Skorts, shorts and bloomers! Oh my!
When I think back to the early days of my tennis playing career, if one is generous enough to consider it such, I remember being none too thrilled with the fashion options. My high school days were BCS (before built-in compression shorts). One year in high school, part of my uniform was a navy wrap skirt that was two sizes too big. Just like our current times, California was in a budget crunch, so the school didn’t have money for new uniforms. I not only had to use safety pins to hold it up, but also to hold down the skirt flap. The wrap design made it fly open whenever there was a breeze. Without the built-in shorts, we of course wore bloomers. For tops, we had a white cotton polo. How boring can we get for a 16-year-old?
Today, I’m lucky enough to see and feel all the apparel we sell at Tennis Warehouse. Fabrics sure have come a long way, and there’s no question that fashion plays a huge role; just look at any adidas by Stella McCartney collection.
As a woman, I’m most pleased with the introduction of built-in compression shorts. I like the added coverage, but mostly I appreciate the comfort aspects. Bloomers sometimes have a higher waist, and I prefer to wear my skorts a little lower on the waist. The level of compression is something I’m tuned into when I’m trying on skorts because the shorts are also very handy to store tennis balls. I like the level of compression offered in Nike’s built-in shorts. (My favorite Nike shorts have built-in compression shorts, too.) It’s consistent and offers a snug fit whereas some others don’t offer quite enough compression for my tastes. For example, I always consider if the short will be tough enough to hold a ball. If I think it’s too flimsy, I don’t want it.
I’m hoping that attention will soon turn to improving the level of support offered in the built-in bras. KSwiss seems to be answering the call. The KSwiss built-in bras feature two layers of fabric in the front and power mesh in the back. When I tried on the apparel, the bras actually felt like they were offering a good level of support that I would actually have confidence in. I wouldn’t call tennis a low impact sport, so I’d like to see a step up in the level of compression of built-in bras. Hope someone out there is listening.
Happy Hitting,
Tiffani
