By Ben Rothenberg
First Serve, 1890
Harry Roseland (American, 1866/68-1950)
Oil on canvas
ITHF Museum Collection
Hood Rubber Company (American)
ITHF Museum Collection
ITHF Museum Collection
Photo Credit: Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum
Tress & Co. and J. & F. Browne Hatters (British)
ITHF Museum Collection
Edwardian summer dress featuring embroidered tennis racquet detail at the waist, ca. 1910.
Women preparing to play tennis in the Italian Riviera, ca. 1905-1910.
ITHF Museum Collection
ITHF Museum Collection
As lawn tennis began to sprout up on the lawns around the British Empire and United States, the clothing choices on court reflected many of the societal strictures of the late 1800s. Though comical by more recent standards, the overdressed tennis player was a fashion icon of their day, and quickly became a popular symbol of recreation and leisure among advertisers and promoters for a wide range of products and tourist destinations.
From its inception, tennis was considered a suitable sport for both men and women, but women faced a far more daunting task. As they first took the court, female tennis players wore what women in Victorian England generally wore for outdoor pursuits: large, wide-brimmed hats; high collars, long sleeves, and skirts that reached the ground that covered corsets, bustles and petticoats. Tennis shoes also started at a place far from their current designs. The earliest versions featured a raised heel, and a boot which often extended up above the ankle.
When she won the first ladies' singles championships at Wimbledon in 1884, 19 year-old Maud Watson wore layers of white linen fabric, and was further restricted by a tight, binding corset and a bustle behind her. Despite all the fabric, constriction, and encumbrances, there was little function to early women’s tennis clothing. For instance, in order to hold balls, women would often wear an apron with pocket tied around their waist.
Male players also had an expected uniform on the court, utilizing styles that already existed for playing cricket. Most men in the sport's earliest days also wore hats — albeit smaller caps with shorter brims than their female counterparts. Men too showed little skin in the early days of the sport. They wore starched shirts with collars and long sleeves, which were often tight in the shoulder and underarm, leading to restricted ranges of motion. Many also sported a vest or sweater, or perhaps a jacket, necktie, and sash or belt (especially if playing for a specific club). They also wore long trousers made of heavy wool; "tennis flannels" was synonymous with the dress of the day. Unlike women who had to often hobble around on high-heeled boots, men wore simpler loafer-type shoes, and if a serious competitor, shoes with spiked soles.
One early tennis fashion consideration has persisted to the modern day, at least on the tradition-heavy grounds of Wimbledon; all white clothing was de rigeur for early tennis players, and considered particularly imperative for women. The idea that a woman should be seen perspiring was simply unimaginable, and fancy and colorful outfits—especially those made of silk or satin—failed in this regard.
Other fashion norms from the era were abandoned as years came and went. Corsets, sometimes left bloodied by women who had struggled against them as they played, fell by the wayside in the years leading up to World War I. Shoes became more recognizable as being useful for athletic endeavors, incorporating rubber soles and lower heels. Apparel gradually grew less cumbersome. No longer was a player’s mobility severely limited by the bundles of heavy clothing, which got in the way, slowed them down, and made it difficult to move their limbs freely.
Pair of women’s stockings with a tennis racquet and ball motif, ca. 1880
ITHF Museum Collection
“Lawn Tennis Aprons” patterns that appeared in the August 6, 1881 issue of Harper’s Bazaar
ITHF Museum Collection
Photograph of the first international match at Wimbledon in 1883 between William & Ernest Renshaw (England) versus Charles & Joseph Clark (USA) shows the variety of fashion worn by men.
ITHF Museum Collection
Skirt Lifter “Favorite,” ca. 1880 unknown maker (French)
In the Victorian period, a skirt lifter was an essential accessory for women tennis players. Secured to the hemline, women could carefully lift their skirts slightly so as to not trip over them while playing tennis. As hemlines began to rise in the early 20th century, this tool became obsolete.
