Five Fashion Flops of the 2012 U.S. Open

While there are many tennis traditionalists who hold firm that fashion “has not a thing to do with tennis” (or any other sport for that matter), we espouse that - in fact - it does! Why? Simply put:

1. People generally are more confident when they look and feel attractive.

2. Confidence = better performance in sports.

That said, not everyone has good taste, and that’s where we come in. We keep hoping that certain individuals will take note (and some of them have), but alas…others continually find themselves on our worst-dressed list. Without further ado, here are our Five Fashion Flops of the 2012 U. S. Open:

These “tops” (below) are cute, but as dresses they are not. We dub this choice…DUELING DIAPERS!

Varvara Lepchenko, U.S. Open 2012

Pauine Parmentier, U.S. Open 2012

Head-to-toe FIASCO…it’s not just the blue braid – this shade can be pretty in a short, sleek bob. It’s the whole enchilada…hair, knee socks, ill-fitting tank, high-top shoes. Continual note to Bethanie: You are a grown woman, not a teenaged boy!

Bethanie Mattek-Sands, U.S. Open 2012

Bethanie Mattek-Sands, U.S. Open 2012

Radek Stepanek, U.S. Open 2012

It’s one thing to give a nod to the USA, but this is going just a tad overboard! Just wondering Radek, do you have Roger Federer’s phone number?

Santiago Giraldo, U.S. Open 2012

Here we have a whole lotta nothin’ going on! Recommendations: 1. Smaller sponsor logos. 2. Plain, white hat. 3. Shorter underwear or longer, all-black shorts. That’s it.

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Top Five Frightful, French Open 2012 Flops

The 2012 French Open is drawing to a close, and while most of the styles this year were tame if not a little boring, we can’t seem to make it through any Grand Slam without a few fashion disasters. We dutifully award our picks for the Top Five Frightful, French Open Flops to the following deserving candidates: 

The not-so-surprising Grand Prize goes to (drum roll, please)… Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Congratulations Bethanie, you have outdone yourself (and every other player EVER for that matter)! If we didn’t know any better, it would appear as if: 

1. You lost your luggage and had to settle for thrift-store freebies, or 

2. You are trying to make some kind of rebellious, in-your-face statement. 

We just cannot imagine that anyone would actually think this outfit was attractive.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands, French Open 2012

2nd Prize is awarded to…Arnaud Clement

While we will miss his on-court exuberance, there is only ONE word to describe Arnaud Clement’s fashion sense: schizophrenic! At this year’s Open, he sported a mish mosh of ill-fitting, color-clashing outfits and accessories…yikes!

Arnaud Clement, French Open 2012

3rd Prize – Kevin Anderson




To the left we have a photo of the burnt orange, French clay. The pairing of this with Mr. Anderson’s shirt (shown below) is a recipe for fried retinas! Five words, Kevin: Real men don’t wear fuchsia.

Kevin Anderson, French Open 2012

And speaking of clay-clashing colors…while we are fond of the capris, we do not love them with THIS bright tennis outfit. If this color must be worn on clay, we recommend it for the head and wrist bands and in small accents on a bright white, less form-fitting shirt. 4th Prize – Petra Kvitova

Petra Kvitova, French Open 2012

And finally, 5th Prize goes to Svetlana Kuznetsova – for a combination of fashion faux pas: the cut and colors in this outfit do nothing for Miss Kuznetsova’s figure or skin tone. And the hairstyle? Well, we respectfully suggest a hat.

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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Tennis Fashion Hits (and Misses) in 2011 – “The Gals”

Although we love all of the action that a good Grand Slam brings, part of the fun is catching up on the latest on-court styles. Check out our play-by-play hits and misses for 2011!

THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN

While there were a few comely outfits turned out by a couple of female players at the Aussie Open, we wanted to give attention to a couple of SERIOUS misses…in hopes that we never have to see them (or anything like them) again!

 MISS

This monstrosity posing as a “tennis dress” features some very obvious problems: the fit, the back zipper which looks like it was constructed by a 6th grade sewing student and an overall absence of class or style… yikes!!!

MISS

Is Kim Clijster’s taste level really this bad, or is she simply too nice to say, “NO” to her long-time sponsor? A little green goes a long way! Just a button-collar, white, cotton shirt would have made all the difference!

THE FRENCH OPEN

HIT

Fresh and fun…we love the pop of color and bright white accents in this Adidas outfit, tastefully put together by Maria Kirilenko! Our grade: A+++

 In the battle of the big sponsors, this one-shouldered, Nike dress thrown over a black sports bra is just a sad, frilly MISS or mess…whichever way you want to view it!



WIMBLEDON

Blond vs. Blond: While Miss Sharapova sports a very comfortable, classic and well-fitting HIT, Miss Mattek-Sands is, as usual, SANS style in this unattractive and distracting MISS!!! One word: “Ugh!”

THE U.S. OPEN

Julia Goerges is full of focus in this cute, comfy and sporty ensemble (left), a definite HIT, while Nadia Petrova decked in a multi-colored MISS (right) prays for much-needed style!

