Male skaters: what to wear to practice?

[ONskater74]

I searched around the site for this but nothing came up, so I thought I'd start a new thread.

What do most male skaters wear to practice sessions? Or, ladies, what would you like to see male skaters wear to practice?
I'm so new to this, and there are no male figure skaters who skate where/when I do, so I have nobody to copy.
Here is what I usually wear:
black socks in a light weight fabric
black tights (okay they are ladies tights but they fit me fine)
black sweat pants (no elasticised cuff at ankle)
dark long sleeved tight fitting undershirt
close fitting dark blue turtleneck sweater, thin not bulky
close fitting black fleece vest zip up style with a fold down collar.
usually a black toque
I have long hair so will put it in a pony tail if it is bugging me that day.

I have a hard time finding stuff that fits me well. most clothes that fit me vertically are made with yards of surplus fabric...to tuck in a shirt is like shoving a sheet down your trousers!  I'm 6', 148lbs,  neck 15, chest 38, waist 31, hips 38.5. I do on occasion skate in loose old jeans and sweatshirt, but it seems like I skate better when I dress well with no flappy sloppy clothes.
The tights for me are non-negotiable. Skate with, skate without= huge difference. Not sure why, but I really appreciate the support after a 2 hour session. Also add warmth.

So what have you seen? What would you like to see?

[jjane45]

Black skating pants and any kind of athletic jacket will do.

How cold is your rink? Sweater is too warm for our rink's temperature. I don't quite recall seeing sweat pants on skaters (coaches yes), are they bulky?

[hopskipjump]

Black pants and any tee and a jacket.  Your rink must be a lot colder than mine - here everyone gets down to tee shirts!

[SynchKat]

We were discussing this at the rink last night because I don't like the pants one of the guys wears. 

Most people at our rink wear Lululemon pants or that type of pants.  Ones that are cinched in at the bottom are best so you don't catch your toe in your pany leg.  Something like this is popular  http://shop.lululemon.com/products/clothes-accessories/men-pants/Focus-Pant?cc=5760&skuId=3479837&catId=camwearit3
Usually Lululemon comes in tall and regular sizes and are oh so comfortable and somehow flatter every figure. 

I skate in a warm rink so tops will be different.  But most skating clothes worn where I skate are tight fitting and lightweight.

[Sk8tmum]

Head to National Sports or SportsChek and go to the Underamour area. Underarmour is excellent; the tops, the jackets all fit well and wear well, and you can wear them anytime, not just for skating.  For pants, you need to avoid anything that "flares" at the bottom: you want straight cut pants, and, often a bit longer so that when you spin they don't ride up. If you're good with running leggings, underarmour frosty tights/running pants are excellent: they are warm, they fit well, they wear well and you can, again, wear them for other sports.

For support ... add in a pair of Underarmour compression shorts.  They are excellent and easily available.  Our physio strongly recommends these for guys who skate to prevent groin issues.

You'll pay a bit more for Underamour, but, it will give you the fit and serviceability you need. And yes, you can get them in tall sizes, and range of fit from snug to loose, and the coldgear is great.  You could likely lose a few layers.

If you are working with a coach, they will want to see your line; thus, sweatshirts, sweatpants, etc are frowned upon because they hide the line that they need to see.

Avoid nylon socks; absorbent ones that you would wear at the gym are great as it will avoid moisture gathering in your skates, etc.  Nylon is also generally chilly.

[alejeather]

Avoid nylon socks; absorbent ones that you would wear at the gym are great as it will avoid moisture gathering in your skates, etc.  Nylon is also generally chilly.

I just started wearing performance wool socks, like Smartwool (though I have the REI brand), for skating, and I LOVE them! They are a little on the thick side, which I needed because of my boot fit, but they are absorbent and warm.

[Skittl1321]

Most of the guys at our rink wear track pants, t-shirt, and a fleece jacket.

