When lawn tennis first became popular in the 1870s, women wore their everyday dress to play—complete with bustles, corsets, petticoats and trains:
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| Punch, July 7th 1877 |
In time a specialised costume started to evolve for women tennis players—beginning with protective aprons with pockets to hold spare tennis balls! By the turn of the century some women were playing competitive tennis, usually dressed all white tennis outfits consisting of skirts and blouses. Unfortunately these women were still encumbered by long skirts, stiff collars and corsets.
By the end of the First World War, however, women's ordinary clothing had become much less cumbersome and restrictive. Naturally their sportswear followed suit!
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| Le Petit Echo de la Mode, Juillet 6 1919 |
[Left: "Dress for a young girl aged 14 to 16, in two-toned jersey, shirt-shaped with turndown collar, closed with a fancy tie. Short kimono sleeves and narrow waistband tied and finished with wool pompoms."
Centre: "Tailored suit in twill. Straight jacket with long lapel collar, decorated with pockets and closed with a belt. Narrow, plain skirt."
Right: "Jersey dress with collar, lapels and short sleeves in white jersey. Long waisted bodice over a lightly gathered skirt."]
At a guess, these outfits would have been worn for a social game rather than a competitive tournament. The silhouette is the same as fashionable dress, but the dresses are made up in plainer fabrics with less ornament.
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Miroir des Modes, Juillet 1924
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Blazer, blouse and skirt—all available from Butterick. The look owes a lot to contemporary men's sportswear; only the skirt is distinctly feminine.
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Fashions For All, June 1928
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Summer is coming! So all prepare your tennis outfits. This white dress with strap sleeves is smartly cut, and has two box-pleats in the skirt, which are arranged in a new pointed fashion at the waist. Happily there is the cardigan included in the pattern—to slip on when the game is over.
Judging by other illustrations in the magazine "strap sleeves" appears to mean "sleeveless". Made up in more colourful materials, this design would have easily served for a day dress of the period.
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Pictorial Printed Patterns, May 1933
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These three girls from Pictorial Patterns appear to be playing tennis in ordinary sun frocks—with bared backs to get a fashionable tan. Each dress came with its own jacket or cape (not show here) to be donned after the game.
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| Weldon's Ladies' Journal, June 1936 |
From 1936 Weldon's advertised patterns for "
Your Smart Sports Kit... Crisp lines, trim details, and plenty of room for play". The two illustrations on the right are
not of dresses. No. 98193 in the centre is for
"Shorts and shirt—the perfect choice for games on deck or on shore"
While on the right pattern no. 97573 is described as
"A trouser-frock is as smart as it's comfortable; nobody could say more! And if you don't want shorts, yet find a skirt hampering, it's an ideal solution of your problem."
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Le Petit Echo De La Mode, 18 Avril 1927
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["Set for sport, consisting of jacket... and dress. Fitted jacket, buttoned in front and lined with tailored flap pockets. Turn-down collar. Sleeves gathered at the shoulders. Plain wool dress is adorned with a waistcoat inlaid with the same fabric as the jacket..."]
Once again I get the impression that this outfit was intended to be worn for social games rather than competitive matches: the puffed sleeves and coloured trim would have been unusual wear for a tennis tournament.
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| Wakes catalogue, Spring and Summer 1939-40 |
In 1939 Wakes advertised "this cool white petal crepe with its slim-making pin-tucked bodice, young square neck." This hem of this dress has risen above the player's knees to give her freedom of movement. From this point on, nearly all tennis dresses be this length or shorter, no matter where the fashionable hemline sat at the time!
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