History of Netball Uniforms
How netball uniforms evolved from Victorian-era long skirts and gymslips to the modern dress, bodysuit and bib.
What netball players wear has changed dramatically since the 1890s — a history shaped as much by changing social attitudes toward women in sport as by practical playing needs.
Late 1800s: full Victorian dress
In netball's earliest years, players wore long skirts, long-sleeved blouses, black stockings and ordinary shoes — full coverage of the body was the social norm, and sportswear at the time reflected general Victorian dress rather than anything designed for athletic movement.
The gymslip, 1897
A significant early change came in 1897, when Mary Tait invented the gymslip — a sleeveless, pleated tunic dress that gave women far more freedom of movement than ground-length skirts and fitted blouses. The gymslip, sometimes called a pinafore dress, became the standard netball uniform for much of the early twentieth century, typically worn with bloomers underneath.
Early-to-mid twentieth century
Through the first half of the century, the gymslip remained the standard, generally worn with a blouse, bloomers and sports shoes. As general fashion moved toward shorter skirts over the following decades, netball uniforms followed a similar gradual trend, and bloomers were eventually replaced by sports shorts, with lighter cotton socks replacing wool stockings.
The knee-length dress and the bib
The knee-length pleated dress — often paired with a polo-style collared top — became a defining, long-standing netball uniform through much of the twentieth century. The front-and-back bib, showing a player's position letters, became a standard and essential part of the uniform as the sport's position-based restricted areas became more strictly codified and enforced — umpires rely on it to check players stay within their permitted zones. See the 7 netball positions explained for why that matters so much in netball specifically.
Toward athletic wear
From the 1990s onward, uniforms shifted further toward performance sportswear — some domestic leagues moved to bodysuit-style uniforms with press-stud bibs for quick position changes between matches. More recently, many teams have moved away from the traditional dress entirely, favouring a fitted top paired with a skirt or skort, prioritising the same athletic, performance-focused design used across other women's sports.
Why the bib still matters
Whatever the overall uniform style, the position bib has remained a constant across more than a century of change — a direct reflection of how central restricted playing areas are to how netball works, unlike most other team sports.
Source
This history draws on published research into netball dress and uniform history, including Our Netball History and academic and industry coverage of netball uniform evolution. See our sources page for more.