It's that time of year for my annual Wimby design rant
For the benefit of those unaware or who may not remember, there was a time as recently as the late 1990s when LARGE splashes of in-your-face-colour was wholly acceptable attire at Wimbledon. The pic below is a random example. It's a mid-90s Reebok shirt typical of the range that guys like Mal Washington, Todd Martin and Michaels Chang and Stich would've worn at the time:
What I'm trying to say is that the blandification of Wimbledon attire is attributable to some kinda Vulcan Mind-Meld or Kenobian Jedi mind-trick where apparel designers who are unschooled in the colourful history of tennis apparel pay no heed to colour and instead think that white is the only colour permissible.
There is a collective amnesia going on between them and the execs who sign off on those designs. Together they seem to be consumed by the AELTC's yesteryear traditions to the exclusion of colourful flair and flourishes of style. They focus on the "predominantly white" diktat to the exclusion of any other colour, as if red, yellow or blue is forbidden.
Sheesh, if the mindset of the designers and execs today were in play back in the late 70s then the iconic looks of Borg and Vilas would never have seen the light of day at SW19.
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