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Artist/Maker (British, 1910 – 1990)
Related person (American, b. 1943)

Philadelphia Freedoms tennis dress

ca. 1974
Synthetic textile
Overall: 31 × 22 1/2 in. (78.7 × 57.2 cm)
The Billie Jean King Collection
2019.14.3
Billie Jean King wore this dress during the inaugural season of World Team Tennis, a mixed-gender tennis league founded in part by Larry King in 1973. Billie Jean King came up with the name for the Philadelphia Freedoms, the team she played for and now owns. Elton John’s famous song by the same name was inspired by King.
DescriptionSleeveless tennis dress; navy blue with white trim and four white liberty bells around skirt; eight plastic buttons down front, five blue, four white; applied red embroidered “PHILADELPHIA” patch above front central Liberty Bell, red embroidered “FREEDOMS” across it.
MarkingsSewn-in label: “teddy tinling / MADE IN ENGLAND / London.”
ClassificationsCLOTHING AND FASHION
Collections
  • Billie Jean King Archive Highlights
Philadelphia Freedoms tennis dress
Reebok International Ltd.
2006
2019.14.13
Tennis dress
Ted Tinling
ca. 1982
2019.14.2
Philadelphia Freedoms racket head cover
Unidentified maker
ca. 1974
2019.14.4
Tennis outfit
Head
ca. 1971
2019.14.1
Freedoms Foundation Medal
George Washington
1952 or later
INV.3375
Tennis racket
Bancroft
ca. 1975
2019.14.5
Tennis shoes
Adidas
ca. 1973
2019.14.6ab
Tennis racket
Wilson Sporting Goods Co.
ca. 2006
2019.14.14
Wilson Sporting Goods Co.
ca. 1973
2019.14.11
T-2000 tennis racket
Wilson Sporting Goods Co.
ca. 1967
2019.14.12ab
Tennis racket
Wilson Sporting Goods Co.
ca. 1970
2019.14.10