Tennis fashion has evolved from the late 1800s to the present time in an interesting manner. Women started to wear looser and more comfortable clothing as the decades and centuries progressed. Men also started to wear looser and more sporty uniforms as well. Let us now trace the evolution of tennis fashion and highlight some memorable attire that has stood out in tennis history.
The early 1900s saw women playing tennis dressed in long skirts with long-sleeved tops. Stockings were also worn while playing the sport. Such attire limited the mobility of the women and must not have been all that comfortable.
The tennis attire of the early 1900s mirrored the fashion of the day, which included high collar dresses and long sleeves. Around the 1900s, the white clothing often worn by tennis players became associated with being a status symbol of wealth. The famous Wimbledon tennis tournament in England required all its participants to wear all-white clothing in 1890. It is a tradition that still holds today.
The 1920s saw a significant fashion shock when French tennis player Suzanne Langlen played a tennis match wearing a short-sleeved dress that was only knee-length instead of floor-length. It was also during this decade that the French tennis player Rene Lacoste created the now infamous polo shirts. He is the Lacoste clothing brand founder, which began to mass-produce his comfortable and lightweight polo shirts that still carry the iconic crocodile logo.
The 1930s saw women wear knee-length skirts. Tennis uniforms in the 1930s tended to be looser, fitting in with the fashion of the time. The late 1940s saw female tennis players wearing shorts and lace started to appear in the tennis attire of some female players such as Gertrude Moran.
In the 1950s, pleated skirts and cardigans were popular with female athletes. The 60s that followed saw an emergence of tunics, and more women started to wear shorts for tennis. The men also seemed to rebel through their fashion and wore short-length shorts, along with colorful polo shirts and headbands in the 1970s.
The 80s and 90s saw some bizarre tennis uniforms. Anne White wore a unitard to Wimbledon in the 80s, which caused a stir. Andre Agassi played in denim shorts combined with bright-colored cycling shorts and a headband.
In the 2000s and beyond, tennis uniforms and fashion became increasingly influenced by the brands that sponsor the athletes. Sharapova donned outfits decorated with Swarovski crystals in the early 2000s and later wore Tuxedo-like attire designed by Nike.
The decade of 2010 saw the appearance of tennis uniforms that seemed to be inspired by lingerie wear. Some have criticized that such tennis attire is too revealing and even distracting. Shift dresses designed by Nike made a brief appearance in 2016. They seemed to go out of style quickly, though, as they did not appear very comfortable or suitable to the sport of tennis.
