This Skirt Won't Work!: How Women Athletes Changed Their Clothes and Changed the Game
By (Author) Jennifer Cooper
Illustrated by Eva Byrne
Sourcebooks, Inc
Sourcebooks Explore
6th January 2026
United States
Children
Non Fiction
Childrens / Teenage general interest: Girls and women
Childrens / Teenage general interest: Sports and outdoor recreation
Hardback
48
Width 257mm, Height 260mm
This spirited picture book looks at five trailblazing women in sports who cast aside the stuffy, confining outfits they were expected to wear in favor of clothes they could move in! Imagine trying to play tennis in a long dress, or swimming laps wearing heavy petticoats! That's how it used to be for girls and women in sports... until a few found a better way! See how women like cyclist Kittie Knox, swimmer Annette Kellerman, and Albertine LePensee and her Canadian hockey teammates flouted convention and risked scandal to wear things they could move in. They sewed their own knickerbockers, donned sleek swimsuits, and shortened skirts, and in the process helped change society's ideas about what women and girls could wear-and do! Features back matter with cool facts about each woman and team, as well as a look at women athletes today who continue to take a stand for clothes that are more comfortable and inclusive.
Jennifer Cooper is an author, teacher, triathlete, and mom of three She lives with her husband and family in British Columbia, Canada. KATIE, BIG AND STRONG is her first book.