Feature
Steps for wives
Skirts, pants or skorts? Melissa Lehman talks to Bruce Selcraig about her role as the US captain’s wife and Ryder fashion director
15/09/06: If you thought the toughest decision of late in the Tom Lehman household was who to pair with Tiger at the K Club or how to calm all his Ryder rookies, you obviously don’t know skirts from skorts.
As is the custom these days among America’s Ryder Cup wives, the wife of the captain, Melissa Lehman, must make the really tough choices: how to outfit 17 women so that they appear to be one loyal, patriotic and stylish unit, while also withstanding rain, wind and the catty comments of fashion critics.
This Lehman isn’t choosing between Mickelson or Woods, but rather mauve or taupe, blouses or Polos.
Since 1999, when Julie Crenshaw, wife of America captain Ben Crenshaw, fitted out the strikingly blonde Ryder wives in matching blazers, skirts and rain jackets – prompting some cackles that they looked more like cheerleaders or Barbie dolls – the total coordination of wifely Ryder fashion has been elevated to high drama.
"As wives, our first question was, ‘What are we gonna wear?’, " Melissa Lehman told The Irish Times in an interview this Spring. "The focus is on the guys, but we are part of the team."
And what may seem like a simple decision to some is an ominous fashion minefield for those who must look smart for the opening ceremonies and three days of competition, while never leaving the field of battle.
"We need comfort and warmth," says Lehman, a mother of four who married Tom in 1987. "I nearly froze in Spain (at the 1997 Ryder Cup at Valderama). We need to be able to stand up, sit down and bend over. Be practical. No strappy tops. Sometimes you have your knees on the ground, so you don’t want off-white pants. But you don’t want anything too short so you show your underwear bending down . . . You need comfortable shoes. I like the Adidas shoe, but if someone wants to wear Nike, I won’t hold them back. There’ll be no sore feet for the sake of fashion . . . I can’t say yet whether we’ll have skirts, pants or skorts. I want the girls to have options. We don’t want to look too matchy, matchy, matchy."
As for colours, Lehman will only hint that there will probably be some khaki, some navy blue, and a "tasteful" red, white and blue ensemble that won’t clash with the men. "We won’t, like, wear lime green if they’re in purple."
It seemed irreverent, but we couldn’t help but ask if any thought was given to allowing the 17 adult women to dress themselves.
"There was some talk about not coordinating outfits," confessed Lehman, "but . . . I don’t think any wife would be rude enough to wear her own stuff. We’re all friends. When Tom was on the Ryder Cup before, I really appreciated someone making the decision about what we’d wear.
"This way the gals don’t have to worry. I’ve heard the rumbling that it makes us all look like cheerleaders, but hey, I was a cheerleader. It’s part of our culture. Should I apologise for that?"