Why are boot colors so limited?

[TheAquarian]

When I bought my first pair of skates it struck me as very odd that there are essentially only 3 colors for skates available - White, Brown, and Black.   Assuming you don't want to cross-dress on ice, there are actually only two  - white and light brown/tan,  or black/really really dark brown.   The question is, why?

Considering the colorful skate costumes that people wear to compete, I would imagine that there would be more options.   Also why the color separation for men and women?  Honestly I think I'd have preferred the color white to black, but I decided -not- to go against the grain on this one.   Why no purple or green skates?   I would totally wear the purple ones if they were available.

I don't know much about the history behind the color decisions...  Is this simply a matter of tradition, or can it actually impact your scores when it is time for competition?

[Sk8tmum]

a) you can certainly order skates in multiple colours.  Riedell, Klingbeil - not a problem. I saw a lovely pair of shiny purple ones at Klingbeil when I was there, and Riedell customs are available in many colours.
b) Yes, it is tradition.
c) Yes, it will affect your marks with some judges, not directly (there are no points awarded for the colour of your skates, of course!) but in terms of the impression you make. There are traditionalists - white skates with clean white laces for ladies, black skates with black laces for men. 
d) There are situations and competitions where it is quite fine to wear coloured skates or skate covers. You can also experiment with Sk8Tape to put colour on your skates in patterns, stripes or all over.
e) I have also heard discussions from judges that are quite specific about their dislike about the "coloured" blades on the Paramount (I believe?) blades. They find them distracting and inappropriate.  Again, it's tradition vs. evolution. It'll be interesting to see the reaction to the new Wilson blades when they come out.
f) If they were to offer skates in stock sizes in a range of colours, it would certainly bump the cost of buying them ... it's hard enough to get a store that stocks a range of sizes and models and makes, can you imagine the exponential increase in the number that would have to be carried if they had to carry a bunch of colours too!

Not passing judgement, just passing along info.

[drskater]

I posed the very same question to some figure skating old-timers (read: traditionalists). This is what they told me:

White skates (ladies) and black skates (men) = amateur competitive skaters only

tan skates (ladies only) = Pro, ice show background (should never be worn by skaters who weren't actually professionals)

These days you'll see pink, purple, and gray skates fairly routinely if you keep your eyes open.

[jjane45]

It's easier to build the boot cover into respective costumes (if necessary) instead of ordering a dozen of skates in matching colors and break them in. LOL just kidding.

Syncro skaters tend to wear beige skates too. On the other hand, I've always wondered why female coaches opt to wear beige skates... I know there are beige color coach-skates that are warmer, but why are they beige in the first place?

[FigureSpins]

Beige or tan skates hide dirt and smudges better than white ones, which is why synchro, show skaters, and coaches choose that color.  My beige instructor boots still look good, even after sitting in a bag on a shelf for years.

Finding cotton-content laces to match the beige/tan skates is difficult, so skaters use nylon ones or dye white cotton ones themselves.  (Which is a PITA - the aglets (lace tips) usually loosen up or fall off and color matching is hit-or-miss.)

tan skates (ladies only) = Pro, ice show background (should never be worn by skaters who weren't actually professionals)

That probably was the genesis.  There are a couple of rinks where a few coaching staff members were in shows, but I guess they inspired the other coaches to go tan/beige because most of the senior staff ladies wear beige, even those that weren't in skating shows.

Another reason coaches wear beige is to make themselves stand out on the ice from the skaters wearing white and black skates.  Doesn't really work if the rink's rental skates are beige, lol. 

e) I have also heard discussions from judges that are quite specific about their dislike about the "coloured" blades on the Paramount (I believe?) blades. They find them distracting and inappropriate.  Again, it's tradition vs. evolution. It'll be interesting to see the reaction to the new Wilson blades when they come out.

I've always wondered about the colored blades and the judges' opinions/reactions to them.  Gold-colored blades are also popular; wonder if they're an issue?

