Modesty or pretty? Skating apparel for adult skaters

[sampaguita]

1. OTB tights are not ugly for all skaters. For some skaters they are (like Akiko Suzuki). For some skaters they aren't (Zijun Li, Kim Yuna, Mao Asada). It's just a matter of how well you wear something.

2. I like wearing black for skating. It puts me in the right frame on mind. I'd love to get Chloe Noel (as they seem to be the proper uniform in our rink), but those are too expensive for me. Plus, they don't have pockets, which I need. So I wear sweatpants instead. Cheaper and more practical.

3. Skating dresses -- it depends on the dress and the person. You can show some cleavage and still look classy and dignified. It's not about age too -- two women with the same age may wear the same dress differently.

I actually found Xan's post almost imposing. It's like saying "adults should wear <insert specific rules here>". In my opinion, one should wear whatever is comfortable and appropriate for your age and body type.

[sarahonice]

When saying cocktail dress appropriate my coach's comment was that the top half must be a suitable cocktail dress, she wasn't referring to skirt length. She actually said that you'd wear it as a cocktail dress IF the skirt was longer.
The idea being that you need to be comfortable wearing the dress. If you like lots of crystals then wear lots of crystals, if you're happier with understated, then wear understated. But the most important bit about your competition dress is to be comfortable in it.

I agree that being comfortable is key. On the other hand, I think it's perfectly appropriate to wear a figure skating dress that you'd never wear off ice, even with a longer skirt. Mine has illusion netting for a back, which would look terrible in street clothes. Dancers, skaters, gymnasts -- all train and compete in clothing that wouldn't be worn outside of it. For instance, I'm happy wearing glitter and crystals on ice, but there's no way on earth I'm taking a glue gun to a party dress.

[irenar5]

My mother used to say :"Wear what you like, nobody will take it off of you".
I think people should wear whatever makes them comfortable in whatever colors they want (skating or otherwise). 

It is a bit strange to think that someone on the ice is taking notice of what I wear and judging me for it (especially an older adult who should know better!)

[fsk8r]

having been official timekeeper at a competition recently, the only comments I heard the judges make about dresses was: there's a lot of colour X this season. No comment on suitability or otherwise.
When it came to the artistic classes, the judges used the warmup to play guess the music, there was never any real comments about that a dress being inappropriate.
Having said that, at a solo dance competition for the kids, a feedback list came out from the judges and after fussing about step X in dance Y being on an outside edge and not whether the kids were skating, there was then a list of comments regarding costumes. One was reminding them that in dance the lady must wear a skirt (and a belt doesn't count), and another was about nude illusion not counting for coverage of flesh and so too much would be considered excessive nudity. From what I've heard the dress that they were commenting on was particularly risqué. Ironically it was being worn by a younger teen.

[taka]

I've seen one free skater in competition who definitely got a costume violation deduction. The costume looked from afar like there were just a few strips of colour covering her chest and a skirt. The rest was flesh coloured fabric. The majority of the judges called a costume violation so it was awarded.

Someone else at the same competition (but in a diferent event) got a costume malfunction deduction - I think she was the skater who moulted a few very brighly coloured feathers from her dress mid skate! At least they were easy for the flowergirls to spot to clean up afterwards...

[Neverdull44]

I'm going to go out on a limb . . . all this talk about appropriate attire for women . .  .what about the guys? What is appropriate for them, and will attract more boys to the sport.  Personally, i thought Mr. Scott Hamilton in the 80 Olympics was wonderful in a simple, clean line outfit.  I do not like seeing men with rhinestones, feathers, or nude fabric inserts.  Yes, I have plenty of "gay" friends and a gay relative who is my best buddy. But, honestly, where is the line on men's clothes on ice?

[DrillingSkills]

As an adult who came back to the sport in her late teens, I'd say adults ought to wear whatever they want and feel comfortable wearing. For some it may be looser pants, others leggings, others skirts, and others yet dresses. Of course, for testing and competing purposes, a dress is preferable (says the girl who tested elements and skills in a skirt + form-fitting sweater until the higher levels). At that point, my opinion is to wear something age- and form-appropriate, although that holds for skaters of any age. If an adult is uncomfortable in a dress, then pants are fine. That's the joy of being an adult - we get a few more allowances than the children

However, a guide can be helpful, because some adults may not feel comfortable in short skirts, and it's a good idea to let potential newcomers know that that attire isn't a necessity. I started off in simple pants, and was fine with them until I caught my blade in my pant leg - I switched to a plain black skirt shortly thereafter. The reason for black wasn't that I wanted to be plain; I have many coloured sweaters and black matches pretty much anything In that sense, I don't believe in imposing any kind of 'uniform' on any skater, adult or child. I do however believe that new skaters showing up for their first lesson in the whole attire (fancy sparkly dress, expensive brand sweater, expensive brand bag, etc.) is a little excessive; at the earlier levels, that's money better spent on lessons and ice-time, but I won't judge people for it, only wish they hadn't spent so much on things if the skater quits after a season.

