Polyester is polyester is polyester - Or is it?

This is Article 3 of 4 on the history of Running Fashion
Article 1, Article 2, Article 3, Article 4

Dabbling in the technical apparel industry has given me a unique perspective on the activewear scene. I do love to learn and it surprises me sometimes what power marketing holds. For example, I found myself snickering one lovely summer day when a rather arrogant runner tugged on the sleeve of a techie top, turned her head and walked away from it rather snobishly. I inquired into her strange behavior and was told that what I thought was an "uber-ly cool" tech top was rejected as inferior because it was "made of polyester." If this gal only knew that our running gear is primarily made of either a nylon/elastine or polyester/elastine blend she would have seen more value in the top.

Of course, trademarking and marketing assign "uber-ly cool" terms to nylon or polyester that we are sometimes tricked into believing one material is superior to another. This is not to say that some technical fabrics are not superior to others. Techie materials are a HUGE business and span the range of applications from fire fighting to military to white water paddling to running and everything in between.

And let's not forget that the development of spandex by Dupont and its subsequent mass production in the seventies and beyond was also picked up by mainstream fashion. Here are two examples I absolutely love of the "inter-mingling" of fashion and the "techie" textile industry (i.e. if we claim spandex and other synthetic fibres as best suited for functional applications):

1) Following on the heels of the matching top with bottom tracksuit trend of the sixties (nylon being the fabric of choice for this trend), stretch velour became all the rage in the seventies under the guise of "exceptionally sexy party gear"

2) Princess Diana reportedly used expedition underwear made of chlorofibres as a base layer in cold weather so that she could wear much lighter, fashionable garments on top

Back to synthetic fibres and their functional application, the inventions of nylon and spandex also infiltrated the running industry. At least this was the case for top performing athletes in the seventies and eighties when synthetic fibres were first being mass produced:



The photo on the left is dated 1984 and the photo on the right, 1979. Both items of clothing appear to be constructed of nylon fibres.

Compare these outfits with those of the twenties and thirties in these photos here that are most likely derived from cotton.

In my next post I'll look at runners' wear in the nineties and beyond and how marketing influenced and changed what we wear.