Since I’m not on TikTok I feel a little behind on this roller skating trend that has tons of young girls learning to skate… and I am 100% here for it!
Back in my day, it was our mom (or another family member) who taught us how to roller skate because skating was IT when I was a kid, but now you can learn by watching youtube!
In the last few months it seems like every time I check Instagram reels, I’m bombarded with girls rolling skating and it had me itching to get back on my skates! A few weeks ago, in between snow storms, I made it to my storage unit and grabbed my old skates, which were technically new, but never worn.
I think the last time I skated was at my 30th birthday, an 80s themed roller rink party where I wore a pair of skates I found at a thrift store that were a little too big on me as well. They never felt comfortable to skate in because they didn’t fit right. I recall them sitting in my garage until I moved in 2019 and now I’m not sure where they ended up actually. But sometime in the last 14 years I bought a fresh new pair of skates for myself for the very first time… but living in the mountains, I never thought I’d have a chance to wear them, so they’ve been sitting in their box ever since.
If I remember correctly, my first pair of skates had a white boot and very narrow, very METAL wheels (like the photo above on the left). Yes, I’m that old. Can you imagine skating on metal wheels? The vibration from the metal on sidewalks made my feet go numb… but I didn’t care 🙂
I later moved onto a cool pair of vinyl white boots with a red and blue stripe on the side (like the ones above) and wore them until I wore them out and probably grew out of them as well. From that point on, the only skates I remember having were the typical white boot with the hot pink wheels. There really weren’t many other options back then, so when it came time to buy new ones in the last decade or so, I went with what I knew, which are the Chicago 800s that I’m wearing in these photos. NOTE: The 800 series have Urethane wheels, which aren’t the best set but they’re better than the plastic versions you get on the cheaper models sold in most stores like Target, etc. but at around $65 are a super affordable pair of skates that will get you rollin’.
I’ve honestly never had a really great pair of skates with nice wheels, I just rolled on whatever I had and they’ve always worked fine, but now that I can, I want to invest in a really nice pair of skates and wheels just to see what the difference is and feel how they roll…. so I’ve been researching like crazy to find the perfect pair of roller skates.
Since there aren’t any skate shops nearby, I had to hit the online stores and my first thought was Moxi skates, since they seem to be the trendiest and most popular skate at the moment, but sadly, they’re sold out everywhere, which ended up being a blessing because as I started looking elsewhere and watching comparison reviews, I realized that I need more ankle support than Moxi offers in their Lolly outdoor skate, the one I was most interested in.
After researching and watching what felt like 100 roller skate reviews on youtube I finally decided on Moonlight Rollers and went with the light grey suede skates called Mirror Ball and I am so excited to get them. I went with Moonlight for a few reasons; first, I liked the look of the skates and though all the bright colored skates are fun, I really like the grey suede because I won’t feel the need to match all my outfits to my brightly colored skates because I don’t really tend to wear bright colors anyway, so it was between the black boot and the grey and I went with grey. Based on all the reviews, these are SUPER COMFORTABLE boots, with ample padding and great ankle support, which I need. I’ve always skated on an aluminum plate, so I liked that too and they have good bearings and pretty good wheels (though I did purchase new outdoor wheels too) and I have heard only good things about these skates, even though they’re a newer brand.
S H O P // Moonlight Roller Skates – Moon Boots
F O L L O W // @moonlightroller on Instagram
If you follow my Instagram/reels (which I’m loving creating right now) you’ll know that I’ve been skating in my house for the last few weeks because of the snow and this obsession I’m having with skating right now, but I’ve been DYING to get to Dogwood to be able to skate in a bigger area and since we have laminate floors, and I’ve only skated indoors on my skates, I knew it wouldn’t harm the floors. Well finally last Saturday night I had my chance since another snow storm hit and we were closed for business… It was the perfect time to try it out (and this is one of the perks of being a business owner lol). My friend Michelle was itching to get out too, so she grabbed her skates and picked me up and we headed to our makeshift roller rink for the night and had A BLAST!!!
What I’m Wearing…
* Dogwood hoodie (in a size M) so it’s a little oversized (but not really – I’m 5’7″ and I prefer this size), but very comfy. I have the black one in a small and I like the way it fits as well, but it runs a little short – unisex sizing
* VS foldover yoga leggings. I haven’t bought a new pair of these in ages, but these remain my favorite leggings of all time. Hopefully they haven’t changed the make/fabric, etc. because I need a few new pairs. During my office renovation, I splattered paint on two pairs.
* Puffer jacket from Burton a few years ago (see it here too)
* Snow boots by Crocs, also old
* Chicago 800 skates which honestly, for the price are fantastic (SIZE DOWN! I wear a woman’s US 9 and I get an 8 in skates) – but I ordered the Moonlight Roller skates and am waiting for them to arrive! At this point I kind of want to try ALL THE DIFFERENT brands of skates just to see, but I’ll start with these.
* Title: Melanie-Brand New Key
All photos captured by Michelle, who is a realtor up here and knows her stuff! She’s constantly talking on her IG stories about real estate and the market and has tons of great mountain advice. PS. She was my realtor when I sold my house.
Also… this is how much snow we’ve gotten from a different perspective in front of Dogwood… I’m surrounded by snow walls!
Happy Monday Lovecats!
For reference, I’ve linked the post below because I was roller blading in the Secret Deodorant commercial I did way back when I was 19 and I remember BEGGING AND PLEADING with the producers to use roller skates instead because I thought they were so much cooler, lol… however, back in the late ’90s when I filmed this, everyone was rollerblading – but me, though I did it well enough for the commercial 😆
In either case, skating is a really fun way to exercise and have fun at the same time. It is definitely physically AND mentally stimulating. If you’re timid or a beginner, be sure to get your protective gear including a helmet!
