As Seen on TV ... Nude Lycra Gloves for Figure Skating

[FigureSpins]

I watched some of the Cup of China coverage last night, the Ladies Freeskate program, to be precise.  I noticed that several competitors were wearing gloves, most of which matched/coordinated with their costume, but one had skin-tone fabric gloves.  They were a little baggy, so they were noticeable, but perhaps others were also wearing them and I just didn't notice.

I haven't seen those in our rink as yet, but I'm sure I will.  We have several skating families that always seem to have the newest status symbol.  Since skaters are doing catchfoots and Beilmanns, these gloves are a good idea if they fit well.

As seen on TV, found on the interwebz:

. How to make your own Lycra Gloves, by ladythesta on deviantart:
http://ladythesta.deviantart.com/art/Lycra-Glove-Sewing-Tutorial-134664983

. Jerry's skin-tone gloves (which are knit, not lycra)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110986116112

. UK online seller - nude/flesh-toned lycra gloves
http://www.loveiceskating.co.uk/gloves/ice-figure-skating-lycra-competition-gloves-nude-skin-tone.htm

. Estonia online seller - nude/flesh-toned lycra gloves
http://www.icestar.ee/Competition_gloves_G2_354.htm

The latter two seem to be what I saw on the skater.

[Skittl1321]

I noticed a number of higher level skaters wearing the knit flesh toned ones 4 or 5 years ago when a local rink hosted regionals.  You can hardly seem them on the ice. 

(I think I've counted 4-5 ladies on the grand prix wearing flesh toned gloves this year. I saw them at both Skate America and Skate Canada.)

Thanks for the links!

[AgnesNitt]

When he was competing I remember Johnny Weir had several costumes with attached gloves. I always thought it made a nice finish to the costume. My male skater friends all disagreed.

[Loops]

Wow-  Guess its one of those few times in my life where I'm actually on trend!  I just bought a pair of flesh toned gloves.

It was unintentional though- they didn't have black or white in my size.....Incidentally they're the Edea ones with grips for Synchro.  I tried them out in practice last week, and they work well.  Yay for warm, non-slippy hands!

I wasn't able to watch the competitions- do they look weird?

[Skittl1321]

I wasn't able to watch the competitions- do they look weird?

I've found you have to look really hard to see they are wearing them, in person or on TV.  Gedevanishivilli (which I probably spelled wrong) wore weird flesh toned elbow length gloves (http://web.icenetwork.com/photos/63152758 you have to scroll through their galleries, I can't find how to link a photo), and those looked weird though.

Another thing I've noticed is skaters are carrying flesh colored material from their sleeves onto the palms of their hand but leaving their fingers free: see Anna Pogorilaya (on her non-gloved hands)  and Haruki Imai at Cup of China.  In this gallery Adelina Sotnikova is wearing flesh colored gloves. http://web.icenetwork.com/photos/63633234  The skaters seem to want to protect their palms from blade grabs more than stay warm.

In this gallery Marchei and Gedevanishivilli have gloves on: http://web.icenetwork.com/photos/63196320. Elene is no longer wearing the weird elbow ones.

I can't find any pictures of elite skaters in non-lycra ones, but when I saw that was a number of years ago. Lycra must be in now.

[Loops]

I scrolled through those.  I'm not sure what I think esthetically.  But if one is grabbing  blades (which skaters seem to be doing much more now than 20 years ago), I can definitely see the appeal.  My knit ones are probably more likely to get caught on something.  But since I'm only grabbing my teammates hands, I'll take the knit, and the little bit of warmth that comes with it!

[sarahspins]

I can say that grabbing a blade bare handed feels very strange when you are used to doing it with gloves.  Since I skate on paramounts that have no sharp parts other than the actual blade edges, I've never worried about cutting myself from stress on my fingers on the stanchons (I've seen this happen to other skaters at my rink - most get cut even with gloves on, and regularly wear bandaids to protect their fingers), but I do find that while wearing gloves, with less friction it's easier to do an open palm grab (like for a haircutter/biellmann)and slide my fingers into the right place - without gloves, not only is the blade very cold which I'm not used to feeling, but my fingers don't slide easily and I usually feel like I just can't get them into the right place.

As far as aesthetics, I really liked the ones that Adelina Sotnikova wore during CoC - I only noticed them during close-ups, otherwise they were so well matched to her skin tone that they almost disappeared while she was skating.

[SynchKat]

I always think gloves look weird in competition.  I always end up staring at the hands.

However, since attempting elements where I have to grab my blade I totally understand since I usually end up cutting my hand in some way.  Having a barrier there would help immensely.