Current State of Affairs

After last month’s series of five year anniversary re-introductions, I thought I’d catch everyone up on the current state of my affairs. As always, there is a lot going on, so much so that I missed my last planned anniversary re-introduction! That one was supposed to be about travel and how The Mechanic and I love to travel. Recent examples include a spontaneous rental car trip, where we attempted to go by VeloOrange in Annapolis (not open on the weekends), then drove through a powerful storm to Baltimore, arriving just as the storm ended and discovering their new ebike bikeshare system and bike lane wayfinding signs.

I’ve been sewing of course – finished the Simplicity 8166 blouse I’ve been dying to make forever, at last! It was sort of a bear. I love the tencel twill, the weight and drape of it, but maybe it was too heavy for all the rows of gathered elastic. Trying to feed it at the same time was challenging, but looks amazing in the end. I haven’t worn it yet because I had to wash it – get the chalk marks out as well as the blood – I managed to stab myself every time I sat down to sew, and didn’t realize until after I’d gotten blood on the garment. Sigh. But isn’t it gorgeous?!?

Gorgeous, but not a single bit of reflective on it!

I *bought* a sweater and then realized I had a spring sewing theme going – a nautical theme! I was lusting after this J. Crew sweater with an Art Nouveau type floral design as well as mermaids! I love mermaids, so much so that even though this sweater is merino, and I find it terribly itchy, I had to have it. I’ve already suffered through an itchy day worn it and think it’s just the loveliest thing (well, I think the ruffled collar is a bit not my style/odd).

(sorry, I couldn’t manage a better photo than this…)

Then I realized that my current sewing plans include some Breton striped garments – a top using some cool ammonite fabric from Spoonflower, and the cute Christine Haynes Marianne dress. Adding these two patterns plus my mermaid sweater to existing nautical things in my wardrobe, well, I should be headed to the seaside somewhere!

A friend and I are heading to the Philadelphia Flower Show, and I am finally making her a long-promised dress –  she had picked a lovely floral print, so of course she needs to wear it when we go. I love the fabric, although its slippery polyester and has required a lot of hand basting, which I don’t normally do. Am I the only one who tries harder on clothing not intended for me?

A super cool non-sewing dress came my way last week, the Betabrand 3M reflective dress that I’d supported way last fall – it finally arrived and is really cool! It’s that stretchy nylon fabric that will be perfect for travel, with pockets, pulls on over the head, and omg reflective!!!! Seriously, it’s pretty cool. I can’t wait to wear this somewhere. Clearly not designed with 360* reflectivity, the reflective fabric is only in the front. I’m a bit disappointed by that, to be honest; it seems like a lost opportunity. I’m sorry it’s sold out on Betabrand but keep Tweeting to 3M and maybe they’ll eventually figure out there is a retail demand for reflective fabric and help out us home sewers who are desperate for it.

A-maz-ing!!!

Speaking of reflective, have you seen Vespertine NYC’s reflective collaboration with Brompton? It’s really lovely and I wish I could get all of it, but there’s that wool thing again. I mean, I guess I could do the shoelaces, but those seem so less interested compared to the cool designs of the hat and scarf. Check them out if you haven’t yet!

I don’t know if Vespertine will be at the National Bike Summit this week, but she’s been there before, so if you are in the area, check it out!

I’m not attending the National Bike Summit this year, as I have in the past, but I’ve been watching attendees roll in (literally) on Instagram and Twitter. Bikie Girl Bloomers, Pedal Love, Bikey Face, and many other bikey ladies I know from NBS and social media are there. But speaking of bikes, Bletchley, my new vintage Raleigh, is in the process of being taken apart to be upgraded. I’ve been riding The Mechanic’s Workcycles bike to test out the hub, and we found brake levers that I really like. Slowly but surely this bike will come together. Lastly, Gaston is a delight, and seems to be getting fluffier by the day. He’s gotten a bit snugglier and while I don’t foresee him sitting in our laps any time soon, demands and gets as much attention as we can give him. It’s a shame I can’t pet him and sew at the same time! So what else did I miss while I was reviewing the last five years of my blog life?

