You didn’t need to know her name because you already knew what she was wearing. According to a Sports Illustrated profile, French tennis star Suzanne Lenglen, dubbed the “lady in the white silk dress,” did everything in head-to-toe Jean Patou: “drank, swore and had lovers by the score—and played tennis incomparably, losing once in seven years.” Patou was a pioneer in sportswear, designing jersey sets that allowed the wearer to move freely. He sent Lenglen, his muse, out onto the court in long dresses, low necklines, short sleeves, and pleated skirts that hit her right at the calves. Although tame and overdressed by today’s standards, it was scandalous for her Wimbledon debut in 1919.
The strict dress codes in tennis stem from its country club and royal origins, and it’s always been a source of friction for outsiders. Arguably, it’s what’s made some of the most iconic on-court looks stand out decades later. Most of them broke the same dress codes dating back to Lenglen’s time. Who could forget Andre Agassi, with a bronde mullet and acid-washed jean shorts at the US Open? Or Venus Williams getting a hindrance call after a bead fell out of her hair? Or sister Serena causing a stir in a compression catsuit at the French Open? Notably, Jannik Sinner needed special permission from the All England Club and the ATP tour to bring a monogrammed Gucci duffle bag to Wimbledon. As Agassi explained to Esquire, many of his own looks, like these, stand the test of time because they’re “statements of rebellion and anti-establishment.”