Tennis Fashion Fix: I'm Loving Venus Williams At the U.S. Open

Here's a surprise - I'm loving the way Venus Williams is looking at the U.S. Open. Now, I'm not talking about her tennis play. While she's already out in singles (losing to Angelique Kerber in Round 2), she has a strong possibility of winning doubles with sister Serena. But check out her outfit from her first-round singles victory over Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

The dress she's wearing in this photo is from Venus' Eleven collection and is the "Fall Rose Garden" dress. It is white with a black contrast collar detail and is covered in pink, black and red roses with a gray trellis background. The word "Love" is sprinkled around too (which may be cute but is not what I'm looking for in my tennis game). While the print is not my style, this is a vast improvement over some of the disasters we've seen Venus wearing in recent years (remember the French Open negligee? the Wimbledon curtain romper). She's also worn the Fall Rose Garden tank and a white skirt while playing doubles with Serena as you can see in this photo:

I wonder why players wear dresses for singles but skirts for doubles? I haven't figured that one out yet.

Anyway, the most interesting thing to me about Venus' Eleven line is not that she's wearing it but that she's got someone else wearing it!  American Varvara Lepchenko is also sporting Eleven apparel.  Here she is on Day 1 in her first round victory over Mathilde Johansson. She's wearing the "Classic Geo Love" tank and a black skirt:

I love that tank. While it comes in black and gray, I'm really liking the hot pink. Here's Varvara on Day 3, when she beat Anastasia Rodionova in Round 2.  She's wearing the "Fall Italico" dress that I believe Venus wore at the French Open:

Although you can't tell from the above pic, this is a pretty great dress, color-wise and design-wise. And the fact that Venus is having someone else wear her clothes (and someone else is actually agreeing to wear her clothes!) can only mean good things for the Eleven line.

Best of luck to Venus in doubles and keep your eye on Varvara - she's coming on pretty strong!



© Kim Selzman 2012 All Rights Reserved

Olympic Tennis Fix: Tennis Team USA!

With the Olympics now just days away, let's take a look at who made it to Team USA!

We'll start with the women who are coached by Mary Joe Fernandez, herself an Olympic medalist (winning gold twice, in doubles in 1992 and 1996, and bronze in singles in 1992). In singles, the ladies, pictured above, will be playing: Serena Williams, Christina McHale, Varvara Lepchenko and Venus Williams. In women's doubles, the Williams sisters will team up and the No. 1 ranked team of Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond will be playing. Good to know about these ladies:

• This will be Venus's fourth time to compete in the Olympics! She won singles and doubles gold in Sydney in 2000 and doubles gold with Serena in Beijing in 2008.
• If Serena wins gold, she will be the only female to have won all four Slams plus Olympic gold in singles and doubles.
• Venus and Serena just won doubles at Wimbledon. They only team up for the Slams. They will be going for their third doubles gold medal.
• Huber and Raymond lost to the Williams sisters in the semis at Wimbledon. Hopefully we'll see an all-American doubles final! 
• Varvara Lepchenko switched her citizenship from Uzbekistan to the United States in 2007. This is her first year to break into the WTA's Top 100.
• Christina McHale is 20 years-old, is currently ranked at No. 26, and has one win over a No. 1 player, beating top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki in 2011.

For the men, playing singles will be Andy Roddick, John Isner, Ryan Harrison and Donald Young. Mike and Bob Bryan will field one of the doubles teams. The other will be Roddick and Isner. What to know about these guys:

• Roddick last appeared at the Olympics in Athens in 2004.
• This will be the first time at the Olympics for Isner, Harrison and Young.
• The Bryan Brothers won doubles bronze in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. (Gold went to Switzerland's Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka. Silver to Sweden's Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson.)

I'm thinking the American women look really strong. The men - less so. But its the Olympics so you never know what will happen. I'd love to see Roddick bring home a medal.

As for mixed doubles, those teams haven't been announced yet. I'm guessing the two teams will look like this: one of the Bryan Brothers teamed up with Serena and the other with Liezel. Since tennis play starts this coming Saturday, I think we'll be hearing that announcement very soon.


