Checkered Dress -- Red Diamond Frame Bicycle

(photos by RidingPretty)

(photos by RidingPretty)

She rides a diamond frame bike in a dress ( really cute checkered dress BTW) with no problem! I know some out there wonder if this is an easy thing or not?...meaning how do you get on and off a bike with a top bar while wearing a dress? I see so many girls handle this effortlessly... so it never occurred to me to ponder over this. However for a 1st person report on the art of mounting/dismounting a diamond frame bike visit Lovely Bicycle as she goes into detail about her experience. Also visit Chic Cyclist, the bicycle she rides très chic around Boston is a gorgeous vintage Dawes ( a boys bike geometry or diamond frame.)

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This is number three of the four stylish riders I spotted on (hot) Friday, and all in less than one hour, all downtown Santa Cruz. The temperature was in the 90's.

p.s I'll be sharing the photos of the other stylish riders from (hot) Friday, one each day. Now there is one more to go.

Pencil Skirt Sarong on a Bicycle

(photo by RidingPretty)

The skirt she has on is like a pencil style skirt. It was in a lovely, batikish print, very sarong like. The skirt fell to her ankles but once she was on her bicycle she gracefully maneuvered it so that the back split opened up giving her plenty of room to ride. I completed her on this fete. She said, 'oh this skirt is nothing, you should see the stilettos I wear at night on my bike.'

This is number two of the four stylish riders I spotted on (hot) Friday, and all in less than one hour, all downtown Santa Cruz. The temperature was in the 90's.

p.s I'll be sharing the photos of the other stylish riders from (hot) Friday, one each day. Now there are 2 more to go.

Vintage Dress - Hawaiian Motif...Downtown Santa Cruz

(all photos by RidingPretty)

What a start to the weekend... within less than an hour I was able to spot & photo 4 stylish ladies on their bicycles. This all happened yesterday (Friday) whilst on my way to catch a big sale at one of my favorite thrift stores.

Speaking of vintage, you've got to love this Hawaiian motif vintage dress. The dress looked so good flying out as she cruised down the street on her bicycle. By the time I caught up to her she was headed into the door of Incognito. You can probably guess where the dress came from...

p.s I'll be sharing the photos of the other stylish riders from (hot) Friday, one each day.

Hello! Red Cruiser Bicycle....

(photocredit: RidingPretty)

Intersection Pacific Avenue @ Beach Street, Santa Cruz.

WIN, WIN, WIN

Londons cutest cosmetic company Eyeko have kindly offered to sponsor septembers goodie bag give away.
The competition starts on the 1st September and as always can only enter via the link on Fashionface.tv

Bicycle Sexy

(via phantamagoita photocredit: Mert & Marcus)

Bicycles and High Fashion - Fall 2009. Featured Models are Lara Stone and Guinevere van Seenus. That incredible dress in the top photo is Balenciaga.

From time to time I do Bicycle Pin-ups for inspiration and sheer fun...

iPhone app for Virtual Ergo Bike Fit ...PLUS The Deadly Night Shades Invite YOU

(via f**K f**k yeah yeah and the photo credit: wildlab.com)

The best way to get a virtual and yet totally ergonomic fit to make sure your bicycle is optimized for the best ride is available as an iPhone app.

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(photo: TheDeadlyNightSjades)

The Deadly Night Shades, one of my very favorite group of Ladies on Bikes want you to know about their upcoming Bicycle Fashion Show this Thursday @ The Drake Hotel in Toronto.
The Deadly Night Shades are girls after my own heart. They are designers as well as very entertaining and amazing on their bikes/bicycles. Check them out if you haven't.

The Top Chic, Most Stylish Bicycles from Fashion Designers & Retailers

( sampling of bikes lft to rt: Paul Frank, Hermes, Anthropologie x3 , Chanel, Comptoir des Cotonniers, Club Monaco, Gucci, Cynthia Rowley)

Any chance that perhaps like me, you've wondered just how many Fashion Designers and/or Retailers out there have offered lovely, stylish bicycles for sale?

I'd been curious about this very thing. Luckily I've been keeping notes all along. I started the list quite awhile ago. I'm hoping you will find that this list has historical value and that it helps put it all into perspective. I also hope it helps you out if you are looking to buy your dream bicycle!

Importantly, would I buy from a Fashion 'Name' instead of my LBS (local bike shop) is a question to mull over. Just maybe.

At any rate, anything to get more bicyclists on the road is a good thing! Keep up the good work all you Fashion Houses and and smart Retailers! It pleases me there are so many offerings and such a wide range of bicycles!

