There are a number of factors that contribute to the dominance of the white tennis uniform. The dress code dates back to the Victorian era, when it was considered improper to be seen sweating. White linen was the most discreet of choices, being both light to wear and less prone to revealing unattractive armpit stains. The fact that tennis whites stained easily on the grass, making them harder to clean, along with the rise of the leisure industry, made the uniform all the more appealing to those who hoped to distinguish themselves from the working class. Tinling found the all-white dress code visually unstimulating, and when tennis began to be televised, he was quick to point out how often the camera panned to the sky or an awning to offer more color on screen. But Wimbledon’s recent tightening of its dress code in 2014—when it declared that there could be only “a single trim of color no wider than one centimeter” and broadened the all-white rule to include caps, headbands, bandannas, wristbands, shoes, and visible undergarments “that either are or can be visible during play (including due to perspiration)”— is a reminder of how some traditions will never change. Even if the rules are considered draconian by many of the top players. “White, white, full-on white,” Roger Federer complained to The New York Times that year. “I think it’s very strict. My personal opinion: I think it’s too strict.”
was openly gay his entire life, often spoke of his admiration for women, and his desire to celebrate their femininity. And though he was old-fashioned, it seems that, at heart, he believed women could play tennis as well as men. In 1970, when Billie Jean King and a group of other top female tennis athletes (who together became known as the Original 9) organized with Virginia Slims to create their own tournaments, one where the women would earn as much prize money as men, they turned to Tinling to make their dresses. “Ted was one of a kind and larger than life,” King recalled. “He wanted to know if I wanted the dress loose or tight; which way did I twist more when I played and a wide range of more functional things. But he also let me choose fabrics and sequins or mirrors and the special little touches that made a Ted dress a fashion creation. He made us all stars.” (Tinling also designed King’s dress for the Battle of the Sexes against Bobby Riggs in 1973.) Nancy Richey, another of the Original 9, said, “They were spectacular, his dresses. We were playing at night in arenas and it had a show-business atmosphere, with the way we were dressing with the rhinestone buttons and embellishments around the collar, sequins—you name it, he did it.” Tinling loved beauty, and he loved the elegance and the spectacle of tennis. The designer passed away in 1990, just as sponsorship by athletic brands began to sweep through professional sports. Now the pros wear sweat-wicking outfits by Nike and Adidas, and earn millions doing it. But when you look at a Tinling dress hanging on a mannequin in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, you can still imagine the way it would shimmer in the sun as she— Gussie, Billie, Nancy—kicked up her leg for a serve, her skirt swirling with the spin of the ball.
Ted Tinling made the
monogrammed dress in which Martina Navratilova won her first Wimbledon singles title, in 1978. Its label reads, "Made With Love For The Champ.”
Thessaly La Force is a writer living in Brooklyn.
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