From 1914 To Now: The Most Popular Fashion Icons And Trends In Tennis

Every year one of the tennis world’s biggest questions is: what will the stars be wearing? Not the celebrities in the audience, mind you. The fashion of the female superstars on the court has gone through incredible change through the years. From the days of fur coats on the clay to the more colorful fashion trends of the 1990s, here’s how women’s tennis fashion has evolved over the years.

1914: Tennis’ Super Conservative Fashion Origins

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This picture of Dorothea Lambert was taken at Wimbledon in 1914. Would you believe she won the women’s bracket at Wimbledon seven times wearing this incredibly conservative outfit? Honestly, she looks like she’s on her way to school to teach the kids English or math.

Lambert loved tennis fashion at the time, even publishing a guide for women to follow titled Tennis for Ladies. The book was published in 1910 and includes this gem, “white is undoubtedly the best to wear. It washes well and does not fade, and looks very much neater on the court than a material.”