People are only just realising reason tennis players wear all white at Wimbledon

There’s a good reason why there’s a specific dress code for tennis players when they take to the court at Wimbledon. While the biggest stars of screen, royalty and more head to the UK for this prestigious sports event in their best drab, the athletes have a strict colour they have to stick to when playing – the colour white.

The rule for those competing to only wear white in SW19 was first introduced in the 1880s, and it actually has to do with hygienic reasons as well as presentability. In the dress code, it states that due to sweat stains being so disagreeable on the eye, it was decided that white was the colour to wear to minimise their visibility.

With sweat showing up on brighter colours and even some neutrals – such as grey – the term “tennis whites” were born and ended up being the standard attire for athletes, according to Britannica. Famous players have been caught out for not adhering to it and been told to change in the past.

That includes the iconic Roger Federer, who was told off in 2013 for wearing orange-soled shoes while playing and was forced to replace them in his next game. However, there has been a slight rule change in recent history for women in order to reduce some anxiety around their menstrual cycle.

Female tennis players competing at Wimbledon are now allowed to wear dark undershorts in order to calm their concerns around them coming on their period at a potentially uncomfortable time, as per Forbes. The only caveat about this rule is that these undershorts are permitted as long as they are not too long and end up showing underneath their white skirts.

British tennis star Heather Watson expressed her joy at this rule change at the time, telling Sky that she doesn’t want people to treat the female reproductive system as a “taboo subject”. Watson said: “When Wimbledon announced that about the under-shorts I was so happy because it makes such a big difference.

“I speak openly about my period and being on my period. I don’t think it’s a taboo subject. I would love for people to talk about it more, especially women in sport.

“So, when I heard this I was really happy because last year I went on the pill to stop myself bleeding because I knew we had to wear white under-shorts, and I didn’t want to face any embarrassment. We’re running around sweating, doing the splits on the court.

“This year I knew my period was going to be during Wimbledon again, so I’m very happy that I won’t have to do the same thing as last year. I think it’s a real positive and it’s really great. Really forward-thinking.”