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.
The whole bike as fashion trend likely started with the copenhagencyclechic.com blog, with a number of copycats sprouting up around the world, including thecommonelite.org and http://www.416cyclestyle.com. Being fashionable on a bike is much more media-friendly approach to the message of saying: "You don't need lycra to ride a bike." The rest of schlobs benefit but fall between the cracks by being both unfashionable and not wearing racing gear to ride to the corner store. Poor us.
Meanwhile, the focus on fashion has clearly not swayed the "safety brigade" (or at least the ones who equate safety with simply wearing a helmet); the Star commenters do not fail to disappoint by noting that few of these fashionable people are wearing helmets.
Cue the helmet debate.
