racquets

While not being urged to avoid competition, women had few opportunities to compete in sport in Australia until the 1880s. After that date, new sporting facilities were being built around the country and many new sport clubs were created.[1] One of the reasons women were encouraged to play croquet, tennis, and golf during the late 1800s was because it was seen as beneficial to their health. These sports were also seen as passive, non-aggressive, and non-threatening to the period's concepts of masculinity and femininity.[2]" Source: www.wikiwand.com/en/Women%27s_tennis_in_Australia

Queensland and sport go hand-in-hand, so sportswear seems a natural place to start when thinking about the influence of Art Deco sensibilities on local women’s fashion. Across the Western world, the 1920s saw a boom in women’s sporting participation, linked to their increasing visibility in public life and a newfound sense of independence. Fashion, in general, embodied these new values, observed in the abandonment of corsets, rising hemlines, and simplified designs. Sportswear was no exception. Let’s begin with tennis as a case study, a sport deemed suitable for women’s participation from the late 1800s. To set the scene, this first image of the Queensland Ladies Interstate Tennis Team from 1908 illustrates the kinds of physical restrictions women contended with prior to the arrival of modernity. As a Queensland representative team, it could be assumed these women were among the more serious and adept players of the game, yet their movement would have been severely restricted by their Edwardian ankle-length skirts, narrow waistbands, long-sleeved blouses, ties, and broad-brimmed hats. By the 1920s, things had started to change. This illustration appearing in The Queenslander in 1921 shows the strong influence of modern fashion on what was considered appropriate tennis attire – the dress is slimline and drop-waisted in accordance with the androgynous or ‘beanpole’ style that came to define the decade. Importantly, looser-fitting dresses, slightly higher hemlines sitting above ankle-length, and less cumbersome hats all combined to allow women freer athletic movement. It seems unlikely anyone would have seriously attempted to play the sport in the kind of heeled shoes shown here, but they served as a visual reminder to women to maintain their femininity even in the throes of an exhilarating tennis match. However, this isn’t where things ended for tennis attire in the 1920s. The woman in this next photo from a mixed double match in Brisbane in 1927 sports an even less structured dress with a substantially higher hemline and short sleeves – all changes that brought still greater mobility. Indeed, this is a woman who embodies modern values – she is physical, strong, in-flight and free … not to mention playing alongside a man. Source: queenslanddecoproject.com/2014/10/22/sporting-women-1920s...

A popular beginning People often pinpoint the establishment of the Lawn Tennis Association of Australasia (LTAA) in 1904 and the inaugural Australasian Championships as the origins of the sport in this nation. But lawn tennis was in fact already well-entrenched in the Australian sporting landscape by then. The popularity of lawn tennis, invented by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield in 1873, rapidly outstripped that of royal tennis in England, and that in turn influenced the rise of the game in the colonies. Having commenced as a popular backyard pastime at homes around Australia in the mid-1870s, the sport began the move away from private courts in 1878 when the first Victorian club tennis court was built by the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC). Devotees flocked to the asphalt surface, delighted at the opportunity to socialise around their favorite sport. The MCC laid a grass court in 1879 and a second asphalt court in 1883 to help cater to the multitude of passionate local tennis fans. In 1890, the MCC’s asphalt court played host to the first championship of the colony of Victoria. The steady growth of the game led to clubs springing up around Victoria and throughout Australia, tennis players engaging keenly in the premiership (pennant) and interstate competitions from 1884. The sport quickly outgrew the MCC as the home of championship tennis in Victoria, the MCG unable to cater to the demand for courts or spectator facilities. The headquarters of tennis shifted to the Warehouseman’s Cricket Ground (today known as Albert Reserve) from 1890 onwards; the 2000 spectators who attended the inter-colonial singles tournament there in 1891 justified the move. Management of tennis in the colony was formalised in 1892 with the establishment of the Lawn Tennis Association of Victoria (LTAV). While representing Victoria’s interests, organising inter-colonial matches, and maintaining tennis’ headquarters at the Warehouseman’s Ground, the bulk of the LTAV’s time was devoted to managing inter-club competitions and the huge fan following they garnered. The following was in no small part due to the rivalry between South Yarra club’s Norman Brookes and Alf Dunlop, a New Zealander representing the MCC. Source: artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/a-history-of-australian...