The evolution of women’s tennis fashion

Tennis was a weekend game at the end of the 19th century. A game for gossiping and closing business deals while enjoying a sport and maintaining one’s composure; it was invented by the British elite; who considered that it would be better to hit the ball with a tool that stylizes the shot rather than with the body, so they devised a smaller ball. All this adorned with corsets, enormous shoulder pads, hats, big ribbons, Balmoral ankle boots and, in short, elite clothing which hindered movements and flexibility tremendously.

First of all, let me give you some details about general tennis history facts and specific moments in Wimbledon history.

12th Century

Origins can be traced back to a French game called "Paume" ("Palm"), where players hit a small ball over a net with their hands.

16th Century

The racket was actually invented in Italy in 1583. Paume evolved into "Jeu de Paume" ("Game of Palm") and a racket was used instead of the hand.

1873
Major Walter Wingfield invented a game called "Sphairistikè" (Greek for "playing ball") and first introduced it in Wales (UK).

1884
The Wimbledon Championship was opened to women for the first time.

There were only 13 participants. Men’s doubles were also introduced for the first time.

1887
The US Championship was opened to women for the first time.

1887 Wimbledon: Lottie Dod of England wins the Wimbledon Ladies Singles title for the first of 5 times between 1887 and 1893.

She is the youngest player to win a singles event at the age of only 15 years and 285 days and looked like this.

Wimbledon—the oldest tennis tournament in the world—currently held in England, reminds us that there was once a time when women practiced their backhand not in neon spandex, but wearing lace-up corsets, court-length skirts, ladylike slippers and even, occasionally, a well-placed fur.

Here are some examples, decade by decade, of the most stylishly standout moments in tennis outfits.

  


Women had worn long skirts and restrictive clothing to play tennis until 1910.  The fashion plate left is dated 1895 and depicts a typical 'sporty' tennis dress.  Note the hats, tight-sleeved jackets and heavy skirts.   


 

1900s   The ladies who played tennis at the turn of the century were cinched in corsets and belts, and covered up in floor-grazing skirts, hats and long sleeves.

 1920s The “Roaring Twenties” said goodbye to the clothing constraints of earlier decades and introduced loose, cocktail-inspired attire, as seen here on players who traded long skirts and wide brims for dropwaist, below-the-knee dresses and stylishly sporty bandeaux or visors.



In 1922, Suzanne Lenglen shocked the world when she dressed for tennis at Wimbledon wearing a short skirt.

 

Tennis players Helen Wills-Moody and Helen Jacobs walking onto the court at Wimbledon in 1929.

1940s  Legendary for her classic men´s wear style, Katharine Hepburn rejected the traditional tennis skirt and opted instead for flattering high-waisted shorts.

  

1970s   Outfits got tighter and skirts got shorter, and this era’s disco fever spread to sportswear, showing up in patterened fabrics and exaggerated collars.  

Nowadays, far from that, each woman tennis player expects to be different from her colleagues; they hope to be exclusive, trendy and fashionable.

              

Look at Venus Williams at the 2010 French Open and Maria Sharapova.

They are some of the tennis players who have become almost as famous for what they wear on the court as for their stellar performances. While Kournikova favours short, tight, and midriff outfits, Sharapova designs all of her own uniforms, adding menswear elements and Swarovski crystals.

What will the future be for the next centuries? Maybe our stylish collection of women's tennis clothing will include original and unique tennis skirts, tennis dresses, tennis tops, tennis outfits  or…  maybe sports fashion will be inspired by science fiction films. Imagine a female tennis player dressed in a Princess Leia Costume!

Who knows...  ?                                                                                            

                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                Flamencodancer