Plus Size Tennis Skirts

A tennis skirt is a piece of equipment before it is an outfit, and the two things that make it work are the stretch in the fabric and whether the inner shorts stay where they are put. Both are specified here rather than left to chance.

25% spandex is unusual. The athletic styles in this collection are 75% nylon with 25% spandex, roughly five times the stretch content of a fashion skirt. Nylon brings abrasion resistance and a cool hand. The spandex is what lets the skirt move through a split step and a cross-court lunge without riding up or pulling across the hip, and it lets the skirt recover its shape between points instead of stretching out over a set.

The inner shorts and the pockets. Every piece here is a skort with attached shorts, cut to stay flat under the pleats while you bend, stretch and sprint. The pockets are set into the shorts and sized for a phone, keys or a card, which on the court means a ball or two, and off it means you can leave the bag behind.

The waistband does the work. These use a wide, high-elastic waistband rather than a narrow elastic or a zip. Wide spreads the pressure across the waist, which gives gentle control through the middle and stops the band digging in when you sit between games. It also sits flat under a top, so the skirt reads as high-waisted rather than gathered.

Sizing. XL through 5XL, elastic closure, A-line cut. For an athletic skirt, measure waist and hip together and expect a close fit. A loose waistband on a skort will rotate while you move, which is worse than a slightly firm one. If you are between sizes, take the smaller one if you plan to play in it, and the larger one if it is for everyday wear.

Court to cafe. Black or navy with a white polo and court shoes is the obvious version. Rose or white with a cropped knit and a trainer is the version that works for errands, brunch and travel days, because the A-line and the pleats read as a skirt and nobody can tell the shorts are there. Machine wash cold, hang to dry, and skip fabric softener on high-spandex pieces, since it coats the fibres and cuts the stretch recovery.

Sort by
  • Featured
  • Most relevant
  • Best selling
  • Alphabetically, A-Z
  • Alphabetically, Z-A
  • Price, low to high
  • Price, high to low
  • Date, old to new
  • Date, new to old

FAQs

Got a question? We are here to answer