fashion

Reportedly they decided in the end to go with a less clichéd t-shirt for Bike Month 2012.

Fellow blogger, James of The Urban Country, has produced a nifty little site called Rate My Vélo. Post a photo of a bike, someone riding a bike, or just looking good near a bike, and subject it to intense voting from the critical citizenry.

Rate My Vélo show pairs of photos seemingly randomly (though there isn't a large database just yet). One then simply clicks on the photo they prefer out of the pair. And then one is presented with another pair and so on. After one gets bored with that, one can look at the most popular photos (currently heavily favoured towards chic chicks on bikes).

The Toronto Star has discovered that one can be fashionable on a bike (which is not the same as saying a particular bike is fashionable), thanks in part to the Curbside employees and thecommonelite.org bloggers, Gillian Goerz and Mikey Bennington.

“The city lends itself to cycling because it’s predominantly flat and there is a great street culture with lots of people outdoors,” says Goerz, who also works as an illustrator. “It’s also spread out with different cultural centres (that are) easy to get to on bikes.”

Another reason style and spokes are suddenly in sync could be bike-sharing programs such as Vélib’ in Paris and Bixi in Montreal (and Toronto next spring), which offer spontaneity to bike riding. That means you’re not dressing to go for a ride; rather, you’re dressing for your destination, whether that’s a gallery opening, dinner with friends and, yes, even a night out at the clubs or a bar. The bike just a cab as the mode of transport.

That’s why it’s not unusual to see girls wearing miniskirts and platforms while pedalling.

“Just because you’re riding a bike, you don’t have to lose your femininity,” says April Wozny, a Toronto publicist who will ride to her meetings on a bike she bought for $100 and calls Big Blue Buttercup.

Something new and very fun by Janet Attard

Momentum Magazine has been doing a good job of getting people excited about being regular cyclists. Their recent Urban Legend Fashion Show ups the ante by putting fashion on regular cyclists. This small Vancouver magazine with global ambitions was invited to show their fashion at Interbike in Las Vegas, the largest bike manufacturer and retail expo in North America. Their recent issue coincidentally focuses on bike fashion. You can get a free copy at various coffee shops, bike stores or from the local distributer, Community Bicycle Network down at Queen and Euclid. Or you can get a subscription from Momentum.

Who knew I'd have to match my clothing to my bike. Where am I going to find celeste coloured shoes?

Vélib’, the very successful public bike program of Paris is in the news again, given their first second year anniversary. They've survived another year and they've added a lot more bikes onto the street despite some of the unexpected issues with bike theft and damage. The New York Times in A New Fashion Catches On in Paris: Cheap Bicycle Rentals explains how the Vélib’ is becoming a cultural and fashion icon for Paris. Plus Streetfilms has produced a film on Vélib’, updating us on its 1400 stations, 20,000 bikes, and 3 million subscribers. Video below, followed by the New York Times article.