Pants vs. skirts

[Kat12]

I always wear pants to skate--currently heavyweight footless (non-skating) tights under yoga pants (ultimately I'd like to get a pair of the UA Frosty tights everyone says are so warm). I'm down with warmth (yeah, why I, who hate the cold, decided on a sport done on ice is beyond me. Am I dumb or what?).

I do think skirts are cute, though. Not many people around here wear them, though. I would think of wearing a skirt occasionally just for something different, but I just can't justify to myself doing it because why on earth would I freeze my heinie off just to wear something cute? That would be nuts. (And yes, I know Mondor makes those heavyweight rib-knit tights, but I don't think those would keep my warm--being as I wear tights at least that thick if not thicker UNDER PANTS and am passably warm, I don't think I could wear just the tights! I could layer more than one pair, of course...but really, how many pairs of tights could one layer before one started looking unusually chunky below the waist?) I know Jerry's makes beige fleece leggings: http://www.northerniceanddance.com/store_/jerrys-beige-fleece-leggings-p-3930.html but they're pretty pricey and if that's a picture of them, they don't look very heavy if they're that see-through!

(I also admit to hating the briefs under the skirts. I don't wear that style of briefs under my kilt for dancing--I prefer the boy-cut briefs so I don't have to worry about wedgies or anything hanging out. Esp. since my butt is not small. Plus I have seen too many pictures where you almost spend more time looking at the girl's bum practically falling out of her briefs than you do what she's actually doing, ugh. So if I did wear a skirt, the underneath briefs would be more of shorts-style)

What do you all wear and why?

[CaraSkates]

I skate in pants. Because...I like them.:D Over the years I've worn a variety of things, partially influenced by rink temperatures, my skating level and other skaters. I used to practice in dresses and tshirts, sometimes with yoga pants on under the skirt (very cold rink, I was lower level, everyone pretty much wore dresses). I switched to leggings when I improved but would still sometimes wear dresses. Then I switched rinks and got a LOT better/faster/hotter when I practice. Still skate at a cold rink but I decided I don't like wearing tights unless it's a competition/show/test.

So now I skate in pants. I have 4 pairs of fleece Powerstretch pants and one milliskin pair. I wear cut off footed tights (I cut them off to be like socks) in my skates and just the pants. I need to make some more practice pants actually, a couple pairs are wearing out. As far as warmth, I only wear my thin pair during the summer and usually only to afternoon sessions. The Powerstretch is warm enough without tights for me in the winter and summer.

[TreSk8sAZ]

Generally I wear pants. I prefer not to kill my tights when I'm doing everyday practice by falling, and the pants I wear don't stay wet after I've been falling for awhile if it's a bad jumping day. Pants, a t-shirt or tank top, and layer above.

However, if I have a test or competition coming up (or it's been exceptionally warm in the rink during the summer) I will wear either a practice skirt or practice dress. I find that I get so used to pants it's a bit different feeling when I switch back to a skirt. I skate fast enough or work hard enough or whatever that I never have any trouble staying warm unless it's the dead of winter at 4 a.m. I wear footed tights and with either footless or over the boot tights over them under the skirt.

[Mel On Ice]

I flip flop, depending on mood, temperature outside, if I'm preparing for a competition and where I"m going after skating. I pass no judgement on what anyone wears to the rink, but I know some coaches insist their competitors wear skirts, almost as if in uniform.

[CaraSkates]

I should add a note here - the pants I wear to skate in are very fitting leggings so you can see my line. They also are always made out of 4way stretch fabric - I've ripped too many cheap 2way stretch pants doing spirals and splits, now I spring for the nice fabric/pants! I usually pair them with competition t-shirts and either my club jacket or another warm up jacket.

[Clarice]

I generally practice free skating in leggings, unless I'm getting ready for a test, show or competition. Same goes for moves in the field or figures. I always practice dance in a skirt, though - it makes me feel more like a dancer. Usually, I just pop a wrap skirt over my leggings, though! I find that I don't usually get cold, even if I'm wearing a skating dress with tights, as long as I have a sweater or jacket on.