[Sierra]

Many of the coaches at my rink wear beige. My coach and a few others wear white (actually, my coach used to have pink skates. Her new ones are white. But she doesn't compete any more, obviously, so no need to coordinate with dresses.)

Pros wear beige? Oh, pshh. Have these 'traditionalists' seen the Olympics recently? I know for sure I saw white skates there. 1. Beige skates are hideous 2. It's called OTB tights.

Jazzpants has purple skates. She covers them with tights or boot covers for tests.

Yes- costumes have lots of colors- but can you imagine having to wear a, say, blue costume every single competition for the rest of the skate's life? Skaters have to change costume color to keep things fresh and keep music fresh.

[FigureSpins]

An elite skater is not what drskater meant by "professional."  It's a bit of a history lesson, but prior to the 1980's, competitive skaters were not allowed to earn a living from skating.  At one point, the rules were so strict, skaters couldn't perform in shows or work as skate guards, and coaching was out of the question.  Those rules were relaxed, but the terminology lives on.  I've noticed that a lot of younger skaters these days consider every senior competitive skater to be a "pro," but a better word would be "elite."

If you go to see "RISE!" you'll get a better understanding of what adults mean when they call someone a "professional skater."  After the 1960 Olympics, many elite skaters "turned pro" and left the competitive ranks.  Getting reinstated as an amateur skater was difficult.

When we say someone is a "pro," we mean they earn their living as a skater.  Dorothy Hamill, Peggy Fleming, John Zimmerman, Brian Boitano, Kurt Browning - they're all considered "pros."

Evan Lysacek, Rachael Flatt, and Jeremy Abbott are considered elite skaters who perform in shows.  They're not considered professionals.

Research Plushenko and Rochette's latest news bits.  Plushenko chose to skate in a show without getting the ISU's sanction, so he is now ineligible for reinstatement to the competitive ranks.  Rochette did almost the same thing, but did get the sanction, so she can return at any time to compete.  It's very interesting.


As for colored skates: purple seems to be the most popular.  If you're ordering custom, might as well make it show, right?  

My former coach had blue suede Klingbeils that sat in Don's shop for years before I nagged her to pick them up.  Klingbeil engraves the soles with names, and her name (well, nickname) is unique, so I knew they were hers.

[Sierra]

Oh my gosh. I completely forgot the difference between amateur and professional It's really hard to keep it straight when amateur sounds so.. well, amateurish. Beginnerish.

So pretty much every show skater wears beige?

My coach's old skates were suede as well. I don't know what brand they were, though. I wonder why she got mainstream white leather skates, because everybody loved the pink skates.

[katz in boots]

Came across the Harlick website with a photo gallery of their 'artistic' designs,  check it out, can you see yourself on the ice in some of these    http://www.harlick.com/pdf/artistic_designs.pdf

[Sk8tmum]

Klingbeil has these great pictures of rhinestone covered skates in red and blue on their brochure ... I've often been tempted to try my hand at completely rhinestoning a boot ...

[Clarice]

They look really cool, but I sure wouldn't want to be around if any of those crystals started dropping off on the ice!

[icefrog]

Will judges really mark a skater down on presentation for having colored blades? The Paramounts have a really pretty hot pink and teal that I have my eyes on now, but some skaters at the rink told me that judges don't like them and that I didn't want to upset the judges. I don't really compete much anyway, but when I do I don't want mark taken off for my lovely hot pink or teal blades

[MimiG]

I don't think a judge would actually mark someone down for having colored blades. They might, however, give a weaker first impression to a very traditional judge, and if your program were similar in content and ability with another skater, that first impression might make a difference. Not an intentional mark down, but they might like the other skater just a teensy bit better, just because they met their expectations a little more.

My personal opinion is if you like the blades and they suit your skating needs, by all means get them. Skating is supposed to be fun!

