The current rule requires wearing white preferably, but women’s fashion at Wimbledon has a name of its own: Cuthbert Collingwood ‘Ted’ Tinling. Tennis player, referee, Wimbledon public relations between 1927 and 1949, revolutionary dressmaker, influencer, spy during World War II, and WTA leader, Tinling’s biography is priceless.
Born in Eastbourne on June 23, 1910, Ted Tinling grew up in a wealthy family. His father, James Alexander Tinling, was a noted accountant, and his mother, Florence May, a great traveler, applying to her home whatever impressed her abroad.
On a trip to Sweden, Florence was fascinated by the steam heating systems used there, and had them installed in the family home. In the Tinling garden, flowers and seed trees collected in Italian Tuscany stood out.
Ted Tinling’s childhood was directed by Miss Pearce, a family governess who had previously cared for his brothers James and Banastre. Ted did not see much of his parents, although every afternoon, when the servants prepared tea, Miss Pearce took the little boy to the family room. With the outbreak of World War I, the family moved to Pevensey Bay, Sussex. Ted spent hours on the beach with his governess listening to the noise of military detonations, and watching the Hastings explosions.
A trip first to Flanders, and then to Switzerland, where Ted, a chronic asthmatic, was seen by one of the best specialists, was going to change his life. His father had to return to England to solve economic problems derived from the crisis caused by the War, so Florence settled in Cimiez, a suburb of Nice, a place recommended by the doctor for Ted’s health.
Florence signed Ted up as a junior member of the Nice Lawn Tennis Club. In that place located in the Imperial Park of Nice, Tinling’s life intersected with that of the great diva Suzanne Lenglen. All the aristocracy that vacationed on the Côte d’Azur adored Lenglen. Every Wednesday in the summer, Suzanne played an exhibition game in some sort of galas from The Dansant, music by Cole Porter and Josephine Baker, and women decked out in designs by the best Parisian couturiers.
On July 24, 1924, Miss Wollanston Richards, in charge of organizing the ‘galas’, had forgotten to hire a referee for the Lenglen match. She noticed Ted, who had just turned 14, and who was easily recognizable because he was almost two meters tall. Miss Richards spoke to Lenglen’s father, who controlled her daughter’s career, and asked if Ted was accepted as a referee. Daddy Lenglen consulted with Suzanne, who looked at Ted and replied, “My pleasure.” The job was easy. Lenglen’s matches lasted between 30 and 45 minutes because there was no player who would win more than three games against him.
Tinling and Lenglen established a great friendship, only he was accepted by Suzanne as a referee in her matches in Nice. In 1926, Tinling participated in the international men’s tournament organized by the club and lost in the first round. But several of the All England Club Committee members were holidaying on the Côte d’Azur. Lenglen talked to them, he introduced them to Tinling, who in 1927 made his Wimbledon debut as public relations and in charge of assisting the players.
Quickly, Ted Tinling became the ‘great friend’ of tennis players. He solved their problems, facilitated relations with the powerful members of Wimbledon, and advised them in their private lives. Wimbledon was delighted with Tinling’s work. Never before had he had such a relationship with foreign stars, who actively participated in organized activities off the slopes.
A lover of fashion, and without shame in openly acknowledging her homosexuality, Tinling began designing dresses for the best tennis players. He began by designing garments, such as the wedding dress of the champion Dorothy Round in 1937. Over the years, and gradually gaining the trust of Wimbledon and tennis players, he ended up designing competition dresses for them until the age of 80.
World War II gave him a new mission. His brother James was an important man in the RAF. After an accident in 1930, James was unable to fly warplanes, but he was instrumental in the development of jet engines. Due to his work at Wimbledon, Ted had rubbed shoulders with leaders from all countries. James spoke to the High Command to inform them that his sister was an ideal spy.
Ted Tinling was the one who, before a decisive Davis Cup match at Wimbledon, detained Baron Gottfried von Cramm before entering the court to tell him that he could not play without answering a phone call first. On the other end of the phone was Adolf Hitler. Ted’s background made him the perfect spy, with contacts in every corner.
His work as a spy was done with the position of Lieutenant Colonel of the Intelligence Corps of the British Army. It wasn’t until his death in 1990 that British Intelligence reported that Ted Tinling was one of its best spies during World War II. Tinling was close to Dwight Eisenhower during the North African campaign. He suggested that she organize a tennis exhibition to raise funds for the Algiers Red Cross. “This is a man’s war, and tennis is a women’s sport,” Eisenhower replied.
After the war, and with the return of Wimbledon to full activity, fashion became her passion. All the players wanted their dresses, and so did women like Farah Diba, the last Persian empress. But one dress, the one she designed for Gussie Moran in 1949, marked the break in her relations with Wimbledon.
Tinling had designed a ‘conventional’ dress for Moran. When Gussie met him at her hotel, she called Ted to congratulate him but she brought up the problem that the dress was so pretty that she didn’t deserve to wear it with regular panties. Tinling had some bits of silk that she made into ruffles and some lace that she added to the panties. When Moran took to the track, the image of him became a scandal.
Louis Greg, president of Wimbledon and who had played doubles years before with George VI, called Tinling and accused him of being a provocateur. The British media were talking about indecency and selling a provocative image over tennis. The debate reached the British Parliament. Tinling lost his job at Wimbedon.
The Moran case made Tinling’s cache rise whole as a designer. In that he focused his activity for three decades, dressing champions like Navratilova, King, Bueno, Evert or Austin. One of his most famous dresses was the one he made for King for their Battle of the Sexes match.
In 1976, Tinling moved his residence to Philadelphia, and worked as a consultant for the WTA. In tournaments it was normal to see him in the press rooms, with a huge diamond in his ear. he looking for journalists who could inform him about the young women who came to the circuit. He died in May 1990 due to his respiratory problems.
