A Brief Look at Women’s Fitness Apparel

Women's athletic wear is a relatively new idea in the grand scheme of fashion and even more so as a necessity of women’s participation in sports. While our team at Lights Out Brand promotes and sells women’s athletic sportswear, specifically designed for women in support of their athletic success, we know it has not always been this way. Let’s take a brief look into the history of women’s athletic wear.

1900-1910 

At the start of the 20th century, it was not considered important for women to win at competitive sports and so athletic sportswear was not a necessity either. For example, women playing golf were expected to wear tailored blouses and matching skirts which were not much different than the dress they might wear to a meeting or a business engagement. The first step towards change happened by 1910 when women playing golf were allowed to expand their skirts with pleats down the sides of their tweed jackets to allow for more movement needed to take a full golf swing.

1910-1930

Much like women’s golf, long skirts and restrictive blouses were worn to play tennis until 1910.  That began to change by 1922 when Suzanne Lenglen shocked the world by dressing for tennis at Wimbledon wearing a short skirt, no hat, and hair pulled away from her face to let her perform better. Later on, Alice Marble went onto the courts wearing white shorts in 1932.

1945 and after

While war broke out and revolutionary fashion changes were put on hold, the first major breakthrough in performance wear came in 1945 with the invention of stretchy fabrics. This new range of synthetic fibers were made into pullover dresses, underwear, and, finally, gym tops. By the 1960s, stretchy garments became trendy and gave women a comfort factor that had never before been provided.