[Sk8tmum]

Will judges really mark a skater down on presentation for having colored blades? The Paramounts have a really pretty hot pink and teal that I have my eyes on now, but some skaters at the rink told me that judges don't like them and that I didn't want to upset the judges. I don't really compete much anyway, but when I do I don't want mark taken off for my lovely hot pink or teal blades

The specific comment I heard was "distracting" as they pull the judges eyes to the blades and may cause them to lose focus on your performance a bit. Also, if your edges/turns/footwork/feet are not your strong suit, then, the additional attention on your feet may make your weakness notable.  My DD had a problem with toe-pushing: when we put the Ultima Lites on her feet, it suddenly became more "noticeable" as the unique style of the blades drew attention to that problem because everyone's eye was caught by the blades.  It's the same sort of thing as the coloured blades (of course, it also made her fix that toepushing problem because having more people commenting on it made it top of mind for her).

The traditionalist vote is also an issue: traditional coaches want white skates with neat white laces, blades that are tidy, and tights that are beige and non-laddered.

[Sk8Dreams]

Two words:  Boot covers.  You can buy ready made nylon boot covers in almost any color, and custom are available from many sources.  Years ago, I bought DD some great fun boot covers on ebay, from a woman who made them in metallic and velvet fabrics, some with patterns.  I have a pair of nylon yellow with black outlined red flames that were ready made.

[drskater]

  I have a pair of nylon yellow with black outlined red flames that were ready made.

oooooooo,  where's the "jealous" smiley?!

[Kat]

I like beige skates.  Katarina Witt hangup, what can I say (as a kid watching skating I remember exclaiming, "her skates are tan!"  My mom tried to tell me she was just wearing OTB tights.  Years later looking at pics...yes, they were beige!).

Well, I mean, I like beige skates with tights...wouldn't care so much with the black leggings I usually wear (white or beige, neither will match.  I'd toy with getting black boot covers, but I do so hate the look of boot covers--they seem to have a "baggy" look to me; I'm picky and would want boot covers that perfectly conform to the shape of the skate so my feet don't look huge and clunky, lol.  Though if I had beige skates I might, so I didn't resemble an Airedale [black-and-tan, hate that combination; don't get me started on wearing black belt/shoes with khaki pants]).

But, I don't like the shade of beige most beige skates come in (nor the shade of beige Sk8 Tape).  It's like an unnatural beige, IMO.  I'd want a pair that closely matched the beige of my tights, so, well, they'd match!  (I'm not big on OTB tights either, in part because they don't seem to hold up that long before the OTB part starts getting holey).  I've always wanted to find a paint marker or permanent marker in exactly the shade of beige I like, then color my skates...probably over white Sk8 tape so it'd be easy to re-do once it started looking icky.  I do not know if beige shoe polish or leather dye would do the trick or not (I know we've discussed here re-whitening skates that are getting dingy, but I don't know that anyone's ever tried actually changing the skate color?).

Okay, sorry, let me get back on topic.  I think it'd be fun to have colored skates, but I'd have to stick with Sk8 Tape (though the colored kind seems to be getting even harder to find) rather than a custom boot color.  White/black/beige are just more versatile and go with everything, rather than having to constantly buy boot covers or have several pairs of skates.

Came across the Harlick website with a photo gallery of their 'artistic' designs,  check it out, can you see yourself on the ice in some of these   Shocked http://www.harlick.com/pdf/artistic_designs.pdf

I gotta say, can't decide which I like better: the ones with the flames, or the "platform" boots!  (How do you skate in those???)

[Nate]

Klingbeil sent my black skates with brown heels/soles instead of black.

And trust me, for the first month or so after getting them...  Everyone's eyes were on them.  I even had a few people ask me why my skates were two different colors.  I hated them for a long time, because getting on the ice meant 80% of the rink instantly focused on me if I skated in their line of sight.

The different blade, boot, and sole colors are very "eyecatching."