The incomplete history of Lycra tights
By Peter Werbel (Article from Nordic News 2023 – Far West Nordic’s Magazine for XC skiers)
Published with author’s kind permission
In the 1980s, Lycra tights became popular with Nordic skiers in the U.S., a trend that continues to this day. The history of that trend, which follows, is in part hear-say and faded recollections since little has been written on the subject previously. We do know that Lycra was invented by Dupont in 1958. The website lycra.com says, "LYCRA® fiber is the trademarked brand name of a class of synthetic elastic fibers known as spandex in the U.S. and elastane in the rest of the world." Of course, Lycra ski suits are popular, too, especially for Nordic ski racing, but tights, that is, tight fitting pants-are the focus of the story below.
In the 1970s, European makers of Nordic skiing apparel, who had previously used wool, cotton, terry cloth, nylon and other fabrics, started experimenting with Lycra. One-piece Lycra suits came into vogue for racing. Companies like Odlo in Norway, Terinit in Finland, and Loffler in Austria were among the first to produce them. Many of the early versions had stirrups to keep them stretched from the neck to the feet. Skiers were pleased with the suits except for one significant flaw: they needed to strip almost completely in the freezing cold before a race to use the port-a-potty! Two-piece suits don't have this problem but, surprisingly, didn't catch on until later.
In 1980, Hind-Wells, an American company known mostly for swimsuits and running shorts, began producing light-weight Lycra tights to keep swimmers warm while they were out of the water. This is where our story about Lycra tights in the U.S. really begins.
Don Fyfe and I, owners at the time of Alpenglow Sports stores in Truckee and Tahoe City, were at the National Sporting Goods Association show in early spring of 1981 looking to purchase running shorts. There we met Stan Mavis, an elite runner, cyclist and Nordic skier, who was in charge of design and sales at Hind-Wells. When he found out that we were not just runners but also Nordic ski racers, he asked if we thought Nordic skiers, or at least racers, might want to wear Lycra tights. Stan gave Don and me tights to test. I have to admit that Don and I were a bit apprehensive about what people would think when they saw us skinny guys in tights. But, we skied in them on two early mornings at Squaw Valley Nordic, found they worked great for skiing, and decided Lycra tights might be the coming trend.
Meanwhile, here in the west, there were three brothers-Stan, Tim, and Dan Hill-who were very successful racers. Dan received a one-piece suit from a friend, Nat Brown, in Seattle. The material was similar to Lycra but heavier. His brothers, seeing the suit, wanted ones like it. Not able to afford one-piece suits from Europe, they asked their mother if she could make some for them. She said if they made the Junior Nationals team, she would. They made the team and she made them suits. The closest match she could find to the material in Dan's suit was Lycra swim fabric, which of course later became the norm. Other local racers, seeing how cool the Hill brothers looked, wanted similar suits, so Mrs. Hill made more, began selling them, and eventually started a company, Hilltop Sports, to make them.
When Don and I had our trial with Lycra tights, our Alpenglow stores and Kirkwood XC had sold a few Hilltop one-piece suits in previous winters, but there was limited demand for them. Wanting to increase our apparel sales, we enticed some influential members of the ski community, including Mark Nadell, Bob Woodward and Dan Hill, to try tights instead of the one-piece suits. Woodward was a sports journalist and ski industry consultant. When he endorsed a product, manufacturers listened, and he enthusiastically praised tights for Nordic skiing.
Tights started catching on. Hilltop Sports began manufacturing them in addition to suits, first in McCall, Idaho and then Carson City, Nevada. Other sports apparel companies such as Wags, Twilliger Sports, and Nancy McNair jumped on the tights bandwagon, too. The first tights were just black, then black with colorful stripes down the legs or across the thighs, then wonderful, crazy colors and patterns. Mark Nadell, Bob Woodward and I, being the fashion mavins of that era, were the first men bold enough to be seen in the exuberant clothing. More followed. Of course, women were never shy about being colorful. Simultaneously, tights were catching on in other sports, too.
Around 1983, Hilltop was making enough tights that Swix attempted, unsuccessfully, to purchase the company. The major Nordic ski clothing manufacturers saw the trend and all began producing tights.
Today, we see a vast variety of models, some tight fitting, some loose, and some combined with other fabrics. In women's fashion, there are literally hundreds of varieties for wearing on the street, Nordic skiing, running, cycling, yoga, climbing, and more. In the athletic arena, tights are now the norm. For men, what was once a novelty is now everyday.
Why have Lycra tights become so popular in the athletic world? Maybe for some of the following reasons: high breathability, high moisture wicking, extraordinarily high stretchability, and relatively low cost. And, of course, Lycra clothing makes everyone who wears it look and feel fabulous, which translates into better performance in every athletic endeavor.
So there you have it: the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Well, maybe part of it, give or take a little.
Peter Werbel started alpine skiing at age 13. Following college, he moved to the Tahoe area and became an avid Nordic skier and racer. In 1972-3, Peter started the Alpenglow sporting goods stores in Truckee and Tahoe City. A dozen years later, while still an owner of the stores and also a restaurant, he and Glenn Jobe took over Tahoe Donner Cross Country and started its expansion into a major Nordic center. After three years, he left Tahoe Donner to pursue other ventures but, 24 years later, he rejoined Tahoe Donner and is still working there.