Are you afraid your skirt will fly off? That your dress will get tangled in the spokes of your bicycle? Don't panic! Cycling in a skirt or dress is not impossible. Here are 3 tips on how to do it. 1. Choosing the right skirt or dress for cycling Yes, you can cycle in a dress or a skirt! Technically, you can cycle in almost anything. The real question is, can you cycle comfortably and safely in a dress or a skirt? But female cyclists didn’t plan on parting with their bikes so they got creative. The cyclewear problem became so mobilising for women that the mid-1890s era marked the entry of women into the world of patents. Thanks to female inventors who got their ideas down on paper and patented, we now know about clever concealed converting technologies inside skirts, including pulley-systems, gathering cords, button and loop mechanisms, and more. This versatile and attractive skirt, created by the environmentally-friendly Forest and Fin clothing shop, came to our attention some time ago. You can read the Discerning Cyclist review here.

As you can perhaps imagine, the campaign for rational dress faced resistance and criticism from conservative elements of society who objected to the challenging of established gender norms – something we see echoes of today in discussions around women’s clothing choices and body autonomy. The ethical choice – Your bike in safe hands The second, and more serious problem, is how to prevent a dress or a skirt from getting caught up in your bike wheels. Not only is this extremely dangerous, it could also destroy your favourite piece of clothing. Is it Hard to Bike in a Dress? Some pioneering women came up with even more inventive strategies. Remarkably, some Victorians not only imagined, designed, made and wore radical new forms of cyclewear but also patented their inventions. The mid-1890s marked a boom in cycling and also in patenting, and not only for men. Cycling’s “dress problem” was so mobilising for women that cyclewear inventions became a primary vehicle for women’s entry into the world of patenting. Delivery timescales are based on working days; Public Holidays, Saturday's and Sunday's are NOT classed as working days. Delivery timescales are esimates in working days; Public Holidays, Saturday's and Sunday's are NOT classed as working days.As such, they raise questions: what else don’t we know about? How can we look for other inventions hidden in plain sight? And if we learn more about a wider range of contributors to cycling’s past, might it change how we think about and inhabit the present? Mary and Sarah Pease, sisters from Yorkshire, submitted their patent for an “Improved Skirt, available also as a Cape for Lady Cyclists” in 1896 and it was exactly as described. This was one of the more radical designs of that time because the skirt came off the body completely and covered the woman’s body as a cape while pedalling.

The campaign for rational dress, which aimed to promote practical and comfortable clothing for women, started in the late 19th century as a reaction to restrictive and cumbersome Victorian fashion like tight corsets, voluminous skirts, and multiple layers of undergarments – all of which hindered physical activities such as cycling. From time to time carriers may deliver earlier or later, or on non working days however this is cannot be guaranteed nor should it be expected. I came across this little number while perusing the internet a few days ago. Over the past couple of years I have seen the emergence of skirts in running and trekking ranges so it was only a matter of time before the bike industry followed suit. Slip stitch the buttoning bands to the lining so that the stitches don’t show on the right side. Leave the bottom 12 cm or so open for now.As women’s cycling increased in popularity, so did shorter skirts, bloomers (loose trousers gathered at the ankle), or divided skirts. You can safely go to white trainers and low cut. They are timeless and mostly go with your shorts as well as your skirts and summer dresses. Pin or tie your skirt up. For longer skirts, you want to make it temporarily shorter so it doesn’t get caught in your wheel. I’ve done this with some safety pins and/or a couple of elastic bands.

These inventions are just some of the fascinating ways early female cyclists responded to challenges to their freedom of movement. Through new radical garments and their differently clad bodies they pushed against established forms of gendered citizenship and the stigma of urban harassment. Claiming their designs through patenting was not only a practical way of sharing and distributing ideas; it was also a political act. Consider the type of bike you’re riding. If you’re riding a step-through bike (like a city or Dutch-style bike) it’ll be much easier to get on and off when wearing a dress. But if your bike has a crossbar, and you’re wearing a pencil skirt without much stretch, it’s going to be pretty awkward to swing your leg over. If short skirts have tendency to rise Another disadvantage of long skirts when cycling is that they can get in the way and get caught in the bike chain. The ideal is to choose a mid-length dress or skirt that reaches about the knee. Love to try this to see how it compares with the heavy duty bulldog clip I currently use. I’m more at the longer skirt end of spectrum, would it cope?! shorts. For those who feel a little self conscious in lycra shorts it could go some way to solving that problem as it will hide a multitude of sins. My issue however lies with how practical is actually is on the bike. I would imagine it gets in the way somewhat.

UK Delivery

A reasonably heavy office binder clip will work for this. Simply clip it onto the bottom hem of the dress to keep the skirt down as you ride. You are apprehensive about the idea of cycling in heels ? We understand you! Pumps rarely go well with pedals. The good news is that trainers have never been so trendy. Everyone is wearing them at home and at work. These stories add much-needed layers and textures to cycling histories because they depict women as critically engaged creative citizens actively driving social and technical change. Importantly, they remind us that not all inventions are told through loud or heroic narratives. These inventors put in an awful lot of work to not be seen. They were successful in many ways, yet the nature of their deliberately concealed designs combined with gender norms of the time means they have been hidden in history – we have yet to find any examples in museums.