought a top from my "Project Runway" Season 2 episode where we had to design for Olympian Sasha Cohen from 2005--yes, almost a decade ago!

Nick Social Media Sandwich: Nick Verreos with L.A. Times video journalist Sarah Hashim-Waris and L.A. Times Social Media editor Stacey Leasca

For the Los Angeles Times Article Click HERE

Click Below for the entire video of our L.A. Times Google+ Hang Out On Air Discussing Figure Skating Fashion with Deputy Mobile Editor--and fellow Figure Skating aficionado--Laura Davis:

ICE STYLE.....Figure Skating Costumes Recap/Highlights of the Sochi 2014 Olympics, Ladies Short Program Costumes!

 Queen Yuna: Yuna Kim of South Korea, Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Ladies Short Program, Iceberg Skating Palace Sochi Russia

Tonight were the much-waited Ladies Figure Skating Short Program at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. I had the pleasure of doing Fashion/Costume commentary for the L.A. Times as well as NBCOlympics and NBC.com Streaming show "Olympic Ice" discussing these costumes. It was an exciting event for sure and worth the wait. So, let's discuss the LADIES costumes Highlights here on my BLOG,  for the Short Program...

 U.S. Ladies Figure Skater Gracie Gold: Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics--Short Program, Iceberg Palace Sochi Russia

First, I want to discuss Queen Yuna:

Kim Yuna of South Korea, Short Program to "Send In The Clowns": Her costume was FLAWLESS. Exquisite, beautifully made, gorgeous. Yuna Kim wore a chartreuse-colored costume with fitted-yet-fluttery sleeves , a sequined torso and chiffon skirt. 

 When the cameras did close-up's, one could really appreciate the delicate scroll-like gorgeousness of the sequin work  of her costume; stunning!

Ashley Wagner of the U.S, , Short Program to "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" by Pink Floyd:
The costume featured black stretch chiffon, double-layer "skirt" and
panels with silver crystal trimmed details. I really liked this costume
because it really reflected the theme of her music. She also could have
easily worn this if she was skating to say, Tchaikovsky "Swan Lake"
as well! I especially loved the various sizes of the jeweled crystals
and how the neck detail looked like a built-in diamond necklace (that
was probably the point!).

Gracie Gold of the U.S., Short Program to "Piano Concerto" by Edvard Grieg: The costume was designed by Gale Johnson and Denise Gold and
I LOVE it! It's elegant, classic but with a sexy "red carpet" edge and
also works really well with her music and program; it's like a "mini-me"
gown one could see at a late 19th Century/early 20th Century Ball in
Europe. The off-the-shoulder look seems very "Moulin Rouge"-like as well.

Julia Lipnitskaia of Russia Short Program to "You Don't Give Up on Love" by Mark Minkov: I thought this was a very nice costume for Julia and this program. I loved the deep violet blue and baby blue combination and the torso/bodice sequin work looked beautiful. My favorite detail of this costume were the back straps. Also, I am usually not a fan of the pull-the-nude-tights-over-the-skates look but here it worked. Such a shame that little Julia fell, however. You could just hear the shock-and-awe from the mostly Russian audience.

Mao Asada of Japan, Short Program to "Nocturne in E flat major, Op. 9, No. 2" by Frederic Chopin: This beautiful costume is a change from what Asada wore for the Team Competition several weEks ago at the beginning of the Sochi Olympics:

I like both costumes but if I had to pick, I like what she wore tonight at the Sochi 2014 Olympics Ladies Short Program better; it's little more delicate, the gathering/draping in the front/torso seems more refined and overall, it looks softer. Poor Mao...

She was another Ladies Figure Skater who fell during this very important Short Program--I do LOVE that "Eiffel Tower"-like back sequin detail though.

Carolina Kostner of Italy, Short Program to Ave Maria by Franz Schubert: The sky blue
colored costume featured a "plunging" neckline (in illusion) with gorgeously strewn
sequins throughout. It was beautiful, classic and "Ice Princess" perfect. Her skate was almost like a religious experience; the music, the skate, the costume...she seemed Angelic.

Adelina Sotnikova of Russia, Short Program to "Habanera" from the "Carmen" Suite by Georges Bizet: I thought this costume was simple yet nice for her; it was clean and bold to grab the audience and judges' attention.  She wore this costume at the 2014 Russian Nationals but before, she had worn this:

This costume above was far more interesting in terms of design. Not sure which one I like best. I am thinking the one above.

Polina Edmuds of the U.S., Short Program to "Pink Cherries Cha-Cha-Cha," "Besame Mucho" and "Another Cha-Cha" by Ballroom Orchestra: The costume is designed by Lilya Dukler and
I think it's pretty fabulous! I love the light lemon yellow color, the
"shredded" skirt and emphasis on the neckline and all those panels in
the torso. I especially like how no "costume stone was left unturned" in
that it is a complete look; the hairstyle, details in the hair...it is
all in synch with the rest of the costume. Very nice!



Finally, I want to talk abut Akiko Suzuki of Japan:

Akiko Suzuki of Japan, Short Program to "Hymne à l'amour": This above was one of the most intricately beaded/sequined costumes of all the Ladies. You cannot really tell in the picture above but it truly was exquisite! The silver sequins at the neckline (and back) were Top Notch!. This red costume, by the way, was a costume change from what she had worn in the most recent 2013 Grand Prix series Short Dance:

Akiko Suzuki of Japan, Short Program costume, Japan Nationals December 2013--I like the red one much better; it looks more refined and the silver sequins are OUT OF CONTROL!

**Next Up: The Ladies Free Skate Costumes Recap of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics!