Hello! I'm new around here. I posted last year about trying to get my mom back into skating (after being away for 15 years!). But, I finally did it! We're starting classes just for fun (and mom/daughter bonding time) this coming week. I just wanted to know what would be appropriate for us to wear? I'm 17 and my mom is "mom age" (I'll be nice and not reveal her age ). Obviously we can't go in hot pink skating dresses, heehee! Thanks!

I like to wear jazz pants or thin jogging type pants. Then I layer the top portion with a tshirt and a fleece. Under my jazz pants i usually wear tights, though under track/jogging pants I don't as they are warm enough

Well, I'm a guy, so my options are more limited (no short skirts and tights for me!), but I see a lot of girls in what I've chosen to wear as well, which are just nylon/polyester workout pants (the ones you see people wearing with stripes down the sides), and a thin long-sleeve shirt (doesn't take long for the rink to stop seeming so cold!).

The particular brand I wear comes from Target, and you can find examples at http://www.c9bychampion.com - but this sort of athletic wear is pretty common and can be found about anywhere that sells clothes.

When I first started skating I was wearing heavy corderoys and sweaters...then stepped down to thin sweatshirts...now I know better. The wonderful thing about the pants I have now is that if I fall, I just skid across the ice so it doesn't hurt nearly as much (though if the ice has just been cut, I slide rather a long ways sometimes).

Layers! You never know what the temperature inside a rink is going to be. I've skated at rinks that were probably around 50F, and others that were more like 30F. Layer up, and then if the rink turns out to be on the warm side, you can take a few off. You'll also want to have layers you can remove once you're skating, because you should start to feel warmer once you're moving regardless of how cold the rink is.

Have fun and let us know how it goes!

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Definitely layers. And preferably leggings or jogging bottoms, not jeans - you want something that will move with you. Wear tights or thin socks underneath your trousers, and take gloves. If you are skating out of doors wear a balaclava helmet, or some kind of hat that ties on, and a microfibre fleece jacket over the top of everything.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

I have found that the longer you skate, the less you wear, at first I thought I would never feel warm in an ice rink now its the opposite, or is it my age?? Keep it up, I'm sure you will both make it to that hot little pink dress, best of luck.
G

No, I found that too, when I wore layers and really pushed myself on a patch session, and I found myself out of breath and absolutley boiling! I just wanted to lie on the ice and cool down, but I'd get a few funny looks.

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for your mom though, she might not be so comfortable in jazzpants or leggings if she's anything like my mom. i've seen people in jogging pants and regular sweatpants as well.

me, i usually wear jazzpants with nylon kneehighs and a tee shirt with a fleece zip up. in the mornings, when it's colder, i sometimes wear fleece pants, but i know some people who can't stand them. and wear gloves. if you're just learning or are learning something new, odds are you'll be falling a lot, and it's nice to have gloves to protect your hands from the cold.

just as long as what you wear can move with you and stretches, you should be fine. but a word of advice: stay away from things made out of coolmax. it's a special material that wicks the moisture away from your skin and keeps you cooler. i made the unfortunate mistake once of wearing my coolmax running pants to the rink because i thought they were my jazzpants. i am never making that mistake again.

Hmm, why? I bought some socks of the same brand as my skating garb which are coolmax - I don't wear them skating though - I found some socks of a mostly wool + nylon blend that my roomate recommended (which work very very very well, actually).

Bah, who cares about funny looks! I've done this before!

coolmax is used to keep you cooler. i guess it depends on the person. in the beginning of the session, you're still cold. you're going into this ice rink that's colder than your nice warm bed. So if you wear something that will keep you even cooler, well, for me anyway, i don't like having my legs feel like ice. You could always wear it as an underlayer i guess, and as you warm up take off the layers. that might work, but i started out the day in coolmax. I could not get warmed up for the life of me. to add onto that, it was a morning session, which for some reason are always colder, and i am always tired at those sessions which make me cold, and then coolmax? i could not get warmed up. and if you're not warmed up, it's dangersous to do any jumps or spins because of the potential to pull a muscle.