Some of the teens will occasionally show up in hoodies, but the coaches do not like that.  It messes with jumps and spins, so they often make them tuck the hood in.

I skate barefoot, and many of the men at the rink do too.  Another wears thin socks that I'd call trouser socks.

[Sk8tmum]

Most of the guys at our rink wear track pants, t-shirt, and a fleece jacket.

I skate barefoot, and many of the men at the rink do too.  Another wears thin socks that I'd call trouser socks.

Track pants have been a "no-no" since an unpleasant accident on a jump; crossing the feet in tight, the blade "caught" in the pants and we only narrowly avoided a nasty fall. Same reason that yoga pants aren't allowed by the coaches ... the flare at the bottom has caused accidents, thus, they have to be snug to the leg. The track pants had already been a point of issue, as most don't fit narrow enough to show line properly.  I was fortunate enough to stock up on proper skating pants from a now-defunct company that had the proper cut at the bottom, and the underboot strap to hold them down and snug. Don't know what I"ll do when they wear out; I've looked at the LuLu ones, and they aren't narrow enough at the bottom except for the running tights ... and my guy isn't fond of those. Plus, I'll have to sew straps on ... sigh. I think I'll just have my wonderful lady make a pair that will work ... I miss BlueSkys ...

We don't do barefoot.  Sweaty feet slip and chafe, and sweaty feet also rot out leather linings in boots. So, moisture-wicking (and warm) socks are the preference.  As the coaches around here have a "we hate OTB tights" - barefoot is very unusual, as the girls wear in the boot tights.

[ONskater74]

Hey, lots of ideas
The "sweat pants" I wear are sort of a dressy looking fit. I shopped around for a long time to find a pair slim enough but long enough. They are light weight, not regular weight. From 6 feet away they look like tailored dress slacks.
Anyhow, the rinks vary in temp. one is bone chilling, other is in between, other is too warm and ice is gooey (heaters for the senior walkers and hockey fans... ). I can take off the vest and just wear the sweater, but as soon as I stop the vest goes back on as the sweater is really quite thin. I don't skate hard enough to lather up...

Everything is quite figure hugging. For now, to use an equestrian term, I'm just doing "flatwork", no jumping, so no worries about tangling my blade in pantlegs.

[SynchKat]

You can still get blades tangled without doing jumps.  I wear legwarmers or tight around the ankles pants because  have caught my picks one too many times.  It is scary when this happens.  and I like your flatwork term.  I might start using that, see if it catches on. 

Oh and Sk8mum you can do barefeet with in the boo tights.  Just get footless tights and pull them over the heel when in your skates.  My cynchro team did in the boot tights a couple of years ago and I have to wear socks so I got footless and one of our ladies is well over 6 feet tall and had an unfortunately accident with in the boot tights so she always goes footless. 

[ONskater74]

SynchKat,
In all "classical" types of sport there seems to be categories. In traditional equestrian there is dressage, hunter jumper, jumper, games, hunting, polo, blah blah etc. In skating there is figures, freestyle, dancing, speed, hockey, ringette blah blah etc.

School figures are in skating what dressage is in riding. Both are slow paced, require extreme discipline, concentration and focus, both involve figure eights, and is quite difficult to learn for both horse and rider. Jumping is hard too, but requires a different philosophy...very few world class dressage riders compete in show jumping...totally different style of riding.
Same goes with skating. The fact that competitions used to require figures, and now do not, is another part of the dumbing down of many sports. Not that a skater is not a good skater because they can't do figures, they may be a superb jumper, but they lack an entire other facet of skating. Lots of riders can bomb around barrels or whistle over a 3' course, but ask them to collect their horse into passage or piaffe and they look at you like you're from Mars...  but this is off topic.

flatwork is anything not involving jumping. Cavaletti could go either way, but it is sort of a thing by itself...depending on a few factors. The ""lead" which you are riding on is just like striking an edge, and there are changes of lead just as there are changes of edge. When riding a figure eight there is a change of lead at the center just as there would be a change of edge or foot. So much can be applied, in terms of principles, to both sports.  Skates are more predictable than horses...hence I'm riding blades now instead of horses    and skating is cheaper

[AgnesNitt]

Blue Skies is making custom men's skating pants again.

