Color on the Court : White is fading from tennis outfits as vivid teals, fuchsias and blues get into the game.

When Stacy Murphy opened her tennis shop, Forty Love, 13 years ago, the predominant color of the outfits she sold was boring old white.

But walk into her store in at Newport Center Fashion Island today, and it looks as if the clothes have been touched with an artist’s paintbrush.

Vivid blues, fuchsias and teals are splashed all over tennis warm-ups, skirts and tops like rich watercolors. Murphy even has a line of gold or silver lame tennis togs, including skirts, panties, visors and warm-ups, that were the hit of the holiday season.

“Tennis isn’t boring anymore,” Murphy says.

Many retailers agree that the designer largely responsible for the turn-around in tennis attire is Jamie Sadock of New Jersey-based Ixspa, who introduced bright colors and fun graphics into tennis wear.

“She’s so progressive with styles and fabrics that all the other manufacturers have had to move forward,” Murphy says.

Now many big manufacturers such as Tail and Head are using different fabrics, including soft washable silks, lames and crinkled nylon similar to parachute material for pleated skirts and warm-ups.

“The materials are gorgeous,” says Sharon Chatterton, sales representative for Diane’s Tennis Shop in Costa Mesa and a tennis player for about 20 years.

Ixspa’s spring line, for instance, features a buttery soft silk warm-up jacket with peach, gray and yellow tones, with coordinating blue silk pants ($275 at Forty Love). Ixspa also makes a nylon satin warm-up suit of robin’s egg blue, fuchsia and peach tones for $200.

“These are the colors of an Easter egg,” Murphy says.

The brighter colors and fun graphics aren’t just for women. Ixspa and Nike have used purple, black and olive to make shirts, shorts and warm-ups for men as well. Forty Love has a men’s warm-up by Ixspa with abstract appliques of teal, purple, khaki and black in a crinkle nylon fabric for $180.

Tops that barely reach the navel are popular for male players, as are stretchy bicycle pants sewn into a pair of tennis shorts. Hank Lloyd’s Tennis shops in Anaheim, Tustin and Capistrano Beach have Nike’s “un-denim” shorts in a denim-dyed cobalt blue with a chartreuse knit lining for $60.

“The linings aren’t just for looks,” says Maureen Lloyd, co-owner of the tennis stores. “They keep the players warm and give more support.”

Some women are even wearing the bicycle pants under their cheerleader-style pleated skirts.

Classic pleated skirts are a best-seller at Hank Lloyd’s.

“They’ve been around a million years,” Lloyd says. “Only now they come in a multitude of colors--electric blues, purples, greens, sonic yellows.”

Nike has pleated skirts in lightweight crinkled nylon dyed bright shades of teal and purple. Lily’s of Beverly Hills makes a nylon skirt with a floral print of teals and pinks. Ixspa, always first with unusual design details, offers a pleated skirt in peach crinkled nylon with metal rivets at each pleat ($48 at Forty Love).

If they don’t like pleats, players can choose a sarong with a floral cotton print by Natty ($37 at Hank Lloyd’s).

Styles are so progressive, they’re ruled out-of-bounds at some tennis clubs. The John Wayne Tennis Club in Newport Beach, for example, requires each tennis garment to be at least 85% white.

But most clubs allow members to wear whatever they want, and they do.

One of the hottest new tennis accessories: Fancy Pants, made from the same psychedelic and metallic prints seen in swimwear. Women can flash onlookers with black and silver snake or zebra prints, neon flowers and paisleys, even maps of the world. The panties have a French cut, similar to those on swimsuit bottoms, to reveal more leg.

“They didn’t have those when I started playing,” Chatterton says.

Other hot sellers are tennis socks and visors that have gone the way of the clothes, with wilder graphics and colors.

Forty Love has socks with sequins, pearls, rhinestones and embroidery around the ankles to match the glitzy outfits. On one wall hang visors with metallic fabrics and animal prints, rhinestones, sequined appliques and other gaudy accents.

Many have found the style-conscious tennis outfits and accessories can travel off the court. Chatterton wears her comfortable warm-ups continually--relaxing on weekends, going out to dinner or shopping. Murphy figures half of her customers don’t even play tennis, that they like to wear the warm-ups for other sports, for walking, and especially for traveling--many of these comfortable fabrics won’t wrinkle.

“We can make everybody feel pretty,” says B.J. Schmidt, manager of Forty Love. “And tennis players can still feel good about themselves even if they’re not on top of the heap.”