Billie Jean King: The Look I Love
Published to The Guardian on November 26, 2019
I knew how important it was that I beat Bobby [Riggs in the “battle of the sexes” match in 1973], and I knew I would wear that dress only the one time. This was actually the B-dress – the A-dress was beautiful, but it was scratchy and noisy. Both were made by [the celebrated tennis-dress designer] Ted Tinling. He said: “Don’t worry, Madame Superstar, I have another option,” and I loved it. It was mint green with mirror detailing, and I wore a blue wristband, which matched the top of the dress, along with the blue suede Adidas shoes that I had helped to design. (I had to argue to get shoes in that colour as they had always been made in white.) I love blue and green together because it reminds me of nature and the sky. When I was in art class in ninth grade, I did everything in blue and green for a whole year.