But women wanted to ride bicycles, so in the challenge between women's clothing and the ability to ride, something had to give. As it turned out, it was the clothes.
One early experiment was a woman's skirt fastened about her legs with a buckle. Once off the bicycle, the buckle was undone, and -- floof! She was properly and demurely covered again by her skirt. Bloomers, something called leggins, and corsets were worn by women who just wanted to go for a spin on their bikes.
In the past century, the path toward greater freedom for women has dealt with bigger and weightier issues than clothing. But thank goodness we got to change our clothes into the bargain.
Sources:
Women and Bicycles
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/bicycling/a/women_bicycles_fashion.htm
Dress Emancipation for Women Through Sports
http://www.fashion-era.com/sports_fashion_until_1960.htm#Dress%20Emancip...
The History of Women's Fashion in Tennis
http://www.sportspundit.com/tennis/articles/457-the-history-of-women-s-f...
Visit Jody's website and blog at http://www.ncubator.ca and http://ncubator.ca/blogger
Reviewed on April 26, 2012
by Maryann Gromisch, RN
Add a CommentComments
There are no comments yet. Be the first one and get the conversation started!