Something’s been bothering me for a long time, and I need to get it off my chest. It’s Caroline Wozniacki’s clothes–specifically, her U.S. Open outfits.
The beautiful Danish player wears Adidas’s Stella McCartney line. Making this young woman look good ought to be a slam-dunk, but from the start, the U.S. Open designs have been nothing short of atrocious.
Let’s look back, shall we?
We’ll start in 2011, where Wozniacki sports what seems on first glance to be a simple white dress. But look a little closer. Go ahead and zoom in. I’ll wait…
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Is this actually a finished garment or just a collection of white scraps hastily basted together in the hours before the tournament? I’m not convinced McCartney even knows how to sew. Look at the skirt–it almost looks pinned on. And is the bodice all one piece, or is that a sports bra thrown on top?
So you fully appreciate the tawdriness of this dress, here’s another shot, showing the thick waistband of her undershorts through the sheer bodice.
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Is that supposed to be sexy? It’s not. Even on a young woman as beautiful as Wozniacki, it’s just tacky and ill-conceived.
Let’s move on to the nightmare of 2013:
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Know what pops in my mind when I see this color-block dress? Adult diaper.
Every time I see a photo of this dress, I shake my head in wonder. What in the world made McCartney think a color block shaped like giant panties would be a good idea?
I don’t know how much money Adidas pays Wozniacki, but would any sum be enough for you to agree to wear this dress? I didn’t think so.
Finally, we have this monochromatic mess from 2009:
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I mean, honestly. There are no words.
But things may be turning around for the Dane on the fashion front. For this year’s first three majors, Wozniacki wore normal, well-fitting clothes. (This is high praise when the bar has been set so low.)
Wozniacki sported culottes when she won the Australian Open. Now, I wouldn’t wear culottes personally, but then I don’t look like Wozniacki. I like this youthful cut and the vivid yellow peeking out from under the blue. This outfit is a win for me.
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Wozniacki doesn’t wear black on court very often, but she rocked it this year in this flirty little number. I’m not completely sold on the side panels, but overall the dress is a solid choice for her, and a major improvement over diapers.
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And at Wimbledon, Wozniacki was the picture of class in this eyelet-effect dress–yes, the same dress Kiki Mladenovic wore when she won our Best Dressed award in a landslide.
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All of which goes to show that McCartney CAN design clothes that flatter Wozniacki–and which the average recreational player might actually want to buy. Fingers crossed that at this year’s U.S. Open she finally gives this poor girl the stylish outfit she deserves.
It’s a double-poll day–the perfect kick-off to the weekend! Enjoy!
Im sitting in a hotel room in Germany laughing out loud at this blog: Scraps, adult diaper, monochromatic mess. And there have been other weird ones too: asymmetric comes to mind. Thanks for a great laugh!!!!
Glad I could give you a laugh! And yes, so many horrendous McCartney outfits to choose from. An embarrassment of riches for my blog.I guess I should be thanking her!
Maybe McCartney is one of those people who thinks that any publicity, even bad reviews, are worthwhile. That’s the only explanation I can think of for the mega diaper. Is it supposed to be art? Ugh.
Sponsors may pay big bucks, but that shouldn’t mean they get to embarrass players. And can we discuss functionality? That monochromatic outfit looks like it would get in the way. Nobody needs all that fabric on the court.
I hope players get to object. It’s my understanding that they do. If that’s true, some blame for these atrocities has to be levied at Wozniacki as well as McCartney.
If there’s an opposite of “Dynamic Duo,” let’s award it to them!
I do feel like she designed tennis wear to stand out from the rest–not to get bad press, but just to be different. And maybe now that she’s more established in tennis wear, she feels she can be more traditional. (Here’s hoping, anyway. We’ll see what Wozniacki is wearing at Flushing Meadows.)
I don’t know how much the players get to object. When I watch tournaments, you see the same outfit on many players, but often with tweaks. One has it as separates, another wears the dress, that kind of thing. But it’s still a single line of clothing. Only the rare few–Nadal, Fed, Sharapova, and Serena–get unique, custom-made outfits. I’m sure the other pros would prefer not to see their own outfit on so many of the other players. Like the year that Adidas did the zebra stripes at the French Open–it was crazy to see this herd of zebras all over Roland Garros. Again, there were tweaks, but all Adidas players were zebras. So Wozniacki may not have had much say in what she wore.
Or maybe she picked the best of the choices McCartney gave her. That’s a scary thought!
But you’re right on one score: She didn’t have to sign with McCartney and could have just been endorsed by the general Adidas line. So she does bear some blame. 😊