[ls99]

Never gave much thought to what to wear for skating.  Usually black or blue jeans, all of mine are heavy duty Wranglers. Occasionally even worn regular dress trousers, no cuffs on any.  I do not do  jumps, save for the occasional attempt at waltz jump.

Always switch to thin silk socks before booting up.

One rink is warm, T shirt only.

Another one is a deep freeze, t shirt, +long sleeve +fleece jacket and ski cap, until warm. Of course always wear gloves, the plain cotton work type.

[Sk8tmum]

Blue Skies is making custom men's skating pants again.

Yeah ... the daughter did start up doing it about a year after they closed, but, the price went up soooo much .... it's hard to justify ...

[nicklaszlo]

I wear a pair of pants and a t-shirt.  Usually they're what I wore to work the day before since I'm just going to get them sweaty anyway.  I couldn't possibly wear all those layers as I am usually too hot in my current outfits.  I am more comfortable in shorts but that upset the coaches.

No socks because it's one less thing to keep track of.

Some people frown on loose long hair.

[ONskater74]

Those Blue Sky pants look nice. I would not balk at the price. I'm actually a pretty good sewer myself, and have been asked to do some "custom" jobs for people, everything from shirts, skirts, dresses, to draperies. A skilled person could probably make a pair of those in a day starting from scratch and working steadily for 8 hours with everything to hand. If you pay the seamstress even $10.00/hr, you have about 20 dollars in fabric and notions, at least. So you're only making like 40-50 bucks margin/day.
It would take me more like 2-3 days off and on to make a pair, and the hassle of sewing stretch fabric... even if I could find a pattern...

[Skittl1321]

Never gave much thought to what to wear for skating.  Usually black or blue jeans, all of mine are heavy duty Wranglers. Occasionally even worn regular dress trousers, no cuffs on any.  I do not do  jumps, save for the occasional attempt at waltz jump.

I won't tell you not to wear them, but I wouldn't recommend jeans to others.  For many skaters they cause a lot of problems- lack of flexibility in the material, cotton is cold when wet (after a fall), the chaffing from the material on the inner thighs can be painful.  They aren't really made for skating.


As for the comment above about not wearing track pants- I don't understand how the men do it, as I personally (I'm female) switched to leggings after catching my blade in my pants doing a backspin and nearly pulling them off and a fall resulting.  But they ALL wear them.  Even the ones doing triples.  I know one boy has a more 'jazz pant' looking style that has straps, but it is rare to see those.

As for not going barefoot so that you can wear in the boot tights- that doesn't seem to be a male issue. 

ONskater74- have you looked at Jalie patterns? They have both a men's body shirt and a men's pant.

[Sk8tmum]

Those Blue Sky pants look nice. I would not balk at the price. I'm actually a pretty good sewer myself, and have been asked to do some "custom" jobs for people, everything from shirts, skirts, dresses, to draperies. A skilled person could probably make a pair of those in a day starting from scratch and working steadily for 8 hours with everything to hand. If you pay the seamstress even $10.00/hr, you have about 20 dollars in fabric and notions, at least. So you're only making like 40-50 bucks margin/day.
It would take me more like 2-3 days off and on to make a pair, and the hassle of sewing stretch fabric... even if I could find a pattern...

The Blue Skys pants are fantastic: they are completely custom, they fit perfectly, and they wear forever.  The material is ideal for skating. The straps last forever, and they have snaps, not velcro, to hold the straps down. However, they are pricey ... like so much about this sport! 

A company called Podium operated out of Mississauga for quite a few years; they made great guy's pants for around $69  to $89 a pair (Patrick Chan used to practice in them IIRC ...) - but, they went out of business. If you can find a pair anywhere, grab them. 

