Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Fashion Icons: Althea Gibson


It is bucketing down in London at the moment, which naturally puts me in mind of Wimbledon.

Just over 50 years ago, American Althea Gibson took to the center court and demolished her competition. Back in the here and now, Venus may have the ballistic serve, Serena the fashion deals with Nike, and Sharapova the $5,000 diamond drop earrings from Tiffany (??!) -- for me, Althea has the style; a grace in movement and dress that immediately translates off the court into the sort of outfits you could wear on a summer Saturday and look tremendous, even though it's half a century after the fact.

What I love about the photo here, apart from her taut concentration: that's a nice belt in that skirt. And a nice belt transforms even the most summery, sporty of looks into something just a bit more.

Motto: If you're going to dress down (and since it's summer, you ought to) make sure your accessories reach for the sky.

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