![]() ![]() Both sisters studied fashion design at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and both have capitalized on their celebrity through various fashion deals and forays over the years. My first stop was at each of Serena and Venus Williams's clothing lines. I soon realized that limiting my search to tennis would make for a short and rather dull activity, since most sellers of tennis outfits seem to stick to the conventional silhouettes and offer only plain undies, so I broadened my project to athletic wear in general. Click to view original photo.Īll this got me inspired to put together my own lingerie-focused sporting outfits. Venus Williams's controversial 2010 French Open lingerie-inspired tennis outfit. (see: Venus and Serena Williams in Pictures: Their Most Outrageous Tennis Outfits Through the Years) Without exactly defying rules of attire, each sister has pushed the edge of what's acceptable in tennis, and together they have shaken up a sport that is historically conservative and in love with its own conservatism. (see: The Most Controversial Outfits in Wimbledon History)Īnother big tennis underwear coup was in 2007, when Tatiana Golovin flaunted red undies beneath her white outfit.Īny conversation about changes in women's tennis clothing would be incomplete without a hearty salute to Venus and Serena Williams, who for fifteen years have been astounding the tennis world with their fashion piquancy along with their athletic dominance. In 1985, during a decade of fashion boundary pushing, Anne White wore the required all white outfit at Wimbledon, but shocked the establishment by reinventing the stodgy pleated skirt and collared shirt as a sleek, body conscious one piece bodysuit. It was around the same time that players got rid of restrictive stockings and bulky skirt weight, allowing them greater range of movement and a sport-wide increase in physicality and athleticism. In 1949, Gertrud Moran boldly wore a pair of lace-trimmed panties under her white tennis dress at Wimbledon, causing quite a stir. Midcentury brought myriad changes in women's roles, as well as the role of the tennis skirt. (see: A Brief History of Tennis Apparel at Wimbledon) In 1905 May Sutton won Wimbledon with exposed wrists and a skirt that showed her ankles and calves. After the turn of the century, as women's apparel in general became less constricting, players went along with the evolution despite some public objection. White was the color of choice because it hid indelicate sweat more than colored fabrics. Click to view original photo.Īt the advent of women's tennis in the mid-19th century, players hit the courts in a corset, bustle, petticoat, full length skirt, and full sleeves. My homage to Martin Elliot's 1976 photograph. It seemed to focus all the fuzzy opinions and gazes on women's sport into one big semi-ironic ogle, and frame the question: c'mon, isn't THIS the real reason people watch women's tennis? ![]() It seems to have offended or threatened all these onlookers to see women athletes displaying both their strength and their sexiness brouhahas have erupted at various points of especially brazen fashion choices in women's tennis.Īnd let's not forget the epidemically popular 1976 image by Martin Elliot of a young woman casually lifting her tennis skirt to reveal no underwear at all. Spectating the female athlete's body can be an even more complicated sport and has created plenty of confusion for reporters, tennis fans, and officiating bodies who create clothing guidelines. Spectating the female body has always been a pastime of various intent and return. What a hundred years ago was considered shocking - a visible wrist - is now demure, but that same cultural discomfort with female athletes showing their bodies has never really disappeared, even in our pop-culture age of relentlessly and tiresomely exposed body parts. Skin show in women's tennis has been a point of shock for more than a hundred years, as outfits have shrunk from multi-layered corseted affairs that hid everything and restricted movement to what they are today: tubes of synthetic fabric that may or may not cover full derriere.Īs women have freed themselves and their bodies, their emancipation and strength have been reflected in changing tennis garb. ![]() Tennis, with its complicated scoring system and genteel sportsmanship even during multi-hour sweltering slog-fests, guarantees drama and intrigue - and even more so now that tennis fashion has taken a place front and center in the Grandstand.Īs a lingerie designer I'm glad to see women tennis players having more fun with their outfits - especially their undies. One of my favorite things about September is the US Open. ![]()
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