ITHF Museum Collection
Charlotte Cooper Sterry was a five-time Wimbledon singles champion (1895, 1896, 1898, 1901, and 1908) and competed in very proper—for the time—fashion.
© Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum
Cabinet card studio photograph of a man dressed for tennis in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, ca. 1900.
ITHF Museum Collection
In 1905, American May Sutton Bundy became the first foreigner–male or female–to win Wimbledon, while shocking the crowds with her fashion. Wearing a slightly shorter skirt (one that just hovered over the ground), she rolled up her sleeves, baring her forearms, and was chastised for thinking of her comfort and ability to play rather than what was decent.
ITHF Museum Collection
Members of a German tennis club showcase the fashion trends of the day, ca. 1910
ITHF Museum Collection
All-around champion athlete, American Eleonora Sears is not hindered by her clothing in 1915.
ITHF Museum Collection
ITHF Museum Collection
As tennis changed with the world around it post World War I, France’s Suzanne Lenglen and Spain’s Lili Alvarez became symbols of women's growing emancipation and empowerment. Showing "scant regard for her reputation," as French fashion historian Diane Elisabeth Poirier described it, Lenglen shook free of the binding rules of fashion that had dictated players before her. Alvarez wore a "divided skirt," adopting the sort of baggy, billowing pants for tennis which women had already worn for greater ease of motion in other recreations, such as bicycle riding. Despite more freedom and artistic expression in fashion, the color white still predominated.
Set an image:
Suzanne Lenglen-inspired creation by Ted Tinling
ITHF Museum Collection
Ted Tinling designed visor in the style reminiscent of that worn by Helen Wills. Wills’ affinity for the visor sparked a trend amongst women. The visor became the ultimate accessory, and it was reported that fancy versions, graced with rhinestones, were created for the fashion-forward woman to wear in the evening while attending social gatherings.
Visor in the style reminiscent of that worn by Helen Wills.
ITHF Museum Collection
Lenglen played the sport with flair and abandon, sometimes sipping brandy during changeovers. She dressed with a similar lack of inhibition, wearing sleeveless, knee-length dresses, made with loose, flowing fabric that moved with her every balletic movement. Instead of the concealing, wide-brimmed hats favored by earlier players, Lenglen capped off her look with a brightly-colored bandeau wrapped around her head, fastened with a bejeweled pin. A smart long cardigan in the same color as her bandeau completed the look.
While Lenglen’s fashion sense inspired countless women around the world and fit in with the era of the flapper, American Helen Wills also inspired fashion trends—though more conservative in nature. Wills began playing as a young woman and her school uniform was the tennis fashion choice of her early career, along with the quintessential “eye shade” or visor. Her fashion soon evolved to an outfit consisting of a white pleated skirt, short sleeve top, long cardigan, and visor.
Set an image:
France's René Lacoste earned the nickname "le Crocodile" in 1923 because of his precise and attacking nature on the court. He later ventured into sportswear manufacturing, using the iconic reptile as his company's brand.
Blazer worn by René Lacoste, 1920s-1930s
ITHF Museum Collection
Shirt and Shorts worn by Helen Hull Jacobs, ca. 1933.
ITHF Museum Collection
Lenglen's brilliance in both tennis and fashioned was matched by her male compatriots, who also broke boundaries in menswear. France’s Jean “The Bounding Basque” regularly sported a beret during play, while René “The Crocodile” Lacoste developed a shirt for tennis which allowed greater range of motion and comfort, with loose sleeves which ended above the elbow. Lacoste's style and design of a short-sleeved, loose-knit pique cotton shirt with a flat, unstarched collar and button placket continues today, as does the brand bearing his name, with a crocodile logo inspired by his nickname.
Another innovation that changed both the men’s and women’s game was the introduction of shorts. England’s Henry “Bunny” Austin was the first to sport short pants in major competition in 1932. The following year, American Helen Hull Jacobs became the first woman to sport the look on the international tennis stage, eschewing the more feminine expectations of the era. This trend was one that remained to the present day.
