Fabric and brands

[JamesSwim]

I got an Adidas brief that’s almost half Lycra & half Nylon fabric - which is an unusually high Lycra content compared to standard suits. Since it’s very stretchy, it fits quite well even though it seems downsized. It also feels sturdy -- not thin at all, so it seems like a good product.

A mystery: I wonder what was it made for? I don’t know of other briefs with this fabric blend and the labels don’t explain. Only other clothing made with similar fabric I found via a web search is a woman’s slimming Miraclesuit swimwear, or medical pantyhose for compression therapy. Since it may be designed for compression and also has Teflon treatment, maybe it’s a racing or competition suit. But today’s regular or technical competition suits don’t seem to have this fabric blend. But perhaps it’s a competition suit made long ago?

Maybe it’s from an old inventory being cleared out at discount. The store only had a few, and it was made in the US (so much is made in places like China now) so maybe it was left over from years ago. (It’s also not made like the ‘paper’ competition suits that I remember). Anyone remember if suits were ever made like this?

Or maybe it’s made for a different market but ended up sold in US. But that’s unlikely since it’s made in US and can’t find anything like this at any other store.

Maybe today’s suits are no longer made with this much stretch since they now use some different fabrics or design. If so it's interesting to see get hold of old inventory by chance.

Note: I bet probably won’t last long in chlorinated pools, but maybe the suit care instructions written here earlier will help.