November 12, 2024

— Sara Blakely

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... with the greatest of ease

Once upon a time, people exercised and competed in athletic events stark naked -- men and women, both.

I had not thought about this in a very long time. But, last week, I was at the National Gallery in London, where I walked with my grade-school-aged daughter through an exhibit of Renaissance paintings depicting ancient Greek competitions.

Questions were asked. Eyebrows were raised.

I'm told that the Greeks competed like this because they believed nudity celebrated humanity and because they worried that clothing could hinder athletic movement. (Uh-huh, sure they did.)

The Romans were nearly puritanical by comparison. Their athletes generally competed while wearing tunics, simple woolen garments tied at the waist, often belted and reaching the knee. For gladiatorial combat, they added minimal protective gear like loincloths and armored sleeves, sometimes with a helmet.

Fast-forward to the Medieval and Renaissance periods and athletic displays often took place as part of festivals or tournaments.

Attire was generally much more formal and restrictive. In jousting and tournaments, knights wore full suits of armor. For wrestling or foot races, the clothing was usually comprised of doublets, or tight-fitting hose for men, with skirts or dresses for women, but these garments were not particularly conducive to athletic performance.

The emphasis was more on spectacle and status than on freedom of movement.

Fast-forward again, to the 18th and 19th centuries. As the modern world developed and athletics started to take on a more formalized structure, athletic wear became more practical but still restrictive. For early track and field, gymnastics, and military drills, men typically wore trousers or knee-length breeches with shirts or jackets, which hindered movement.

As for women's athletics, things were even less practical. To the extent women were allowed to participate in athletics at all, they typically wore long dresses or bloomers (loose, baggy trousers under a skirt), which were highly impractical.

Then, came Jules Léotard. Born in 1838 in Toulouse, France, Léotard grew up in a family of gymnasts and circus performers. He's credited today with two simultaneously obscure and yet well-known innovations.

The first was an act. Trapeze acts up until then typically involved the artist simply hanging onto the bar, maybe doing some simple swings. Léotard created a more spectacular display: letting go of the trapeze bar and flying through the air, only to be caught by another performer.

He tried his new trick for the first time in public -- the "flying trapeze" on November 12, 1859 -- making today the 165th anniversary.

His second innovation was clothing. Let's put it this way: Have you ever tried swinging from a trapeze wearing, to quote from above, "trousers or knee-length breeches with shirts or jackets, which hindered movement?"

Léotard had no desire to do so, and thus he invented a skin-tight one-piece suit that allowed freedom of movement and ease of action while performing aerial tricks.

It also became an iconic part of his act, drawing attention to the performer’s grace and agility in the air, and it bears his name today: the "leotard."

If not for M. Léotard, who knows if we would have had Nadia Comaneci or Simone Biles, or for that matter Nike and Under Armour -- or else Spanx? I like the idea of these little developments, that weren't obviously a big deal at the time, but have big impact on how we live today.

As for the quote of the day, Léotard was not exactly a man of many words, so let's skip ahead and give today's quote to Sara Blakely, who founded Spanx a century and a half after Léotard's innovation and made more than a $1 billion as a result:

Maybe today is a good day to let go of the trapeze. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

Did you see ...

• A few names announced in the new Trump administration, so far: Susie Wiles as chief of staff (first woman to hold that role), U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik as ambassador to the UN, Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff for policy, and Thomas Homan as border czar, in charge of planned mass deportation operations. (NBC News, Fox News, AP)
• Wisconsin’s highest court heard oral arguments Monday for a case set to shape the future of reproductive rights in the state, hinging on a question: Does a law inked before the Civil War ban abortion today? Chances are solid for abortion rights advocates, given the bench’s 4-to-3 liberal majority. (The Washington Post)
• Left-wing conspiracy theorists have claimed the 2024 US presidential election was “stolen”, as posts falsely alleging Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network was used to manipulate the result spread on social media. Claims that 20 million votes in the election have “disappeared” or that Starlink was used to interfere with vote-counting machines have been shared by thousands of people across X, Threads and TikTok. (The Telegraph)
• A Spirit-Airlines flight was struck by gunfire Monday while attempting to land in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The aircraft, which left from Fort Lauderdale, was diverted to an airport in the Dominican Republic where it landed safely. No passengers were injured, but a flight attendant received minor injuries, a Spirit Airlines spokesperson said. (Miami Herald)
• Cuban authorities said late on Saturday they would not tolerate "public disorder" as the island's emergency workers cleared debris and worked to restore power to parts of western Cuba still in the dark four days after the passage of Hurricane Rafael. Cuba's top prosecutor said it had pressed charges and "preventively" detained people in Havana, Mayabeque and Ciego de Avila provinces for "assault, public disorder and vandalism." (Reuters)
• Amazon is developing smart glasses for delivery drivers, Reuters reports. The aim is to give drivers turn-by-turn directions, thereby shaving seconds off of each delivery. (The Verge)
• A cruise line recently introduced a package for ocean enthusiasts willing to set sail for four years – days after President-elect Trump won the Nov. 5 presidential election. Villa Vie Residences announced its "Skip Forward" package on Nov. 7, one day after Trump was declared the winner of the 2024 presidential race. The "Skip Forward" package is part of the company's Tour La Vie program, which starts at around $40,000 per year. (Fox News)