Teddy Tinling: The Leaning Tower of Pizazz

Tinling's incredible career spanned the years from the constraints of the all-white tradition to the full-blown colour festival when he designed for the Virginia Slims circuit in America from the early 1970s. He was very proud of his success in America as a British designer.

As a designer, he was at the cutting edge of his craft. He was always interested in experimenting with new fabrics - like Terylene and Lurex - but also ready to challenge the fashion norms of the time, in both style and colour. His name became synonomous with tennis fashion.

This white skirt was made by Tinling for Mary Hawton from 100% Terylene. Terylene was created in 1941 by a group of British scientists. It was advertised as a miracle fibre that could be worn for 68 days straight without ironing and still look presentable. A boon for women players travelling around the world on the international circuit!

Tinling carved out a unique niche for himself in women's tennis fashion from his early days as the designer of the controversial laced underwear worn by 'Gorgeous Gussie' Moran in 1949 to his designs for Billie Jean King in the Battle of the Sexes match in 1973 and beyond.

These Gorgeous Gussy replica pants were made especially for the Australian Tennis Museum, as copy of the original pants he made in 1949 for Gertrude Augusta Moran to wear at Wimbledon.

The original pants caused such a scandal because they were seen by many Wimbledon Committee members to be too risque. The furore was largely the result of an unruly press coverage that saw photographers prone on the ground trying to photograph Moran's undergarments. (Very unseemly on the hallowed courts of Wimbledon!) Tinling was accused of bringing sin and vulgarity to the game of tennis while he maintained he was bringing feminine style back into ladies tennis apparel after the austere look during the war years.

This Tinling creation was made from polyester fibre (67% terylene and 33% cotton), one of many designed for Mary Hawton (née Bevis).

Mary was born in Sydney, NSW, Australia. Her career spanned the end of the 1940s and the 1950s. Hawton won the women's doubles title at the Australian Championships five times and also won the mixed doubles title with partner Robert Howe. She also made the semi-finals of the women's doubles at Wimbledon.

For his clients playing at Wimbledon with the all-white tradition, Tinling brought in subtle uses of colour bindings, monograms or skirt linings - but even this eventually raised the ire of Wimbledon officials.

Mary Hawton white gabardine A-line dress with a v-neck bordered with woven pale-blue velvet ribbon.

Mary Hawton dress with gold floral belt.

Mary Hawton white silk pique sleeveless A-line dress, with round neckline and one pink bow at the front pleat edged with pink striped piping.

The Mary Hawton princess line.

Mary Hawton flowery bodice.

Mary Hawton laced dress

Tinling designed a similar dress to this example for Maria Bueno with bright pink lining.

Maria wore it at Wimbledon in 1962 but it was the final straw for Wimbledon officials who banned colour four months later.

Tinling said that "every new design I discuss with a Wimbledon player is considered with the spectators' tastes in mind".

His colour experiments were used to bring pleasure to the players and spectators.

After Wimbledon brought in the 'all-white' edict, Gussy Moran reportedly said, "Are they serious? If they want only one colour why don't they make it black? This would be appropriate mourning for the game they are trying to kill."

Tinling was willing to comply with the Wimbledon all-white regulations and still created beautiful designs within these constraints. He designed this dress for Margaret Burston (née Hellyer), a tennis player from Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Burston's career spanned the 1950s-1960s. She reached the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Championships and she twice made the doubles quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

This creation was for Jan O'Neill (née Lehane; born 9 July 1941) who was a tennis player from Grenfell, NSW, Australia.

O'Neill's career spanned the 1950s-1970s. She was the first leading female player with a double-handed backhand., O’Neill won the mixed doubles title at the Australian Championships two times and made the finals of the women’s singles at the Australian Championships four times and the women’s doubles twice.

Nicknamed the 'Wedding Dress' this Tinling creation was made for Lesley Turner around the time of her marriage to Bill Bowery.

Lesley Bowrey (née Turner) was a tennis player from Trangie, NSW, Australia. Her career spanned the 1950s-1970s. Bowrey won the women’s singles title at the French Championships twice and reached the finals at the Australian Championships twice and the semi-finals at both Wimbledon and the US Championships.

Lesley Bowrey also won the women’s doubles event three times in Australia, twice in France and once in the US and at Wimbledon. She also won the mixed doubles event twice at the Australian Championships and twice at Wimbledon.

In this Tinling design a splash of gold is added inside the pleats and the jacket embroidered with gold.

Tinling designed this white silk pique dress for Lesley Bowrey, with a subtle use of colour in the yellow bows on the neckline and skirt.

This lurex outfit was for Karen Krantzcke, a tennis player from Brisbane, QLD, Australia. Her career spanned the late 1960s-1970s. Krantzcke won the women’s doubles at the Australian Open and made the women’s singles semi-finals at the Australian and French Championships and the quarter-finals at the US and Wimbledon Championships.

Tinling had much greater freedom to experiment with colour on the American circuit where he worked as official designer for the Virginia Slims tournament.

Tragically, Karen Krantzcke died at the early age of 31 when out jogging during her time playing on the Challenger circuit in the USA in 1977. The Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award is awarded annually to a female professional tennis player by the WTA in her honour.

In his book 'Love and Faults', Teddy Tinling remembers receiving a letter from Karen a week before her death, saying how much she was enjoying life and how she loved playing tennis.

Tinling had always tried to capture the unique personality and style of the players whom he dressed. Consequently, he formed many enduring friendships with the women champions who sought him out as their designer, including Karen.

Karen Krantzcke wore this tracksuit as warm-up attire.

This crimplene white and pale yellow dress and pants with spiral design on dress bodice in striped braid with matching cardigan, was designed also for Karen.

Tinling made this dress for Dianne Balestrat (née Fromholtz), a tennis player from Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Her career spanned the early 1970s-1990s. Balestrat won the women’s doubles title at the Australian Open and made the women’s singles finals at the Australian Open, as well as the semi-finals at the French Open and US Open with a quarter-final showing at Wimbledon.

In addition to players, Tinling also designed for sportswear companies like Simpson, which allowed off-the-rack purchases of his dresses for the general public.

Teddy Tinling was a master of tennis fashion and made an enormous contribution to the sport and its women players.

He was inducted into the International Hall of Fame in 1986.

As stated on the ITHF website:

"Tinling was a brilliant tennis historian, umpire, consultant, confidant, and chief of protocol. He had as distinguished and all-encompassing career as anyone in history. Tinling also became the revered Chief of Protocol for the International Tennis Federation and a Director of International Liaison for the women’s pro tour."

"Tinling authored two books on tennis, the most notable being, 'Love and Faults: Personalities Who Have Changed the History of Tennis. He was burdened with respiratory problems throughout the 1980s and passed away in May 1990. According to published reports after his death, it was learned Tinling had been a British Intelligence spy during World War II."

What a wonderful life.