[blue111moon]

Way back in the early '80s when I started skating, there was a "uniform" of sorts for club skaters:  skirt, leggings, sweater and gloves, preferably all matching.  The boys wore black pants and black sweaters.  The In brands were Inga and Polar Sport and the traditional practise colors were black and navy.  Even though I was 28, I was told that I had to wear a skirt to skate on club ice.  The coaches required it so they could see the body lines.  Period.  No options.  I was skinny then so fitting wasn't a problem, until it came to skating dresses.  My torso is too long for even the XL dresses.  (I have the same problem with bathing suits so it wasn't really a shock.)  But I didn't compete much and show costumes could be made to fit so it wasn't an issue.  That "uniform" has gone the way of the dinosaurs, but I have to admit that sometimes I wish it would come back.  There was something special about putting on those special clothes and a kind of status that said "we are here to skate."  The clothes set the tone of the club sessions.

Now my rinks are all really cold and I'm a lot larger than I was back then.  I wear running pants over Underarmor leggings, a turtleneck and one usually black sweatshirt with my club fleece (also black) for practices and have my competition dresses custom made so that there's nothing gapping or pulling or exposed. 

Do I envy the smaller, slimmer, prettier women in the skimpy dresses and tight pants?  Sometimes, yes.  But I know what I'm comfortable in and I know what looks good on my aging body.  And then I see the gooseflesh on bare arms and the red mottled skin in the cold rink and decide that I'm happy with sleeves. 

[iomoon]

I gave up and now use my gym clothes. (It is exercise, after all!) I am partial to exercise skorts over my footed tights. People say they look cute.

As for the people who care more about looks than practicing... oh yes, I've seen those. This girl was really snooty to me with her fancy equipment, but it was clear she didn't practice very much. 

[karne]

I always get annoyed when I read these things that say "adults shouldn't wear booty shorts". Well fine. Come skate at my rink in the middle of a stinking hot Australian summer when it's almost as warm inside as outside and you're working on your skating hard. Then tell me I shouldn't wear booty shorts. They're almost uniform at our rink in summer - for all ages and levels.

[jjane45]

I always get annoyed when I read these things that say "adults shouldn't wear booty shorts". Well fine. Come skate at my rink in the middle of a stinking hot Australian summer when it's almost as warm inside as outside and you're working on your skating hard. Then tell me I shouldn't wear booty shorts. They're almost uniform at our rink in summer - for all ages and levels.

Just curious, what about the guys?

[AgnesNitt]

Just curious, what about the guys?

Shoot me for being sexist, but if a guy's got doubles, I'm all for him in booty shorts.

Really, though I wish

[supra]

I wear some random Adidas/Nike/unknown brand workout pants I bought at a thrift store for $2-5 per pair, and whatever t-shirt I feel like. I also have some random Nike jacket from the 90s that's a windbreaker so I use it as skating jacket when I need a jacket. It doesn't matter really what I wear as all the girls there my age I think have boyfriends/don't like me anyway. I should comb my hair before I go there sometimes, though, as usually I just towel it somewhat after getting out of the shower and come in with half wet/spiky uncombed hair that looks completely horrible after getting off the ice as the wind messes it up even more. Also I don't really like my parachutey workout pants I wear sometimes. Too ruffly sounding. I like the looser spandexish ones, though.

I have no idea what I'll wear whenever I become a non-fake figure skater and test. Someone told me my black jeans would be OK if I went with a marker and colored over the rivets. I'll probably wear Dockers and a collared shirt of some kind.

One other guy I know (vaguely) who's my age and skates usually wears jeans or workout pants, too. He's about my age and can do triples. Also unlike all the girls he just uses a backpack to carry his skates. No fancy Zucca bags or whatever. 

