The Bicycle-Skirt Dilema

Sometimes I worry Lennon and I are too on the same page.  I've had the skeleton of this "skirts + bicycles" post up and ready for completion since I finished breakfast and left for work, and then I came home to find Lennon espousing the never-before-realized joys of cut off denim shorts on Facebook - all because of his new love for bicycles!  He has a pair of terrible cut-off denim shorts that look like something Huck Finn would wear if he had been alive and playing hookey circa 1970.  Lennon then posted this picture, with a note apologizing to hipsters of the world for all of the flack he's given this hipster-favored look in the past:

Really?  Really?  I am not a fan.  But I can't say that girls don't have the same problem with pants when riding bikes.  I discovered that pants and bicycle chains don't play nice together the hard way, when a gear shredded the bottom half of my linen pant leg.  I still have a vendetta against that bike...                                                                        

Europeans know what's up in terms of practicality meeting fashion, though.  It's not uncommon to find bicycles overseas with large "skirt guards," or if you're male, ahem, "coat guards," for the long tail coats they wear in winter.  Why aren't these prominent in the US?  A company in California has started selling them, and they are quite cute!

The Dutch tulips seem appropriate for a European-inspired bicycle, and the cultural fusion of tulips with cowboy boots is a nice Texas touch, if I do say so.

Both of these images are from Cycle and Style, possibly my new favorite website.  You can see these bikes even have a chain guard so pants don't have to be rolled up.  And if it was a mens bike, the cut-off denim short would not be necessary - hoorah!  Now if only I could find a way to make heels go with my mountain bike, the "bone crusher," it could be an all-occasion ride.

I can't tease Lennon too much, though.  Because I've given the same amount of flack to the tights-with-shorts look, and guess what I've discovered?  It's the perfect ensemble to wear when biking on a cool day!  No ripped or rolled up pants leg, no chill bumps, and no problems.  I just might be converted, so in all fairness, Lennon can keep his Huck shorts without fear of my tossing them stealthily in the dumpster out back, as I've oft considered doing.

Boots: Steve Madden (clearance, yay!)

Tights: Target

Shorts: Target

Lace tank: White House Black Market

Pink shirt: Michael Stars

Cardigan: Banana Republic, and pilled to shreds.

Scarf: from Spain

Locket: from my grandma's dresser

Ring: Target

Lunch break over - back to work!  It's terrible to have a window-less office on a PERFECT day like this is.  At least I can walk about outside once programs start after school.