I am a huge fan of Duckworth (https://www.duckworthco.com/), specifically their Vapor tee. The company founders are friends of mine and they use wool from their own sheep ranches in Montana. Such a fantastic, family-owned operation and the shirts last forever!
Some other brands that I have in my activewear drawer:
Wool activewear is worth the price! Instead of having seven or more pairs of leggings that I have to wash after I sweat in them once, I have just two that I keep in rotation. I wash them when I absolutely have to, but for the most part, I rinse them in cold water in the sink or even in the shower, then just leave them in the sun to dry.
Also, my husband has traded out all of his synthetic golf shirts for merino golf shirts. He says they're so much more comfortable and the moisture management is no comparison. I like the ones from Sir W Merino - another wool activewear company founded by a friend of mine:
Yes please give us recs! I have loved my Pact activewear and since I don’t do super sweaty workouts anymore ( hello perimenopause), I make do with cotton tees and tanks. But would love to try some other things!
Just responded to OP above with some of my favorites. I'm also a big fan of Pact! I love their cotton T-shirts for casual daily wear. Definitely try out a wool T-shirt, especially for moisture management. I got horrific night sweats during my pregnancy and finally just switched to sleeping in my wool t-shirt and undies. It helped a lot!
Good to hear I haven’t tried it but I definitely will fyi a brand from Britain Genevieve Sweeney has very cute wool items I noticed she has tee shirts recently I like the sweaters but I thought I’d shamelessly mention the brand since I very much like it and her
An even better women’s merino bras and unders (which can also double as swimsuit): Branwyn. Also compression shorts tanks and hoodies. http://rwrd.io/ref_Q80EL72?c
I’ve been having some thryroid issues for the last year, and I’ve been trying to reduce my exposure to hormone disrupting stuff ever since. This article couldn’t have come at a better time! I have been slowly swapping all my fancy little sets for plain old cotton. But I have found I have to look hard to find 100% cotton anything these days!
I basically live in my Indigo Luna active wear, it’s what I’m wearing as I write this! They use organic cotton and plant fibres. I love their flares and skorts. There’s also studio k yoga.
Amazing article, and much needed! I’ve been wearing a few Hollister cotton tops at the gym but never thought about the bottoms too much. As a modest activewear shopper I find it much easier to pick non synthetic fabrics to work out. I enjoy participating in races, and I’d particularly love to try non-synthetic running gear!
i agree w this post! in the last year, transitioned to leggings and just a cotton tshirt. sometimes i cut up an old cotton tshirt. Or i got into vintage active wear like old Nike that was just cotton, a built in bra and a dream. the spandex-y work out bra (which is great for larger chests in high mobility sport) and the tops were rlly uncomfy. I been approaching this in a Madonna leaving the gym or Tracy Anderson class in 2008
It’s good to see more brands selling natural fiber clothes. It used to be so difficult to find 100% cotton clothes. Like I don’t need infinite stretch in a t-shirt.
I bought cotton underwear a while back that is like 95% cotton 5% elastane and they’re lasted me like 2 years and are in great condition still.
And as always sleep in natural fibers. That’s where you spend 1/3rd your life!
I love what you're trying to promote here, but I just need to mention that Elastane is one of THE WORST THINGS to have mixed with in with any fibers - ESPECIALLY natural fibers like cotton. It makes it nearly impossible to recycle. Please please please do not recommend it (like in your leggings section). Sincerely - BFA in textile design & art w/15 years exp + professional research & development career... Also, honestly same goes for Lycra! one of the worst materials to have mixed with natural fibers & it's recommended in this piece. Or at least mention that it makes it impossible to recycle, so do not recycle this clothing type. Also when they burn it, if not recycled... it's so bad to burn elastane and lycra... :(
I'm trying to find one of the amazing breakdowns that my favorite sustainable creator on IG did for this exact thing, but I'll have to dig. In the meantime, her IG is https://www.instagram.com/sustainablefashionfriend and she is seriously INCREDIBLE!! her degree is in that as well + investigative journalism - she does wonder work.
