Kläder som andas, kroppar som formges

Kroppskonstruktioner, genus och sportmode

Abstract

The aim of this article is to discuss hos the body is constructed in relation to the way it is dressed, particularly how the fit body is constructed through sports fashion. Training consumers have been interviewed about the principles that form the way they dress when they visit their fitness centre, how they combine aesthetics and function and what parts of their bodies they like to expose and conceal. Technological innovations that enhance performances e.g. through breathing fabrics or supporting tops characterise sports fashion and are intertwined with perceptions of ideal bodies. The functions of clothes and fabrics are prerequisites for particular training forms and movement of bodies and the article shows that the informants think of their training as dependent upon "technological support" from fashion. Special attention is being paid to Lycra for its abilities to get bodies into shape and its role in constructions of gender. With inspiration from Donna Haraway, sports clothes are understood as inseparable from the fit body, and hence make us all into fashion cyborgs.