Details are frilling!

Pardon the absolutely cheesy title. But have you tried to sew? Have you tried to design? Baby it's tough. It's not easy. But like other forms of artwork, the mastery is in the details. It becomes fashion or style when attention is paid to tiny details, like in the Nike skirt above or dress below.

In fact, this tennis-oriented-now-deemed-for-running Nike dress is stunning not only for the ruffle details on the skirt but for the contrast band top left. It has this Jane of Jane & Tarzan feel to it. And the blue - it's not your everyday blue. It's fresh - which is why it goes with the skirt ruffles. That's it! This dress is fresh!

Fabric Roll Call

Here is a selection of activewear fabric's I've chosen that would make my "roll call" list for production. Sassy little running skirt? Dress? Armbands?

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.

Dupont I love you!

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

Geez! Gosh! Darn! It is interesting researching the history of women's activewear but it certainly doesn't capture my attention like stumbling upon a daring new design or colour of technical fabric! Double that with the challenge of finding information particular to running clothing and I think my lovely audience would be much better off to read this wonderful piece on the history of sporting wear for women by Pauline Weston Thomas.

Needless to say, it is not only voting that women weren't allowed to do last century. Perhaps it was thought of as very unfeminine for women to engage in rowdy behavior with odd physical maneuvers. Gosh knows that I've pulled some horrid-looking, very unfeminine soccer moves on the field in my lifetime. To top it off, the thinking "back then" was that competitiveness was certainly the domain of the male, not us females (good thing I have no recollection of being alive in that era as I don't think I have an uncompetitive bone in my body).

As I mentioned, there is scant research dedicated to running clothing. Perhaps it was a rather insignificant sport at the turn of the century, at least compared to golf or tennis. Of course, womens involvement in running was just heating up in the twenties so it's no wonder the Google and Yahoo databases lack resources on archaic running fashions.

What is quasi-certain is that despite the conservative - but evolving - battles being fought by women on the tennis court in terms of what was acceptable to wear, shorts and t-shirts were already liberated on the running scene. Check out these dated photographs from outside of North America:

The image on the far left is from the Olympics in 1928 and the photo to its right is dated 1932. This next one of young girls is dated to the 1930s:

Here's where things start to heat up for us runners - the 1950s and sixties! Hello spandex and nylon! And the inter-mingling of sports and everyday wear (errr...more later on this).

Spandex liberated every sporty women's slide into home base, game-saving slide on the soccer field, climb up a jagged limestone peak or smear up a slippery rock or heck, dive into the bushes in the midst of an adventure race! Now we're talking! Spandex was our liberator and nylon paved the way to be loud and colourful and full of pretty (or neat-o) patterns in the midst of a once male-only adventure!!!

More on my next post about female liberation thanks to the development of nylon and spandex. Dupont I love you!

(Dupont was the first to hit the market with the lovely stretchy chemical invention)

You've run a long way...baby!

Fashion has come a long way and this includes the outfits women wear for sport. This turn of the century photograph illustrates my point (although the photograph of these Australian women is perhaps a bit contrived and comical).

I wouldn't doubt though that the collision of activewear and fashion is coming a bit full circle if we studied "sporting fashions" of the past.

One element of style that has surfaced in activewear is the presentation of a complete outfit. Running Skirts fall 2010 collection showcases this beautifully (view their coordinated collection here). Moeben out of California also presents coordinated running outfits from head to toe (view here). Another on the list is Skirt Sports (view here).

Running fashion has come a long way. It's not for all, but - hot dang - it's sweet for those that like to indulge in sugar and spice and all things nice!