Delivery timescales are esimates in working days; Public Holidays, Saturday's and Sunday's are NOT classed as working days.

As you can perhaps imagine, the campaign for rational dress faced resistance and criticism from conservative elements of society who objected to the challenging of established gender norms – something we see echoes of today in discussions around women’s clothing choices and body autonomy. The ethical choice – Your bike in safe hands Julia Gill, a court dressmaker from north London, registered her convertible cycling skirt in 1895. Her skirt was foldable upwards thank to a series of hidden rings and a cord into what Gills called the “semi-skirt”. The inventor also recommended combining the skirt with some rather splendid “fluted or vertical frilled trowsers”. Love to try this to see how it compares with the heavy duty bulldog clip I currently use. I’m more at the longer skirt end of spectrum, would it cope?! This versatile and attractive skirt, created by the environmentally-friendly Forest and Fin clothing shop, came to our attention some time ago. You can read the Discerning Cyclist review here. If you didn’t find a skirt above that you love, no worries! Really you can turn any skirt into a bike skirt.

The instructions were minimal so there was a lot of thinking involved. Here is a short list of sewing steps I used. I wrote these from my memory, so there might be some little mistakes. I have been wearing my cycling bloomers a lot but I really wanted a skirt to go on top of them. So, I found this lovely green linen at Materials Helsinki and decided to use it to make skirt, once again using the free patterns provided at Bikes & Bloomers. Mary and Sarah Pease, sisters from Yorkshire, submitted their patent for an “Improved Skirt, available also as a Cape for Lady Cyclists” in 1896 and it was exactly as described. This was one of the more radical designs of that time because the skirt came off the body completely and covered the woman’s body as a cape while pedalling.

Consider the type of bike you’re riding. If you’re riding a step-through bike (like a city or Dutch-style bike) it’ll be much easier to get on and off when wearing a dress. But if your bike has a crossbar, and you’re wearing a pencil skirt without much stretch, it’s going to be pretty awkward to swing your leg over. If you're sure you can take it off when you get off your bike, it's a really simple and effective solution. Of course, it does not prevent long dresses from getting tangled in the spokes. The skirt guard which covers the top of each wheel is therefore a useful accessory.A reasonably heavy office binder clip will work for this. Simply clip it onto the bottom hem of the dress to keep the skirt down as you ride. Next, wrap a rubber band around the fabric and coin, fastening it, and holding the material together. It should look a little like a button.

But female cyclists didn’t plan on parting with their bikes so they got creative. The cyclewear problem became so mobilising for women that the mid-1890s era marked the entry of women into the world of patents. Thanks to female inventors who got their ideas down on paper and patented, we now know about clever concealed converting technologies inside skirts, including pulley-systems, gathering cords, button and loop mechanisms, and more.Yes, you can cycle in a dress or a skirt! Technically, you can cycle in almost anything. The real question is, can you cycle comfortably and safely in a dress or a skirt? I came across this little number while perusing the internet a few days ago. Over the past couple of years I have seen the emergence of skirts in running and trekking ranges so it was only a matter of time before the bike industry followed suit.