Duofold Women's Fashion Brand

Duofold started the base layer revolution in 1906 with the goal of combining the best of warmth and comfort. This page covers the brand in strictly product terms - thermal shirts and base layers as garments: their construction, fit, layering job and care. Their dual layer technology has been holding back the cold ever since. Beecher Crouse's quest for the perfect balance of the comfort of cotton and the warmth of wool sparked the creation of the Duofold brand, and the revolution known now as the base layer category, in 1906 - a category invented, unusually, by a fabric idea rather than by a garment style.

Ever since the inception of the Duofold brand over 100 years ago, the brand has remained dedicated to providing the warmth, comfort and performance you need to Live Unconditionally. The brand is now part of the Champion brand division at HanesBrands; Apparel Search's Champion brand profile and HanesBrands company profile are linked from this page. A 1906 thermal specialist inside a modern athletic group is a sensible home: base layers are performance clothing, and performance is the parent division's trade.

Dual-Layer Technology, as a Garment

The product named for women is specific: Champion Women's Duofold Baselayer - start all your outdoor adventures with Duofold thermal shirts, an ideal first layer. Duofold base layer shirts manage moisture and keep you warm, and Duofold Originals thermals feature dual-layer technology to create a warm barrier against the elements. Two jobs are claimed there, and they are the two jobs any base layer must do together: move moisture away from the skin, and hold warmth in a barrier layer - a garment that does only the second becomes clammy, and one that does only the first becomes cold.

Reading the dual-layer idea as construction makes the shopping test obvious. The inner layer's comfort - Crouse's cotton side of the bargain - is judged against the skin: soft, smooth, with seams that lie flat where straps, waistbands and outer layers will press on them all day. The warm barrier is judged by loft and coverage: a thermal shirt should fit close enough to work as a first layer without riding up, with cuffs and hem that stay where the layering system puts them. Fit snug, never constricting, is the whole specification of a first layer.

Buying and Caring for Base Layers

Buy by the cold you actually meet. Thermal shirts are the first layer of a system, so choose weight by activity and weather: a base layer worn under a shell for active outdoor work must manage moisture as hard as it warms, while a layer for slow, cold, seated hours can lean toward warmth. Try thermals with the mid-layer you own over them, checking reach and bend - a first layer that pulls free at the waist in the shop will do it on the hill. One honest thermal that fits the system beats a drawer of almost-right ones.

Care keeps the technology working: wash as labelled, cool and gentle, avoid heavy fabric softeners that coat performance fibres and blunt moisture management, and dry away from fierce heat that tires elastic and loft. Stored clean and dry, a dual-layer thermal is among the longest-serving garments a wardrobe holds - which is the founding bargain of 1906 kept for another century: warmth and comfort, balanced in two layers, from a Champion division brand that has been dedicated to them for over 100 years.

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