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Have a look at my list (listed in no special order or sequence):

Cynthia Rawley
Introduced spring 2008, bicycle exclusive to Cynthia Rawley, and ongoing in 2009.
bicycle link
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Paul Frank
Introduced 2005, made by Paul Frank Industries, (and/or bikes made by Nirve) and ongoing in 2009.
bicycle link
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++==
Chanel Bicycle
Introduced 2007, limited edition.
bicycle link
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hermes
Introduced 2007 limited edition (50), bicycle made by Batavus.
bicycle link
**
Introduced a 2009 limited edition,bicycle made by Batavus and available in select Hermes Stores.
bicycle link
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Gucci
Introduced in 2007, special in store bicycle.
bicycle link
**
Introduced 2008, limited edition.
bicycle link
**
Introduced 2009, limited edition and ongoing.
bicycle link
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Club Monaco
Introduced 2009,bicycle made by Royal Dutch Gazelle and available in select Club Monaco stores.
bicycle link
++++++++++++++++++
J. Crew & Jolif Scott
Introduced 2008, bicycle made by Jorg & Olif and was available via the J.Crew Spring 2008 catalog.
bicycle link
++++++++++++++++++
Comptoir des Cotonniers
Introduced 2008, limited edition, available online spring 2008.
bicycle link and bicycle link
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Anthropologie
Introduced January 2007, Anthropologie's Grocer's Bicycle was available via catalog and select Anthropologie stores.
bicycle link
**
Introduced 2009, Gran Turismo Donna Bicycle, bicycle made by Abici- available via catalog, online.
bicycle link
**
Introduced 2009, Limited Edition Fold-Up Bicycle, made by Strida available via catalog, online.
bicycle link
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Urban Outfitters
Introduced 2009, Fixie Style custom bicycle made by Republic Bike via catalog, online.
bicycle link
++++++++++++++++++++++
Fendi
Introduced Spring 2009, bicycle Amante Donna by Abici, available in select Fendi stores.
bicycle link
++++++++++++++++++++++
Paul Smith
Introduced 2006, available online, ongoing.
(track bike) bicycle link and (touring bike) bicycle link
++++++++++++++++++++++
Field and Stream
Introduced 2009, available via Custom Order 877.221.6889 or info@fieldandstreambrand.com
beer bike link
***
Hope you found this useful!

Nic does Dizzee.

Nic dumped the Sponge Bob outfit for her more professional guise. Blink and you'll miss her.

A day in the life of Nic...

...its not all make-up and glamour you know!

NY Times - Bill Cunningham says Bicycles are Stylishly IN!!

(photo by Bill Cunningham via NY Times.com
my fav photo from the slide show..)

Just returned from a leisurely Sunday brunch and sat down with the New York Times...
Woo Hoo!

Bill Cunningham's piece in the Style section of the New York Times is just too, too good.
Everybody stop now and go here, NOW!!!! ....On the Street - Happy Trails

Bill Cunningham has been riding his own bike to capture street fashion in NYC for years. He narrates his slide shows .... his words are gems of astute observations that make for a good sneak peek and understanding of the newest fashion trends.

p.s you don't have to be a fashionista to enjoy this. It's got a great bicycle advocacy message to it.

p.s.s. Even a doggie wears his bicycle helmet!

Oh, and what's your favorite look from the slide show?

BESPOKE OUTFITS...

Sketches reveal what V V Brown will be wearing on stage at this year's V Festival

Shingai Shoniwa of The Noisettes will don these revealing outfits on stage
Following on from the success of its collaboration with Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine at this year’s Glastonbury, Topshop’s design team have put their heads together to create unique outfits for two more worthy songstresses of the moment: Shingai Shoniwa of The Noisettes, and V V Brown.
The custom-made pieces will be worn by the artists at V Festival, which kicks off this Friday. Always one step ahead of everyone else, Topshop is the first high street brand to create bespoke stage costumes for performing artists, with its design team working with the artists from the first brainstorm stage right through to fittings of the finished product.

Lucky pop singer V V Brown has had two outfits specially made for her performance. The first consists of a leopard-print body, worn with midnight blue, mannish tapered trousers, finished with a circular-collared leather jacket. Her second ensemble is a sharp shouldered, white T-shirt layered over animal-print skinny joggers. A dramatic, sheer black, pleated circular cape completes the look.
Shingai Shoniwa of The Noisettes will be taking to the stage in a beautiful pale peach silk dress with a structured corset bodice and a white fringed skirt embellished with gold beads. We can’t wait to see what she looks like in it, but the sketches, above, provide a sneaky peek.
Shoniwa will also don a revealing champagne-coloured satin structured bra-top with matching high-waisted hot pants, designed to be worn with a bespoke pair of thigh-high boots complete with a ruffle down the back. A darker metallic ruffled bolero completes the look. Her final outfit will be a brown, body-con catsuit with cut-out and metallic copper and gold detailing. The catsuit comes with a zip that runs just above the bust and underneath the arms, meaning the outfit can be turned into a bandeau to completely transform the look.
Topshop has also previously designed for Natasha Khan of Bat For Lashes when the band supported Radiohead.

