Wimbledon Relaxes All-White Dress Code Over Period Concerns

Wimbledon will be dropping the strict all-white dress code and will allow female players to wear dark undershorts to address the players’ period concerns.

The move came after protests from the Address The Dress Code campaign which highlighted the issues women faced when competing in traditional white clothing. The strict all-white dress code was also criticised by tennis players Billie Jean King and Daria Saville and the former Olympic champion Monica Puig.

King said while wearing dark clothes underneath, “You feel like you can breathe and not have to check on everything every minute when you sit and change sides.”

Suggested Reading: Manchester City To Change Women Team's White Shorts Due To Period Concerns

Wimbledon Relaxes Dress Code

The tournament and its organisers were facing growing pressure to alter the dress code and reduce the anxieties as to whether blood is visible on white clothes for menstruating players.

Campaigners had gathered at the Wimbledon Championships with signs that read, “About bloody time” and “Address the dress code”.

The Chief Executive of the All England Club, Sally Bolton said in a statement that the Committee of Management decided to update the strict white clothing rule after consultation with players and representatives of several stakeholder groups.

Bolton added, “from next year, women and girls competing at The Championships will have the option of wearing coloured undershorts if they choose”.

The statement mentioned that the Committee of Management hoped that the rule adjustment would help players “focus purely on their performance by relieving a potential source of anxiety”.

The All England Club added that the requirement for other clothing, accessories and equipment remained unchanged.

A similar issue was raised by female football players, after which Manchester City revealed they would change the colour of their women’s team shorts. The female football players were vocal about their discomfort with wearing white shorts while menstruating.

The Manchester City manager Gareth Taylor said the team would look into the issue, and a week later on October 25, Taylor announced white shorts would not feature as part of the team’s kit from the 2023-24 season.