[ONskater74]

fyi: I put up some video links of me skating, and dressed as described in the first post in this thread. In the Video Vault, forward inside and outside eights.

[SynchKat]

Checked out your video.  I think what you are wearing looks fine. 
And sorry if I posted too many comments, I get a bit wordy when people ask for help on things. 

[bambucci]

When I trained daily, I used to wear light wind pants.  Nowadays, I'll get out there occasionally and work out, but most of the time I coach.  I'll wear black athletic pants.  Something with a lot of stretch and nothing to restrictive or clingy, as well as reasonably priced.  I also wore t-shirts and dressed in layers, gloves, vest, lightweight jacket.  I'll wear thin socks - preferably white nylon/church socks.  Stay away from black or dyed socks.  One summer, when I was skating probably about three hours a day,  I developed ingrown hairs on my ankle.  The dyes from the sock were drawn out from the sweat and irritated the ingrown hairs.  It was pretty painful.  I took my Intermediate test and landed my double Sal on my left foot because the top part of my right ankle hurt so bad.  Whoops.  I was able to redo the Sal and passed, but the judges thought it was funny I did a one-foot double Sal.   

[PrettySk8Dress]

At one of the nearby rinks that I very occasionally practice at, during a typical freestyle/general practice,  all of the female skaters, including the handful of female adult skaters, are usually dressed in either pretty skating practice dresses and tights, or warm sweater type tops and leggings. And then the adult male coach comes out to begin giving lessons, typically dressed in a worn-out, faded Harley-Davidson T-shirt, old dirty blue jeans with holes at the knees and a tear on the side of one leg, and an old work jacket with a logo of some sort on the back, something like " Ed's Appliance Repair ". The contrast in fashion between the female skaters and this one male coach is just unbelievable to the point of being laughable !

BTW---I have seen other male skaters and male coaches elsewhere also dressed similar to what was described above. This is why this thread is needed, and needs to be implemented, IMO.

[jjane45]

Most of the serious figure skating men I see skate in black pants. Several male coaches wear jeans.

And then the adult male coach comes out to begin giving lessons, typically dressed in a worn-out, faded Harley-Davidson T-shirt, old dirty blue jeans with holes at the knees and a tear on the side of one leg, and an old work jacket with a logo of some sort on the back, something like " Ed's Appliance Repair ". The contrast in fashion between the female skaters and this one male coach is just unbelievable to the point of being laughable !

The only word that stood out was dirty. No problem with fashion as long as the cleanness is there, the coach decides whether is the best professional image for himself.

Oh, maybe one exception. I remember someone (Skittl?) mentioning low-rise jeans and sit spins don't mix.

[AgnesNitt]

Oh, maybe one exception. I remember someone (Skittl?) mentioning low-rise jeans and sit spins don't mix.

That may have been me. I reported a coach in low rise jeans teaching a sit spin and holding up the back of her jeans so her purple thong almost didn't show.

[Query]

I am practical, not showy. I wear whatever I happen to be wearing, plus a jacket to keep me warm, with zippered pockets for money and keys, and boot covers to reduce boot scuff. Often sweat pants and shirts, but with stripes so they don't look like pajamas, just because they are comfortable and move freely. Definitely avoid clothes that might tear in stretched body positions. In extreme cold, polypropylene or other warm underwear, from a camping goods store. Dress in layers, that can come off if you get too warm, and to provide a margin of error. Cheap peel-able layers, so they won't be stolen.

But I'm not a competitor!

Watch TV competitions. Guys who want to look effeminate wear leotards, a dance belt, and frilly tops, custom made by high end dressmakers like Vera Wang - remember Johnny? If they want to look masculine (especially ice dancers), they wear something dressier, dark, and normal looking with a looser fit, often with a formal sports jacket.

With any moderately tight fit pants, an athletic supporter provides comfortable and normal appearing modesty.