it's like you won't play any other sport without warming up first. before any hockey game, soccer game, basketball, etc. you see the players out there warming up, not really doing anything too difficult. it gets your blood pumping so you can push yourself. but in the coolmax, i could not get warmed up at all. my legs were tight the entire session.

but if you're the type of person who gets warm easily or your rink isn't too cold, you might be fine in coolmax. but me, i get cold easily. and if i'm cold to start with, and then i have coolmax clothes, i never get warm. that's why i save my coolmax for summer running and wear cotton in the winter, unless i'm in the gym.

oh, and i wanted to mention, in case it hasn't been mentioned yet, don't wear any pants with a wide bottom. you might get your blades caught on htem, or someone else could get their blades caught on them, and it could lead to nasty falls.

Thanks for all of your great ideas!!! My mom and I are excited about the class...although we both feel like we might look out of place since we are older. My mom stopped when she was on freestyle 4 or 5 and I stopped at freestyle 3. I know that there's no way I can still do half of the things I could once do, but I have a feeling it will break her heart. I just want her to have fun though. She's afraid people will laugh at her, or make fun of her. I keep telling her it's just for fun and exercise..I hope she doesn't get too worried about it!! Thanks, much love to you all!!

As the usual oldest on the ice during my rinks FS sessions, don't let that stop you. I could add up any two of the oldest and still not total my age. Oh, wait. There is one other adult, but she's 10+ years younger than me.

Then I'm ancient. I turn 50 in March, but I feel as good as if I were 30. Lessons start again for me tomorrow evening.

This stuff just keeps you young.

You totally don't want to wear socks while skating, though. Wear knee high nylons, all the other boys do it, too. Socks are horrible, horrible, horrible.

Yoga pants with a longer fleece (anorak style from Lands End cinched at the waist. Covers the but allows dignity for us of "mom's age". It let's you look like you're wearing a skirt without feeling pretentious and dressed beyond your abilities and is roomy enough to add layers underneath. If your mom made it to FS 4 or 5 she should feel comfortable in a skirt if she wants

I've been using the same socks I use in my skiboot. Anout the thickness of a tight, made by Descent, wool/synthetic blend and they come to my knee. They are thin, thin, thin. I can see my skin through the more stretched out area of the heel.

OK, not as thin as nylons, but thin none-the-less.

What would be the advantage of using nylons instead? It seems to me that the wool has a higher coeficient of friction therefore my foot has less possibility of sliding in the liner. Bare feet probably don't slide much either.

Of course you won't! There are people at our rink who are in their 70s who skate regularly, and many, many, many people don't learn until they are in their 40s or 50s. For "Returners", 60+ is quite common!

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

...If the people at your rink are anything like me, they'll think it's great and very admirable!

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Actually...bare feet have the potential to slide when they start sweating! Tried it once...will never try it again! (Poor hubby got blisters the size of craters when he had to do it once...forgot his socks. We've learned our lesson!) Some people swear by skating barefoot, though, so it's really YMMV.

I'm trying to put into words the benefit of nylons (it's what I use, even more so than skating tights). To me, it has all the best benefits of skating barefoot (the tightest boot fit possible), but that super-thin layer of fabric helps with wicking away a bit of sweat, and if there's any sliding to be done in the boot, it's between the boot leather and the nylon, not the nylon and my foot. I never get blisters with nylons. (And, I prefer them to full tights, because if I do need to get to my feet for any reason (like to adjust a gel pad or something), I can do it quickly. Only nylons and ankle tights for me, unless the rink is really, really cold--then I'll submit to the full tights underneath.)

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I'm not that far behind you--I'll be 42 in April.

I'll agree with the keeping young thing--except for days like yesterday when my head hit the ice. Those are the days I wonder why the he11 I took up a kid's sport.

I have to recommend Yoga wear. It is by far the most comfortable stuff you will find and looks great. I woudl like to recommend the greatest Yoga wear around, Lululemon. Try their site, www.lululemon.com
I know a great number of Canadian skaters are wearing it now and I only think it will grow in popularity. If you are in California, there is a store in Malibu, I believe.