The quick take: EXEAT’s Monte Carlo is a British-made luxury tennis dress that the brand markets explicitly for tennis, padel and pickleball. At £180 it costs more than anything else we’ve reviewed on Padelmad, but it’s aimed at a different kind of buyer — someone who wants proper tailoring and finish on court, not just technical performance fabric. Here’s what you’re actually paying for, who it suits, and where the trade-offs are.
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At a Glance
| Brand / model | EXEAT Monte Carlo Tennis Dress |
| Sports it’s designed for | Tennis, padel and pickleball |
| Price | £180 GBP (check current price for offers) |
| Fabric | 93% recycled polyester (Repreve/QNOVA), 7% elastane — four-way stretch |
| Made in | England |
| Sizing | UK XXS–XL, true to size (size up if between sizes) |
| What’s included | Matching white ball shorts, worn beneath the dress |
| Shipping & returns | Free global shipping and returns, all duties included, 28-day return window |
Who It’s For
The Monte Carlo isn’t trying to be the cheapest or most technical thing you could wear on a padel court — plenty of high-street and sports-brand kit will do the job for a third of the price. What EXEAT is selling is the combination: a dress cut and finished like proper womenswear, made from a genuine four-way-stretch performance fabric, that also happens to be built in England using recycled ocean-plastic yarn. It’s aimed at players who care as much about how they look walking onto court as how the fabric performs once they’re on it — club players upgrading their kit bag, gifts for a padel-mad partner or friend, or anyone who’s tried the usual sportswear brands and found the fit or the styling underwhelming.
It’s not aimed at complete beginners still working out whether padel is for them — for that, our guide to padel clothing for UK weather covers cheaper, more weather-practical options.
Design and Fit
EXEAT’s signature on this dress is a set of three branded design details it uses across its range. Sculptor Seams are flexi-shaping panels through the bodice and waist, intended to hold the silhouette without the dress feeling restrictive. Power Pleats run through the lower body so the skirt moves and settles back into shape rather than riding up during a sprint or a lunge. Leggy Hem is EXEAT’s term for the short, angled hem cut — on the Monte Carlo this is genuinely short, which is a deliberate style choice rather than an accident, and it’s designed to reveal the matching ball shorts underneath during play.
The dress itself is built around contrasting pink and white panels — EXEAT calls this colourway “Everything on Pink” — with a high, wide waistband that sits above the natural waist and is designed to stay comfortable through repeated twisting and reaching rather than rolling down mid-rally. According to EXEAT’s own size guide, the fit runs true to size, and the brand recommends sizing up if you’re between sizes. Their reference model is 5’4″ and a UK size 6, wearing the dress in an XS, which is a useful anchor point if you’re ordering without trying it on first.
Is It Actually Practical for Padel?
Padel and tennis clothing overlap a lot, but they’re not identical sports. Padel involves more short, sharp lateral movement and less full-stretch reaching than tennis, and UK clubs are more likely to be indoor or covered than equivalent tennis venues — so breathability and freedom of movement matter more than sun protection or ball-pocket practicality. On paper, the Monte Carlo ticks the boxes that generally matter for padel: a genuine four-way-stretch fabric rather than a rigid cotton-mix, a hem and pleat structure designed to move rather than restrict, and shorts built in underneath so you’re not layering separately.
Where it’s worth pausing before you buy is the hemline itself. Some players actively prefer a longer padel skort with more built-in coverage for confidence when sprinting, sliding or lunging into the glass — EXEAT’s “Leggy Hem” is at the shorter end of what’s out there, and that’s a style preference as much as a technical one. If you know you prefer more coverage on court, this particular cut may not be the one for you, even though the brand markets it for padel.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Genuine four-way-stretch technical fabric, not just a fashion dress repurposed for sport
- Made in England, with recycled-ocean-plastic yarn and a lower stated carbon footprint than virgin polyester
- Ball shorts included, so no separate underlayer to buy
- High, wide waistband designed to stay in place during play rather than roll down
- Free global shipping and returns with all duties included, plus a 28-day return window
- An established brand with real press credibility (Forbes and others have covered EXEAT), which counts for something if you’re buying a first luxury piece sight unseen
Cons
- £180 is a serious premium over standard padel or tennis dresses — this is a considered purchase, not an impulse buy
- The short hem is a style choice some players won’t get on with if they prefer more coverage for sliding and lunging
- Delicate 30°C wash only, dry flat — more care than you’d give a typical technical polyester kit
- One colourway (pink/white) in this particular style, so there’s no way to match it to club colours if that matters to you
- Rest-of-world delivery is up to 10 business days, versus 3–5 for the UK, EU and USA
How It Compares
Padelmad doesn’t have another single-brand luxury dress review to compare this against directly yet — it’s the first piece of dedicated padel apparel we’ve covered in this format, alongside our existing Best Padel Clothes for UK Weather roundup, which is a better starting point if budget is the main driver. If you’re building out a full kit rather than just the dress, our guides to the best padel rackets for women and the best padel shoes for UK players cover the other big-ticket items, and our padel bags guide is worth a look if you need something to carry it all in. For players just starting out who want a racket that won’t punish early technique mistakes, see our beginner padel racket picks.
The Verdict
The EXEAT Monte Carlo isn’t competing with the £30–£50 skorts and dresses from the mainstream sports brands, and it isn’t trying to. It’s a genuinely well-specified piece of technical clothing — four-way stretch, English manufacturing, a considered fit system — wrapped in the kind of tailoring and finish you’d expect from a brand that’s been featured in Forbes rather than a typical sportswear catalogue. If your budget and priorities line up with that (a special-occasion club tournament, a gift, or simply wanting your court kit to feel as good as your racket bag looks), it delivers on the brief. If you just need something functional to wear to weekly padel and the budget doesn’t stretch past £50, our padel clothing guide will get you there for a lot less.
FAQ
Is the EXEAT Monte Carlo dress actually designed for padel, or is it a tennis dress being sold to padel players?
EXEAT markets the dress explicitly for tennis, padel and pickleball, and the fabric and construction (four-way stretch, built-in shorts, a wide supportive waistband) are the same regardless of which of the three sports you’re using it for. There’s no padel-specific version of the cut.
What size should I order?
EXEAT uses UK sizing from XXS to XL and says the dress fits true to size — their guidance is to size up if you’re between two sizes. Check their full size chart against your own measurements before ordering, since international shoppers may find UK sizing runs differently to their usual size.
Do I need to wear anything underneath?
No — matching white ball shorts are included and worn beneath the dress, which is designed to reveal them slightly during play rather than hide them completely.
How do I look after it?
EXEAT recommends a 30°C delicate machine wash, drying flat, and a cool iron on the reverse if needed. It’s more careful handling than a typical technical polyester kit, so factor that into the £180 price if you’re someone who prefers to throw kit straight in a normal hot wash.
Is it worth it compared with a cheaper padel dress or skort?
Functionally, a £30–£50 skort from a mainstream sports brand will also keep you cool and let you move freely. What you’re paying the extra for with the Monte Carlo is the tailoring, the English manufacturing, the sustainable fabric sourcing and the brand’s fit system — it’s a considered purchase rather than a functional necessity, similar to buying a premium racket bag over a basic one.
See how we approach every review in our How We Test page.
