Is Wimbledon high fashion? Corset is?
June 28, 2007
Following the mass media attention on the pair of red knickers that France's Tatiana Golovin flashed at the crowd during her victory over Su-Wei Hsieh, the Daily Mail has given a run-down of the history of shocking garments worn at Wimbledon, all of which started with a corset.
Although Maria Sharapova's corset-style top shocked tennis fans at an event in the US in recent years, the very first scandal over women's tennis wear was caused by Suzanne Lenglen when she was the first woman to play tennis without wearing a corset under her dress.
As well as corsets, catsuits have played a part in distracting both opponents and the crowd in times gone by and recent years. While Anne White wore a white lycra catsuit in her victory over Pam Shriver in 1985, Serena Williams recently played in New York wearing a slinky black catsuit.
And Golovin's knickers have not been the first pair to cause a furore. In 1958, Karol Fageroswas banned from Wimbledon for wearing gold lame pants. Prior to that, in 1949, 'Gorgeous' Gussie Moran triggered a parliamentary debate when she wore a tennis dress designed by Ted Tinling, which incorporated lace-trimmed knickers.
Meanwhile Golovin says she will continue to wear her pair of red pants. She told reporters: "They say red is the colour that proves you are strong and confident, so I'm happy with my red knickers."
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