Venus Williams' Short Dress Causes a Stir: Her Top 5 Fashion Moments

Tennis star Venus Williams has made it to the second round of the 2011 Australian Open, but it's her outfit -- not her game -- that has people talking.

That's often been the case for Williams, who studied fashion design and has her own line, EleVen by Venus Williams. In the first round of this year's Australian Open, Williams wore a supershort blue dress (or was it a sort-of-long blue shirt?) that she designed, pairing it with cropped black undershorts. It's hardly the most controversial attire she's ever worn, and, in fact, might be considered somewhat tame in comparison to the outfits she donned on the court last year.

Surge Desk takes a look back at Williams' top-five fashion highlights, all of which occurred in 2010.

1. U.S. Open
Williams wore a skimpy hot-pink outfit of her own design when she faced Israel's Shahar Peer in the 2010 U.S. Open. John McEnroe and other commentators called the outfit "distracting." Maybe it was for Peer, who ended up losing the match.

2. French Open
Williams graced the clay courts in an outfit consisting of a lacy corset dress and flesh-colored shorts, which made it seem as though she was not wearing anything under her short dress. When asked about her 2010 French Open attire, Williams said: "You can wear lace, but what's the point of wearing lace when there's just black under? The illusion of just having bare skin is definitely, for me, a lot more beautiful."

3. Australian Open
An eye-catching outfit at the 2010 Australian Open prompted a lengthy Deadspin analysis titled "Did Venus go commando?" (Answer: No, she was wearing a flesh-colored bodysuit underneath her revealing neon yellow dress.)

4. Wimbledon
It's de rigueur to wear white at Wimbledon in 2010, but Williams put her own spin on the tradition, wearing a ruffled confection that she said was inspired by Tina Turner.