Athletic garment with interchangeable ventilated sleeves

An adaptable garment includes a garment body and right and left removable sleeves, attached to right and left partial upper peripheries of respectively right and left arm openings. The right and left removable sleeves can be attached with zippers or hook and loop fasteners. The adaptable garment can be an adaptable leotard. An adaptable garment system includes a garment body and a plurality of removable sleeve pairs, which can include a pair of short sleeves and a pair of long sleeves.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of clothing for dancing and gymnastics, and more particularly to leotards designed with removable sleeves.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Leotards are commonly used for dancing and gymnastics. They can be made with varying designs, including no sleeves, as well as short and long sleeves.

Dancers and gymnasts may become overheated during long practice session and may wish to change to a shorter sleeve, or a sleeveless leotard. Additionally, a wearer may wish to change the visual appearance. However, it may be impractical to use several leotards, and even shorter sleeve leotard versions are typically completely closed around the torso area and may not offer adequate ventilation.

As such, considering the foregoing, it may be appreciated that there continues to be a need for novel and improved devices and methods for adaptable leotards with improved ventilation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The foregoing needs are met, to a great extent, by the present invention, wherein in aspects of this invention, enhancements are provided to the existing model of leotards.

In an aspect, an adaptable garment, which can be an adaptable leotard, can include:a) a garment body, which can be a leotard body, comprising right and left arm openings; andb) right and left removable sleeves that are removably attached to the leotard body.

In a related aspect, the removable sleeves can be partially attached to the garment body, such that that armpit apertures are defined between the garment body and the removable sleeves.

In related aspects, the removable sleeves can be attached to the garment body with zippers, hook and loop fastener, or other types of fastening mechanisms.

In another aspect, an adaptable garment system can include:a) a garment body; andb) a plurality of removable sleeve pairs, including first and second pairs of removable sleeves.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before describing the invention in detail, it should be observed that the present invention resides primarily in a novel and non-obvious combination of elements and process steps. So as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will readily be apparent to those skilled in the art, certain conventional elements and steps have been presented with lesser detail, while the drawings and specification describe in greater detail other elements and steps pertinent to understanding the invention.

The following embodiments are not intended to define limits as to the structure or method of the invention, but only to provide exemplary constructions. The embodiments are permissive rather than mandatory and illustrative rather than exhaustive.

In the following, we describe the structure of an embodiment of a leotard with removable sleeves100with reference toFIG. 1, in such manner that like reference numerals refer to like components throughout; a convention that we shall employ for the remainder of this specification.

In an embodiment, as shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, an adaptable garment100, which for example can be an adaptable shirt, an adaptable jacket, an adaptable unitard, an adaptable bodysuit, an athletic garment with interchangeable ventilated sleeves, or an adaptable leotard100, can include:a) a garment body110, such as a leotard body110; andb) right and left removable sleeves122124, which are removably attached to respectively right and left arm openings112114of the leotard body110.

In a related embodiment, as shown inFIG. 3, each of the right and left removable sleeves122124can be attached to respectively a right and left partial upper periphery316of each of respectively the right and left arm openings, from a front attachment point332to a rear attachment point334, such that that there is an armpit aperture330defined between the leotard body and the removable sleeve112114, the armpit aperture330positioned in respectively the right and left armpits of a user wearing the adaptable leotard100. The armpit aperture can for example be substantially diamond shaped, substantially oval, or as shown, diamond/oval shaped with an upper triangular/diamond shape and a lower oval shape. The partial connection of the right and left removable sleeves122124to respectively the right and left partial upper periphery316, allow for a tight fit when worn, because the non-connected segments340, which surround the armpit aperture330, can stretch and therefore adapt to the user. Further, the right and left apertures330provide ventilation and reduce perspiration of the user, which increases the life span of the adaptable leotard100and reduces the risk of discoloration and related degradation of the adaptable leotard100.

In a related embodiment, the garment body110and the right and left removable sleeves122124can be made from a stretch fabric, such as LYCRA™, Spandex, and similar stretch fabrics.

In a related embodiment, as shown inFIG. 4, the right and left removable sleeves122124can each be attachable with zippers402to a partial upper periphery316of each of respectively the right and left arm openings. Alternatively, hook and loop fastener404, or other types of fasteners can be used. The zippers402can be sewn with conventional design details, for example as lap zippers402, using flaps to cover the zippers, or as so-called invisible zippers402.

FIG. 5shows a right removable sleeve122attached to the leotard body110, such that the adaptable leotard100has a right armpit aperture530.

In an embodiment, as shown inFIG. 6, an adaptable garment system100can include:a) a garment body110, shown from the rear inFIG. 6; andb) A plurality of removable sleeve pairs, including:i. A first pair of removable sleeves, including:First right and left removable sleeves122124, which are removably attachable to respectively right and left arm openings112114of the garment body110; andii. A second pair of removable sleeves, including:Second right and left removable sleeves522524, which are removably attachable to respectively the right and left arm openings112114of the leotard body110.

In a related embodiment, as shown inFIG. 5, the first right and left removable sleeves122124can be configured as a pair of long sleeves, and the second right and left removable sleeves522524can be configured as a pair of short sleeves.

In related embodiments, the plurality of removable sleeve pairs can include a plurality of sleeves configured with different styles, design, lengths, colors, and/or patterns. Different length removable sleeve pair can for example include bicep-length short sleeves, ¾ length sleeves that reach to the forearm, and long sleeves that reach to the wrist.

Here has thus been described a multitude of embodiments of the adaptable garment100, and systems and methods related thereto, which can be employed in numerous modes of usage.

The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the detailed specification, and thus, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of the invention, which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Many such alternative configurations are readily apparent, and should be considered fully included in this specification and the claims appended hereto. Accordingly, since numerous modifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described, and thus, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.