More Than a Uniform: How Women in Sports Are Reclaiming Fashion

For decades, women in sports have been asked to prove that they belong. In traditionally male-dominated spaces, the expectation has often been simple: show up, perform, and let your results speak for themselves.

But what happens when women want to do more than simply perform?

For Jasmine Salinas, a professional drag racer, fashion has become one way to answer that question. Drag racing is a way to express femininity without sacrificing strength, to embrace individuality without compromising professionalism, and to show the world that being an athlete does not require leaving other parts of yourself at the door.

“I feel like for the longest time it’s always kind of just been like sports and fashion can’t coexist,” Salinas says. “I feel like the fact that now women are in sports and fashion, like, that’s such a common thing that you hear all the time, but I didn’t grow up hearing that.”

That shift is particularly meaningful in motorsports, where women have historically navigated a culture that often places masculinity at the center of athletic identity.

For Salinas, the relationship between racing and femininity has been a personal journey. Growing up as the oldest of four daughters, she describes herself as essentially being raised as “the first son” in her family. She was encouraged to embrace toughness and, like many girls growing up in the 1990s and early 2000s, quickly learned that femininity could be viewed as a weakness.

“I remember hearing things from kids at school,” she says. ‘Oh, you’re weak, you’re a girl, you run like a girl, you do things like a girl.’ So it was like a negative thing.”

That messaging influenced more than just how she viewed herself. As a child, Salinas gravitated toward traditionally masculine clothing, spending much of her time shopping in the boys’ department.

Fashion, however, remained something she loved.

“I think I’ve always loved fashion ever since I was little, even though if you looked at me in my clothing, you probably couldn’t tell,” she says.

As she grew older, moved around the country and experienced different chapters of her life, her style evolved alongside her. Racing became another catalyst for that evolution.

Today, Salinas finds herself in a place where she can embrace both the power she feels behind the wheel and the femininity she feels as a woman.

“I want to lean into the powerfulness I feel of racing, but then also the femininity that I feel in racing,” she says. “Sometimes it feels like they compete with each other. But I feel like fashion kind of allows both worlds to coexist together.”

Redefining What a Racer Looks Like

In motorsports, appearance has long been complicated by the sport’s gender dynamics. Women racers can find themselves navigating expectations from both sides: prove that they are serious competitors while simultaneously confronting assumptions about what femininity should look like.

For Salinas, racing has given her the confidence to challenge those expectations.

She points to something as simple as the color pink.

“I’ve never worn pink in my life,” she says. “But it’s something where I feel like racing’s really made me feel so empowered to kind of reclaim this sense of femininity.”

At the racetrack, that might mean showing up with her nails done, wearing hoops and jewelry, or incorporating more traditionally feminine elements into her appearance.

The significance isn't that she is dressing femininely. It is that she is doing so on her own terms.

“The car doesn’t know who’s driving it,” Salinas says. “The car doesn’t know the difference between a male and female driver, whatever you identify as.”

That perspective reflects a broader change taking place across sports. Women athletes are increasingly rejecting the idea that femininity and athleticism are opposing identities.

The WNBA, for example, has become a particularly visible space for athletes to showcase personal style through tunnel fits, beauty looks, and carefully curated appearances before games. These moments have become part of the culture surrounding the sport, creating opportunities for athletes to communicate who they are beyond their performance.

For Salinas, that freedom is especially important because athletes are often expected to represent more than themselves.

Fashion can provide some of that freedom back.

Finding Confidence in the Clothes

Salinas is quick to admit that she is still figuring out her personal style.

After moving from California to Indiana and immersing herself in racing, she says she has spent much of this chapter figuring out who she is in a new environment.

Her clothing has become part of that process.

“I see clothing and how you show up and present yourself as kind of like an indicator of how you currently feel about yourself,” she says.

She can see the progression in her own wardrobe. Early in her racing career, when she had less confidence in herself, she says that was reflected in how she presented herself. As her confidence and sense of self-worth have grown, she has noticed the same evolution in her personal style.

That doesn't mean dressing louder.

In fact, Salinas prefers the opposite.

