Here's How The Athletes' Uniforms Differ Between The Olympic Opening & Closing Ceremonies

The Olympics are a monumental occasion. The opening ceremony is a huge deal, the two weeks of the games themselves are highly anticipated, and the closing ceremony is a pretty big event, too. While the closing ceremony isn't quite as talked-about and anticipated as the opening ceremony, given that it's the kick-off to the whole Olympics, it's still pretty awesome. And this year's 2018 Olympics Closing Ceremony uniforms were memorable as well.

If you're watching the closing ceremony, you may think that all of the country uniforms look pretty much the same. But upon closer inspection and you can see tiny differences between the opening ceremony looks and the Feb. 25 closing ceremony looks. Of course, both outfits are unique and reflect the respective countries and their cultures.

Take Team USA's uniforms, for example. It may be the lack of cowboy-esque, fringe gloves in the closing ceremony outfits that first tips you off to the fact that these uniforms are different.

As Marlen Komar writers in another Bustle article on the closing ceremony looks, "Ralph Lauren was tasked with creating both the opening and closing ceremony outfits, but the two looks weren't identical. Whereas the opening ceremony uniforms were more of a fashion statement with patchwork jeans and suede, fringed gloves, the closing ceremony uniforms are going to be more sporty with puffer bomber jackets and track pants."

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And good news — you can buy some of these pieces online, too. Like the fringed gloves before them, these pieces aren't cheap. The Team USA closing ceremony sweater alone is $495. The hat is a cool $195. You can also buy Team USA mittens, and a Team USA bandana in case you want to be decked out head to toe. The Team USA boots (which are made of brown leather with red laces) are the most jaw-dropping price tag, though, going for $995. The boots were present in both the opening and closing ceremony outfits, though, so maybe you can think of them as an investment or piece of Olympics memorabilia.

Many of the most coveted Team USA outfit items (the gloves and certain hats, for example) have been selling out, so it's worth taking the plunge on any particular item you feel drawn to — especially if you feel like you have to have it. Because once it's gone, there's a good chance it isn't restocking again anytime soon.

With Team USA winning 23 medals at this year's winter games (nine gold, eight silver, six bronze), it only makes sense that people would want to commemorate the occasion by buying themselves pieces of the Team's uniform and wearing it IRL.

While it's possible that many countries uniforms did stay the same (many did look much more similar than Team USA's opening and closing ceremony looks did), Team USA's wardrobe certainly changed. This, of course, means that there's no rule against wearing a different outfit for the opening ceremony versus the closing ceremony, which much mean that other countries probably took up the chance to switch things up as well.

Unlike the opening ceremony, the closing ceremony processional includes all the countries coming out at once, rather that one at a time as they're called. This makes it a little harder to see each outfit in all its splendor, but one thing's for sure — each team looked happy, excited, and totally fashionable.