[livestrong04]

Skirts and dresses only! It's part of the fun of skating for me - I feel more like a 'real skater' in a skirt or dress, and it is so much fun to see the skirt flare out when you have a good spin. I don't even have any skating pants - used to wear a stretchy pair of jeans when I first started out, then a pair of yoga pants but the flared bottom was not conducive to toepicks. I bought my first skirt as my reward for passing Adult Basic 4 in Learn to Skate. I hate to be cold, and my toes, fingers and arms do get cold, but for some reason my legs never seem that affected. I wear one pair of medium-weight tights with my skirts and dresses. I have a heavy-weight pair of tights and will add ear muffs if the rink is really cold in the winter.

[teresa]

I wear black Danskin tights with skating tights and sweater tights underneath. I'm not thrilled about wearing tights but my coach seems to perfer them. I can't see myself in a skating skirt. In my mind you need to be "good" and I don't see myself this way.

teresa

[Kat12]

^LOL Teresa, that's sort of how I feel too! I feel like if I wear a skirt--esp. since so few people do, inc. among the "good" skaters--I'd just be like a little kid playing dress-up as a skater, you know, like the four-year-olds you see in Snowplow Sam wearing little dresses.

[Kim to the Max]

Here is my rule....wear what makes you feel comfortable!! There are younger girls who exclusively wear pants, some who will ONLY skate in a dress/skirt and some who wear both. Many of the kids just came back from Lake Placid fully outfitted in new pants though....

I almost exclusively wear under armour or Se-Ku or Six-O or some other brand of pants (I have my eyes on Chole Noel, but the $$ needs to come in first)...with a tank top in the summer, short sleeves, or long sleeves and a jacket and in the dead of winter, my northface fleece (until the shock wears off)...

I will also occasionally put on my black skirt (boy shorts type)...I find that I feel more "graceful" in a skirt or I need to feel the wind between my legs before a test :) ((Or it could just be that nothing else is clean!! :halo:))

I own dresses, however, I generally reserve those for tests and show time (however, I will not be participating in the show this year....long story that is not appropriate for a public forum). This however, does not stop me from purchasing new dresses to eventually wear to test in!! I have my eye on a USIcewear dress that will become my Intermediate Free dress if I EVER pass my Juv free and am EVER ready for Intermediate....

In the summer I wear my Capezio microfiber tights (I don't know what I would do if they discontinued those!!), and in the winter, I will occasionally add a pair of footless (either GK thin ones or Mondor heavy ones) under my tights for extra warmth. If I'm teaching and it's extremely cold in the rink, I will put on my leg warmers, but they are made out of acrylic yarn, so they are HOT (and they don't breathe)....hmmmmm....I may need to make myself some out of a better yarn...

[katz in boots]

Skirts and dresses only! It's part of the fun of skating for me - I feel more like a 'real skater' in a skirt or dress, and it is so much fun to see the skirt flare out when you have a good spin.

I agree ! :D Having said that, I only wear skirts or dresses preparing for a comp, in a comp or a test. The only reason being that I am fat & middle aged and know I look ridiculous in a skirt. I might start wearing them when I have private time with my coach though.

Kat12, can you sew? I know what you mean about the panty part of skirts. It'd be cool to make a practice skirt with boy-leg panties.

[RachelSk8er]

(I also admit to hating the briefs under the skirts. I don't wear that style of briefs under my kilt for dancing--I prefer the boy-cut briefs so I don't have to worry about wedgies or anything hanging out. Esp. since my butt is not small. Plus I have seen too many pictures where you almost spend more time looking at the girl's bum practically falling out of her briefs than you do what she's actually doing, ugh. So if I did wear a skirt, the underneath briefs would be more of shorts-style)

What do you all wear and why?