© Kim Selzman 2012 All Rights Reserved

Serena Williams Wins Wimbledon!

Serena Williams does it again - for the 5th time! Serena has won Wimbledon, beating Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2. This is Serena's 14th Grand Slam title and, in my opinion, definitely sets her up for a gold medal in just a few weeks at the London Olympic Games.

Following her triumph, Serena didn't have a whole lot of time for interviews. Why? She's in the Wimbledon women's doubles final this afternoon with sister Venus!






© Kim Selzman 2012 All Rights Reserved

Venus Is Out Too! - Venus Williams Out Of 2012 French Open

We're still in the early rounds of the French Open and these are the days when anything can happen. So it comes as no surprise to me that before I even had a chance to say something about how much I LIKE Venus Williams' French Open dress, she's already out of the tournament!

Venus lost in the second round to Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, going down 6-2, 6-3. But the good news for Venus is that by winning in the first round, she has pretty much guaranteed herself a spot in the Olympics this summer. See how everything ties into the Olympics?

So what about her dress? As you know, I have spent many a blog post questioning what is going on with Venus in the fashion department. Here's a sample post on this topic that gives you an idea of my feelings: Wimbledon Is Back! . . . As Is Venus' Appalling Fashion Sense. Or how about this one: Tennis Fashion Fix: Venus Continues To Baffle Me.

Anyway. A few months ago something changed about Venus' Eleven line. I don't know who is behind the designs now - maybe Venus herself. But suddenly they look pretty great. Check out this collage of tennis outfits, etc. that even I would consider wearing:

Okay, yes, it helps if you have the tall, lanky, skinny body of a ranked tennis professional. But still - these are cute! If you want to see the entire collection, including her line for men, visit her very well-done website: elevenbyvenus.com.

Conclusion - I'm sad to see Venus go but I'm sure we'll see her plenty at Wimbledon and, right after that, the Olympics!


© Kim Selzman 2012 All Rights Reserved

Tennis Fashion Fix: Is This Skirt Too Short?

This might be too short.

In the wonderful world of tennis fashion, how short is too short? This was the question recently posed by Katie, one of my fabulous Tennis Fixation followers. Katie states the issue very eloquently:

I'm just getting back into tennis after a 6 year lull, and it feels great! Though - I'm obviously a little behind the times now ... I've been buying new tennis outfits, and I'm having an issue with skirt length. I'm 28, and usually dress pretty conservatively, and while I think the skirts are super-cute, once I have them on, I'm not used to how short they are. I normally wear knee-length skirts when out and about, though they'd look pretty silly on the courts. So here's my question -- I have a new skirt that comes about 1" above mid-thigh. Is this too short? Am I just being paranoid? How short is too short when it comes to a tennis skirt?

Good question. To answer it, I naturally did some very intense tennis fashion research. In other words, I talked to my tennis buddies to see what they thought. (Tennis Fixation is all about the intense research.)

After much thought, deliberation and recollection of tennis matches with some incredibly tennis-fashion-challenged opponents, here are the Tennis Fixation Do's and Don't's for tennis skirts:

1. Do wear a skirt that you're comfortable in.
This is the number one most important rule. Your skirt length has got to be one that YOU think is appropriate. Having said that, mistakes can be made. Which brings us to . . .

2. Don't wear a skirt that might also work as a shirt.
As an example, let's take a look at the photo above, of Caroline Wozniacki at the 2010 U.S. Open. She obviously thought this skirt (dress actually) was not too short. But if you took maybe one more inch off of it, I'm pretty sure it would qualify as a racer back tank. And if you remember anything at all about Wozniacki's performance at the 2010 U.S. Open, what you remember is how short her skirt was. Not how well she played (at least that's how I remember it). While Wozniacki was apparently not too uncomfortable to wear this, I can tell you one thing - she did not win the 2010 U.S. Open wearing this short skirt. Just saying.

