is it ok to wear a dress that is right below the knee for testing (prejuvenile level)?

While it's probably "okay", IMO it's not preferable. That long a dress & the judges can't see your knees or your leg lines. Even for dance we generally stay above the knee.

I've seen it done for religious reasons.

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I prefer that longer skirts be kept to dance, synchro, and artistic if it works with a program.

If you're talking about a moves test, I think it'll be OK--there are a lot of people who don't do any freestyle, they just do ice dancing and moves, or who have to do moves because of synchro. So they end up wearing longer skirts for tests (when I was still skating synchro, I pretty much never bought a dress outside of our team practice attire, official practice dresses, and competition dresses).

If it's for freestyle, be cautious of it getting in the way, since you do have a camel-sit on the pre-juv free test.

It also depends a lot on what the skirt is made of. If it's a light flowy chiffon or mesh, that will be better than a heavy lycra of velvet skirt. I don't even know how you'd do freestyle in a knee length velvet skirt.

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It's very difficult, lol. The first skating dress I made was a cheerleader dress (no panties) pattern. Heavy, long velvet with beautiful pink beading trailing from shoulder to skirt. Took me over a month to sew and bead it. I hated that dress - it wasn't stretch velvet and it was soooo uncomfortable. I was relieved when the dry cleaning (it wasn't washable) ruined the beading.

I took my moves and freestyle tests in stretch pants with a turtleneck and a long sweater. I was obsessing about wearing a dress or skirt, but decided against it at the last minute.

That said, just below the knee does seem a bit on the long side for a Pre-Juv moves or freestyle test, just because of the movement and viewable line needed. If it is being worn for religious beliefs, her coach should advise the test chair in advance.

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If it's not for religious reasons, and just "covering up"- it seems (to me) that a nicer presentation would be leggings with a short wrap skirt over it. That way the "look" of a short skirt is there, everything is covered up, and the leggings insure the line can still be seen.

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I think that is a good idea too - leggings with wrap skirt. I wore a dress (leotard and chiffon Georgette bottom) for adult pre-bronze FS and bronze moves tests. It's not knee length, but definitely hit lower than mid-thighs. I felt more difficult to spin wearing that dress.

froggy, you might have more power going into a spin. Then that won't be a problem for you.

I'm going to be honest here, and I may get flamed for it, but:

If your religion is such that you have to wear a knee-length skirt to skate, how can you skate? I mean, any sort of spin or jump that will lift the skirt, or any move like a spiral or camel spin, will negate the length of the skirt instantly...your modesty is only as good as your briefs.

No flames here, but I teach orthodox Jewish girls all the time. I tell them to wear a loose fitting skirt as short as they are comfortable with (which means just below the knees) and to wear leggings under it. That solves the modesty problem. Guess what they all love to do? Spirals!

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I guess I'm used to conservative Christians, who would also see the leggings ("women shouldn't wear pants") and the spirals (they'd probably say "exhibiting the crotch area") as immodest...

Although I've also seen the "women shouldn't wear pants" people recommending to wear leggings under long skirts in winter to keep warm, so who knows. I don't pretend to understand what goes on in their heads, I can just usually guess what they'd think of X, Y, or Z...

no flames, but point well made and good for an open discussion. I agree with you but only to a certain extent. You are right, even with a skirt right below the knee or whatever it is, certain moves will reveal what is normaly covered by the skirt the skater is wearing--each person has their own level of comfort..observance etc. in what they show and that is a personal decision. It may be that a person will be ok with or lenient with their standards while performing a move but otherwise they want to maintain their clothing modesty the rest of the time, basically it's not an 'all or nothing' type of situation.


that is ironic they love the spirals. but just so you know in case you are not familiar, according to Jewish law with regard to attire....women amongst eachother can dress however they like (ie: swimming in bathing suits are 100% ok).


btw just a thought and observation..if you look at old photos of female skaters you'll see as the decades moved on in skating the skirts got shorter and shorter. Come to think of it, fashion in general has chaged signficantly over time. What is acceptable today, years ago would be shunned.

happy skating to all!!

A Moslem skater I knew once always wore trousers, and to her first competition she wore a lovely trouser-suit type thing and looked super - only snag was, the referee insisted she wore a skirt (I think it was when you could wear trousers for free but not for dance, and she was competing dance), so she had to quickly borrow a wrap skirt from someone to wear over the top, which totally spoilt the effect, poor her. I felt very sorry for her, as it threw her completely and she didn't skate her best.

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Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

I had the same thought. Sonja Henie was daring to wear such short skirts.


There is a Christian family at our rink whose daughters (and son) have been in my group classes. I love these kids - they are sweet, friendly, and dedicated to skating. The girls always wear knee-length skirts with heavy tights. Hasn't slowed them down a bit. One of the little ones *loves* to do spirals, another is the self-taught spreadeagle queen.

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At the Jewish community center here, I see Orthodox women girls in the gym all the time, or girls playing sports in the fields outside or at the area schools. They just wear loose cotton skirts and leggings. It doesn't stop them from running or playing racquetball or anything everyone else does. They just have to stick to the designated women only time at the pool for swimming. (We actually have a women's only area of the gym too, except you have to go through the rest of the center to get to it, there isn't a direct way from the locker room to the women's area, so I think that kind of defeats the purpose of working out in whatever they want. Unless they just take the skirt off when they get there.)

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything