Hello-Hello! This afternoon’s Wimbledon final is to blame for our incredibly late post, with ‘The Preppy,’ Roger Federer facing “The Pirate,” Rafael Nadal. (For more on those appelations see our post of June 24th.) Perhaps the cloud should have been an omen…
But first, are we feeling a little more rested, relaxed, and ready to go? Or did we turn into an ogre-like crankenstein heading back into the city when traffic became a little backed up on the LIE? Or on the Dan Ryan from New Buffalo or Holland? Don’t tell us you let the residual cleanup from Harborfest get you grinding your molars coming in from the Cape? Shame on you. Life could be worse:
(That statement was about as deep as the puddles at SW19 today during the rain. Perhaps Daddy was right about the sun baking my brain.)
It was one for the record books, leaving Mr. Federer as one of the world’s more despondent professional athletes this evening; we have a feeling he will bounce back, perhaps sooner than even he thinks. He has nothing to be ashamed of after today’s epic match at Centre Court.
A big Princess grosgrain ribbon bow and congratulations to The Pirate, utterly charming as he clambered about the court after the win in his efforts to reach family members for an emotional hug before proceeding to the Royal Box to greet Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Spain.
He then had a bite of a late supper.
If you didn’t see the Ladies’ Singles presentation yesterday, here are the Williams sisters, Venus of course is on the left, Serena on the right.
For those who may not know, there are all manner of other championships determined in the weeks that are Wimbledon. Here, a sampling of a few, starting with Jana Novotna and Kathy Rinaldi , winners of the Ladies’ Invitation Doubles title. (Some readers may recognize Ms. Rinaldi, having bumped into her at the Breakers, where she is a traveling pro.)
Wheelchair champions Ronald Vink and Robin Ammerlaan are seen above after receiving their trophy. What a wild week it has been!
Among those not making it to the Ladies’ was top-seeded Ana Ivanovic, seen below in what has come to be known in some tennis fashion circles as “the dress from hell.” Ivanovic’s dress is an Adidas creation; they are her sponsor for this sort of thing.
Despite its loathsome qualities, at least to some, it is scheduled for yet another appearance, this one also a high-profile Grand Slam event, the US Open. What is a far more egregious crime to many (and TP is in sync with this school of thought), is the color of said garment. We give you Exhibit A:
Taupe? It must have taken an extraordinary amount of time and energy to come up with such a wretched color. Ms. Ivanovic is a lovely creature indeed, and she shines despite the muddy tone of the dress, but honestly Mr. Adidas. Is this the best you can do? More depressing is what occurs when you click on the ‘Shop’ link on Ms. Ivanovic’s website; you are taken to the Tennis-Warehouse ecommerce site; what you see at the top of the page is this:
As the good folks at Down the Line Tennis note:
All you want is an originally designed, inspired and functional dress to wear for the final Grand Slams of the year and here’s what they give you: The Wimbledon dress (above), in the required white with lilac piping around the neckline and arm holes, was supposedly inspired by flower petals but I’m thinking someone was eating lady fingers when they came up with the design. And for the US Open you’re sporting the same dress but in some drab grey-brown moment (below). *Yawn* Even the proportions, most noticeably the length of the dress, seem awkward on you.
BTW, Down the Line is a must see for anyone favoring fashion + tennis, a wonderful read blending those two elements and more. Because we devoted a fair amount of coverage to Maria Sharapova and the now infamous Tennis Tuxedo (our capitalization) she wore at Wimbledon, we thought it only right we let you know Ms. Sharapova has recovered from the pain of that early departure from the tournament, at least on the surface of things.
Ms. Sharapova is seen above with Stella McCartney, at the London launch party for Ms. McCartney’s organic line of clothing. Ms. Sharapova then made her way to Paris, seen below at Valentino’s runway show for the 2009 Spring line (with friend Camilla Belle on the right).
If one is to believe Pro-Direct Tennis, the “Definitive Online Tennis Store”, then this is what we’ll see Ms. Sharapova wearing at Flushing Meadows, the Nike Sharapova US Open Day Dress:
The site also shows the dress in white, and offers both for pre-ordering. We’re not comfortable stating definitively this is the dress Nike and Sharapova plan for the Open, but wanted to share the info and the images. The site does have something for those who favor the Adidas Ivanovic dress planned for the Open, a coordinating/matching warm-up pant, seen below. We have learned the color is not mud, nor taupe, but Lava Grey, and there are several coordinates in the group, as you would expect. Below we show the tennis skirt, also available for pre-ordering.
Finally tonight, a reminder the Lacoste sale is still going on:
Lacoste Sale
The Preppy Princess 