[Skittl1321]

When saying cocktail dress appropriate my coach's comment was that the top half must be a suitable cocktail dress, she wasn't referring to skirt length. She actually said that you'd wear it as a cocktail dress IF the skirt was longer.

I'd never wear a cocktail dress that was form fitting around my stomach! I've never seen a skating dress that wasn't.

However, I think my freestyle dress is okay for me. I wouldn't be embarrassed for my coworkers to see me in it, for instance.

[fsk8r]

I'd never wear a cocktail dress that was form fitting around my stomach! I've never seen a skating dress that wasn't.

However, I think my freestyle dress is okay for me. I wouldn't be embarrassed for my coworkers to see me in it, for instance.

I know a kid who skated in a dress which had an empire line skirt. It needed the leotard to cover her entire body as the skirt rose so high up when she jumped. So other than the leotard, the skirt portion of the dress wasn't form fitting across her stomach (not that she was worrying about that sort of thing!).

[karne]

Just curious, what about the guys?

Well, I can count on one hand the number of guys at my rink...they prefer pants anyway. Pre-teen boys.

[Skittl1321]

I know a kid who skated in a dress which had an empire line skirt. It needed the leotard to cover her entire body as the skirt rose so high up when she jumped. So other than the leotard, the skirt portion of the dress wasn't form fitting across her stomach (not that she was worrying about that sort of thing!).

Empire waists are for children and waifs (I am very jealous of adults who can pull this off). I prefer not to look pregnant when I skate (or when I attend cocktail parties)...

So yes, while the look is available, it would look -worse- on me.

Perhaps I shouldn't have said never in my original post.  Rather, the vast majority of skating dresses are form fitting on the waist.  They are appropriate for what they are made for, skating: I shouldn't think anyone would wear one to a cocktail party, regardless of skirt length.

[Traceekins]

And speaking about skating dresses, it's not that easy for an adult skater to find a good dress. The choice is quite limited. For example, I'm tall and slender, but I wear XL skating dresses, which makes me self-conscious because outside the rink, I'm size small or medium. But because of my height, I have to buy XL skating dresses: anything else is way too short. Why do they go by those weird sizes? There are adult skaters who aren't particularly skinny, so what do they have to wear, XXL?

Why would you be so self-conscious about the size--especially if you're the only one who sees the tag? If you're a size small/medium in ready-to-wear clothes, then you're obviously a slender person. I'm not ashamed of my size, and I'm a 14 which would probably make me a 5XL in skating dresses (which I doubt even exists). People put too much emphasis on vanity sizng ... just wear what fits!

When my time comes to compete, I'm going to make my own dress. Luckily I learned to sew and own a great sewing machine, so my size won't be an issue. And as far as this thread is concerned, I'm all about the "pretty." I'm going to wear what I want to wear, and that won't be black!

[techskater]

Good for you!!!  I have a beautiful magenta colored dress with pink underskirt, with a crap-ton of bling.   

[mamabear]

For practicing and lessons what I wear has changed over time.  I started out in jean and a t-shirt.  The jeans had some spandex in them and worked pretty well  for Adult 1 & 2.  As I moved into more advanced classes, the knees were stretching out too much and the jeans just felt uncomfortable.  Then I tried some basic Wal-mart workout pants but they did not work well at all because they were lined halfway down which ripped and felt weird.  I then found a pair of yoga type pants and love them but I've been wearing them about a year and a half.  I also have a pair of leggings but feel more self-conscious in those.  Maybe because the first time I wore them was on a public skate that is usually pretty empty but on that particular day had a large group of college students including a student I had in class that semester. 

I haven't competed but I've done a couple of programs in our ice shows.  I really started thinking about this topic before the last one.  I was doing a program with my daughter.  We wanted something that would coordinate and kind of have a circus look.  We went with short skate skirts in neon colors and then had ordered leotards which looked all wrong so switched to basic v-neck tee shirts in neon colors.  Part of my issue was that there weren't a lot of options in Adult XL that we both liked and the other issue is that the longer the skirt, it seems like the higher the price.  I'd rather spend my money on a lesson or ice time right now.   

But, this really pushed me-the skirt was much shorter than I would usually wear, I do usually wear a lot of black, etc.  Would I look like I raided my daughter's closet?  Would people think the skirt was too short?  Showed too much leg?  Then I wondered why I never ask myself these questions before going to a swimming pool or waterpark.   I thought about how DD and I would always remember working on this together.   And I went for the short skirt and didn't give another thought to it. 

