How sports kit is finally catching up with the reality of periods

When many women start menstruating, exercise is off the cards, with the bulkiness of sanitary towels, the discomfort of tampons and the lack of appropriate clothing among the issues.

Take the prevalence of white in many sports kits. There are many reasons for this – at Wimbledon, for instance, the aim was to avoid sweat patches appearing as they would on coloured clothing, and in Test cricket, it was to keep players cool in the heat and ensure the red cricket ball was visible – yet the fear of leaking while on their period is putting girls and women off the sport.

“Everyone in sport at every level needs to be realistic about women’s periods and the suitable kit that is needed for women to fulfil their potential, be active and tackle the gender activity gap,” says Kate Dale, Sport England’s director of marketing.

“So it’s essential that sports clothing makes women feel comfortable and protected when on their period. There is still enormous societal shame and stigma around periods, and being forced to wear something like a white sports kit whilst menstruating could make women feel embarrassed, ashamed and unwilling to take part in sport and activity.”

The conversations around periods and sports clothing, though still something of a taboo, are changing, so why has it taken this long? Traditionally, kits are designed for and dominated by men, so Dale believes the needs of women have not always been on their radar. “It’s an oversight, but I don’t think it has been out of malice as they haven’t faced some of these challenges themselves,” she says. “But on the other hand, there have always been straightforward practical changes that could have been made. It was blindingly obvious.”

Gabriella Holmes, 26, and Holly Gordon, 28, who play recreational tennis and football, have echoed these points through their “Address the Dress Code” campaign, which they launched ahead of the Wimbledon women’s singles final last summer.

They adopted the provocative “Tennis Girl” photo, taken by Martin Elliott in 1976 and showing a female player without underwear, to show a woman in Wimbledon whites revealing a blood stain. The duo, who both work in creative advertising, also held protests outside the gates of the All England Club, wearing skirts with red undershorts, inspired by Tatiana Golovin, the former French player who wore red shorts under her skirt at the 2007 championship.

“It’s not a new issue,” says Gordon. “This problem has always been here. We are just seeing more people, especially sportswomen, speaking up about how this is making them feel. Your kit or whatever you wear is so closely linked to performance. Exercise should never be off the cards for us.”

Wimbledon now plans to relax its all-white underwear rules for female players. At the same time, West Bromwich Albion and Manchester City women have switched to navy and burgundy shorts respectively due to period concerns.

“Our focus for this campaign was Wimbledon, but it’s been fantastic to see the change happening across other sports, with several football teams making the switch away from white shorts,” says Holmes. “We’d like to see the official England women’s kit take periods into consideration in time for the 2023 World Cup, and will continue to campaign against the issues that discourage young girls from participating in sports at a grass-roots level.”

On the subject of white shorts, the England women’s rugby league team partnered with sports performance period-wear brand Iceni during the World Cup and captain Emily Rudge said: “It was important to our players that we could wear the iconic England kit for a tournament in our home nation.

“Our players were also aware of the barriers that girls face in sport due to their periods and wanted to use this moment to inspire future generations, to show young girls that there is no need for periods to distract them from the enjoyment sport can bring.”

‘I can focus fully on competing’

British sprinter Jodie Williams, who specialises in the 400 metres, also wants to tackle some of the stigmas around girls playing sports while on their period. In 2018, the first day of Williams’s period coincided with the European Championships. After dealing with some health issues, she had been working really hard to get back in shape and make the team, only to be knocked out after running significantly slower than usual.

“I remember feeling so awkward and uncomfortable training when I was on my period,” she says. “It definitely affected the way I moved because I was so paranoid I was going to leak mid-session. Now I will let my coach know and we work around it by making time adjustments or sometimes switching up a session.”

Williams is working with Puma and ModiBodi, a feminine hygiene underwear brand, on the launch of period sports leggings and shorts, to encourage girls to stay in the sport. According to a global study conducted by the two brands, one in two girls is quitting the sport altogether because of their period and the fear of leaking, while three-quarters experience anxiety and a lack of concentration when playing. “The ModiBodi x Puma range has been a game-changer in being able to get through my whole session without the added stress,” says Williams. “I carry a lot of anxiety when it comes to competing on my period, I can often see a drop-off in performance. The underwear has definitely helped me feel more [present], as it’s one less thing I have to stress about and I can focus fully on competing to the best of my ability.”