The sporty-chic style known as tenniscore is taking over courts and social media feeds this season. It’s just the latest trend to signal that being wealthy is always in fashion.
The new tennis movie Challengers served as a major catalyst for the tenniscore resurgence, packed with literal tennis players and characters who portray its old money aesthetic. The film's star and producer, Zendaya, has promoted the movie wearing tenniscore herself: V-neck sweaters, tennis skirts, terry cloth and other preppy looks.
Celebrities and influencers dress in ways you might see at the country club or courtside — in posh clothing with subtle but expensive watches and tennis bracelets. Tennis player Ayan Broomfield and tennis player girlfriend Morgan Riddle are major tenniscore tastemakers, as is content creator Emily Oberg with her Sporty and Rich athleisure brand. Princess Diana's ever-immortal Wimbledon style is another key source of inspiration.
The fact that the weather is prime for outdoor racket sports, including tennis and ultra-trendy pickleball, certainly contributes to the quest for versatile but stylish clothing. Many of the aesthetics of tennis enthusiasts exude an air of leisure and luxury — and what’s more luxurious than leisure?
"Tenniscore is about looking like you never have to lift a finger but have had private lessons on how to wield a racket since childhood," Esquire's Trishna Rikhy wrote about the trend.
Quiet luxury, the "stealth wealth" aesthetic defined by neutral colors and high-quality clothing items, was one of the biggest trends of 2023. The "old money" aesthetic dominated the summer of 2023, and the Hamptons-chic "coastal grandmother" trend took over the summer of 2022. Even winter's popular "mob wife" fashion trend involved expensive fur coats and over-the-top flashy jewelry.
Retail business expert and boutique founder Carmen Lopez told Yahoo Entertainment that dressing like you're rich will always be trendy.
“Clothes have become deeply ingrained in society, signaling your place in the world and shaping your self-perception and behavior,” she said. “Whether or not we like it, fashion judgment is a part of our society.”
That’s why wearing brand-name luxury goods and easily recognizable expensive pieces is so trendy — they’re a “marker of status and success,” Lopez explained. They’re not supposed to be affordable or accessible to the masses in order to protect their luxury reputation.
Alex Frankel, a fashion influencer and model, told Yahoo Entertainment that these trends might be popular because it's much easier to control how you dress than what amount of money is in your bank account.
“As ridiculous as some of these trends are, taking part in them is escapist and aspirational,” he explained. “It’s a way of saying, ‘This is what I want my life to look like.’”
He said people with more disposable income have access to the “broadest spectrum of options for self-expression,” so they can easily stay on-trend while those in classes below them aspire to the same level of access.
“[These] microtrends like tenniscore and quiet luxury are all trying to signal the same thing: status and wealth,” Danielle Vermeer, co-founder & CEO of the thrifting app Teleport, told Yahoo Entertainment.
She noted that, according to a study from the American Marketing Association, people who are actually wealthy and "high status" don't care about signaling their wealth to people outside of their social bubbles — it's the people who are striving for wealth who feel like they have to look expensive. It's what fashion writer Cora Harrington calls "rich people cosplay."
The fact that the aesthetics of the wealthy are consistently trendy says more about the lives we want than what our sense of personal style might be.