You'd probably like tennis/running skorts then. Target has them pretty cheap ($20 but you can find them on sale for as cheap as $12). They're lycra, flat skirt, longer than a normal skating skirt so it covers everything, and they have boy-cut shorts. I wear them to skate w/2 pair of mondor tights (one footed and one footless), and everyone in my roller derby league wears them as well. Usually I don't wear tights for derby, just knee-high socks. A girl I skate with got a bunch of them online somewhere, just google running skirts.

Aside from those, I have a few pair of fitted lycra pants (raning from capri to full length) that I wear footed tights under. I also have 2 practice dresses I will wear, but one has a knee length skirt so I only wear it on days that I'm just doing dance.

[Mrs Redboots]

Like Mel, I vary - depending on temperature, my mood, and how near I am to competition. Like Katz, I'm middle-aged and overweight, but one of my skirts is so flattering that I actually look better in it than I do in sweatpants!

The boring thing about skirts is that if I want to go to the shop on my way home, as I often do, I have to remember to take something to change into!

[Skittl1321]

The boring thing about skirts is that if I want to go to the shop on my way home, as I often do, I have to remember to take something to change into!

You don't HAVE to. I always think it is funny to run errands in a skating skirt. As long as I have tights on, I figure they realize I'm coming from something. (I actually worry more that people will think my tank top and leggings is my "outfit"- at least with the skirt they know it is is a "costume")

I wore dresses and skirts a lot more when I was first starting and skating with younger kids. Now that I tend to skate sessions with higher level skaters (even though I am not one) no one is in a skirt, so I wear pants. I LOVE my under armour leggings and wouldn't give them up for anything.

I skated in track pants if I wasn't wearing a skirt until I learned my backspin. The first time I caught my blade in them and half pantsed myself they were banished. Leggings only!

[fsk8r]

Like Mel, I vary - depending on temperature, my mood, and how near I am to competition. Like Katz, I'm middle-aged and overweight, but one of my skirts is so flattering that I actually look better in it than I do in sweatpants!

The boring thing about skirts is that if I want to go to the shop on my way home, as I often do, I have to remember to take something to change into!

Better to have something to change into than to explain to the police, fire brigade and ambulance crews that you don't normally walk around in a see-through georgette skirt and leotard. Apparently they've seen it all before and worse.
But personally I'm going to make sure that I'm not caught out in public in just a skating skirt, just so that next time my car gets smashed up on the way home from the rink I dont' have to explain to the police that I don't normally dress like that (although with the amount of time spent skating it probably is closer to the norm...).

[kayskate]

Easy answer: Get a wrap skirt and wrap it over your leggings. I used to do this a lot. Now I just wear pants, but that is mainly b/c most of my skating is coaching or skating before/after coaching. You can always take the skirt off if you want to.

Kay

[Laura H]

I started out in jeans (I know, I know) and quickly switched to yoga pants and then once I started working on spins (particularly BACKSPIN) I started wearing skirts/tights more often. I don't really notice being any colder wearing tights/skirts but I do wear the heavyweight Mondor tights (and our rink, so they say, is a "warmer" one). If I know I'm going to be working on spins a lot, I will usually opt for the skirt because I have gotten myself tangled up one too many times while wearing the pants!

[Skate@Delaware]

I have two pair of pants/leggings that I wear...One is a heavyweight stretch polarfleece that I made (wore it to adult skate camp this year) for my COLD rink and my regular under armour tights/leggings for my regular WARM rink.

I only switch to a dress when it's close to a competition (or dress rehearsal) so I can get used to the feel of a dress. 8O

[doubletoe]

Except on the VERY rare occasion when I feel like being "cute", I always wear stretch pants. My legs are warmer, I don't risk getting runs in my tights, and I can stop somewhere on the way home without feeling awkward and embarrassed.

[isakswings]

I skated in track pants if I wasn't wearing a skirt until I learned my backspin. The first time I caught my blade in them and half pantsed myself they were banished. Leggings only!

Good to know! Dd is working on her backspin and has a lesson tonight. I was going to let her wear her track pants tonight. Maybe I will re-think that one!

