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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...