Off-Court Fashion Hits and Misses: Maria Sharapova
Wednesday, September 19, 2012 at 2:22PM 
by Kait O'Callahan
Tennis players are constantly the subject of scrutiny when it comes to what they wear on the court. Male or female, if you’re a top player, you can bet everyone will be giving the thumbs up or down to your Nike duds when a Grand Slam rolls around. Looking at on-court photos, we can deduce that the likes of Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Roger Federer all have spectacular style.
But do they really?
Off-court might tell a different tale. Free from the restrictions of sponsorship, tennis players can choose exactly what they want to wear. And that’s not always a good thing.
Starting this week, On The Go Tennis will be analysing the off-court style of a top player. Shoes, earrings, cardigans... nothing will go unnoticed.
This week we take a look at self-confessed fashion fanatic Maria Sharapova.
Maria cites fashion as one of her top interests. Whether designing for Cole Haan, posing for Tiffanys or gracing the cover of yet another glossy magazine, Sharapova considers herself a true style queen.
Her best look
At 6‘2, Maria knows how to rock a pair of pants. When dresses and skirts were being ditched worldwide for a pair of wide-legged pants in 2010/11, Maria was all over the trend.
At the Sony Ericsson Hotshots launch in early 2011, Maria paired statement pink pants with a simple printed top. She kept her hair, make-up and shoes neutral in order to let her pants to the talking.
Thankfully, when the fashion world moved on Maria didn’t. Rather than hopping her way over to the next trend, Maria showed us all how to rock those pajama-style printed pants in September this year. Once again she keeps the rest of her outfit simple so the focus is directly on her legs pants.
Her worst look
While Maria may keep her dresses simple on the court, off-court she has a tendency to get a little carried away. Possibly her worst fashion mistake was at the Vanity Fair Oscars party in early 2012. Looking like Sookie from True Blood in full fairy get-up, the only thing Maria did manage to get right was her shoes.
Unfortunately, the OTT dress was not a one-off mistake. Here she is looking like a spaceman all the way back in 2010.
Her accessories
Maria helps design shoes, so it’s no wonder she rarely makes a mistake in that arena. Even her worst outfits (see above) are paired with the perfect shoe. Her make-up, however, is an area Sharapova doesn’t show much variety in. While she barely ever looks bad, neither does she stray too far from the natural look.
Except for this time...
It’s high time Maria took a few more risks with her make-up. The creative team behind Sugarpova apparently though so too, and she looked stunning with bright red lips.
For the most part...
Maria nails fashion. She always gets her shoes and bags spot on, and although she isn’t afraid to try the latest looks off the catwalk, she doesn’t get carried away with trends. She’s an advert for pants over dresses, for style over fast fashion.
Some more of our favourite Maria moments...
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon 2012
Kait O'Callahan is a regular contributor to OnTheGoTennis, she also has her own tennis blog, Any Given Surface. To follow her on Twitter, click here.
Photos: Getty, Just Jared
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