The History of Tennis Skirts

At the first ladies’ championship game held by Wimbledon’s All-England Club in 1884, sisters Maud and Lilian Watson wore long skirts with bustles and layers of undergarments in keeping with contemporary fashion. However, the outfits were not player-friendly and made moving around on the court a challenge. The event’s 1887 champion, 15-year-old Lottie Dodd, later remarked that fashion restrictions got in the way of performance for female tennis players and that it was a problem that needed solving. Soon, players began taking matters into their own hands. May Sutton helped popularize a looser skirt and blouse when she won at Wimbledon in 1905. She even wore her skirt at an ankle-exposing length for better movement, but officials forced her to lower her hemline before allowing her to resume play. In the 1910s, most female tennis players wore long, broad skirts and blouses. However, French tennis star Suzanne Lenglen broke barriers by wearing a mid-calf-length tennis skirt in the 1919 ladies’ championship at Wimbledon. In the 1930s, Helen Jacobs even played in shorts and many other female players at the time chose to play in slacks. This caused a backlash from men such as designer Ted Tinling, who sought to feminize ladies’ tennis attire. He designed a line of tennis dresses and skirts and even created a highly controversial outfit for American tennis star Gussie Moran that was short enough to allow onlookers to see her lace underwear. (Moran was later frustrated that her appearance got more attention than her play.) By the end of the 1940s, tennis skirts were typically about an inch off the ground when players were kneeling. These shorter skirts allowed for better freedom of movement but were also notably quite feminine. (Some critics have accused tennis skirts of being sexist and promoting the male gaze, while others have noted that they allow for a good range of motion during play.) However, pleated or loosely fitted tennis skirts that are relatively short have become the norm. Materials and silhouettes have evolved over time and today, tennis skirts are designed for freedom of movement, made of moisture-wicking performance fabrics, and feature built-in shorts. Tennis skirts have also made the jump from athletic wear to fashion item and today, the skirt style is frequently worn simply as a fashion statement.