2. Don't wear a skirt that you have to keep pulling and tugging at.
This rule is also known as the Venus Williams rule. Remember the dresses that Venus wore at the 2010 U.S. Open? No? Here's a photo montage reminder:

While Venus made it into Week 2 in these outfits, every time she played, she just looked so darn uncomfortable! I was uncomfortable watching her! She was constantly pulling and tugging on the hem of these outfits, trying to cover herself. Needless to say, she did not win the U.S. Open that year. If Venus can't win in a skirt that is riding up on her, do you really think that you can?

3. Do wear a skirt that is shorter than what you would wear to work.

Or to the PTA meeting. Or to any other event where you're not playing a sport. Your tennis skirt is for playing tennis in, not for standing around the water cooler or impressing your boss or the other PTA moms, so it's going to be shorter than what you usually wear. You need to be able to move around in it freely. You don't want anything that hampers your footwork or on-court movement. Because if you play like me, you've got enough problems out there without becoming tangled up in your skirt.

4. Do try your skirt on before you buy it.

Seems like such an obvious thing, right? Then how come I own at least three tennis skirts that are too short? Because I either did not try them on at all (stupid mistake) or I tried them on but did not do anything tennis-like in the dressing room (not so obvious of a stupid mistake). Just because you think you know your size, doesn't mean you can just pick a tennis skirt up off the rack and expect it to fit appropriately. I've found that even the same manufacturer can have sizes that vary wildly depending on the style of the skirt or the season. And beware of the tennis skirt that looks so cute as you're standing in the dressing room, lazily staring into the mirror. It can suddenly become a lot more revealing when you're squatting down for a volley or bending over in your ready position.

5. Do look to see what other players are wearing.

I'm not saying be a copycat. But, if you're concerned about what others think, take a look around at what passes for appropriate in your neighborhood. It's a good starting place.

6. Do consider wearing shorts.

For some reason, shorts can be shorter than skirts but not seem as revealing. And there are lots of cute tennis shorts out there, many with built-in shorties underneath for holding tennis balls.

7. Do wear "boy shorts" underneath.

You know what I mean, right? Those shorts that you wear under your skirt, like compression shorts or bike shorts or volleyball shorts. They provide some extra coverage of your thighs and are perfect for holding tennis balls.

8. Don't wear tennis panties.

You know what I mean here? Those panties that are sort of like underpants? If you don't know what I mean, consider yourself lucky. While I have actually seen these on the court, I am still shocked when I do. And I've never seen anyone wearing them that I wished to emulate tennis-fashion-wise or tennis-skill-wise. My advice - avoid tennis panties at all costs.

Who knew there were so many Do's and Don'ts? Really, there aren't. The ultimate rule on tennis skirts is to wear what you're comfortable in. If you feel great in it, you'll play better - I promise you.

And I loved Katie's follow-up e-mail. When I told her I wanted to do a post about her question, she wrote:

My husband thinks I'm being paranoid about it and the shorter the better! Though, coming from a man, maybe that's my cue NOT to wear the super short skirts - lol!

LOL indeed!





© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

Tennis Fixation's U.S. Open Wrap-Up

Just so you know, I didn't check out on the 2011 U.S. Open. Oh no. Instead, I wasn't posting about it because I was completely overwhelmed by it. As usual. And that feeling of "it's all just too much" did not go away until the entire thing ended yesterday.

But now that its all over, I want to be sure and get out my Tennis Fixation memorable 2011 U.S. Open moments:

• It's always great to see which Hollywood super star will show up at the U.S. Open (a lot of them do) but seeing True Blood's Eric Northman, actor Alexander Skarsgard, on the grounds on Day 2 (see photo above, what a cutie!) would make anyone a tennis fan (or maybe a True Blood fan).
• How could Bob & Mike Bryan possibly have been knocked out of the U.S. Open in Round 1? Well, they were, by one of my U.S. Men's Clay Court Tournament favs - Ivo Karlovic (and his partner, of course, whose name I can't remember).
• I didn't even have a chance to dis Venus Williams' awful dress with large pink exposed zipper on the back. She played Round 1 and then withdrew from the tournament after announcing she had been diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease that can cause joint pain, swelling, numbness and fatigue. I hope this will not be the end of her and her tennis/fashion-designing career.
• I personally was excited that Australian Samantha Stosur won the women's singles. She was due for a breakthrough and just think of all the pressure she'll now have on her for the next Slam - the 2012 Australian Open. I liked her outfit from Lacoste too. Here she is in her very cute dress (please note the size of her arms!):