PSA: Betabrand’s 3M Reflective Dress

I can’t believe I almost missed this. It was posted on my Women & Bikes Facebook group, or I might have never seen it, since I rarely check out Betabrand. But this was custom-designed for me! 3M has created a Retroreflective Women’s Dress and it’s *gorgeous*! Currently, Betabrand is taking crowdfunding votes to see if this dress will be made. PLEASE go vote! I need this dress! Actually, what I would really prefer to have is that reflective fabric. The dress is cute but I’d love to make my own stuff with the fabric. Pants would be wonderful! I wonder how it breathes….

I did some poking around on the 3M website, and found some interesting things. First of all, this dress was a concept dress, announced in April 2015. 3M designers apparently worked with Safe Reflections to create the fabric out of reflective heat transfer materials. My mind is racing – think of it! Gorgeous, detailed designs turned into reflective fabric. Reflective Liberty of London classics, perhaps?! Safe Reflections has all kinds of fun things on their website, plus some sporty looking reflective fabric in *colors*! I’m not into that kind of fabrics but I could come up with designs so I could use those colors.

I really hope this dress gets crowdfunded so I can get the dress. I really want to hold it in my hands and see the fabric. I’m fantasizing about it already….

 

Let’s Talk #Reflective Fashion

Although I am always happy to talk about reflective bike fashion, a few things converged recently to prompt a post about reflective-ness. A New York Times article, new reflective clips from Bookman, and the Fall time change all mean more ways and reasons to be reflective!

The recent New York Times article, “Go Glam into the Night: For the Bike-to-Work Generation, a Move to Fashionable High Tech Clothing,” explored how bike clothing “grew up” and became “fashionable” by making office-friendly clothing reflective. The article called out a few companies I already adore, like Vespertine NYC and LFlect, others I am familiar with, including Fik:Reflectives and Betabrand, and introduced me to a fun new one, Henrichs (these capes are so adorable! And limited edition pink and glitter reflective ones? Where is my credit card?!).

The Henrichs Cape (Photo courtesy of the Henrichs website)

Women’s fashion sports clothing companies such as Athleta and Lululemon are also adding reflective clothing to their lines. These pieces are made for runners, not cyclists, but there are obvious ways these can crossover. Look at how cool the “Light It Up” reflective skirt from Lululemon is, and the “Scuba Hoodie,” with it’s reflective hood! I love the idea of pulling this skirt over pants or leggings or jeans – not entirely work appropriate, but definitely for biking home from the gym, or a casual evening out. The “In a Flash” sweatshirt I can see wearing to work. Athleta offers a few pairs of running leggings with respectable amounts of reflective trim down the leg, and I can see pulling these on under skirts or dresses to bike home after dark. When we turn our clocks back this weekend, it will be darker earlier, but still not too cold to rule out the skirts, and then these would be perfect.

Lululemon Light It Up Skirt (photo courtesy of Lululemon website)

What I like about these garments is that these designers are finally realizing that gear worn outside, especially in the darker hours, should have a bit more reflectivity than just the token logo on a corner, or on the ankle. Here is an example of what I consider bad reflective trim – this adorable “Cyclocape” from Terry Bicycles has a single line of reflective trim down the center of the back. Although the unbroken line isn’t a bad idea, it doesn’t give any sense of how wide the wearer is, so how much room to give the cyclist, and what if if was covered by a backpack or bag strap?  (Don’t get me wrong, if someone wants to gift this to me, I’d happily test it out!) These black Terry “Metro Crop” pants have reflective trim inside the side slits, so they don’t offer much reflective-ness at all.

Terry Bicycles Cyclocape (photo courtesy of Terry Bicycles website)

Title Nine has a decent collect of clothes with reflective trim, and although this “Slip’n Ride” commuter skirt is another example of questionable print choices, I like that the reflective trim is on the outside hem, right where you want to be visible to a vehicle.  REI’s Novara winter cycling pants have reflective stripes down the entire leg as well – just like my reflective pants!

I love the latest pants I made!

I also point all of this out because Time is “falling back” this weekend, and it will be darker longer. Although I don’t believe that us wearing reflective clothing gives drivers license to NOT pay attention to cyclists (and pedestrians) on the road, I don’t think it hurts to be defensive about what we wear either. I wear a bright red coat partially because it shows up better in headlights than a solid black jacket would – the reflective Vespertine belt I wear with it simply helps.

