The Able Label Blog

The world’s most prestigious tennis tournament is now well underway, and with it, comes that infamous dress code. Wimbledon has the strictest dressing requirements of all tennis tournaments.

Players must wear white – it is tradition and has been since the 1800’s when tennis was played mostly at social gatherings. ‘Tennis whites” became an institution as sweat spots through coloured clothing was deemed unbecoming.

In fact in recent years, this dress code has only become stricter. Despite the US Open allowing coloured clothing since 1972, Wimbledon introduced new rules stipulating that:

• off-white or cream cannot be worn
• where there is a trim of colour, this can be no wider than 1 centimetre
• any undergarments that can be seen during play, also must not be coloured

Even Roger Federer has expressed his views that he feels these rules are too strict. In the 2013 tournament, he was forced to change is orange trainers in the following game.

Fortunately The Able Label is not as strict on colour, quite the opposite as we actively encourage colour passionately believing that it can boost confidence. But out of respect for Wimbledon, we want to show you our favourite whites (even if they may be breaking the stringent rules)!

True to Wimbledon rules, our Imogen Shirt and Maria Vest are both in true white.

Imogen Jersey Shirt (White)     Maria Jersey Vest (White)

Front opening, they avoid overhead dressing with discrete white patches of Velcro. Even the cuffs on the shirt fasten with Velcro so you can roll them up in warmer weather. The vest is great for hot days or as a layering piece on cooler days.

True white may be too stark for some skin and hair tones though, giving a slightly washed out look. We therefore have cream on hand with our Iona Jersey Shirt. This gives the appearance of white but without the harshness.

Iona Jersey Shirt (Cream)

The Iona Shirt is also front fastening with Velcro patches to avoid overhead dressing and fiddly fastenings.

Going completely against the Wimbledon rules, we also have stripes and spots on a white base. Martina Navratilova, who has won the tournament nine times had her white and blue striped skirt banned – perhaps we will just keep these strictly off court!

Charlie Woven Spot Shirt (White)    Stella Jersey Top (White Stripe)

Both styles make dressing easier with the option to open at the front.

See the full, colourful range of clothing available online by clicking ‘view all clothes’.