I have to just say it: If anyone “invented” the running skirt or running dress (besides, oh, the Ancient Greeks), Kathrine Switzer did back in the early 1970s when she won the NYC Marathon in a tennis dress.
There. That’s off my chest. Now let’s look at the stuff I’ve been coveting—even more so now that I’ve seen it in action at the U.S. Open. It’s going to take a great deal of self-control—or Josh’s gimlet eye—not to chuck out the rest of my old “office” attire to make room for this stuff. Remember: There’s no functional difference between dresses and skorts marketed for tennis and the ones targeted at lady runners. The tennis stuff is often more affordable, to boot.
(Note: Tennis/Running dresses look a lot longer on mannequins than they actually are on real live women!)
First up is my absolute favorite: the Lija Fall Essence dress ($100 at Tennis Warehouse). It’s cute enough to wear pretty much anywhere with its pintuck front pleating, drop waist, and scoop neck. Plus, it’s made from a soft, lightweight compression fabric, not that shiny workout stuff. A very fun style for an evening 5K. Rebecca Morino looked so great in this dress today—way better than poor Venus, who was struggling with broken straps and a too-tight skort that kept riding up to her waist. Sure, Venus won the match, but Rebecca kicked style ass.
The dress I was waiting to see on a player before deciding, yeah, that’s for me, is this Fila Center Court dress in black (a mere $53 at Tennis Warehouse). When it showed up at the various tennis-tog purveyors, I had a strong feeling I’d be sporting this sort of retro-mod style sooner than later. Of course because it’s black, and because the blue really glows against it. But the side view looked a little frumpy! Kim Clijsters wore the Center Court skort in blue (which I also love) at the Open the other day, and tonight she debuted the coveted black dress. Guess what? Not frumpy! Sporty and totally run-worthy! But do I get the dress or the skort?
If we were still living in NYC, however, this Lacoste Fall Tennis Dress would be the next running dress for me. It’s another “wear anywhere” style, and looked crisp on the half dozen or so Open players who wore it in the relentless Flushing heat. And yes, those are real pockets! Alas, this beautifully tailored dress is $145, which puts it out of the range of anything reasonable in this household’s eye. Or, let’s get real, in Josh’s eye. It might also be just a little too “all hat, no cattle” or something for running around our town. But if I ever see it marked way down, you will see me in this sucker.
Don’t even get me started on the new skorts.
Dena on 