Set an image:
Tennis Shoes worn by Alex Olmedo, 1958 Wilson Sporting Goods Co. (American)
Photo Credit: ITHF Museum Collection / World Tennis Magazine Archives
Photo Credit: ITHF Museum Collection / Ted Tinling Archives
Tennis dress designed by Ted Tinling for Gussy Moran, 1949
ITHF Museum Collection
Men's clothing continued to evolve fairly linearly toward the sportswear of today. By the time World War II ended, male players were almost all wearing short sleeves and shorts. Future innovations were often more subtle; some players experimented with wearing spiked tennis shoes for greater traction on grass, the predominant playing surface for most of the 20th century; those spikes have since been banned from competitive play.
Women's tennis fashions went through more ebbs and flows. Tennis fashion might have continued down a more conservative, utilitarian path if not for the flair of Ted Tinling. Ted was a couturier who was an intimate part of the tennis scene from the 1920s to his death in 1990.
Tinling’s most memorable creation came in 1949, when he added lace trim to the panties of American player Gussy Moran. Moran, who wrote a fashion column titled “Togs & Tennis” for the magazine American Lawn Tennis, took the courts of Wimbledon in Tinling's creation and immediately scandalized and titillated the British public. Photographers eager to get a shot of the underwear lay prone on the ground, seeking the perfect upward angle.
Set an image:
Outfit: ITHF Museum Collection
Photo Credit: World Tennis Magazine Archives
For Moran, and a small handful of other women's players, media persistently focused more on their undergarments than their overheads. Maria Bueno, an elegant and glamorous Brazilian player, also collaborated with Tinling, adding colorful trims and linings to her white dresses and underskirts, which broke boundaries in a sport in which all-white had remained the norm.
“Championship Play at Wimbledon” from the July 12, 1919 issue of The Sphere magazine showing the styles of Suzanne Lenglen, Dorothea Douglass Chambers, Kitty McKane, and Miss O’Sullivan.
ITHF Museum Collection
Crocheted short-sleeve tennis dress, ca. 1920
ITHF Museum Collection
Newspaper Article titled “Why England Thinks Women’s Clothes Should be Censored” that appeared in the August 9, 1923 issue of The Sunday Telegram (Albany, New York)
ITHF Museum Collection
England’s Bunny Austin is the first person to wear shorts at a major international event—the 1932 U.S. National Championships. It was reported that Bunny had a circulatory condition that often caused him great distress when playing tennis due to the weight of sweat-soaked wool-flannel pants, and asked his tailor to lop off the legs of his pants, starting the shorts trend.
ITHF Museum Collection
"Court Costume for the Tennis Season 1934" article that appeared in the August 1934 issue of Esquire magazine. Illustration by Louis Hurd.
ITHF Museum Collection
Ted Tinling created this "blossom pink" dress for Great Britain's then No.1 player Kay Stammers to wear during war-time Red Cross Exhibition matches. The non-white garment was considered acceptable because exhibition matches were not regarded as seriously competitive by the sport's governing bodies and thus not subject to the "white clothing only" rule.
