Sportswear or activewear is clothing, 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 garments include shorts, tracksuits, T-shirts, tennis shirts and polo shirts. Specialized garments include swimsuits (for swimming), wet suits (for diving or surfing), ski suits (for skiing) and leotards (for gymnastics). Sports footwear include trainers. It also includes some underwear, 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, pants and shirts. In some sports, protective gear may need to be worn, such as helmets or American football body armour.
Sportswear is typically designed to be lightweight so as not to encumber the wearer. The best athletic 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 fencing, American football, or ice hockey.
Standardized 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 that 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 jersey 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 classifications.
Spandex is the preferred material for form-fitting sportswear, such as used in wrestling, track & field, dance, gymnastics, speed skating, and swimming.
- Some Sportswear: