What I’m Wearing…
* Victoria’s Secret foldover leggings… if you read my post last week wherein I was ALSO wearing leggings, you’d know I went on and on about how much I loved VS foldover leggings and how I finally just bought 3 new pairs… well, this is one of them, and I am so happy to say they are exactly the same as they used to be. They’re just the best, for me anyway. I bought two pairs of solid black and this pair with a little light leopard foldover band, which I thought was pretty cute, even though I did get a DM asking if I was pregnant. L.O.L. so maybe avoid the light colors if you’re going to buy any. 😉 Anyway, I wore this to skate in last Friday afternoon and was HOT, which is a good thing, but I still can’t really bring myself to skate in anything but stretchy workout clothes or sweats or my coveralls, but we’ll see. Summer is coming 🙂
* Cropped sweatshirt in “sugar plum” which is like a dusty rose/mauve color… I bought this in three colors from Amazon for around $24 and LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. It’s very short, obviously, and actually thought I’d wear it high waist sweats (or jeans), which is why I ended up wearing a longer tank under it here because I just am not ready for that much skin to show. It’s really thick and cute though, with the seams on the outside and puffy-ish sleeves. I’m wearing a small, for reference, I’m 5’7″
* Old black tank (so old I think it’s from Gap body collection which I’m not sure even exists anymore)
* ROLLER SKATES. In the midst of all my roller skate mania last month and trying to find the perfect boot/fit, I bought these Moxi Panthers and kind of love them. They fit so much differently than my pink Moxi Lolly’s, which is what I wanted, a more supportive boot that fits tighter.
My main issue with skates is that I like a tight boot and my foot is technically a 7.5 in skates (10″), but skates don’t generally come in half sizes and I have to buy a size 8 (my regular shoe size is a US 9) and the only skates that come in half sizes (besides custom orders, that just aren’t happening right now because of the demand for skates) are the Moxi Jack Boots, which are $279 just for the boot ($379 for special colors) and then you have to buy everything separately and put them together, which I was willing to do, even though it would have cost around $600, which yes is a bit crazy, BUT Jack boots rarely become available. Fritzy’s dropped a few sizes last month, but I didn’t catch them in time… which actually turned out to be a good thing because I watched a video where Estro Jen (the owner/creator of Moxi) said the Panthers are the closest to the Jack boot and I was SOLD. Also, they’re $219 complete, even though I spent $100 on new wheels and bearings… BUT I’m really happy with the way the boot fits.
The plate/trucks on the Panthers are lower to the ground and really only work with 57mm wheels, which is fine because I keep larger wheels on my pink Lolly’s and get an entirely different skating experience on them, so it’s fun.
I swapped the bearings and wheels for Reds and 57mm Radar Energy wheels and had Chad cut the stem of my toe stops down so I could screw them in all the way to make them shorter. Due to the smaller plate/trucks situation and smaller wheels, they sit way closer to the ground so my toe stops felt almost as long as the wheels, giving me very little dance/play room. However, since I’m not ready to take the toe stops out just yet (for fear of face-planting when I forget my stopper is not there and try to use it anyway) I wanted the shortest/smallest possible toe stop I could manage.
I bought the cute pink heart shaped “lils” toe stops from Grindstone hoping they’d be even smaller, but they’re basically the same as the ones Chad cut down for me, so I put them on my other skates for now.
If you’re wondering which skates are my favorite, I generally I reach for these black panthers or my pink Lolly’s.
* IF you want 10$ off at Fritzy’s use my code!
The Panthers come stock with leopard print laces (which I put in my pink skates) and clear glitter 57mm outdoor Moxi gummy wheels. I pretty much swap out my wheels as soon as I get new skates because the bearings make SUCH a difference. I think the wheels they came with are fine, but to get the best roll, I’d recommend REDS bearings (make sure you get the 16 pack – each wheel needs two bearings). In fact, everyone recommends them because they are the best. I tried rollerbones just to compare (because they’re about $10 less expensive) and they are definitely not as good, however, they’re better than stock bearings that come on the skates.
If you look down at the skates in the photo above, you can see how THICK this tongue is… the suede is lined with a thick rubber that I literally had to cut down on each side near the toe to get my foot in.. AND I had to wear them without socks (but with barefoot booties) the first few times skating in them to break them in a little. Now I can get my feet in with thin socks, and barefoot booties, which really help my ankle, and I have a really nice snug fit that’s comfortable AND the tongue doesn’t slip to the side.
I’ve changed up all my skates since my roller skate video review about all my skates with their stock parts and have tried all of the variations until I found the setups I’m loving and using now. I LOVE my grey moonlight rollers because they’re sooooo pretty, but they still feel so big on my feet that I don’t feel steady. I may just have to break them in so I can lace them up tighter because they’re so comfy they almost feel like Ugg boots with wheels, lol. I actually have thought about selling them because I don’t wear them, but they’re so pretty I can’t part with them just yet.
Also… since these boots are so stiff, I can loosen my trucks way more than on my Lolly’s, which I keep pretty tight since that boot is less supportive. You can see in my facing foot above how much more movement I have in this boot with a looser truck.
ANYWAY… I’m seriously loving these Panther boots and the setup I have on them now and am hoping to get good skate time in this weekend. It’s the only thing right now that literally takes my mind off of everything and makes me feel so free. It’s really a good escape, especially when I can chat with friends while rolling around and practicing my moves 🙂
Happy Friday Lovecats!
* Find all my Roller Skating posts here
* Find all my Outfit Posts here
Roller Skates Video Review – Moxi, Moonlight Rollers, BTFL & Chicago
