Sales of the favoured clothing material of the 70s, spandex, have recently been blamed for facilitating if not influencing the obesity epidemic in the United States since it was announced that that rate of production of the stretchy material has doubled over the last decade.
According to fashion industry experts, clothes that were highly structured and not made with comfort in mind have lost their popularity and an increasing number of items with the ability to expand for comfort are being manufactured instead and have been gaining popularity. In fact, National Public Radio (NPR) in the States has stated that 80% of the garments bought last year were made from stretchy material. This is 80% of 20.5 billion pieces of clothing.
The material is also popular because it is inexpensive but unfortunately, rather than fitting the body, it will adapt to the size of the body and those at NPR have expressed that there is worry regarding the direct effect this contribution to fashion is having on the increasing waist lines of the general public.
Whether the material is responsible for influencing an increase in obesity is questionable but the real issue here surely relates to the recent popularity of spandex in the first place since the only person who ever looked good in stretchy pants was Olivia Newton John.