Fashion: FALL ISSUE : ON A Skate
Whether skating down the Venice bike path, tearing up city streets or jumping onto a tennis court for an impromptu hockey game, in-line skaters are suddenly a prominent part of the Los Angeles landscape.
Theirs is a new sport with a new look. But because skaters move so fast, you have to freeze the frame to find out what that look is all about.
Or, more properly, the various looks. In the last five years, in-line skating has grown from a sport with 20,000 enthusiasts to one with more than 3 million. One million-plus of those bought skates this year.
No single fashion definition encompasses the range in style. The only absolute, in fact, is one set down by serious skaters. They cringe at the mention of neon.
Ironically, the sport seems saddled with a neon image, in part because the skates invariably feature neon touches.
How do you recognize a serious skater? The women wear fitted, midriff-baring tops with tight Lycra and spandex bottoms or short but baggy volleyball shorts. Although the look may be provocative, speed skater Amy Hunter says it’s also functional.
“The fitted top is comfortable, especially because it doubles as a bra. And if you are interested in speed, it’s aerodynamic.”
Performance-driven men wear aerodynamic cycling clothes, including shirts with pockets designed to hold water bottles, which are essential for long-distance endurance skating.
Those less concerned with speed prefer baggy shorts that blow in the wind. The outfits look patched together, and there is a reason for that. “Most people come to skating after being involved in another sport. They don’t need special clothes to skate, so there’s no rationale behind someone launching a line of skate fashions,” says Jim McDowell, owner of Rip City Skates in Santa Monica.
But, he adds, skaters do need safety gear. And he advises them to buy these accessories in black. Popular choices include Rector or Cal-Pro wrist guards and Rector Performer or, for ramp and extreme skaters, Aggressor kneepads. (Few recreational skaters wear helmets.)
The final component of skate fashion is, of course, the skates. And the rule here is freewheeling: They can’t be too beat up.
“Trashed skates are a sign of honor,” says Chris Morris, Rollerblade’s Southern California sales rep and one of the country’s top skaters. “Lead skaters don’t care about dirt or rocks or scuffs--if skates look perfect, you aren’t skating hard enough.”
