A Love Letter to Skateboard Fashion
I don’t skate, but thanks to the 2003 movie Grind I wanted to be a part of the scene even if just on the sidelines. And sure enough I was on the sidelines, watching friends or videos of people doing tricks. I once watched a video of a guy skating off the roof top of a house and he landed on his knees. Goodbye skateboarding dreams, hello life-long phobia of breaking my knees! Hanging out with my cousin who skated put me in close proximity to the skaters, but also being in the music scene in my hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. Imagine me as Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird eyeing Timothée Chalamet, but I was eyeing the drummer. The lines between skaters, punks, and scene kids were blurred and so was the fashion. This wasn’t particular to my generation. Michael J. Fox’s Marty McFly in Back to the Future 2 contributed punk vibes to the skater fashion and it stayed strong. Sixteen years after that movie came out, I’m buying my first pair of Vans (not the checkered ones, the ones covered in stars cause I had to be original) and rocking graphic tees with characters and logos from the 80’s.
In the i-D March 2018 article 'Skateboarding is Not a Fashion' Tracks the Colorful History of Skate Apparel by André-Naquian Wheeler, he writes that we all wear skating apparel, “sk8er boi or not.” (I’m cringing that our generation used to text that way!) My teenage years were proof to the truth of that statement, but I didn’t just step into the world of skateboarding fashion, I also watched it change.
I was in high school when skinny jeans just came into the fashion scene and one by one, girls were throwing out their 90’s flares. The skater boys also took on the trend, trading in the uniform of baggy Dickies pants for skinny jeans. However, skinny jeans weren’t being made for guys yet so skater boys were wearing girl’s skinny jeans. I remember a friend explaining to me how skating in skinny jeans was so much better because baggy pants would catch the wind and it was easier to do tricks without the extra fabric. He even demonstrated on a pair of baggy jeans, wrapping the extra fabric around his legs, “See, aerodynamics!”
There was also that time when the most popular skater in my high school confronted me about my tight pants. I LOL hard at Jimmy Fallon and Will Farrell’s Tight Pants skit cause that was real life for me. I recall this moment like it was a scene from a movie (because I’m drama). I had just walked through the front doors of my school when, from the hall to my right, Zach Dyke walked right up to me and said, “I will be the one to wear the skinniest jeans in this school!” Deadass this boy confronted me about the size of my skinny jeans! I responded, “Try fitting into a size zero.” Buddy muttered under his breath as he turned away, “I’ll be the one to wear the skinniest jeans.” And I watched him walk away, squared shoulders, confidence in his step, and heart shaped pockets on his ass cheeks cause he was most definitely wearing girls’ jeans.
It was fun to watch the skateboarding events at the Olympics. It brought up all sorts of fun skateboarding memories for Jordan and I (we were both too scared to go all in, but we sure loved Tony Hawk Pro Skater). With skateboarding on a more visible competition stage, I questioned what changes would come to skateboarding socially and as a competitive sport, but most importantly how would the fashion change yet again. I didn’t see a single athlete compete in skinny jeans. Maybe that trend is dead for skaters, though when I was hiking Blue Lake I did see a teenage boy in skinny jeans and I thought, “that kid is a skater and has zero interest in being on this steep hike,” evident that the rest of his family was dressed in proper hiking attire.
All the pro skaters I spent hours and hours watching, both at the Olympics and videos on Instagram, (hey Nyjah, hey Rayssa, and hey four year old skater Rita Ishizuka) skate in baggy pants and shorts. Perhaps aerodynamics was never an issue. The baggy pants weren’t the only fashion trend I noticed. Rayssa’s straight legged cargo pants and sport bra look definitely had cool girl and badassery vibes. There’s also the layers of gold chained necklaces as seen on Margielyn Didal of the Philippines and Alexis Sablone of the US.
Now let’s talk shoes, cause you know I love shoes. I paid more attention to the shoes in those slow-mo replays during the street event. Nike, Addias, and Vans know what’s up and totes took advantage of the opportunity. And I just happen to be the fool of a consumer who is their target audience. When Nyjah posted on his Instagram that his shoes were available, I screamed and added it immediately to my cart. I. AM. A. SUCKER. For good marketing and good shoes. And I bought two pairs. One for Jordan and one for me. No shame.
Skateboarding fashion is back on the rise with it being more widely accepted and accessible. Hopefully you won’t have to come across anyone hogging the trend. Cause if there’s anything I got from my time as a teenager wishing I could skate was that I, a non-skater, was always welcomed. Done are the days of calling people out for being posers. We like what we like. André-Naquian Wheeler said about skating apparel today, “It has come to represent a casual — but not try hard — coolness.” We all just wanna embody that casual coolness, right? But I think the trick is the not-try-hard part. That kind of coolness can be anything from jeans and a tee look to glam like longboard skater Valeriya Gogunskaya. Let’s not forget Rayssa’s fairy wings coolness got her noticed by Tony Hawk. So you know, you do you and it’ll eventually be in the skateboarding fashion history books.
Did skateboarding have an influence in your life? What skateboarding trends are you interested in adding to your wardrobe?
Illustration of Rayssa Leal by Victoria-Riza. Shop for the original artwork and other 2020 Olympic illustrations here.
