Sportswear During the Inter-war Years: A Testimony to the Modernisation of French Sport

Abstract

Sport in France began an important chapter in its history during the inter-war years. As a ubiquitous witness that has often been overlooked by historians, sportswear offers a totally new perspective on changes taking place within the sports movement and in French society generally. First of all, changes in clothing reveal a constant quest for improved comfort and hygiene for the benefit of performance. Worn primarily as ceremonial dress and aimed more at enhancing an individual's social origin or gender, costumes of the post-war period took on a sporting dimension and, following the example of institutional reorganisation of sport, became more specialised and appropriate to the activity for which they were worn. In addition to growth in its clothing industry, France also witnessed a boom in the sports-related textile industry, which initially drew inspiration from foreign models, especially from Anglo-Saxon countries, before going on to develop its own tastes and products. However, the period was additionally marked by the impact of the sports entertainment industry on the rules of games and, more particularly, on the attire worn by sportsmen and -women. Colour, cut and other clothing evolutions bore witness to the new challenges linked to the growing spectacularisation of sport. Through transformations in clothing worn by sportsmen and -women during the inter-war years, the new French sports scene came to the fore, oscillating as it did between a quest for performance and the enhancement of sporting entertainment.