Costumes & Dress Code.

The clothing any athlete wears is important. The skater should always look tidy, and suitably kitted out for the job at hand, and also has to feel comfortable and able to perform to the best of their ability. Here we take a look at a few different circumstances, and the best way to dress for them.

Training:

Some coaches like their pupils to wear specific types of clothing, but whatever the specifications, make sure you're always looking neat, and wearing clothes that are made for sports excersize. Clothing that sags, bunches, or just hangs isn't ideal, the clothing should be fitting so that the coach (choregrapher and anyone else who is involved) can see the 'lines' and the bodyshape of the skater. For instance, how will a coach know to tell their pupil to straighen their leg on a parallel spin if the skater is wearing baggy trousers and they hide the shape of the leg? So this leaves principaly two outfits available:

Leggings and a fitting top plus warm up jacket or wrap around

or

Practice dress and tights with warm up jacket or wrap around.

It's also important to stay warm before, during and after training so the skater should make sure to have multiple layers, ie. top, wrap around, tracksuit jacket, fleece jacket and so on. S/he should always keep a warm up sweater at the barrier so if they have to stop to adjust skate laces or anything of that sort they can put on a sweater to avoid getting cold.

Freestyle Competition:

In competition skaters wear a costume to suit their music and the style being interpreted. It's possible to have costumes made on demand and even designed personally by the dress-maker, most ice rinks have a resident dress-maker (more often than not this person is a skaters' mother), for want of a better title. A skater would need to approach this person to ask about prices, fabrics and all the rest. If you as a skater, are not sure who the 'resident dress maker' (for want of a better title) is, then ask a fellow skater, a pro, or a club official all of whom should be able to point you in the right direction.

If a skater doesn't want a custom made outfit, it's also possible to buy 'off-the-shelf' garments to wear, and these can be found in local skate shops. Also, there are number of good skating wear websites where you can buy online, you will find a list of links at the end of this costume guide.

Continue..