[AgnesNitt]

Trousers only. I have thighs like Christmas hams.

[LilJen]

If you want skirts with boycut briefs underneath, look at dancewear sites. Only drawback is that dancewear tends to run small (even smaller than skatewear--although there may be women's sizes out there).
Examples:
http://www.discountdance.com/frame_set.php3?mf=/dancewear/skirts/page1
http://www.nydancewear.com/index.cfm?&npageid=14&nproductid=1537&nmodmode19=show_detail&nstartcatid=137

[NCSkater02]

I usually wear two pairs of tights and a skirt/dress. Like somebody said, it just makes me feel like a skater. I occasionally will wear a pair of runners tights, but only once in a while.

[ibreakhearts66]

It totally depends on my mood/what's clean :lol: If I wear pants, I wear Se_ku leggins with 1-2 pairs of tights underneath (footed and OTB, usually). If I wear a skirt, I wear 2-3 pairs of tights (sometimes footed and two pairs OTB, sometimes footed, footless and OTB, sometimes footed and OTB or sometimes footed and sweater tights), but usually 3 pairs. I don't find that layering tights makes much of a difference in making my thighs look larger, perhaps because wearing several pairs of tights sucks you in, too. Occaisonally I'll practice in spandex UA shorts and wear 2-3 pairs of tights.

Lately I've been wearing leggings more than skirts, but that's mostly because I wear a work-out top with the leggings so that I don't totally fry doing off-ice training in the 100+ degree weather.

Honestly, I never judge a skater based on if they're wearing pants or a skirt/dress. The only time what a skater is wearing really crosses my mind is if they're wearing flared pants (I get extremely nervous for them after catching my blade way too many times) or a super stoned, expensive looking dress (and even then I usually just think, "Oh, that's pretty. New competition dress?")

Better to have something to change into than to explain to the police, fire brigade and ambulance crews that you don't normally walk around in a see-through georgette skirt and leotard. Apparently they've seen it all before and worse.
But personally I'm going to make sure that I'm not caught out in public in just a skating skirt, just so that next time my car gets smashed up on the way home from the rink I dont' have to explain to the police that I don't normally dress like that (although with the amount of time spent skating it probably is closer to the norm...).

:lol: I got pulled over a few months ago while wearing a hot pink, sleeveless skating dress. The best part? I had to go into my trunk to get my wallet with my license. Not as good as your story, but it was pretty embarrassing. I didn't even attempt to explain--I was trying too hard not to have a panic attack (first time being pulled over).

[Kat12]

Yep, I was definitely planning on dance or running skorts (which also have the benefit of being CHEAPER!), or just any short skirt with my dance briefs underneath. I can't sew, but if I wanted the briefs attached, it can't be that hard to attach a pair of dance briefs or shorts under a skirt (and if it is, I'll just take them to a place that does alterations and pay them ten bucks to do it, big deal).

I actually saw a really nifty plaid pleated skirt at a vintage clothing store a while back and thought of buying it for skating, then thought, "nah..." Ever since I've been wishing I had, lol.

[teresa]

We do sound like we have a common mind set on skirts katz12. =-)

teresa

[katz in boots]

I skated in track pants if I wasn't wearing a skirt until I learned my backspin. The first time I caught my blade in them and half pantsed myself they were banished. Leggings only!

Yep, backspins do that to folks. I certainly switched to closer fitting pants after some nasty falls. I've still managed to shred a pair of those though :roll:

[Morgail]

I wear both. It depends on my mood and what I have clean. Feeling chubby at the moment, so I'm in more a pants mood:lol:

[SkatEn]

Does anyone have something to recommend that doesn't tear, doesn't have holes, gets dry fast, and is warm? My frosty tights are getting holes from the boot area and from when I jab myself/slice the pants :lol:

Once I wore a skirt (when i was at 2ft spin), and I fell and slid as I was going backwards. The skirt got pulled down.

