Leisure sport activities have been around for a long period of time, however certain aspects have changed and developed throughout the years. The sport activities women do are different now than 90 years ago, as well as, the clothing they wear while performing these activities. The fashion surrounding fitness and working out has drastically changed in style along with the nature of working out for women. I worked off of Sarah Klein’s article in the Huffington Post and Sarah Lipoff’s article to write this post.
1920’s
This is a photo of woman exercising on a motor machine. She is wearing a dress and booties with fur, which demonstrates that this form of exercising probably wasn’t very difficult.
1930s
It was in the 1930s when going to the gym started to become popular for women. Women started wearing more form fitting clothing while they exercised. This was also a time when different work out gadgets and weights came out to enhance workouts.
1940- 1950s
From the 40s- 50s there was a shift in the trend of fitness apparel. The clothes became more baggy and lengthy. Women would wear longer skirts and shorts, pairing them with a sweater or t-shirt. The second photo below shows Marilyn Monroe wearing shorts with a short sleeve sweater and was said to be doing yoga.
1960s
This decade was when technology really started to boom. The “portable walk man” came out which allowed people to listen to music on the go, which allowed people to exercise differently. After years of loose fitting garments, tight workout apparel made an appearance again.
1970s
In these next years one trend became extremely popular; tracksuits. They were all the rage and everyone wore one while exercising. They came out in the late 60s but became more and more prevalent leading up to the 80s. This is interesting because tracksuits have changed and developed into what they are today and are still seen on some athletes.
1980s – 1990s
The 80s began with a whole new outlook on fitness apparel, named as the time of “flashy fitness fashion.” The clothes were bright and tight and anything went. Women would wear scrunchies, neon spandex, leg warmers, etc. These trends continued into the 90s with a twist in fun patterned spandex.
2000s
In the 2000s workout clothing remained tighter, but new designs came out for functional and performance purposes. It was in this decade that the yoga pant and yoga in general became increasingly popular.
2015
All of these trends throughout the past hundred years have shaped what women and men wear today for fitness. The clothing worn has changed and developed into something that can be worn for multiple purposes and is designed specifically to enhance performance in fitness. Women still wear tight workout gear including yoga pants, workout tops, etc., but they also wear loose fitting tops and shorts as well. There is such a blend and variety of fitness gear that is worn by women all of the world that it is hard to pin just one trend or type of workout gear for this decade. Here are a few pictures of fitness apparel that are popular today.
*Photos used from Huffington Post, Popsugar, LuLuLemon*
Fitness Apparel & Effects on Performance 