This week, MSL had the pleasure of visiting Wimbledon for a day of women’s tennis. The British tennis championship has been running since 1877, with the first ever ladies championship taking place not too long after in 1884. It is a game of stamina, endurance, strength and hand-eye coordination and one that us Brits love watching year after year. More recently, the courts of Wimbledon have attracted the eyes of the media for more reasons other than true sportsmanship. Wimbledon is an arena of preppy fashion and summer chic, and that is where we come in.
Courtesy of a close family friend, I was invited to Wimbledon as a guest of HSBC, which meant that not only was I treated to a day of crisp white tennis, but a quintessentially British day of Pimms, freshly prepared buffet-style food and an unlimited taking of pick-and-mix sweets! It was a day of real indulgence and one that I will always liken to a day in the life of Kate Middleton.
The atmosphere on centre court was electric and spirits were high as we watched two women’s tennis games, Radwanksa vs Li and Kvitova vs Flipkens. As someone who has always followed but never experienced Wimbledon first-hand, it was so exciting just to be sat on the green seats, overlooking the players, ball boys, chair umpire and line umpires, let alone sitting opposite Terry Wogan! Despite looking so large on television, centre court seemed so much smaller making the game of tennis much more intimate, focused and intense which made for better spectating.
And of course, my fashion radar was pointing me in all directions to ladies wearing the most divine casual summer dresses, colorful wedged sandals and luxuriously soft pashminas. But what stood out the most, was that the favourite this year seemed to be the patterned blazer. A couple of weeks ago we featured a summer survival style guide and our blog contributor Samantha predicted the patterned blazer to be a top hit. She couldn’t have been more right, as this garment was the perfect accompaniment to the breezy and shy british sun we had on the day. Ladybugs, strawberries, floral patterns and geometric prints were just a few of the styles that featured in the seats of centre court. I have to admit that the next day I went out and bought myself a china porcelain blue pattered blazer from H&M as it is a great garment to bring life, fun, colour and elegance to any outfit.
Let’s see if Murray can bring the trophy home today, who will be watching?
By Marni Banks