[sarahspins]

I always get annoyed when I read these things that say "adults shouldn't wear booty shorts". Well fine. Come skate at my rink in the middle of a stinking hot Australian summer when it's almost as warm inside as outside and you're working on your skating hard. Then tell me I shouldn't wear booty shorts. They're almost uniform at our rink in summer - for all ages and levels.

Not all adults look bad in booty shorts either.  I do, and I'm very aware that I do, so I wouldn't wear them, but there are quite a few adult skaters at my rink who wear them and IMO it's just fine - I'm not bothered by it at all, because they're not making ME wear them   The itty bitty running shorts (the kind with a liner) over skating tights has been a popular look at my rink for a while... I've considered those but I think they make my rear end look larger than it already is.  They do look comfortable though.

It's taken me a long time to go from wearing primarily yoga/jazz style pants (fitted through the knee, loose below) to leggings, even though fundamentally they're not that different... but I never felt comfortable in leggings and to be honest, if it weren't for a bad fall a while back that finally convinced me not to wear loose pants except for teaching LTS (dress code for that says no tight pants - so I wear socker/track pants) I'd probably still be wearing them.

[blue111moon]

As long as the booty shorts fit and aren't the three-sizes-too-small look that a few of the teenagers showed up with a while back, I have no problem with them or anyone who wears them.  Although my rink is actually too cold for minimalist workout wear anyway, so it's usually pretty obvious who's there to skate and who's there to impress the college hockey guys who come on after us.

I like color and even though my practise gear is black and functional rather than stylish,  my competition dresses are all colorful and blinged: one purple, one turquoise and one royal blue.  I think I've only had one black dress way back when I was skinny and even that one had scads of fuschia lace trim. 

Two things I will never do though:  sleeveless and backless.  I need too much foundation to do backless and my arms are not and never will be toned enough for sleevelss.  Plus I hate being cold - and I am always cold when I compete, no matter what everyone says about adrenaline and exercise keeping you warm.  The only time I'm not cold on the ice is during a hot flash and I can't really time those for when I might need one. 

[Icicle]

Why would you be so self-conscious about the size--especially if you're the only one who sees the tag? If you're a size small/medium in ready-to-wear clothes, then you're obviously a slender person. I'm not ashamed of my size, and I'm a 14 which would probably make me a 5XL in skating dresses (which I doubt even exists). People put too much emphasis on vanity sizng ... just wear what fits!

When my time comes to compete, I'm going to make my own dress. Luckily I learned to sew and own a great sewing machine, so my size won't be an issue. And as far as this thread is concerned, I'm all about the "pretty." I'm going to wear what I want to wear, and that won't be black!

It's not that I'm overly concerned about the nominal size, I'm just having hard time finding skating dresses. If you look at dress vendors at competitions, there are a lot of nice clothes for kids, but not many in adult sizes. And if you do see dresses for adults, most of them only go up to the large size. Because I need XL, I'm out of luck. And obviously, someone who wears size large in everyday life would need an XXL skating dress, and I don't think those even exist. Well, maybe, they do, but where are they? But if you watch Adult National videos, you will see a lot of gorgeous dresses. Perhaps, those ladies made them themselves. I wish I could sew, but unfortunately, I'm horrible at it.

[sarahspins]

Because I need XL, I'm out of luck. And obviously, someone who wears size large in everyday life would need an XXL skating dress, and I don't think those even exist. Well, maybe, they do, but where are they? But if you watch Adult National videos, you will see a lot of gorgeous dresses. Perhaps, those ladies made them themselves. I wish I could sew, but unfortunately, I'm horrible at it.

You might check out http://thelineupstore.com/Shop-Online/Skating

They do a lot of synchro dresses, but an added benefit of that is that their dresses also tend to have longer skirts than most skating dresses.. more like a dance length skirt, which is easier to alter if it's too long (you can even ask the line up to make the skirt shorter if you want).  Many of the less expensive "practice" dresses are suitable for competition, and you can choose the colors/fabrics for all of them.  I had a dress made by them earlier this year and I like it a lot.. even though I chickened out of wearing it for my silver moves (I wore leggings).  Price was very reasonable IMO for the quality.  They can fit for custom measurements too.

[iomoon]

Yes... I think booty shorts over skating tights are fine. People are completely covered up. However, I question the decision to wear them without the tights. If they come off the ice with a nasty scrape, I wouldn't be surprised.