Before the French tennis star Suzanne Lenglen boarded an ocean liner in 1926 to take her to New York (where she would embark on the lucrative tour of the US that arguably established tennis as a profession), she was asked about her level of fitness.
“I don’t know,” she replied. “I haven’t played for months.” Instead, she said, she had been shopping. “You should see this black and white evening dress of mine. It’s a masterpiece.”
