In the 20th century, we witnessed a spectacular development of sports fashion. A healthy lifestyle promoted by eminent educators and doctors, which also consisted of regular physical exercise, required appropriate clothing. Sports wear began to differ more and more from everyday wear. It helped in obtaining the best results in professional sports and provided comfort during amateur sports activities. When designing sportswear, the properties of natural and artificial fibres were considered, and the optimal weaving and knitting weaves were searched for. A fashionable appearance was also important: the right colour, cut, often also the brand. Today, when an active lifestyle is promoted, sports fashion becomes our everyday life.
At the exhibition, the museum presents several dozen examples of sportswear: ancient, contemporary and inspired by history. Side by side you can see women’s cycling pants from the end of the 19th century and modern functional cycling clothing; a golf set from the 1930s, a gymnastics outfit from the communist era and fitness clothing for pregnant women; a pre-war ski jacket and the overalls of Polish ski jumpers; and swimwear from 1910 to the present day. The names of eminent Polish fashion designers, whom few suspect of being active in the field of designing sportswear, are surprising. The museum also shows comfortable, semi-sports clothing that functions in the urban space.
