Three Cool Clothing Ideas

Disclaimer: No one at Alpena Tweed and Bike Club has actually tried these products, think of this as a Christmas… or better yet Presidents’ Day (!!!) Wish List!

Skirt Garter – CYCLESTYLE

Honestly, this is the product that prompted this post, the perfect way to show a little leg, but nothing else! Ideal for the lady who wants to wear a cute skirt or dress to their local Tweed Ride, but wants to keep it modest. It opens up a whole plethora of outfit options for our dignified ladies!

WoolyWarm Buttnup Tweed Sweater - Rivendell Bicycle Works

Dear Mom and Dad, please buy me this sweater! Signed, Everybody

Classic low key, wool sweater (they have numerous styles) that no man or woman can go wrong with.  Doesn’t it just make you think “warm and friendly”?   

Classic Wool Knickers – Bicycle Fixation

We know everyone dreams of some classy knickers (ps, if you Google “classy knickers” these are not the pictures that will come up… be warned) and though you can really make them yourself, many of us do not have the time or talent. Also great for the man or woman that wants to look neat, but does not want to worry about getting a lose pant leg or hemline caught in the bike chain.

Do you have any suggestions? Let us know!

Happy Singles Appreciation Day!

With the possible exception of the kayak, no single mode of transportation is so geared to glory of the unattached as the trusty bicycle!

So ride single, ride free my friends!

Rita Hayworth c. 1940's

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Well nothing says love more than some campy,
old postcards full of puns!

 We hope you enjoy!

The New Woman and Her Bicycle

While surfing the internet for something else, I ran across this Illustration about the fears of Women’s Rights and the bicycle. The illustration was originally from a 1895 edition of Puck  magazine (artists signature appears to be Joseph Ferdinand Keppler, 1838-1894) and the main title (for those of you who can’t make it out) is THE “NEW WOMAN” AND HER BICYCLE – THERE WILL BE SEVERAL VARIETIES OF HER. The funny thing about this picture (to me) is that it is hard to tell if this is for or against THE “NEW WOMAN”

The main/middle picture is of THE “NEW WOMAN” -  Starting with the largest picture of a slightly snooty looking woman dressed in Victorian Riding Cloths, my gut reaction is that they are mocking her… but if you look at her details, she is no longer afraid of mice. Where in the picture over her right shoulder she is shown standing on a chair with one of the vial beasts begging at her feet. I don’t mean this to sound sexist, but I am curious if I need to buy my girlfriend the hat or boots to get the same affect… and if it would work with spiders too…

Starting in the upper left and continuing clock wise:

 The “new” Servant Girl: her Sunday out – I guess they are worried about the city's unattractive “New Servant Girls” swarming the street? Now I have recently watched Downton Abbey, and I can say for certain most servant girls were highly attractive, so I am not sure what they were worried about…

The “new” Mother-in-Law, arriving for a long visit – Ok, I really don’t need to explain why this is a real concern, and significant fear! I do love that this joke works so well, even after 100 years.

The “new” Salvation Army Lassies –  All I can say about these “Lasses” is that I would ask them to not play the tambourine, bass drum, or read books while riding on our Tweed Ride… and we worry about people talking on cell phones…

The “new” Widow – To quote the Legendary Tom T. Hall “Oh, some women do look good in black” (I can’t believe I could come up with a ‘hot widow, at a cemetery, in black’ reference off the top of my head!), and I think Tom would appreciate this attractive widow morning her husband!  Honestly, I guess the problem was that she “might get around”, as you say, but I was unaware that Victorian women were supposed to burn themselves on their husband’s funeral pyre.

The “new” Nurse-Girl –  I do like that this Nurse-Girl is wearing a bonnet, and not a hat, and that they now actually make little baby carts! I kind of hope that the artist got a patented for this idea.

The “new” Washerwoman – All I can say about this poor lady is that she really should talk to that Nurse-Girl. That laundry must really hurt her arm. Part of the joke that will probably be lost on modern viewers is that for a long time suspenders/braces were considered undergarments, and no classy man would show them in public. This was the plumber’s crack of the Victorian Era. So here we have an unattractive, working woman showing her plumber’s crack.

We hope you enjoyed the picture!

Men: What about the Bow Tie?

Sean Connery as Bond

The bow tie is becoming a marginal fashion item. It is slowly being subjugated to nerds and cartoon characters... but is it really only for wimps? Was James Bond a wimp?

Humphrey Bogart playing Rick Blaine

Matt Smith the 11th Dr. Who

Were Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca,  Fred Astaire, the 2nd, 3rd or 11th Dr Who nerds?

Right Honourable Sir Winston Churchill

Prime Minister of UK  (1940–45 and 1951–55).

Franklin D. Roosevelt
US Pres. 1933-1945


Weren’t FDR and Winston Churchill hard core patriots that helped save the free world?

Vladimir Horowitz


Weren’t Orville Redenbacher, and Peewee Herman almost super heroes?  … Wait I may have lost you on the last two… but the rest are all pretty cool!

 

Orville Redenbacher

Peewee Herman (Paul Reubens)

Men, it may be time to rally behind the old fashioned bow tie!

John Paul Stevens, Supreme Court of the United States 1975-2010

(Results may vary)

Tweed Ride Reminder

Our Tweed Ride might be nine months away, but this is the perfect time to be thinking about your wardrobe! After stopping in a few local department stores I noticed that their Faux Tweed and Sweater are all on a seasonal clearance sale! For anyone interested in riding with us, it is worth looking around.

From Tweedmans Vintage

The Triplets of Belleville

Another bicycle classic that you could watch on a cold winter’s day is the 2003 animated comity The Triplets of Belleville.  Written and directed by Sylvain Chomet, this film was nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, but could have won in the categories of Best Grandmother Ever, Ugliest Portrayal of French Women on Film or Best Rider's Legs… I am pretty sure those are all active categories.

The movie starts out in 1920/30’s France with the concert of title Triplets of Belleville, who share the stage with a correctly three fingered Django Reinhardt, a hard dancing Fred Astaire, and a risqué Josephine Baker (oh, this movie is PG-13 by the way), but quickly moves onto the central characters who are a grandson and his grandmother. This grandmother does her darndest to find something to interest her lonely grandson. After many tries, the saving grace ends up being cycling (well tricycling, but he is a kid)

  The movie progresses to the 1960’s (per a de Gaulle like French President) where this grandson eventually becomes a Tour de France cyclist, under the coaching and doting of his grandmother. Without giving too much away, let’s just say craziness ensues. This includes bikes, possible cycling addiction, the mob, a fat dog, and the love only a grandmother can have for her grandson.

 

Now though this is a comedy, don’t look for a lot of big jokes. This movie thrives on subtle cultural and historic references, running gags like comparing the cyclists to horses, and little things you catch in the background (for example a butcher shop that has a pig riding a bike made of pork, or the Triplets watching Jour de Fete).  I think cyclists at any level will love the jokes about hill climbing, history buffs the cultural references, and music lovers the sound track.