ITHF Museum Collection
Tinling recalls a description of Connolly’s youthful charm by Punch writer Alison Adburgham: “Touching, reassuring… this girl of eighteen—already at the pinnacle of her world—should find delight in little things…in furry poodles with sequin eyes; in tiny bows fashioned as teeny rackets…”
ITHF Museum Collection
Maureen Connolly’s Poodle Dress, 1952
Ted Tinling (British, 1910-1990)
Maureen Connolly in action at the 1952 Wimbledon Championships
Photo Credit: International Tennis Hall of Fame
Dress worn by Virginia Wade at the 1965 Wimbledon Championships
Ted Tinling (British, 1910-1990)
ITHF Museum Collection
Virginia Wade in action at the 1965 Wimbledon Championships
© AELTC/Arthur Cole
Dress worn by Rosie Casals at the 1972 Wimbledon Championships
Ted Tinling (British, 1910-1990)
Outfit: ITHF Museum Collection
Photo Credit: AELTC/Michael Cole
Stan Smith Supreme Tennis Shoes
by adidas, 1974
ITHF Museum Collection
Björn Borg’s iconic Fila outfit, 1976
ITHF Museum Collection
Tennis Dress worn by Tracy Austin
at the 1977 US Open
Little Miss Tennis (American)
Photo Credit: Richard Pilling, World Tennis Magazine Photo Archives / ITHF Museum Collection
Black lace dress worn by Venus Williams at the 2010 French Open
eleVen by Venus Williams (American)
Photo by AP Images
Legionnaires style hat worn by Ivan Lendl at the 1990 Australian Open
ITHF Museum Collection
Photo: ©AELTC/Michael Cole
Babolat Tennis Shoes Worn by Andy Roddick, 2012 US Open
Photo by AP Images
ITHF Museum Collection
Ending years of hiding and hypocrisy, the tennis establishment opened its arms to professional players in 1968, allowing all of the sport's best players to compete at the sport's most important tournaments, which previously had been restricted to only amateurs.
With players now free to openly earn money from their careers, business interests began to make themselves visible in the clothing the players wore.
Virginia Slims, the cigarette brand which sponsored the early years of women's professional tennis, had its logos appear both overtly and subtly on the dresses of players on tour. Designer Ted Tinling worked closely with the professional women’s tour and its players, becoming the official designer for the Virginia Slims tour from 1971-1978. Tinling and his team created over 1,000 unique looks for the players on tour. He made custom outfits for many of the top players, including the dress worn by Billie Jean King in her 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” victory over Bobby Riggs.
As the game continued to grow professionally and financially, clothing manufacturers increasingly scooped up tennis stars to be the faces of their brands, signing multi-million dollar contracts to place their logos prominently on the clothes of the top players.
Stan Smith inked one of the earliest deals with Adidas, with an eponymous tennis shoe design which endures to this day. In fact, his name is now commonly associated with the product above his tennis career, leading to his 2018 book titled Some People Think I’m a Shoe.
Björn Borg was signed by Fila, and the pinstriped shirt they outfitted him with at Wimbledon has stood as one of the most iconic looks in the history of the sport.
Still, there were occasionally homemade touches. 15-year-old Tracy Austin made her US Open debut in a girlish pinafore dress made by a family friend.
As Tinling's influence waned in the mid-1980s, women's tennis clothing veered more conservative and standardized, losing the individuality and creativity expressed in the preceding decades, only to be reinvigorated by a wave of flashy young players in the late 1990s.
Now major sportswear companies compete to make the most eye-grabbing outfits that would be featured in media around the world. For champions like Venus and Serena Williams, their opening round matches at major events offered more intrigue for what new creation they would wear than their routine victories. Whether it was Serena’s “Catsuit” at the 2002 US Open or Venus’ lingerie-inspired look at the 2010 French Open, the sisters, as well as other players, put their own personality into their on-court fashion choices.
Further innovations in technology throughout the Open Era increased player comfort and performance. Scientists continued to develop synthetic, lightweight fabrics, which wicked away moisture and kept players from being bogged down in hot and humid conditions. When Ivan Lendl signed with Mizuno in 1989, he began sporting a hat with neck protection, referred to as a Legionnaires Hat. Though some critics thought it comical, it helped him tolerate the intense heat at the 1990 Australian Open to earn his 8th and last major singles title.
Still, fashion mattered just as much as function, if not more. Occasionally, corporate clothiers worked with fashion designers from outside the sportswear sphere. British designer Stella McCartney paired with Adidas to outfit several top women's players in feminine styles that used subtle neutral and pastel tones. In 2003, Belgian-American Diane Von Furstenberg collaborated with Reebok to create a Wimbledon dress for Venus Williams, which featured elegant lacing in the back, alluding to the corsets players had endured more than a century before.