• This same dress was worn by a couple of other players but with the colors switched around. Here it is on Yaroslava Shvedova, a finalist in women's doubles (again, note huge arms):

• I'm usually not a fan of Adidas tennis wear for women as I find it kind of boring. But many women at the U.S. Open were wearing Adidas in one of my favorite ever color combos - a bright bubblegum pink (called "Intense Pink") and turquoise (called "Intense Blue").  Hey Adidas - just sticking the word "Intense" in front of a color does not make me feel like I'm getting my money's worth. Get creative a la Nike. Anyway, here is break-out German superstar Andrea Petkovic in this outfit (her arms are downright scary!):

•  Finally, didn't you feel like you were seeing the beginning of the end for a certain generation of American tennis players? So many American teenagers were out there winning and I think they will all start coming into their own. Let's hope so - things are not going to get any better for Andy Roddick or Mardy Fish.

By the way, at this time, I am not going to address the whole "hindrance" issue that occurred with Serena Williams in the 2nd set of the final as I want to take that up in a separate post. Believe it or not, I think she did something that a lot of us do all the time but I don't think anyone, least of all Serena, should be getting away with it.


Photos by Philip Hall, Rob Loud, Andrew Ong and Don Starr, all of USTA via www.usta.org



© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

Wimbledon Is Back! . . . As Is Venus' Appalling Fashion Sense

I am so happy that Wimbledon is on right now - I mean it's still early enough in the tournament that I can watch it almost all day long and every match is a great match. Like right now - I've got Andy Roddick playing Feliciano Lopez, Ryan Harrison finishing up his match with David Ferrer, and Maria Sharapova playing very young (17 years-old), very British and so very popular Laura Robson. It's hard to know what to concentrate on!

That's why I feel a little bit bad (but obviously not bad enough), that this, my first 2011 Wimbledon post, is about the appalling outfit Venus Williams has been wearing for her first two matches. While I don't want to talk about the same old thing that everyone else is talking about, this thing is so awful that I have to be sure my Tennis Fixation followers don't miss out on seeing it before she makes a possible exit out of Wimbledon. So here's my fabulous photo collage of Venus Williams in the first two rounds of Wimbledon:

Uncomfortable looking? Old lady-ish? Paper bag-like? Lace curtain-y? It's so easy to come up with everything that is wrong with this outfit that it's actually hard to settle on what the best (worst) description is. I'm thinking something like "tennis-themed-wedding apparel gone awry" might do it justice. The gold zipper up the front - trashy. The open "bat wing" sleeves - gawky. The whole "romper" concept - Forever 21 maybe? And I'm not even showing you the open, exposed back which is, in my opinion, just one "fashion" touch too many.

I believe Venus has fallen into the "even bad publicity is better than no publicity" trap and I wish someone would tell her she's wrong about that. She still plays great tennis but her tennis is no longer the focus of her on-court appearances. Why can't she figure out that, if she would sign on with Nike along with her sister Serena, they could probably make TONS of money wearing coordinating outfits and look fabulous while doing it? I mean even I thought those Oreo commercials they did were cute. 

At this point, my only hope for Venus is that she will have a new and even more inappropriate outfit for her next round so that I can add it to my "Venus Wall of Weird" that I am now seeing I need to develop.

Go Andy Roddick and Go Ryan Harrison!



Photos of Venus Williams via www.zimbio.com




© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

Follow ALL The Action With The ATP/WTA Live App

If you want to be absolutely on top of what is happening in the world of pro tennis, its easy during the Slams because each Slam has its own app. But what about the rest of the year? What about those other tournaments? Well, now there's an app for that.

