First things first, I’ve never had an avid interested in sport. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to start out on the wrong foot here. Sport is great etc. and I do believe sport spectating has its merits. I’m happy to jump on a bandwagon when the mood strikes; olympic ceremonies, world cups, boxing day test matches. Although I’d rather watch paint dry than bare witness to a State of Origin match, the sport that almost always proves enjoyable is tennis. Not only is it simple to follow (ball is hit back and forth with rackets – keep up people) but it’s also got quite a style and panache to it.
Free of strict uniforms, weird full length body suits, bibs and ugly brand placements, tennis players are free to experiment with styles and colours leaving their outfit choices to recieve much attention and debate. Tennis dresses and vintage playing attire has also had it's fair sahre of influence within mainstream fashion. It is therefore I deem tennis to be the most stylish of sports. After all, Miss Anna Wintour doesn’t play it for nothing.
Although the sport is without a strict uniform, wearing white became the norm thanks to Wimbledon, back in the day.
It wasn’t until 1922 when tennis pro and all round stylin babe Suzanne Lenglen (pictured) began wearing brightly coloured cardigans and headbands, that female players began to branch out. How’s that for a bit of trivia for you? And in the 1930s it was established that it was a-okay for women to play tennis without wearing stockings. You mean they had been wearing stockings up until then? Madness.
So with all the colourful cardigans and bar legged rebellion going on, soon Wimbledon felt the need to impose the wearing all-white rule. After that it was all relatively smooth sailing as far as court side fashion went. Sometimes players would wear body suits or pants and there would be a slight uproar amongst the sssh-ing and silence of the matches, but nothing major.
Enter the Williams sisters.
The ‘divas’ of the tennis world - the ‘Beyonces’ if you will. As a tennis outsider but fashion enthusiast, the Williams sisters seem to have to going on in both worlds. Not only are they tremendous athletes, but they have a lot of fun with what they wear on the court. Jewel encrusted acrylic nails, leather catsuits, hot pink halter dresses, questionable underwear choices, nothing seems to faze them.
I remember watching in disbelief as Venus Williams played like a maniac while her hair beads slammed and flicked in her face. She got penalised for it, but you got to give the girl an ‘A’ for effort. We can only hope that maybe one day Venus will take to a tournament in a pair of heels. Nike of course. Keep it coming Williams girls!