Bike Skirt

I tried this Bike Skirt on in the dressing room, as you can probably guess from the photos. I decided not to buy it. At any rate it was way too cute not to at least share the photos with you.
Should I have bought it? Hmmm....
Better yet, I think the BikeSkirt girls should be on the look out for this skirt.

Summer Bicycle Odds & End-- Plus Shamelessly Excited!

Some more 'Where I Live' photos ---The Boardwalk Bicycle Parking lot....

Cruisers are everywhere....

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The biggest wicker basket I've seen ever. This is on a trike...

(all photos by RidingPretty)

I really do like trikes. There is this Chictopia /TopShop Bicycle Club girl who raves about her vintage trike. She uses her trike to transport all her fashion outfits and accessories to her photo shoots. She works as a stylist in NYC.

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Why am I so shamelessly excited? RidingPretty Blog has passed the 100,000 visitors milestone!

This also coincides with passing the 100 subscribers to this blog via blogger/blogspot users alone. Thanks everyone!

This is also the place where an apology is due. Way back in Jan/Feb of 2009 I was trying to improve the page layout. Unwisely I used a combination of incompatible 3rd party page layout 'helpers'. The end result was that I nearly destroyed everything. (It's still so buggy and you can see this if you go into archive pages where you will notice the font size on the sidebars is hugely overblown).

At any rate in my efforts to salvage and save my blog, I had to basically start over. Thankfully I was cognizant enough to backup some of it, so I had bare bones to work with. This had several effects. I had to disable and then later reset my visitor counter (at the time I disabled it was approaching 40,000 visitors). I also disabled the feeds. That means anyone who once had RidingPretty on their feeds was abruptly shut off. By the time it was all said and done I'd reset this blog at zero visitors and zero feeds! So to anyone way back when and to who ever wondered what happened, now you know! Word to the wise, don't mess with a good thing unless you are sure of what you are doing!!!

Summer Flower Dress -- Downtown Santa Cruz

(photo by RidingPretty)

There is nothing quite like a big graphic, eye popping! black & white flower print dress -
No small, little liberty print flowers here!

Sir Paul McCartney -- Bicycle Dad

(images via Curitiba Cycle Chic)

What a lovely sight to see Sir Paul McCartney taking Daughter Beatrice for a bicycle ride! According to Curitiba Cycle Chic these photos were taken just last weekend in the Hamptons.

Linda E

This is the inspiration picture for my recent Linda Evangelista tutorial.

My camera flash has bleached the eyeshadow out a little in my picture.

End of Summer Bicycle Inspiration

(top to bottom: via cassandrathegreat, via transmogrify, photo by stephaniewilliams, unknown, via sierracore, illustration by kevin cyr brooklyn ny)

As the end of summer is upon us I thought I'd share some of my favorite summer (awesome) photos and illustrations. I hope everyone is planning some last minute getaways, picnics and care free rides out in nature.... do this before summer slips away. As for me I like the last image almost the best of all. I want to have a dreamy gypsy camper on a bike, but maybe with a bit more of a rustic look like this one.

Enjoy your summer!

Top Models Still Ride Bicycles -- NYC - Hana on a Vintage Bike

(photo via bloglovin via citzencouture)

This is Hana, a Top fashion Model on her vintage bicycle in NYC. This is a candid shot and not something posed for a fashion shoot. Actual life. Real, everyday clothes the model wears in her normal everyday life.

One of my earliest blog postings and one that continues to be one of my most googled postings was called Super Models Ride Junkers and Clunkers. It featured Agyness Deyn and in a large part it was she who made that posting so vastly popular. When I spotted the original photo via a LondonCycleChic, I picked up on the fact she was riding what looked to be a vintage bicycle and/or dutch style bicycle (or 'lovingly' called by some a 'clunker' when compared to sleek fixie bikes).
Another very early post I did was called Super Models on Bicycles OR ‘Don’t Hate Me ‘Cause I’m Beautiful’. It carried on along in a similiar (but funnier) vein.

I love this photo of Hana and I'm so happy to report the streets of NYC still has Models aplenty on "clunkers".

more related posts:

Be Safe: Super Models, and You the 1st Time Nervous Rider…

The Best Chic Bicyclist – SuperModel - Agyness Deyn

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As a side note: I couldn't help but notice the lovely vintage Schwinn bicycle Jennine (...fabulous fashion blogger extrodinaire!) of the coveted has recently acquired so she can ride the streets of Chicago in style.