No. More. Skirts. :giveup:

[LilJen]

Sigh. I tore my favorite pants this morning. I already took in the lower half of them a while back due to a spectacular fall while dancing. Now I guess I have to patch them, and stop wearing them while I'm working on my backspin in earnest. But I dislike wearing leggings because, like Agnes, I have thighs like Christmas hams; skirts tend to make me feel like I ought to be a lot better than I am, and I actually like looking slouchy (apparel-wise, not skating wise).

[TiggerTooSkates]

Picked up some Under Armour at the outlet in Myrtle Beach a couple of months ago and am totally in love with it.

I've been running in addition to the high amount of skating I've been doing lately (headed back to the active duty Air Force in October, so I've sort of been forced into it) and I have to brag on my "skater butt" that is toning up very nicely - in the last year I've dropped about twenty pounds and feel the need to wave my own flag a bit...

[coskater64]

I wear the low rise lulu lemon pants with the straight leg, and tights and footless wool tights underneath. Generally I have 3 layers on top with a tank, then short sleeve and on top a fleece. I prefer the pants for practice, but start wearing dresses the week before a comp.

Dressess are nice I just have to be in that "pretty girl" mood to wear them. For years I wandered around the CU Boulder campus in dresses, I got a lot of looks.

8O

[happysk8tes]

I'm enjoying wearing skirts this summer. My favorite is a black Patagonia knee length skirt, great to wear with pretty sweaters. But when fall/winter comes, I'll be back in pants with silk longjohns underneath. These New Hampshire rinks are cold!

Pat

[niupartyangel]

I usually wear my Se_ku pants or the UA Frosty tights and Mondor footed tights or knee highs underneath them...if the rink feels chillier than usual I add leg warmers (by Harmonie, got them at DiscountDance site).

I have a pair of Lululemon pants but they are the flared ones, I think they are called the Groove pants...I have stopped wearing them when I started learning backspins since I have taken a nasty fall although the pants didn't rip :) thank goodness lol. I do like the Se_kus, they fit really well and have held up nicely in the wash and doesn't leave me with a wet butt after falls. When I pass my pre-bronze tests in a couple months I'll definitely reward myself with another pair! There was a sale on the Se_ku site on the dresses, I got one to wear for my test since it is cuter than the other designs I found elsewhere.

I like wearing skirts too but I have to be in a certain mood to wear them...usually on my Tuesday late afternoon freestyles...I can't gather the enthusiam to put them on at 5:40 AM in Saturdays, lol....I have the ones by Jerry's with the flat skirt that have the slits on the sides. I wear two pairs of tights with them (one footed, one footless).

[xgskate]

Pants. I am a guy.

I left blade did get tangled a few times during the exit of a backspin or a jump. But I think this is a good reminder that I did something wrong.

[fsk8r]

Pants. I am a guy.


when has being a guy stopped anyone wearing a skirt? John Kerr wore a kilt for their Original Dance last season, but he is Scottish.

[xgskate]

He wore shorts inside when he did that. Not that Scottish.

when has being a guy stopped anyone wearing a skirt? John Kerr wore a kilt for their Original Dance last season, but he is Scottish.

[aussieskater]

He wore shorts inside when he did that. Not that Scottish.
Coward. :P

[caffn8me]

I would imagine that a hard fall on ice in a kilt without any underwear might be something of a "procreation limiting event"

Sarah

PS - I wore a skirt on the ice for the first time on Friday. It won't be the last time (actually, my coach insists on skirts for some tests but I'm not that good yet)

[Kat12]

Ooh, I really want a pair of the Frosty tights after you've all raved on them so much. But I also don't want to spend $50 on a pair of pants....esp. not any time soon. There are so many different things I need to spend money on soon (better locks, etc. for my bike, a new chain for my cross pendant I wear all the time and have hated being without for the few weeks it's been since I broke the last one, etc.). Not to mention all the medical and dental bills I'm about to rack up! I keep looking on eBay but no dice. A while back there was a seller who was selling some that were new but had defects...and I figured, I can spend ten bucks at the alterations place to get a pair of pants for fifteen bucks or less!

