Tennis Outfit Inspired by Maude Watson

The 3 piece tennis outfit includes a jumpsuit with a rusched skirt and sports jacket with pockets.

Pictured to the right is Maude Watson, the first female winner of the Wimbledon Championships in 1884. I took inspiration from the rusched material at her waist, turtleneck, and the long sleeves. I wanted to make a more practical version. They were only allowed to wear white, which I also honored in my design.

I created multiple sketches for the same design so that I wouldn’t miss any details in pattern making.

It took several mockups to get the pattern correct for the haulter top. Since the points of tension were released at the shoulder tip, the fabric was showing vertical draglines. Fullness actually needed to be added to reverse this. Since the armhole was cut through a contour guide the fullness needed to be controlled. Half of the fullness was pivoted to the side seam in the front and the armhole was eased to a rubber elastic in the final muslin.