What the garment is and where it came from
Sportswear, in fashion, is a style of dress rooted in athletic apparel and sometimes called athleisure. Its typical garments are hoodies, tracksuits, leggings, sweatshirts and sneakers, often with prominent manufacturer branding.
The term originated in America and at first described a separate jacket and trousers worn instead of a full men’s suit. It began as a fashion industry word for informal, interchangeable separates such as blouses, shirts, skirts and shorts. In the 1920s it became a popular word for relaxed casual wear, and since the 1930s it has covered day and evening fashions of varying formality. The “American Look”, an alternative name for American sportswear, was coined in 1932 by the Lord & Taylor executive Dorothy Shaver.
How it works, in terms someone would actually use
American sportswear was designed to be easy to look after, with accessible fastenings that let a woman dress without a maid’s help. Designers used practical fabrics such as denim, cotton and jersey, and built wardrobes from separates. Claire McCardell’s 1934 group of five wool jersey pieces was two tops, long and short skirts, and culottes, and both it and Vera Maxwell’s weekend wardrobe could be formal or informal depending on how they were assembled and accessorised. McCardell also put functional pockets in skirts and trousers.
Unlike French couture, made to measure for specific silhouettes, sportswear was designed to fit a variety of body shapes and allow freedom of movement.
What it gets right
Its designers prized versatility, accessibility and affordability. Sportswear was widely available and encouraged self-expression, where Paris fashion had traditionally been imposed on the customer. Norman Norell said McCardell could make a smart dress to wear anywhere out of five dollars’ worth of common cotton calico. LIFE reported in 1949 that separates made up an all-time high of 30% of clothing sales in the United States that autumn.
What it does not
The “American Look” had limits. Rebecca Arnold and Emily S. Rosenberg note that, despite claims of egalitarianism, it was held up against white standards of beauty. It was also slow to stand alone: at first American apparel firms mostly copied French styles.
What it changed
Richard Martin, the curator, credits the sportswear designers of the 1930s and 1940s with freeing American fashion from the need to copy Paris couture, and says they showed that original ready-to-wear could be a legitimate design art. Italy was the first outside America to grasp the principle, combining fine fabrics and workmanship with the casual quality of American sportswear, and by the mid-1970s Italian ready-to-wear was a worldwide success. By the mid-1980s sportswear was a key part of the international fashion scene, alongside Paris, Milan and London. In 2012 Tim Gunn noted that activewear and fashion sportswear had blurred since the 1980s, with many people wearing hoodies and tracksuits as everyday dress.
Who it is for, and who it is not
It was made for the modern, emancipated woman and a fast-paced life, and the five-day working week and eight-hour day created leisure time its clothes were designed to serve. Today it is for anyone who wears hoodies, tracksuits and sneakers every day. It is not for someone who wants made-to-measure couture: Martin noted that Coco Chanel’s sporty clothes, though influential, were always based on couture construction rather than the easy-wear nature of American sportswear.
Is it worth your time
Yes. It explains how relaxed separates, first a fashion term in America, became a global genre that many people now wear every day, and why that rise was also a break from Paris.