Red coat, reflective trim on skirt, purse – hugging an owl in Copenhagen

It is easy to add reflective accessories, less expensive, and perhaps a bit more versatile to have something that can be moved from jacket to shirt to skirt, like the Bookman clips or the options from REI. Or there is always another route – Glimling is a Swedish-American company selling Scandinavian style reflectors that can be attached to purses, backpacks, coat zippers, or panniers. I have several and love them. They are so cute on my purses! Elisabeth, the owner, totally gets the importance of reflective-ness, and loves to share this somewhat staggering statistic – 70% of American pedestrian accidents happen after dark, while in Sweden, the number is much lower, 40%. Adults and children alike in that country wear reflectors – we saw them for sale in bookstores and dollar stores and in the airport when The Mechanic and I were in Denmark and Sweden, too. Check out her blog post with visibility tests.

Assorted reflectors on assorted bags – some I bought in Sweden, some are from Glimling

So what am I saying here? Reflective clothing is going fashionable and mainstream for biking and running, yay! Designers are beginning to figure it out, and maybe by next winter, we’ll see even more. If buying reflective blazers and dresses is not your thing, or you can’t afford to (I know, the cool stuff is always so expensive!), consider accessories with a good amount of reflective coverage, and attach reflectors on strategic points.  The least it can do is make you a bit more visible!

 

 

Trying NOT to Shop

I haven’t exactly kept my pledge to not shop until the honeymoon, but it’s killing me that I can’t do more! Especially since it’s that time of the season change when I realize that I purged at the end of the last season (that is, last summer), and I have lots of great pieces, but few outfits. I know this is not something everyone understands, but it’s really frustrating! We’ve had a few warm enough days and I’ve reached for things that are just … not there. Apparently all of my summer shoes died last year, and I’ve never had a selection of pants I love, and some of those tops are just *old* and showing their age.

Well, I do have a lot of stuff…

In my ever-present desire to wear bike-friendly office clothes (or is it office-friendly bike clothes?), I do have a list of things from designers who are catering to my whim. Hey, gotta support the people who are making it big, since I don’t have time at the moment to make it myself!

I’ve wanted the Iva Jean “Reveal” skirt for ages, even if it is only in black and I dislike wearing black. I’d sacrifice just to wear a designer’s bike fashion piece! It’s a great office-friendly pencil skirt, in a great length.

Iva Jean Reveal Skirt, image from her website

There is a new bike skirt on the market now that I also like, by Iladora. It’s gray (huzzah! I love gray), and a bit shorter, and slightly more casual-looking. I like the “shirttail” hem idea, although I’m not sure how short that would end up feeling. My bike, of course, has a men’s style top tube, which makes skirts that much trickier, but I’m sure I could work around this! I also love the top, and the shoes on the model! Perfect date night outfit.

Iladora skirt and top, image taken from her website

Betabrand also has a new crowdfunded skirt, modeled by the famous Bike Pretty blogger, Melissa. It boasts clever zipper details as well, but in the front, not in the back as the Iva Jean skirt is. Not surprisingly, my favorite part is the reflective pocket triangle that can be pulled out when you want a touch of reflectivity.

Betabrand Bike to Work Skirt, modeled by Bike Pretty’s Melissa. Image from Betabrand website.

The reflective pocket on the Betabrand Bike to Work Skirt makes me so happy! Image from Betabrand website.

But wait, there’s more! Check out this cute dress I discovered recently – a striped dress by Quick Study. Adorable! I mean, I love stripes, and this is my favorite gray, and the bodice is lined in quick-dry material. Brilliant!  I also love the clever piecing on the back. This one I would totally wear to work, in several seasons. Add tights and boots, and it’s perfect for fall and winter. Sandals and bangles great for cool spring evenings. J’adore.

How adorable is the illustration of this Quick Study dress?! Image from her website

Love the way the stripes are pieced in the back of this dress. It just needs some reflective trim! Image from Quick Study website.

Paired with these amazingly adorable (and amazingly expensive) bike-friendly shoes from Tracey Neuls, I would find myself wearing a lot of gray, and I tend to lean towards much brighter colors. It’s not very spring or summer-y, but these seem like good basics to always have on hand. Plus, I’d love to have all three skirts to compare the different design aspects, and well, those shoes would be *perfect* with that cute striped dress.

Just love them. That’s all I can say. Image from her website.

If only I could register for office-friendly bike fashion – but I suppose the wedding registry should be things we both can use, right? Bummer!