Sportswear

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Sportswear

Sportswear (or Active attire) is clothing

Clothing

A feature of all human societies, except perhaps the most primitive, is the wearing of clothing or clothes, especially in public. The primary purpose of clothing is functional, as a protection from the weather....
, including footwear

Footwear

Footwear consists of garments worn on the foot, for protective clothing against the environment, and adornment. Socks and other hosiery are worn between the feet and the footwear, except for Sandal s and flip flops ....
, worn for sport

Sport

Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of regulation of sport or traditions and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determinant of the outcome , but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports and motor...
or exercise.

Typical sport-specific garments include short pants, tracksuit

Tracksuit

A tracksuit is an article of clothing consisting of two parts: trousers and a jacket. It was originally intended for use in sports, mainly as what Athletics s wore over competition clothing and would take off before competition....
s, T-shirt

T-shirt

A T-shirt is a shirt which is pulled on over the head to cover most of a person's torso. A T-shirt is usually buttonless, collarless, and pocketless, with a round neck and short sleeves....
s, polo shirts and trainers

Athletic shoe

An athletic shoe is a generic name for footwear designed for sporting and physical exercise, and is different in style and build than a dress shoe....
. Specialised garments include wet suits and salopettes. It also includes some underwear, such as the jockstrap

Jockstrap

A jockstrap is an undergarment designed for supporting the male genitalia during the performance of sports or other vigorous physical activity....
. Sportswear is also often worn as casual

Casual

In the European tradition, casual is the dress code which emphasizes comfort and personal expression over presentation and uniformity. It includes a very wide variety of costume, so it is perhaps better defined by what it isn't than what it is....
fashion

Fashion

Fashion refers to the styles and customs prevalent at a given time. In its most common usage, "fashion" exemplifies the appearances of clothing, but the term encompasses more....
clothing.

For most sports the athletes wear a combination of different items of clothing, e.g.

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Encyclopedia

Sportswear (or Active attire) is clothing

Clothing

Footwear

Sport

Tracksuit

T-shirt

Athletic shoe

Jockstrap

A jockstrap is an undergarment designed for supporting the male genitalia during the performance of sports or other vigorous physical activity....
. Sportswear is also often worn as casual

Casual

Fashion

Shirt

A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body. Originally an item of Undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become in American English a catch-all term for almost any upper-body garment other than outerwear such as sweaters or Coat , or undergarments such as brassiere ....
s. Some athletes wear personal armour such as helmet

Helmet

A helmet is a form of protective gear worn on the head to protect it from injuries, a variation of the hat. The oldest use of helmets was by Ancient Greek soldiers, who wore thick leather or bronze helmets to protect the head from sword blows and arrows....
s or American football

American football

American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive team sport known for mixing strategy with physical play....
body armour.

Functional considerations

Almost every piece of sports clothing is desgned to be light weight so the athlete is not encumbered by its weight. The best athletic wear for some forms of exercise, for example cycling

Cycling

Cycling is the use of bicycles, or - less commonly - unicycles, tricycles, Quadracycle s and other similar wheeled human powered vehicles as a means of transport, a form of recreation or a sport....
, should not create drag or be too bulky. On the other hand it should be loose enough so as not to restrict movement.

Clothing worn for some other forms of exercise, should not unduly restrict movement and may also have specific requirements for example the Keikogi

Keikogi

or dogi is a uniform for training, used in martial arts derived from Japan, or budo. . In English language, the term keikogi is sometimes referred to simply as the gi, which would be an incorrect use of the word in Japanese....
used in karate

Karate

or , and often mis, is a martial arts developed in the Ryukyu Islands from indigenous fighting methods and Chinese martial arts kenpo. It is primarily a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands and ridge-hands....
. It should allow freedom of movement in competition. Various physically dangerous sports require protective gear, e.g. for fencing

Fencing

Fencing is a family of sports and activities that feature armed combat involving cutting, stabbing, or slapping Club ing weapons that are directly manipulated by hand, rather than shot, thrown or positioned....
, American football

American football

American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive team sport known for mixing strategy with physical play....
or ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to simply as hockey, is a team sport played on ice. It is a fast paced and physical sport. Ice hockey is most popular in areas that are sufficiently cold for natural reliable seasonal ice cover such as Canada, the northern United States, Scandinavia and Russia, though with the advent of indoor artificial ice r...
.

Standardised sportswear may also have the function of a uniform. In team sports the opposing sides are usually made identifiable by the colours of their clothing, while individual team members can be made recognisable by a back number on a shirt.

In hot weather garments should allow the wearer to stay cool. In cold weather garments should help to stay warm. In cold climates the best athletic wear should not only provide warmth but also transfer sweat away from the skin. For activities such as skiing

Skiing

Snow skiing is a group of sports using skis as primary equipment. Skis are used in conjunction with ski boots that connect to the ski with use of a ski bindings....
and mountain climbing this is achieved by using layering: moisture transferring materials must be worn next to the skin, followed by an insulating layer, and wind and water resistant shell garments.

Sportswear

Functional considerations

See also