I really need to go to the local sports store and try some on first, though. The size chart says a small should fit me but I've seen them in the store and they look tiny! I know they stretch but I don't think I want to spend an entire skating session picking wedgies, lol. So I'm thinking the medium would work better for me (besides, I have a big butt so anything I can do to accommodate that works for me. My hip size is still smaller than the hip size in the size charts for the smalls, but I find that hard to believe).

[niupartyangel]

^^

If you are in the US, try looking at Nordstrom Rack because they usually have a lot of Under Armour on sale. I paid full price for my Frosty tights but realized that they have them at the Rack, albeit in random colors (blue, gray, etc) but you might luck out. I also got an UA Coldgear turtle neck on sale at the regular Nordstrom for about $30 and they are usually about $50 too.

Also I think UA has an "outlet" section on their site so that could be another place to look.

[Kat12]

^I'll have to try Nordstrom Rack.

One thing I did figure out, if looking at myself in the mirror in footless tights is any indication...I NEED to find a skirt to wear over top because stuff that tight makes my butt look GINORMOUS! LOL.

My dream is a plain black box skirt with red lining, but unless I make my own, no luck. Sewing with lycra is really hard, right?

[slusher]

I'm a diehard skirt girl, but do not wear dresses unless I have to. They take too long to get off when I have to pee 8O

There's a couple of public skates where I get weird looks if I wear a skirt, so I've got a pair of pants in my bag and wear a wrap skirt overtop. I bought a stretch mesh skirt from a local skater/dressmaker. It's actually too thin to wear on it's own with tights because I don't like the panty showing so it's perfect with pants.

There's something about seeing the skirt flying while I spin, if I don't wear a skirt and then start again, I get distracted by my skirt. I've got too much other stuff to worry about than that. The whole diehard skirt thing started during a dance test, when for the first time I wore a full out dance dress, and spent the entire warm up admiring my skirt. Ooooh it was pretty and fluffy! My coach was going to kill me - after the test.

[katz in boots]

Sewing with lycra is really hard, right?

I've never thought so. Indeed these days I prefer it, finding it more forgiving of slight inaccuracies than non-stretch fabric. If you have a sewing machine with an over-edge stitch, or even a zig-zag, it is usually not too difficult to work with.
Hemming isn't so easy on a sewing maching, I have used a very small, short zig-zag to replicate the rolled hem effect I can get on my overlocker (serger).

[Kat12]

^How would I do a hem on double layers, though? I mean, if I were to do the black-lined-with-red? My mom's machine does not have a serger, if I remember correctly... Would I do it the same way I'd do with non-stretchy fabric?

[antmanb]

I would imagine that a hard fall on ice in a kilt without any underwear might be something of a "procreation limiting event"

Sarah


:lol: :lol: So can wearing inappropriate underwear :lol: :lol:

Ant

[Clarice]

^How would I do a hem on double layers, though? I mean, if I were to do the black-lined-with-red? My mom's machine does not have a serger, if I remember correctly... Would I do it the same way I'd do with non-stretchy fabric?

Lycra doesn't ravel, so you don't have to hem - you can just cut the layers to length. I've also done a lined box skirt where I stitched the two layers right sides together, then turned them right sides out and treated them as one piece when finishing the skirt. It looked very nice, but you need to know the exact finished length before you start.

[Kat12]

Hrm....maybe I could even make it reversible!

I'm liking the idea of making my own more and more...then I can make it however I want. I like the box skirt design, but I don't want to shell out $40 to buy one, and haven't found any dance skirts I like quite as well--I like the high slits (I decided I don't need a skort as I can just wear dance briefs underneath when I want to wear just the skirt, and then I won't have 20 dorky layers if I wear it over pants). We'll see if I can convince my mom to help me...I'm not sure she's that ambitious!!

I know that out there, somewhere, there are skating patterns, and surely there is one for a box skirt...anyone know any good links? I found a couple by Kwik-Sew that may work.