Stay Tuned for Part Two - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Tennis Fashion Hits (and Misses) in 2011 – “The Guys”

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Wear This, Not That! 2011 US Open Fashion

From the unexpected rise of Donald Young to the comeback win of Caroline Wozniacki (down 7-6, 4-1 to Svetlana Kuznetsova) to the crazy rain delays – the 2011 U. S. Open certainly hasn’t been without excitement. That goes for fashion as well. Many styles have been a joy for the gawking and some, well… not so great. Behold – our “wear this, not that” analysis of this year’s styles at the Open.

WOMEN'S "BIG BRAND" DRESSES

WEAR THIS…	NOT THAT!

Two blonds in mega-sponsor, “made for them” tennis dresses with very different results: While Caroline’s Stella McCartney for Adidas tennis dress is well-cut and stylish - it is virtually devoid of color, giving her a pale, translucent, unremarkable complexion. Both Maria’s daytime and nighttime dresses sport contrasting details and snippets of color, making them a far more interesting and complementary choice for a blond. Note to Miss W. – Just a little color goes a long way!

WOMEN'S SEPARATES

 WEAR THIS…
And then there are two not-so-sponsored brunettes. Julia Georges of Germany shows us that you can still look very fashionable on court, even without a “made for you” look. She is cute and coordinated in this comfortable-looking outfit which is identical to Petra Kvitova’s (except for the stylish visor vs. a not-so-attractive headband).

 NOT THAT!

We love these bright pink and orange hues on brunettes – they can really bring out a darker skin tone, however in the case of Christina McHale of the U. S., there is just a little too much of a good thing – we strongly recommend a crisp, white top – perfecto!

All in all the styles at the Open this year were for the most part, tasteful (which is why the men have been left out of commentary completely), but we feel compelled to make one last observation.

Love of country is terrific, but there is something to be said for a little discretion, as in these “NOT THAT” photos!! Louk Sorensen (left) is from – you guessed it – Ireland. And we bet you can guess who these legs belong to and what country Ms. Mattek –Sands is from….yikes!

 NOT THAT!

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Top Five Worst-Dressed Tennis Players: 2011 French Open

The French Open…this is the highlight of the year for clay-court tennis aficionados! For those of us that love tennis AND fashion, there were plenty of stylish players on the red clay in 2011 – some are still around, and others have said “Au Revoir.” When it comes to style mishaps, we thought we were in the clear with the absence of the Williams sisters, but this is plainly not the case. Check out our picks for the…

Top Five Worst-Dressed Tennis Players: 2011 French Open

1st PRIZE – Bethanie Mattek-Sands – What??
This “get-up” is just wrong on so many levels we don’t even know where to begin…the photo says it all!

 

2nd PRIZE – Kim Clijsters - Jackson Pollock, Gone Wrong!

Note to Kim: Splatter paint went out in the 80’s, and even when it was trendy, it was unattractive. There is waaaay too much going on with this outfit, and on top of that, these colors are awful! The idea is to choose shades that complement the orange-red clay, and this shade of pink is the furthest thing from complementary!

 

3rd PRIZE – John Isner - Bar Graphs make Bad Fashion!

One would think that the last thing John Isner would want is to call attention to his “Herman Munster” physique. Our advice: Go for solids, John!

4th PRIZE – Magdalena Rybarikova – Pajama Party!

Did Magdalena raid Francesca Shiavone’s closet? The “pajama experiment” was a dismal failure in our opinion, and we hope it will NOT be making a comeback next year. Our recommendation: try something a little sportier, and ditch the pastels - they have a tendency to “wash out” players with a light complexion. This goes for you too, Maria Sharapova!

5th PRIZE – Jelena Jankovic - Jumped the Shark?

Clothing can say a lot about a person. Compared to the simple and classic Reebok styles we were used to, this dress from her new sponsor, ANTA, looks busy and cheap. While we typically love Jelena in pink, this shade doesn’t pair well with the burnt-orange clay. And, instead of matching or complementing the outfit, these purples shoes clash!

Do you think that there was something else that deserves the WORST mention? Let us know!

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Australian Open 2011 Fashion - Bethanie Mattek-Sands

Unfortunately for all Bethanie's fans she lost in 3 sets in the first round to a young Dutch player Arantxa Rus.

But if you don't see Bethanie playing in Australian Open 2011 singles matches any more, you can at least look like her.

Create Bethanie's Australian Open Style

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Tank - Women's Slice Printed Tank Tops by Under Armour - $49.99 

 

Skirt and shoes from Under Armour are not available for sale, however you  can substitute them by Nike Dri-FIT Accuracy Knit skirt ($49.99) which would look even more flattering with the white line matching the black and white tank.

 

 and ASICS Women's GEL-Game 2 Tennis Shoes - $46.95 

Socks - Under Armour - $12.99

and of course the racket - Wilson BLX Tour - $189

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