Serena Williams clearly wakened and selected hazard this week — and Instagram felt it.
On Thursday, Nov. 20, the tennis legend dropped a five-slide thirst lure that stopped loads of thumbs mid-scroll. It appears to be like like Williams traded in her regular sporty glam for an edgy, rocker curve-hugging look that left little room for creativeness and even much less room for debate.
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Williams slipped into a protracted, black lace costume that draped all the best way to her ankles. Beneath the see-through cloth, she seemed to be rocking nothing however a buttoned black blazer over a single piece of black high-waisted lingerie, leaving followers squinting to see if one structured layer might tame the boldness of every part occurring beneath.
Within the photographs, she posed in opposition to a daring black-and-white striped wall, planted on a vivid purple ground splashed with outsized painted lips in each coloration — a backdrop that made her outfit look much more intentional, and even more durable to disregard.
In a single picture, Williams glared seductively at a telephone whereas working her fingers by means of her blond hair, which lined one eye. Within the second image, she leaned into the nook of the wall with one leg propped up, then poked her chest out and pushed her backside again within the third.
She wrote, “Lace me up and prepared the ground,” within the caption.
Nonetheless, followers appeared way more fixated on Williams’ daring, sassy new look than the glam-squad cameo — her entire vibe stole the highlight, leaving individuals questioning what sort of evening she and her staff have been actually having.
“OH SERENA WOW,” mentioned one surprised social media consumer, whereas one other mentioned, “Ouhhh she in her dangerous gurl period.” “Dammmnnn,” observed a 3rd.
One particular person referenced her 23-time Grand Slam wins, writing, “Ma’am, you already gained 23 Grand Slams, depart some excellence for the remainder of us.”
Others praised the work of Williams’ glam staff.
“Please preserve this glam staff,” one particular person begged, whereas one other famous, “A number of the finest glam footage of you.”
“That’s Ms. Angela Meadows’ work proper there,” added a fifth particular person.
Williams’ glam squad even popped up in an elevator selfie for the fourth slide, that includes stylist Kesha McLeod and hairstylist Angela Meadows.
McLeod has been shaping the tennis icon’s fashion for greater than 14 years, and Meadows has been behind her hair for effectively over a decade. The precise second their glam partnership formally started is slightly murky, however Meadows’ receipts return to 2012 — posting throwback pictures and credit from business shoots and advert campaigns she says she dealt with for Williams lengthy earlier than the world caught on.
The one slot Williams switches up most is her make-up artist. For these daring pictures, she selected Pauline Briscoe — a longtime favourite who’s been behind lots of her standout appears to be like. Williams has labored with a number of MUAs through the years, together with Jai Forbes-Cunningham, Renny Vasquez, and artists from Adjinaya Make Up.
However with Briscoe dealing with most of her current glam, followers are already urging her to stay with the staff that’s clearly getting it proper.
Serena Williams goes viral after figuring out to get thinner. Ideas? 🤔 👀 pic.twitter.com/AWTpkb6zJY
— Rain Drops Media (@Raindropsmedia1) August 11, 2025
In some ways, Williams appears like she’s entering into a complete new period. After welcoming two youngsters previously eight years, followers say they’ve watched her slowly come out of her shell — getting bolder, extra playful, and much much less fearful about becoming into anybody’s expectations.
And when her fitness center photographs went viral earlier this yr, sparking a frenzy over her noticeably slimmer body, Williams dodged the dialog for months till lately. She overtly admitted she’d been utilizing weight-loss dietary supplements to drop round 30 kilos, a uncommon little bit of honesty that solely fueled extra speak about her transformation and the boldness she appears to be reclaiming piece by piece.
