Women Sportswear or activewear is clothing, leggings including footwear, worn for sport
or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and
physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons. Typical
sport-specific dresses include tracksuits, shorts, T-shirts and polo shirts.
Specialized dresses include swimsuits (for swimming), wet suits (for diving or
surfing), snowboarding suits (for skiing) and leotards (for gymnastics). Sports
footwear include trainers, football boots, riding boots, and ice skates.
Sportswear also includes bikini and some undergarments, such as the jockstrap
and sports bra. Sportswear is also at times worn as casual fashion clothing. For
most sports the athletes wear a combination of different items of clothing, e.
g. sport shoes, jeans and shirts. In some sports, protective gear may need to be
worn, such as helmets or American football body armour.
Sports fabrics are
technical materials which help to keep the wearer comfortable during exercise.
The type of fabric required vary upon the intensity of the exercise and the
activity. Yoga clothing should use fabrics with good stretch ability for easy
movement which will likely require the fabric to be of a knitted construction.
Apparel for long distance running will keep the wearer in good comfort if it has
excellent moisture wicking properties to allow sweat to transfer from the inside
to the outside for the garment. Performance clothing for outdoor sports in the
winter or snow sports ought to use breathable fabrics with very good insulating
properties.
Two female football players wearing different colour outfits
vying for control of the ball
Sportswear is typically designed to be
lightweight so as not to encumber the wearer. The best fitness wear for some
forms of exercise, for example cycling, should not create drag or be too bulky.
On the other hand, sportswear should be loose enough so as not to restrict
movement. Some sports have specific style requirements, for example the keikogi
used in karate. Various physically dangerous sports require protective gear, e.
g. for fence, American football, or ice hockey. sportswear may also function as
a uniform. In team sports the opposing sides are usually identified by the
colors of their clothing, while individual team members can be recognized by a
back number on a shirt.
In some sports, specific items of clothing are worn
to differentiate roles within a team. For example, in volleyball, the libero (a
specialist in defensive play) wears a different colour to it of their teammates.
In sports such as soccer and GAA codes, a contrasting colour or pattern is worn
by the goalkeeper. In other sports, clothing may indicate the current status or
past achievements of a participant. In cycling disciplines, the rainbow shirt
indicates the current world champion, and in major road cycling races, jerseys
of particular colours are worn by the race leader and leaders of auxiliary
varieties. Spandex is the preferred material for form-fitting sportswear, such
as used in wrestling, track & field, dance, gymnastics, speed skating, and
swimming. Sportswear is commonly used as a means for the promotion of sponsors
of a sportsperson or team. In some sports, there are regulations constraining
the size or design of sponsorship brand names and art logos on
items.
Sportswear design must consider the thermal insulation needs of the
wearer. In hot situations, sportswear should allow the wearer to stay cool; when
playing in cold situations, sportswear should help the wearer to stay warm.
Sportswear should also be able to transfer sweat away from the skin, using, for
example, moisture transferring fabric. Spandex is a popular material used as
base layers to soak up sweat. For example, in activities such as skiing and rock
climbing this is achieved by using layering: moisture transferring (wicking)
materials are worn next to the skin, accompanied by an insulating layer, and
then wind and waterproof covering dresses.
Moisture transferring
fabric
Moisture-wicking fabrics are a class of hi-tech fabrics offering
moisture control for an athlete's skin. They move perspiration away from the
body to the fabric's outer surface where it can evaporate. These fabrics
typically are soft, lightweight, and stretchy-in other words, they are perfectly
suited for making activewear. Moisture-wicking means that the fabric is
absorbent and this can leave a barrier of wet fabric on your skin. Drywicking is
the newest variation of moisture wicking. It is a smart two tier fabric that
breaks the surface tension of sweat and propels it through the hydrophobic layer
into a natural wicking outer layer like cotton where it is assisted by
evaporative cooling leaving your skin absolutely dry.
No comments:
Post a Comment