Skateland

My friend CC Ruth and I were exploring Arizona together, taking photos and being excellent tourists as we are apt to do. We discovered Skateland while driving around looking for a place to shoot this outfit. Its 80s colour palette was like a sirens call but when we observed the Memphis style architectural features we were even more thrilled.

As per usual I am behind on posting old editorials from waaaaay back when. (This is a bad habit I have committed to addressing and rectifying this year as per my 10 things to accomplish in 2025 post.) These Skateland photos were shot in February 2020 right before the world fell apart. 

Memphis Group Meets Desert

For those who aren’t familiar, the Memphis Group is an Italian design collective that pioneered and popularized a very zany version of post-modernist design in the 1980s. It was known for bold shapes, colours, and patterns.

Many of my favourite quirky home decor items from IKEA in the 90s look like they were directly inspired by the movement. There’s something so absurdist and playful about their designs much like this roller rink in suburban Arizona.

Cowgirl of Skateland

Very little about my outfit feels like it belongs at the Memphis-esque Skateland. It could be argued that my tasseled jacket is a vintage piece from the 1980s and thus, timeline wise, is at home at a 1980s roller rink. Both of which are relics from another era and I’m pleased have survived.

Roller Disco

Sadly we did not actually go inside Skateland though I like to think the interior is just as magnificent as the facade. In retrospect, I really regret not going inside for a gander and a skate.

 Back home in Edmonton, my favourite roller rink, Sportsworld Roller Disco, shut down a few years ago to make space for a new subdivision. Though I am pro-housing, I do give the new beige buildings the stink eye whenever I drive by. To this day, I still have my membership to Sportsworld kicking around.

I should really make a post about the final time I went skating there. Picture this: me dressed up in a 1970s polyester jumpsuit gliding around to ELO’s Evil Woman. Absolute perfection.

Outfit Details

HAT – Bailey’s of Hollywood – c/o
JACKET – Thrifted vintage
TANK TOP – Club Monaco from the early 2000s
BELT – Thrifted vintage
SHORTS – Thrifted
BOOTS – Aldo – c/o

Adventures in Skateland

If I ever return to Arizona, I will for sure be adding this to my list of things to do. And after skating my heart out at Skateland, I can head over to Organ Stop Pizza like I’ve always dreamed of too. Yes, I want to be serenading with a GIGANTIC organ while eating pizza, I cannot think of a better dining experience than that.

photographs – cc ruth + sandy joe karpetz