It often seems like women can’t escape being judged for how they look or what they wear. Even when they’ve achieved something incredible, the conversation frequently shifts to their appearances. So, some women are pretty exhausted by the current rhetoric surrounding Australia’s national netball team, the Australian Diamonds.
The Australian Diamonds have been doing extremely well at the 2026 Commonwealth Games. The team remains undefeated as of July 30. However, what’s getting a lot of (even international) attention is an apparent problem with their uniforms.
People have complained that Australian Diamonds players keep needing to pull their dresses down.
Which doesn’t seem comfortable or practical, especially because they’re playing a sport while wearing these dresses. Some of the criticism has centered on how the uniforms don’t look all that appropriate. But a lot of the people who have complained about them have more practical concerns: they’re worried that the players are constantly tugging on the uniforms due to a design flaw, which could affect them mid-game.
While it certainly seems like this could be distracting for the players, it doesn’t seem to have impacted their performance in any significant way so far, given that they’re currently undefeated. Still, people remain worried for them and think something should be done about the apparent issue.
The issue has sparked a debate on social media.
Some critics feel that the discussion about the players’ uniforms is pretty exhausting and sexist. “Can we stop talking about women’s outfits?!” one person commented on social media. “I don’t think we’d be having the same conversation if this was a men’s sport. This discussion completely distracts from how talented and successful the team are.”
However, others argued that they’re not worried about how the uniforms look or how long they are. They’re worried about functionality. “It’s the dress fit, not the fact that it is (a) dress that is the problem,” someone argued. “Whoever designed these dresses got it very wrong.”
And another commenter added, “If the players have to pull at their uniforms constantly, then the uniform is not fit for purpose. They deserve to be comfortable when playing.”
A fourth person called it a clear “design flaw,” noting “it would be so annoying having them ride up all the time.”
People affiliated with the sport have been defending the uniforms.
Australian netball star Sophie Garbin is among the people who have spoken out about it. She admitted that she is “always tugging (her) dress down,” The Sun reported. At the same time, she acted like it’s not a huge deal.
“Obviously we’ve noticed lots of the comments from other people, but on the court, we’re used to dresses coming up and down,” Garbin said. “I don’t think it’s affecting our performance, so it’s OK.”
She added, “I feel like we might have a look at what we can do in the next couple of days, but we love our dress. We love what Valour (the company that designed the uniforms) have done with the pattern and the fabric and everything, so we’re really proud to wear it.”
Netball Australia also released a short statement addressing the controversy. It read, “There is no greater honor than wearing the Diamonds dress. We love the Valour kit, and we are proud to wear this dress.”
The Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Netball Players’ Association (ANPA), Kathryn Harby-Williams, shared a statement with Bored Panda, stating, “While the length of some of the dresses is not ideal, the players have made it clear their performance has not been impacted by the dresses they are wearing.”
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