Tennis fashion has evolved since women first started competing in the games in 1884: Gone are the tea-time-appropriate ankle-skimming skirts, long-sleeve blouses, and wide-brimmed sun hats, replaced by butt-skimming custom tennis skirts, bathing-suit-like tops, and sleek visors that optimize a player’s game and keep her looking photo-ready.
To get in the tennis spirit, take a look back at some vintage shots of ladies looking a bit more demure with their tennis rackets, from Althea Gibson, the first African-American to win Wimbledon, to actress Joan Crawford, who surely never broke a sweat on a tennis court.
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| Woodrow Wilson's Daughter Jessie, Circa 1910s. Photo: Corbis. |
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| Joan Marsh, 1930s. Photo: John Springer Collection/Corbis. |
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| 1940. Photo: American Stock/Classic Stock/Corbis |
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| Joan Frey, 1925. Photo: Bettmann/Corbis. |
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| 1934. Photo: Classic Stock/Corbis. |
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| Ruth Roland, 1930. Photo: John Springer Collection/Corbis. |
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| Circa 1940s. Photo: Bettmann/Corbis. |
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| Circa 1900. Photo: DaZo Vintage Stock Photos/Corbis. |
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| Eileen Percy, circa 1920. Photo: John Springer Collection/Corbis. |
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| 1955. Photo: Classic Stock/Corbis. |
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| Circa 1940s. Photo: Bettmann/Corbis. |
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| 1952. Photo: Classic Stock/Corbis. |
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| Helen Wills, 1925. Photo: Underwood & Uderwood/Corbis. |
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| Joan Crawford, 1928. Photo: Bettmann/Corbis. |
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| Nancy Chaffee Kiner. Photo: Bettmann/Corbis. |
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| 1939. Photo: Classic Stock/Corbis. |
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| Helen Wills Moody, 1954. Photo: Bettmann/Corbis. |
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| Ginger Rogers, 1940. Photo: Bettmann/Corbis. |
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| Katharine Hepburn, 1940. Photo: Bettmann/Corbis. |
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| 1938. Photo: Conde Nast Archive/Corbis. |
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| 1938. Photo: Classic Stock/Corbis. |
