I spent the last couple of weeks completely obsessed by one thing - the Australian Open.
I teared home every day to watch some truly superb tennis - the womens' finals where Serena Williams destroyed Maria Sharapova was unbelievable. Ms Williams OWNED the court - which was pretty much how she played the entire tournament.
And even though Ms Sharapova easily had the prettiest dress - Nike lemon-yellow strappy one-piece trimmed in black with pleated details - Ms Williams had genuine style: she strode around the court like a superstar, doing her post-match interviews with her Nike tote daintily hooked on her arm.
Which brings me to the reason for this post in the first place - court fashion.
In between sets, I found myself fantasising about what I would wear on the courts (supremely unlikely to happen), and there was plenty from the spring collections that looked promising. Never mind the whole sporty trend making the rounds at the moment - parachute skirts and anoraks at Dries, etc - I favour a more classic look for tennis; a crisp, preppy, Lacoste-type of look.
This one from Anteprima fits the bill -
It looks comfortable, and I love the simple black and white. I can't see myself doing the neons and bright colours on the court. Call the English stuffy, but I think the white-base rule for Wimbledon is sartorially perfect against the green lawns.
The easy fit of the dress appeals to me - I don't know all the tennis dresses (and separates as well) nowadays look so tight. I hate wearing any thing clingy when I exercise - I hate anything clingy, period - so I don't get the rationale.
Also very tennis-appropriate are the looks at Chanel, most of which, if a little longer, make perfect tennis dresses. This look, no modification needed, would do very nicely -
On a not-so-scorching day, this little black dress would do very nicely -
And this Miu Miu would be nice in some indoor court during some winter tournament -
I also really like this Diane Von Furstenberg dress from the resort collections (I think I've posted this picture at least twice before) -
It's chic and sporty at the same time.
Maybe for the final, the tennis divas could break out this white-and-gold Chanel -
It actually looks like something Ms Sharapova would show up on the court in - but it takes courage to wear a dress like that, because if you didn't win, it would sooooo embarrassing. Also, I think Ms Williams would actually look better in it.
For separates, I like the look of this Proenza Schouler combination - nice way of doing colours, and easy fit -
The best thing is that the micro-lengths aren't even an issue - tennis players all wear tights underneath anyway - so ironically, the most impractical fashions actually make sense on the very real, very no-frills world of sports.
Looking at all the tennis-y looks, I got distracted by the twenties'-style flapper dresses that showed up here and there for spring, all with their own distinct flavour.
There's cool urban flapper, as seen at Derek Lam -
There's skateboard-casual flapper, at Marc by Marc Jacobs -
There's hip-preppy flapper, also from Marc by Marc Jacobs -
There's girly, romantic flapper, from Marc Jacobs -
And there's chic, elegant flapper, courtesy of Ralph Lauren -
I suppose the connection is there - the whole idea of tennis just conjures up that languid 1920s' vibe: Biarritz; Chanel; Suzanne Lenglen in Nice dressed by Patou.
I like it when the elements of fashion I like sort of coalesce together - proves that I am not just being random and there is logic in this world.
match point
Reviewed by just4u
Published :
Rating : 4.5
Published :
Rating : 4.5
