Tracksuit or Jogging Set – What Is It Actually Called?

Short answer: Tracksuit and tracksuit set mean the same thing today: a matching top and trousers in soft sweat fabric. Tracksuit is the classic word, while set has become more common, because the pieces are often sold separately and combined freely.

The two words in practice

A suit was originally a complete set sold as one product. A set is two pieces that go together but can be bought separately. In shops both words are used for the same thing today, and the difference now exists only in the language.

Why the word suit faded

Once the pieces began to be sold individually, the word suit no longer made sense. A suit cannot be bought half, where a set can. See bamboo tracksuit sets for women and bamboo tracksuit sets for men, where both pieces are listed together.

What the pieces are called separately

The top is a sweatshirt or a hoodie, and the bottom is sweatpants or joggers. See bamboo sweatshirts for women and bamboo sweatpants for women if you want to put a set together yourself rather than buy a ready made one.

Sportswear or house clothes

The word jogging points to running, but few people run in a tracksuit today. Sweat fabric is too warm for hard training and perfect for warming up, walks and days at home. For running in summer heat, a thin T-shirt and shorts are right.

Why the fabric is called sweat

Sweat fabric takes its name from the English word, not from perspiration as such. It is a knitted fabric with a smooth outside and a brushed inside, and it was used for sportswear long before it became everyday and house clothing.

Tracksuit and other words

In Danish it is joggingdragt, in German Jogginganzug and in Swedish mjukisset. The words point to different origins: the track, the run and the softness. That says something about how the same garment is used differently from country to country.

What to search for

If you search for tracksuit, you get the same products as under tracksuit set. If you search for sweat set or lounge set, you often get different cuts. It is worth trying several words if the range looks small under one of them.

The set that is not a set

Two pieces in the same colour from different series are not a set, even if the colour has the same name. The colours look different in daylight, and the difference grows after a few washes. So buy both pieces from the same batch.

Washing whatever the name

Wash both pieces together at 30 degrees without fabric softener, so they fade at the same pace. Turn them inside out so the brushed inside does not rub against the drum. A bamboo T-shirt for women underneath extends the time between washes. See also bamboo loungewear can be worn out of the house too.