I just downloaded the ATP/WTA Live app to my iTouch. (Yes, I admit it - I don't have an iPhone yet. I'm still using a Blackberry. Which i happen to like.) Right now, the BNP Paribas Open is going on in Indian Wells. And this app is feeding me the draw, the order of play, completed match scores, live scores, and live match statistics. So I can see that, at this very moment, Melanie Oudin is up 2 points in her first set tiebreaker against Elena Vesnina. I can even see that Elena just faulted on her first serve and is hitting a second. Pretty amazing!

I can also see what's happening on the Challenger Tour so I'll be able to keep up with some of those up-and-coming players I keep hearing about.

And I can check the most current ATP and WTA rankings. That's how I know that Bethanie Mattek-Sands, a player I love to follow, is currently ranked No. 43 in WTA singles, the third highest US woman behind Venus Williams (No. 8) and Serena Williams (No. 11).  

The best thing about this app? It's free. All of the good ones are. So download the ATP/WTA Live app and keep up with ALL of the tennis action.






© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

Tennis Fashion Fix: Venus Continues To Baffle Me

Venus promised us more skin for the 2011 Australian Open and she is definitely delivering.

So here's her first round dress:

Images by Ben Solomon

When I saw this, I thought, "Okay, I get it. The see-through mesh panels. The zipper that goes all the way from the top to the bottom on the front. That's more skin." The design itself seems somewhat juvenile but I get where she's going with this.

But get a load of her second round dress:

Images by Ben Solomon

Are you understanding this dress? Because I'm not. There are yellow strips of some kind of shiny polyester (?) fabric woven together to allow quite a bit of skin to show through. I have no earthly idea what is going on with the skirt area, which doesn't seem to have anything to do with the top area, so I'm not going to try and explain that.

Now, as I'm writing this, I'm watching a replay of this second round match and seeing the dress in action is even more uncomfortable than looking at the photos. I see a lot of problems - the color is not flattering, Venus is tugging at the skirt (which I'm starting to think is just a nervous habit she has since she does it with every outfit she wears) and the fit is just atrocious. In my non-fashion-school-trained mind, if you're going to have skin showing through like this, the dress should be very closely fitted. I mean its almost like wearing a bathing suit so it should fit like a bathing suit! Instead, this dress seems to bag around Venus' torso.

I really can't explain what logic, if any, is behind Venus' tennis fashion designs. If she's designing tennis wear just for herself - fine. Wear whatever. You're one of the top two American women playing tennis these days, the top American woman and a heavy contender at the Australian Open, so if you're happy in it, I'm happy for you to be in it. But she claims that this stuff is part of her overall post-tennis-career fashion empire. I just don't see anyone else, no matter how good their game or their body might be, wearing this stuff. Am I wrong? Your thoughts?




© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

Tennis Fashion Fix: Get Ready For "More Skin" At The 2011 Australian Open

Image by Mark Riedy

The 2011 Australian Open starts tomorrow (Hooray!) and just in case you're hoping that Venus Williams will attempt to top her outfits from the most recent French Open (Remember this post? Tennis Fashion Fix: French Open 2010 - Venus In A Black Lace Negligee??), Wimbledon and U.S. Open (just see Tennis Fashion Fix: US Open 2010 - What Is The Deal With Venus?), you are in luck!

Although I have no photo evidence to present at this time (but I'll be searching for some to give you asap), at her most Aussie Open press conference (where this not-completely-flattering photo was taken), she promised "There'll be more illusion, and also skin - more skin this year. So we'll see."

More skin? How much more skin can there be? She's already done the lingerie thing. And the "is she or isn't she wearing anything under that dress" look? What's left? Tennis stripper? On-court string bikini? All I can say at this point is "Yes, Venus, we'll most definitely see."



© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

What Is The Deal With Venus?

As we go into Week 2 of the U.S. Open, the last American standing (in singles anyway) is Venus Williams. And my questions is - what it the deal with these outfits? The montage above shows what she's worn for 4 out of the 5 days she's played. I can't seem to quickly come up with a photo of the dress she wore a few days ago but it is a red version of the spangly, fireworks-inspired looks she's done in black and magenta.

