Wimbledon official given harsh 33-year ban from tournament over ‘racy’ incident

After kicking off late last month (30 June), the festivities and antics of the Wimbledon Tournament are set to come to an end this Sunday (13 July).

The annual celebration of tennis talent has been going strong now for over 100 years years, having first started way back when in 1877.

Over the years, players have had to stick to some very strict rules regarding dress code specifically with an all-white outfit rule - something which was recently broken following the tragic passing of Liverpool FC star, Diogo Jota.

There's also been a change in women's underwear rules to ease the stress of periods but there still seems to be some way to go regarding the whole 'bra' ordeal.

And the latter of which is far from the first Wimbledon dress code drama as one official was once given a seriously harsh 33-year ban from the prestigious sporting tournament over what was dubbed a particularly 'racy' incident.

Wimbledon official and tennis dress designer, Ted Tinling, once received a decades-long ban from the tournament over one controversial design (Fox Photos / Stringer / Getty Images)

It all started back in 1949 when Ted Tinling - an umpire, consultant, player liaison and chief of protocol as well as being one of the most famous designers of tennis dresses for the great female players - designed a garment which proved to be quite the controversy.

The dress in question, which featured a pair of lace-trimmed undershorts, was made for American Gussie Moran and worn during her Ladies' Doubles final with Patricia Todd against Louise Brough and Margaret Osborne duPont.

While Moran lost her final, it was her undergarments which made headlines following photographers' attempts at capturing the outfit detail with a series of low-angle snaps.

Wimbledon chiefs hit out at Moran for 'putting sin and vulgarity into tennis', while chairman Sir Louis Greig accused Tinling of 'having drawn attention to the sexual area.'

Following the backlash, Tinling - who had worked as a Master of Ceremonies for 23 years - was landed with a colossal 33-year ban from Wimbledon.

American tennis player, Gussie Moran, wore Tinling's controversial lace-trimmed undershorts during her Ladies' Doubles final in 1949 (Bettmann)

Despite the ban, the official was still the creative mastermind behind the dresses worn by the Wimbledon Ladies' champion in 1959, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1978 and 1979.

And, as the cherry on the cake, Tinling also designed Billie Jean King's dress for her historical 'Battle of the Sexes' game against Bobby Riggs in 1973.

Speaking on his out-there designs, Tinling explained: "Confidence is probably what makes the difference between a victory and a defeat.

"If a woman feels that she is prettier or better dressed than her opponent, nothing can stop her."

After decades of being shut out from the tournament, Tinling was eventually invited back to Wimbledon in 1982 as a player liaison and worked as the Chief of Protocol for the International Tennis Federation as well as a Director of International Liaison for the women’s pro tour.

And, just a few years later in 1986, the fashion trailblazer was officially inducted into the Tennis International Hall of Fame - just four years before he passed away.