Revisiting Paris Cycle Chic

This time last year Wifealiciousness and I were in Paris and we used the brilliant Vélib bike share programme to get around the entire time. Here's a little 'Paris Cycle Chic Revisited' post. To read more about Paris Cycle Chic, read the original reportage here.


Paris' blossoming bicycle culture certainly gives Copenhagen a run for her money.


I made this little film about our trip to the city. Music is 'Bello Ciao' by my friend Jason McNiff.


Cycling in style.

And cycling sociably.

See more photos in the set on Flickr.

Fashion Accessories for Bikes, or Bikes as Fashion Accessories?

A quiet moment at a red light. Made all the better by the prescence of a red bike. And she had red gloves to match her bike, too.

The temperature was hovering around 0 C but that's no excuse for not looking fashionable. Style over speed. Style over freeze.

We had an email from a student in London asking for thoughts about bicycles and fashion and whether bikes are fashion accessories. An interesting question. Made me think.

In countries that only have emerging bicycle culture, bikes are sometimes seen as fashion accessories. Recent articles about celebrities on bikes attests to that.

However, in places that have established bike culture like in Copenhagen and Amsterdam, bikes are transport. Period. They get you from A to B and back again. If your bike gets stolen, you are paralysed and you don't rest until you get a hold of a new one.

For many years, the bikes in Amsterdam and Copenhagen were, by and large, cheap, old or both. Mainly because the risk of theft was/is high. Why invest in a flash bike when you might end up getting it stolen?

In the States and Britain, most cyclists on the streets are hardcore hobby cyclists with fancy gear. This is changing, we know, but generally the perception is that cycling is a sport, not a transport option.

We wrote a blogpost about this teapot bike bell:

and when someone asked where they could get one we found them on kid's bike websites in Canada and the US. In Copenhagen it's an adult accessory. A fashionable style choice aimed at personalising the bike that you sit on day in, day out.

Sights like this:

are also a clear indication that bike accessories are also fashion accessories.

With that said I have noticed, however, that more and more cool bikes are on the market. It's as though a century of black bikes is over and colours are splashing out onto the streets.
Sights like this: [click to see them larger at Flickr]

are more and more commonplace. Fashion accesories and clothing are being chosen to match the bike. It's cheaper to buy a scarf or gloves or blouse to match your bike that to buy a new bike to match your clothes...:-)

Colours are not necessarily the only fashion matching issue. There is, of course, the question of whether the bike matches your personality. And what your bike says about who you are, fashion-wise.

Do you prefer a beat-up old Raleigh or a stylish new Velorbis or Batavus Diva? It's a pressing question for any Copenhagener.

These are good examples of how a style of bike is reflected in the style of the cyclist: [click to see them larger at Flickr]


A trend is underway in Copenhagen, after more than a century of bike culture. We welcome it. More fashion consciousness on the bike lanes.

Style over speed.

Vélocouture - Fashion, on a bicycle

We've long been a big fan - and contributor - to the very excellent Flickr group called Vélocouture.

The group guidelines make it clear what separates this group from so many other bike groups on Flickr.

"Vélocouture is not bicycle fashion. Vélocouture is fashion, on a bicycle. Smart, stylish, functional outfits worn by transportational bicyclists.

Celebrate the creative re-purposing of "normal" clothes for use as a transportational cyclist. Help popularize the innovative, functional and fashionable garments that are (finally!) being created by pedal-powered fashion-forward folks around the world.

This isn't about wearing costumes or bizarre outfits while on a bike. Plenty of places for that. This is about stylishly carrying oneself through the everyday -- on a bicycle.

Also, please note that this group is about fashionable cyclists, not fashionable bicycles. No bike-only shots. Again, plenty of groups exist for photos of your bike."


The group features photos of both women and men and, in our opinion, it's one of the beacons of hope for normalising urban cycling and removing the bane of lycra from the streets of cool cities around the world.

Vive la vélocouture!