Anyway, my problem with this entire wardrobe is that all of these outfits just look so dang uncomfortable!  Forget about whether you or I or any other average tennis-skill level purchaser of tennis wear would buy this stuff.  Venus herself just doesn't seem to be comfortable in any of her outfits.  They all ride up with every move she makes.  Whether its a serve, return, backhand, forehand or overhead, Venus is constantly pulling and tugging on the hem of these dresses, trying to cover herself.  I don't know about you, but when I'm playing tennis, I have lots of things to think about, the least of which should be whether or not my dress is staying in place.  I can only imagine that a serious contender for the women's U.S. Open singles title also has plenty to think about when she's on the court.  And she certainly should not be worrying during her serve about whether ESPN is shooting a close-up of her behind for television viewers everywhere.    





Photo to the far right via Getty Images

© Kim Selzman 2010 All Rights Reserved

Venus In Ralph Lauren!

So somehow I just got word that Venus Williams will be at Macy's Herald Square in NYC this Thursday to celebrate her new "partnership" with Polo Ralph Lauren. Apparently, Ralph Lauren is expanding the tennis portion of his empire beyond clothing the officials at Wimbledon to making stuff for people like you and me. And if this pic of Venus is any indication of what the Ralph Lauren tennis apparel is going to look like, I think he will have a hit on his hand. Venus looks fabulous in this outfit and I'm hoping she'll be in something like this at the upcoming U.S. Open (and not something like her infamous French Open lingerie outfit). So if you're in New York on Thursday (and maybe you are for the U.S. Open prelims), drop by Macy's to check out Venus and Ralph Lauren.





© Kim Selzman 2010 All Rights Reserved

Tennis Fashion Fix: French Open 2010 - Venus In A Black Lace Negligee???

Is it me? Do I just not get it? All I'm saying is that is looked to me like Venus Williams crushed Patty Schnyder 6-3, 6-3 on Day 1 of the French Open while wearing a black lace negligee. Trimmed in red.

So why would you wear something that looks like it might have come off the sale rack at Frederick's of Hollywood when you're competing in a Slam? Well, here's one good reason - publicity. Not only is every tennis site talking about this outfit, so is every sports site, every news site and every celebrity gossip site. Here's my favorite headline from CBS News' Celebrity Circuit blog: Venus Williams' French Open Outfit: Is She Naked?

Maybe you think this is actually a very cute outfit and you're going to rush out today and try to buy it. No such luck. This is a piece from Venus' very own Eleven line - not available to you, me or anyone but Venus. She designed this herself. That means there was no sponsor pressuring her to put this get-up on because that's what they're rolling out for all the tennis moms to play in this summer and they've paid her a lot of money to wear whatever the heck they feel like putting her in. No, this is her design. Her choice.

In my mind, she's a great player, ranked No.2 in the world right now. She could win the French Open! So why wear something this tacky and take the focus away from her game? It must be me. I don't get it.



© Kim Selzman 2010 All Rights Reserved

French Open Fashion!

What are they wearing at the French Open? Let's start with Maria Sharapova, who comes into Roland Garros ranked at No. 102. She won her first round match in this very interesting blue number from Nike. Wearing Tiffany jewelry too. I think this dress looks great if you're 6 feet tall like Maria. On the rest of us, maybe not so great.






Now, Jelena Jankovic is wearing a good-looking dress. Her sponsor is Anta, whom I've never heard of. But if she can go deep into the draw and lots of photos circulate with her in this pretty blue outfit, I think we'll start seeing more of Anta's tennis line. This dress has a keyhole opening detail cut into the back - hard to see in these pictures but very cute.






Blue is the color to be wearing on the red clay courts of Roland Garros as Venus Williams is also showing up in a blue dress. But, I'm sorry. I do not like this. It just looks cheap. Right now, tennis wear is more about interesting cuts and lines, not about weird, loud prints. That's in my opinion of course. I just think with all the money she's making, Venus could design herself something a lot better looking than this.




Stay tuned for more French Open fashion here at Tennis Fixation!





All photos courtesy of Getty Images

© Kim Selzman 2009
All Rights Reserved