Wimbledon, The Championship is the most respected tennis tournament of the world without doubt. The reason for that may be many, but one of the reasons is its tradition for sure. For last hundred plus years, the Wimbledon tradition has never been compromised at any level. Let us have a look at some of those interesting traditions you will find if you travel to Wimbledon to watch the Championships. One of the most interesting traditions at Wimbledon is Players’ Uniforms and Colours. There cannot be any compromise on this issue at all.
The official colours of Wimbledon are dark green and purple, but the players have to wear only white or predominantly white cloths only. It has been a long time tradition at Wimbledon. The color of the brand or logo, which the player is endorsing can be the only exception in colour in the dressing. The chair umpires, linesmen wear green outfits, whereas the ball boys and the ball girls till 2005 Championships used to wear green as well but since then they have been wearing navy blue and cream coloured uniforms provided by Ralph Lauren. This has been the first time ever in the history of the Championship that an outsider like Ralph Lauren (USA) was awarded a contract to provide uniforms. The contract is set to expire in 2015. Here are, the more specific dress code guidelines for the players.
The Wimbledon Dress Code for Players Guideline
- There should not be any solid mass of colouring.
- There should not be any little or no dark or bold colours.
- No fluorescent colours allowed.
- The players must prefer towards pastel colours.
- The players must prefer total white colour on the back of their shirts.
- The players must prefer total white colour on their shorts or skirts.
- All the other items like clothing, which also includes hats, socks and shoe uppers should be predominantly white.
Controversy
Normally because the respect Wimbledon carries among the players, no player has till date has gone against the rules, but there was a little controversy happened in the year 1982 and one of the legends of the game of tennis, Martina Navratilova was involved in it. It was not at all about the colouring, Marina was doing alright there, but she wore a logo of ‘Kim’ cigarettes and that did not went right with the authorities. Ultimately Navratilova had to back track.