2013 Solheim Cup: The Way They Wear

Colorado AvidGolfer

The fairway isn't a fashion runway but…

“It is always important to look good because it makes you feel good.” The quotation comes not from Coco Chanel but Liselotte Neumann, captain of the European Solheim Cup team. “On a day where you have to perform your best, you need to be feeling your best. There’s nothing better than leaving your hotel room feeling good–it makes you feel stronger and gives you confidence.”

As they have done at the last three Solheim Cups, the Europeans will wear clothing designed by the Swedish company abacus. The outfits will be smart and stylish, lightweight and breathable, light and bright in color, and easily layered and removed. They’ll also have the weather-beating, stretchable abacus Pitch Nordic jacket, Waterville softshell vest and Pitch trousers.

Eurostyled: Event and Partner manager Alexandra Yllö, Captain Liselotte Neumann and head seamstress Lisa Martell Nielsen.

Neumann worked closely with abacus designer Chris Mattsson, “to ensure each garment combines the benefits the players want, with the climate control requirements for Colorado in August .The weather is a fundamental factor when designing outfits for the Solheim Cup. The golfers want to look elegant and professional, but functionality is of utmost importance and can swing the overall result in some cases.”

Although the Sunday outfits will not be unveiled until that day, outfits for the practice days (black, white and gray rugby stripes), Friday (solid lavender and white) and Saturday (turquoise and white stripes) are viewable online and will be available in the merchandise tent.

The merchandise tent will also sell the outfits designed for the U.S. team.

Antigua will outfit the United States team, as it did in 2011, and designer Danielle Dellios created the outfits for both teams, though what they wore in 2011 will bear no resemblance to the 2013 wardrobe, largely because of the difference between captains Rosie Jones and Meg Mallon.

“Rosie loved the idea of the ‘bling’ and wanted me to make the styles as bold as possible,” she says. “Whereas Meg really just wanted to make sure things didn’t get too flashy.”

Working with Mallon, she says, “was great. She gave me product direction while at the same time allowing me to have creative freedom in the process as well.”

Mallon, Dellios discovered, “preferred the traditional Americana look. Subtly mixing red, white and blue is not easy—and Meg wanted to make sure we maintained a classic feel. Most of the styles feature their own special details—such as shirring, engineered stripes and bold color-blocking. The fabrications featured are light and airy with stretch to allow the players maximum movement and wicking.”

Team U.S. will unveil Dellios’s and Mallon’s understatedly elegant sartorial collaborations at the Solheim Cup.

The 2011 U.S. Outfits.

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