Immaculate, bright and all-white — golf white have been a history dating back centuries. The unique appearance has also made bat play a stand-out, making it a fashionable staple off the court as well.
And despite the elimination of the hueless consistency in the majority of major tournaments, Wimbledon, the very first of them, has maintained a strict policy (as have some private clubs all over the world). The prestigious tournament also resisted the concept a decade ago, outlawing beautiful accents that had become extremely common. This was the year after Roger Federer’s now-infamous pair of orange-soled sneakers were made illegal after his first round of 2013 elimination.
The rules forbid “predominantly whitened” clothing at the beginning, allowing some competition to experiment with color combinations, such as Serena Williams’ 2010 memorial to Wimbledon handle strawberries and cream in 2010. But the assault changed the language to “almost fully white,” no off-white, no sections of colour, no varying colors on sneakers. Following accusations that the laws weren’t accommodating for menstrual spills, the only new change was in 2023, which made it legal for women to wear dark-colored clothes on the jury.
But why did sport white become the normal? The reasons frequently cited are sensible ones, from warmth representation to sweat-masking. However, senior curator Kevin Jones of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) museum in Los Angeles, who organized the most recent traveling exhibition Sporting Fashion: Outdoor Girls 1800- 1960, said it really comes down to a long history of clubs enforcing social status, starting when lawn tennis became a rare leisure sport that allowed women to play as well.
In a phone call with CNN, he said, “White clothes are difficult to keep up,” and that makes it totally elite. “And the types of materials that these dresses were made of, which were fabrics and clothes, creased easily, but keeping them good and newly starched was also an element of that attention.”
Challenging the laws
Of course, tennis style has undergone a significant change in the past century and a half since it first attracted the attention of the upper class, following croquet (and using the same neatly trimmed lawns). First tennis clothes was more akin to 19th-century leisurewear: ladies wore striped and patterned clothing with long clothes, corseting and wide-brimmed caps, men donned sheep pants, button-downs or sweaters.
According to sports journalist Ben Rothenberg, author of “Tennis: The Stylish Life” and a recent biography on Naomi Osaka, fashion and tennis have had a “mutual exchange over time, where various tennis trends have seeped into wider culture as well.”
That’s been more than apparent in the past few months as Zendaya turned out a series of tennis-inspired high-fashion matching the on- and off-court drama of the film “Challengers”, and in an “air tennis” match for a campaign by the sportswear brand On. The close relationship with fashion has also resulted in the success of well-known tennis-born labels like Lacoste and Fred Perry as well as radical new fashion trends introduced on the court, such as Elsa Schiaparelli dressing Spanish player Lil de lvarez in culottes, a split skirt, for Wimbledon in 1931, to the shock of onlookers.
Like with De Álvarez, dress codes in tennis have often changed after an initial scandal. One of the earliest and most memorable examples of Suzanne Lenglen was when she ditched the layered, long dresses and went to Wimbledon in 1919 in a more airy calf-length skirt and short sleeves. Lenglen, who was a muse for French designer Jean Patou, transformed into tennis’s first fashion icon with her distinctive headscarf and shockingly short hems.
Players have challenged definitions of what tennis attire can be at the US, French, and Australian Open (subject to referee opinion) due to looser rules. None have done so more than the Williams sisters, with Serena wearing a denim mini, tutus and cape-like silhouettes and Venus’s lacy black-and-red ensemble that drew comparisons to lingerie.
Serena Williams’ Nike kit, which she chose to wear instead of the tennis skirt, was recently the subject of conversation at the 2018 French Open. The French Open warned that the style would be prohibited in the future despite the fact that she cited its circulation benefits as a result of a severe blood-clot scare resulting from the birth of her child. The Women’s Tennis Association formally authorized it, and Williams continued to wear bodysuits at the Australian Opens in 2019 and 2021, returning the agile and simplified cut for the tennis court.
“I love wearing skirts”, she told CNN in April while reflecting on the controversy. However, I wanted to make sure that my blood was always circulating because I had a near-death experience.
“So I think there should have been … understanding around that whole outfit”, she added.
Brand distinctions
In a time when the sport is more popular, the all-white rules were removed from most Grand Slam competitions decades ago. This was likely done in an effort to draw more TV viewers and advertisers.
According to James, “Color is crucial to draw the eye, especially for those sports companies that are able to promote their logos and colors.”
Sports and luxury brands use a variety of media to promote merchandised designs on rivals, from dressing stars in custom statement pieces to presenting them with merchandise.
Wimbledon’s restrictive rules have been “frustrating” for brands trying to sell their tournament collections, Rothenberg said. Wimbledon officials said they no longer adhered to the rules when Fila introduced Bjorn Borg throwback shirts in 2001, replicating what the tennis star wore during his five-time Wimbledon winning streak from 1976 to 1980. The decision sent the sports brand “scrambling” to get new shirts to the players wearing them, Rothenberg explained. And, after Federer’s orange-soled shoes were banned, Nike had to act fast to spin their brief appearance, advertising them as “One Match Wonders” in a print ad.
For players, the smallest infractions have proved controversial, and some players have outright refused to play along, as Andre Agassi did from 1988-90 when he boycotted Wimbledon entirely. Jurij Rodionov was seen peeking out of his shirts in 2017, while Sabine Lisicki was frequently asked to switch out her skin-colored bras.
But Rothenberg doesn’t see more leniency happening anytime soon from Wimbledon’s decision-makers.
“I think Wimbledon sees its anachronisms as a big part of its brand and its value”, he explained. “Wimbledon has clung on to it as a way to be distinct and different, and I believe it has largely succeeded. It doesn’t look like any other tournament.”
Although Rothenberg agrees, he also points out that women’s clothing has been more inventive because of the criticisms made against the major tournaments when they appear to be disproportionately influenced by their dress codes. Since their introduction, men’s tenniswear has changed less from shorts and lightwear polos and shortsleeve athletic shirts.
However, “a lot of men’s shorts have gotten markedly shorter over the past year,” he said with a laugh.
If they start displaying excessive cheekiness, there might be rules that will apply one day.