Male players also were expected to make fashion statements on court. When he played his final tournament at the 2012 US Open, Andy Roddick wore a pair of star-spangled and striped Babolat shoes. Roger Federer often accessorized before and after matches, wearing cardigan sweaters, blazers, and trousers before matches in homage to the styles of 50 years earlier. Other looks were entirely new. Early in his career, Rafael Nadal paired sleeveless shirts with shorts that extended beyond his knees, nicknamed "piratas" for their length and his swashbuckling game
Spiked tennis shoes worn by Rod Laver at the 1969 US Open After losing the opening set of the final 7-9 to countryman Tony Roche, Laver donned these spiked tennis shoes to help gain traction on the slippery grass courts at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York. The "Rocket" went on to win the next three sets 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, and became the only person in tennis history to have won two Grand Slams in singles.
ITHF Museum Collection
Rod Laver in action at the 1969 US Open
Photo Credit: Russ Adams Productions
Dress worn by Evonne Goolagong, 1972
Ted Tinling (British, 1910-1990)
The design of "tall trees by still waters" on this dress is a visual representation of the meaning of the name “Goolagong.”
ITHF Museum Collection
Evonne Goolagong, 1972
Photo Credit: ITHF / Ed Fernberger
Billie Jean King adidas Tennis Shoes, 1973
Billie Jean King was under contract from adidas® to wear royal blue tennis shoes, and when Ted Tinling created looks for her to wear, he always added some royal blue to, "validate the shoes."
ITHF Museum Collection
Billie Jean King serving at the Battle of the Sexes Match against Bobby Riggs, September 23, 1973 at the Houston Astrodome
Photo Credit: Russ Adams Productions
"Replacement" dress created by Ted Tinling with custom label for Martina Navratilova, 1978
Loan courtesy of Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova at the 1978 Wimbledon Championships
©AELTC/Michael Cole
John McEnroe’s Davis Cup Jacket, 1982
Sergio Tacchini (Italian)
ITHF Museum Collection
Tennis shoes worn by Chris Evert at the 1983 French Open where she won her 5th title on the terre battue at Stade Roland Garros.
Converse (American)
ITHF Museum Collection
Outfit worn by Chris Evert at the 1989 Wimbledon Championships, during her 18th and final appearance at the All England Club.
Ellesse (Italian)
ITHF Museum Collection
Outfit worn by Monica Seles during her comeback to competitive tennis at the 1995 US Open.
Nike, Inc. (American)
ITHF Museum Collection
Outfit worn by Pete Sampras at the 1999 Wimbledon Championships when he defeated Andre Agassi to win his 6th title at the All England Club.
Nike, Inc. (American)
ITHF Museum Collection
Outfit worn by Kim Clijsters at the 2010 US Open where she successfully defended her title by defeating Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-1.
FILA (Italian)
ITHF Museum Collection
Outfit worn by Roger Federer at the 2011 ATP World Tour Finals, where he successfully defended his crown, winning an unprecedented sixth title.
Nike, Inc. (American)
ITHF Museum Collection
Dress worn by Jelena Janković at the 2014 French Open
FILA (Italian)
ITHF Museum Collection
Like a ball across the net, tennis fashion continues to move: sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, sometimes cyclically, sometimes in a way entirely new. The only constant is change. Time, technology, and broader fashion movements can shape it, but most of all, tennis fashion is shaped by the people in the sport. From Suzanne Lenglen's lithe liberation to Andy Roddick's red-white-and-blue, tennis is about self-expression. No two people play the sport the same way, and will two people look the same doing it. It's a sport of independence and innovation. While that moving ball will aim to stay within the lines, the way tennis fashion will continue to evolve knows no bounds.
Ben Rothenberg is the author of the book "The Stylish Life: Tennis." He is a freelance American tennis writer, covering the sport for outlets including The New York Times, and a co-host of the podcast No Challenges Remaining.