“I don’t feel like I really need to let my clothing be loud and crazy because I’m not a loud and crazy person,” she says. “I’ll just kind of let my confidence speak for myself.”

That philosophy has also helped her navigate the practical realities of being an athlete who spends much of her life traveling.

Comfort is essential. So is versatility.

Salinas jokes that anything she wears needs to meet three requirements: it has to be practical, comfortable, and stretchy.

“I like to eat,” she laughs.

For conferences and professional events, she has experimented with traditional pantsuits and button-downs, attempting to dress like the other women in the room.

But she quickly realized that looking professional did not have to mean abandoning her identity.

“I was like, ‘This isn’t me,’” she says. “It definitely showed up in how I carried myself that whole weekend. I was like, ‘This, I feel awkward. I don’t feel like myself.’”

Now, she looks for ways to blend polished pieces with her personal style. A pair of stretchy trousers might be paired with sneakers or an interesting shoe and a cropped shirt.

The goal is not to blend in.

“I feel like in a lot of rooms, I don’t really fit in. I stand out already,” she says. “So [I’m] kind of leaning into it quietly.”

The Pieces That Become Part of the Story

One of Salinas’ favorite examples of fashion becoming part of her racing identity is a cropped baseball-style jersey she had custom-made for her race team.

She often pairs it with camo coveralls from Hell Babes, a brand created specifically around the intersection of femininity, edge, and traditionally masculine activities.

The look has become something of a signature.

That piece represents something bigger than a memorable outfit. It is practical, recognizable and distinctly hers.

And perhaps most importantly, it does not require her to choose between being an athlete and being a woman.

Making Space for Individuality

While social media has created incredible opportunities for women in sports to connect, build communities and showcase themselves, Salinas believes it has also created a new challenge: sameness.

With platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok making trends instantly accessible, it is easier than ever to recreate someone else's outfit.

For the next generation of women entering sports, Salinas hopes individuality becomes something they protect rather than suppress.

Her advice is simple: lean into what makes you different.

“Those are the things that are going to help make pushing forward and ahead if you lean into that instead of trying to hide or tone down those things,” she says.

It is a lesson she has learned through experience.

For much of her life, the things that made Salinas feel different were things she was ashamed of. Now, she sees those same qualities as strengths.

“All of those things I used to be so ashamed of, I now realize they were superpowers that really helped make me who I am,” she says.

She believes fashion can work the same way.

Rather than dressing to fit into the room, women can dress to remind themselves that they deserve to be in it.

The Future of Women, Sports and Fashion

For Salinas, the growing intersection of sports, fashion and beauty represents more than a trend. It signals a cultural shift.

As more brands enter women's sports, athletes are gaining access to products and partnerships designed with their realities in mind.

For athletes who sweat, travel, compete and still want to feel beautiful, that could mean better beauty products designed for performance. It could mean clothing that accommodates athletic bodies while still allowing women to express their personal style.

Salinas already sees that shift happening.

“I think this is going to influence a lot of new products for women,” she says. “Whether it’s the makeup or the clothing, something that will be able to exist in two different spaces. [For example, traditionally you only wear make-up if] you’re not going swimming or sweating really heavily.”

The possibilities extend beyond products. They create new opportunities for athletes to be multidimensional.

And that may be the most important evolution of all.

Women in sports do not have to choose between being strong and feminine. They do not have to choose between athleticism and fashion, professionalism and individuality, competition and self-expression.

They can occupy all of those spaces at once.

For Salinas, that is what makes this moment so exciting.

“Women not being afraid to take up space, even if that’s in two different spaces,” she says. “That’s a big thing that I think is really empowering.”

In motorsports, where a woman behind the wheel can still challenge expectations simply by showing up, Salinas is proving that there is more than one way to redefine what a racer looks like.

Sometimes it happens at the starting line.

Sometimes it happens in a fire suit.

And sometimes, it happens in pink nails, hoop earrings, a favorite pair of sneakers, and an outfit that makes you feel completely, unapologetically yourself.

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Jasmine Salinas photographed by Lacey Clagg

Written by Marie Fisher