The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:
-
Requests for advice and / or encouragement. On basically any topic and for any scale of problem.
-
Updates to let us know how you are doing. This provides valuable feedback on past advice / encouragement and will hopefully make people feel a little more motivated to follow through. If you want to be reminded to post your update, see the post titled 'update reminders', below.
-
Advice. This can be in response to a request for advice or just something that you think could be generally useful for many people here.
-
Encouragement. Probably best directed at specific users, but if you feel like just encouraging people in general I don't think anyone is going to object. I don't think I really need to say this, but just to be clear; encouragement should have a generally positive tone and not shame people (if people feel that shame might be an effective tool for motivating people, please discuss this so we can form a group consensus on how to use it rather than just trying it).
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
Is there any good, comfortable leisure wear that won't fill you with micro or nano plastics? Is synthetic material the only way to make cloth stretchy?
I want something to wear at home that is comfy and soft and preferably stretchy without being a potential health risk.
So, what you're looking for isn't a material, it's a particular way of knitting the fabric. Synthetics achieve stretch through fibers that are stretchy, natural fibers achieve it through knitting the fabric in a way that allows stretch in the knots of the fabric. What you sacrifice there is some durability, but that's not a huge concern in and of itself. Think of a sweater: it will stretch quite a bit, despite having no synthetic in it, you can move in it, but you tend to need to baby it, you wouldn't wear a cashmere sweater as an outer garment hiking the Appalachian trail.
For workout pants, I recommend these from LAA (run by the guy who used to run American Apparel before being MeToo'd on soft charges, all clothing MiUSA by workers earning decent salaries)
https://losangelesapparel.net/products/1205gd-mens-heavy-jersey-garment-dyed-casual-pant?variant=42235598438579
The jersey fabric will give it enough stretch to do basic exercises. It doesn't have the stretch of a pair of Vuori joggers that are 10% spandex, but it has enough that I can engage in casual olympic weightlifting or yoga in them. I don't know that they would hold up to hundreds of reps of full clean, or to rock climbing in them regularly, but I haven't subjected them to that (I don't really object to synthetics). They also look good enough, if clean and ironed, that I've worn them with a polo and a Sportcoat to a nice dinner or to summer mass, and certainly you won't look decrepit or destitute wearing it to the grocery store, obviously pending how they happen to fit you rather than my weird-ass body. They also make the same thing in shorts, but I haven't actually bought those.
For tops, basic cotton t shirts in a knit should work. LAA makes some that are probably fine, I generally wear the same kirkland signature t shirts I wear for everything else for working out. For heavier tops, the aforementioned lightweight cashmere sweaters tend to have a ton of stretch to them, but lack durability. Thrift them or buy cheap (Banana Republic, Uniqlo) brands on Poshmark, over time I got a stable of them at around $10-15 that I abuse. They will wear out over time, rock climbing in thrift store cashmere they tended to be unwearable after about 2 years, but that isn't really a problem if they're cheap and bought second hand, they have excellent warmth vs weight and stretch.
Alternatively, you can look for stuff like the classic Gramicci pants, designed for rock climbing, which are a super durable cotton with no stretch that achieves mobility through a crotch gusset. But not necessarily a lounge pant. In general stretch/softness vs durability are a tradeoff.
Okay, makes sense. Thanks for the info.
LAA don't ship to my country, but I'll have a look for similar options here.
That sucks, I love LAA stuff. They've been taking over my wardrobe, anything I can buy MiUSA for not a fortune is a winner for me.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link