The Ultimate Ice Skating Guide: Where To Go, What To Wear, And Celeb Skating Tips

Some Advice If You're A Newbie

A trained figure skater, Rachel McAdams shared this professional advice:

“My skating coach always said to me, ‘You’d be a lot better if you were dumb,’ because you can’t let your brain get in the way. And I think it’s the same thing with acting – you have to do a lot of thinking before you get there, but once you do, you have to give yourself over to the universe and not think too much.” [Via]

Michelle Trachtenberg learned how to ice skate for her role in Ice Princess.

“Ice skating is very difficult. It takes a lot of discipline and a lot of hard work. It's fun, but you are there on the ice every morning freezing and trying to do these moves and these tricks.” [Via]

Amy Poehler also shares her experience learning how to skate for her role in Blades of Glory.

“I remember my skating coach saying, ‘whatever you do, don’t skate through the pain.’ And I said, oh I will not skate through the pain, I promise! The minute I feel pain, you will be the first to know.” [Via]

Poehler's Blades of Glory co-star, Will Ferrell, shared this tidbit during a skating session with Meredith Viera:

"It was pretty intense. We did a good two to three months of skating, three days a week. Enough where we could at least stand on skates and not local totally pathetic. And now I'm a complete professional."

Vera Wang is also a trained skater who models her dresses after the clothing she grew up wearing on ice.

"I've been designing since I was 8. I started sketching dresses I could wear when skating. I was always involved in all aspects of skating, not just the technique, the choreography, the music, but the visual aspects, too - what I should wear." [Via]

Even Jill Zarin says that she's not afraid to get on the ice, but she has a warning for first-timers:

“If you’re going to try something new, you’re going to fall…but I have been ice skating since I was 9.” [Via]

[Photos via]