I want to reiterate what you are doing here is also WONDERFUL WORK!! <3 I just wanted to point out this lil factoid because a lot of people are unaware. I just don't want you to think your hard work didn't go unnoticed. Because this list took a lot of research for you and work to put together and is still such a great resource for people looking to take the steps in the right new direction. :)
I am a cotton person 100% but getting harder and harder to get affordable 100% cotton anything! Evil Poly fibers have weaved their way into all clothing items! Bad for the environment and gives My skin a rash! Petrol and all it byproducts are evil! Fed up! A teasponn of microplasttics in our brains and global warming heat waves from hell and extreme weahter 24/7 - END THE FOSSIL FUEL AGE!
"...which shed microplastics directly into our bodies" This isn't true! As much as I love and prefer to wear natural fabrics, it's important not to spread misinformation.
Hi! Would love to hear more about why you believe this is misinformation.
Our skin is the largest organ in our bodies and can absorb what it comes into contact with, including both microplastics that dislodge with wear / when exposed to heat and the endocrine-disrupting chemicals (flame retardants) that these fabrics are coated in. Numerous studies (incl. this one: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/13/8/1404) have shown that the microplastics also cross the blood-brain barrier. Not good 😵💫
I switched to merino activewear from synthetic a few years ago and I haven’t looked back (yes, even in summer!)
It’s superior in every single way. Like, polyester doesn’t even come close.
Ooh I've been wanting to try wool activewear.. love to hear that <3
Do you have any specific recs?
I am a huge fan of Duckworth (https://www.duckworthco.com/), specifically their Vapor tee. The company founders are friends of mine and they use wool from their own sheep ranches in Montana. Such a fantastic, family-owned operation and the shirts last forever!
Some other brands that I have in my activewear drawer:
https://unboundmerino.com/
https://www.woolly.clothing/
https://wooland.com/
Wool activewear is worth the price! Instead of having seven or more pairs of leggings that I have to wash after I sweat in them once, I have just two that I keep in rotation. I wash them when I absolutely have to, but for the most part, I rinse them in cold water in the sink or even in the shower, then just leave them in the sun to dry.
Also, my husband has traded out all of his synthetic golf shirts for merino golf shirts. He says they're so much more comfortable and the moisture management is no comparison. I like the ones from Sir W Merino - another wool activewear company founded by a friend of mine:
https://www.sirwmerino.com/
Yes please give us recs! I have loved my Pact activewear and since I don’t do super sweaty workouts anymore ( hello perimenopause), I make do with cotton tees and tanks. But would love to try some other things!
Just responded to OP above with some of my favorites. I'm also a big fan of Pact! I love their cotton T-shirts for casual daily wear. Definitely try out a wool T-shirt, especially for moisture management. I got horrific night sweats during my pregnancy and finally just switched to sleeping in my wool t-shirt and undies. It helped a lot!
I agree and started a small brand focused on Merino! We're restocking more colors and styles next week: https://shopmairin.com/collections/american-west-merino
Good to hear I haven’t tried it but I definitely will fyi a brand from Britain Genevieve Sweeney has very cute wool items I noticed she has tee shirts recently I like the sweaters but I thought I’d shamelessly mention the brand since I very much like it and her
An even better women’s merino bras and unders (which can also double as swimsuit): Branwyn. Also compression shorts tanks and hoodies. http://rwrd.io/ref_Q80EL72?c
I’ve been having some thryroid issues for the last year, and I’ve been trying to reduce my exposure to hormone disrupting stuff ever since. This article couldn’t have come at a better time! I have been slowly swapping all my fancy little sets for plain old cotton. But I have found I have to look hard to find 100% cotton anything these days!
❤️ so glad! I’ll continue to update this as I find more stuff ;-)
I basically live in my Indigo Luna active wear, it’s what I’m wearing as I write this! They use organic cotton and plant fibres. I love their flares and skorts. There’s also studio k yoga.
