[SerycegeBunny]

(from today's NY Times. Every Sunday, in the Styles section, a Times reporter goes out with someone famous. Often it's clubs, restaurants, museums. For Serena Williams, she and the reporter went shopping for jeans. Real fun story):

A Day Out With | Serena Williams
Denim Is a Tough Opponent

By: ALEX WILLIAMS
Published: April 24, 2009

IT’S hard enough for most people to find the perfect pair of jeans, but imagine being Serena Williams. Her muscular 5-foot-9-inch frame is a blessing on the tennis court but a curse in the fitting room, where her curves turn every shopping excursion into an odyssey.

First I look for the size,” said Ms. Williams, 27, explaining that her posterior was on the large side. She rifled through stacks of denim at a Joe’s Jeans counter at Barneys New York; a salesman handed her a new, slimming cut to try.

“Oh, these are for short girls,” she said wearily, unfurling the pair. “These would be like shorts on me. They would be like a bikini on Venus.” (Her sister, Venus Williams, is 6-foot-1).

That afternoon, Ms. Williams had escaped her busy schedule of training for the French Open and promoting charities to indulge in a shopping jaunt in New York City, accompanied by Nikki Burchiere, her personal assistant. Lunch was a sidewalk-vendor pretzel wolfed on the escalator at Barneys

Ms. Williams, the reigning United States Open champion, was looking for jeans, yes, but also for inspiration for her new fashion line, Serena Williams Signature Statement, which she said she was active in designing. Her jewelry and handbags, all under $100, will be introduced this month on HSN.

Thumbing through the racks in Rag & Bone, Ms. Williams discussed her latest design theories. “Modern buildings can be really influential — the shape, the structure,” she said, pointing to the sleek, Le Corbusier-like geometry of a gray tunic dress. “I’m not saying this was influenced by a building, but it easily could be, these lines here.”

Fashion has long been a big part of Ms. Williams’s identity, as when she flummoxed tennis traditionalists by showing up for the United States Open in a black Lycra catsuit. Since then she has become a Cher of the tennis court, serving aces in pink hot pants, punky denim, even a studded leather jacket that looked more appropriate for a Judas Priest concert. “I’m a performer,” Ms. Williams said, by way of explanation.

But off court, “you wouldn’t believe how plain I am,” she said, wearing a simple white T-shirt and black leather jacket. “I’m a plain Jane.” (Ms. Burchiere felt compelled to point out that her boss owns more than 300 pairs of shoes.)


Rest of story: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/fa...=1&ref=fashion

[zCLadw3R]

Cool. I've oftentimes wished that Serena devoted more of her life to tennis, but it's obvious she's got her priorities straight. She's not interested in being one day mentioned in the same breath with the likes of Graf, King, or Navratilova, and that's cool.

[otheloComRole]

Cool. I've oftentimes wished that Serena devoted more of her life to tennis, but it's obvious she's got her priorities straight. She's not interested in being one day mentioned in the same breath with the likes of Graf, King, or Navratilova, and that's cool.

?? sorry? You mean that the *entire* narrative of the contemporary women's tennis revolves around Serena but somehow she's..........oh come on!

besides Graf's number of slam is a statistical aberration after Seles' stabbing.ok with Navratilova is difficult to beat.

Of course Serena has a shot to be the woman's GOAT and it's not with the current crop of players (except a couple of younger ones and her own sis Venus + Maria S if she's really healthy) that she won't be able to get to 15 slams. I just hope her health stays put.
She can continue to do as much as many things that she want, it has shown it doesn't affect her wins.