Ashley Wagner’s Suit of Armor and Other Secrets of Figure Skating Costume Designers

Ashley Wagner in the Figure Skating Team Ladies Short Program during day one of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, Feb. 8, 2014.

The blur on the left is a feather falling from Russia's Elena Ilinykh's costume as she and partner Nikita Katsalapov compete in the team skating event during day two of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. The ice dancers lost a point for the wardrobe malfunction.

For their free skate in Sochi in the team event, ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White competed as Scherazade, in teal, and the sultan.

A month earlier, Davis and White skated the same program during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Boston, except in lavender. They used the same outfits to win the U.S.'s first gold in ice dance in Sochi, although their dressmakers also created an aqua version.

Katarina Witt of East Germany won the gold at the 1988 Winter Olympic Games, but her skimpy coverage prompted a brief rule for more modest skirts.

Sketch of U.S. figure skater Ashley Wagner's free program dress, which she commissioned specifically for Sochi