Yess I’ve been wanting to try their stuff
Crazyy how much I needed this article
Amazing article, and much needed! I’ve been wearing a few Hollister cotton tops at the gym but never thought about the bottoms too much. As a modest activewear shopper I find it much easier to pick non synthetic fabrics to work out. I enjoy participating in races, and I’d particularly love to try non-synthetic running gear!
i agree w this post! in the last year, transitioned to leggings and just a cotton tshirt. sometimes i cut up an old cotton tshirt. Or i got into vintage active wear like old Nike that was just cotton, a built in bra and a dream. the spandex-y work out bra (which is great for larger chests in high mobility sport) and the tops were rlly uncomfy. I been approaching this in a Madonna leaving the gym or Tracy Anderson class in 2008
It’s good to see more brands selling natural fiber clothes. It used to be so difficult to find 100% cotton clothes. Like I don’t need infinite stretch in a t-shirt.
I bought cotton underwear a while back that is like 95% cotton 5% elastane and they’re lasted me like 2 years and are in great condition still.
And as always sleep in natural fibers. That’s where you spend 1/3rd your life!
I love that the substack algo introduced me to this. Thank you for writing this!
https://wolhide.com/collections/easy-pieces
I love wol hide! I have the bike short and tank and love them.
The easy pieces line is made with a 100% organic cotton that is grown, processed, knit and sewn in the USA.
The processing of the fabric is done sustainably, using low impact dyes and plant derived alternatives to harsh chemicals.
The processing is all done in a circular system that recycles, reuses and treats any waste water.
the amount of links I clicked was unhinged. This answered every question I ever had.
Horse sport!
I love what you're trying to promote here, but I just need to mention that Elastane is one of THE WORST THINGS to have mixed with in with any fibers - ESPECIALLY natural fibers like cotton. It makes it nearly impossible to recycle. Please please please do not recommend it (like in your leggings section). Sincerely - BFA in textile design & art w/15 years exp + professional research & development career... Also, honestly same goes for Lycra! one of the worst materials to have mixed with natural fibers & it's recommended in this piece. Or at least mention that it makes it impossible to recycle, so do not recycle this clothing type. Also when they burn it, if not recycled... it's so bad to burn elastane and lycra... :(
Ugh I didn’t know this! :( Thank you for commenting.
Do you know of any more sustainable alternatives? 100% cotton leggings seem impossible
I'm trying to find one of the amazing breakdowns that my favorite sustainable creator on IG did for this exact thing, but I'll have to dig. In the meantime, her IG is https://www.instagram.com/sustainablefashionfriend and she is seriously INCREDIBLE!! her degree is in that as well + investigative journalism - she does wonder work.
I want to reiterate what you are doing here is also WONDERFUL WORK!! <3 I just wanted to point out this lil factoid because a lot of people are unaware. I just don't want you to think your hard work didn't go unnoticed. Because this list took a lot of research for you and work to put together and is still such a great resource for people looking to take the steps in the right new direction. :)
I am a cotton person 100% but getting harder and harder to get affordable 100% cotton anything! Evil Poly fibers have weaved their way into all clothing items! Bad for the environment and gives My skin a rash! Petrol and all it byproducts are evil! Fed up! A teasponn of microplasttics in our brains and global warming heat waves from hell and extreme weahter 24/7 - END THE FOSSIL FUEL AGE!
Plenty of options on eBay/at the thrift!
Thanks for the tip!
I recently ordered four bras site unseen from branwyn performance. Will report back.
Please do!
"...which shed microplastics directly into our bodies" This isn't true! As much as I love and prefer to wear natural fabrics, it's important not to spread misinformation.
Hi! Would love to hear more about why you believe this is misinformation.
Our skin is the largest organ in our bodies and can absorb what it comes into contact with, including both microplastics that dislodge with wear / when exposed to heat and the endocrine-disrupting chemicals (flame retardants) that these fabrics are coated in. Numerous studies (incl. this one: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/13/8/1404) have shown that the microplastics also cross the blood-brain barrier. Not good 😵💫
Nu Swim! Best organic cotton pieces.
Omg I always forget about them!