Bicycle Shorts are Here To Stay
Trends are funny things.
I’m sure we have all sworn something off entirely, and then found ourselves wearing it a few months later. We like familiarity. Once we start seeing something again and again we are more likely to give it a go ourselves.
Human beings all have a bit of the lemming in us; and despite my protests that my style is all my own, even I am not immune to it.
Enter bike shorts.
Any one with an Instagram account or eye on street styles will have noticed the trend to take these long spandex shorts off the bike and into the real world. And the reemergence of the sports shorts as everyday clothing has created quite a divide.
Anyone alive during the late 80’s and early 90’s, like myself, will no doubt remember the first time bike shorts tried to make a run from the gym. I clearly remember having a skirt with contrasting colour bike shorts attached that stuck out longer than the skirt. I loved it so much I had two of them. And of course, playground style dictated that you always wore shorts under your skirt anyway so that boys couldn’t see your underwear when you hung upside down on the monkey bars.
Maybe the image of Demi Moore in her self-designed (and I believe self-constructed?) 1989 Oscars dress still haunts your memory.
The past 30 years have been far kinder to this whole look than they had any right to be. As early as March 2018, Vogue was already retconning their stance on this dress.
For proof of this look’s power look no further than the surprise summer fashion It Girl of 2019 herself, Princess Diana. Images of her in bike shorts and oversized sweatshirts have taken over the internet as #summeroutfitgoals. Harper’s Bazaar want you to know that if you rock the trend, you are paying homage to her, not Kim K.
And despite my initial, firm, and very certain stance of “I would never,” they started to creep in. Like I said I saw them a lot. And I can’t help it, they started to look cool. I started to see how they could be worn in a sort of casual chic, minimal way rather than a Kardashian way, so I figured I’d give it a try.
And I liked it.
Guys I really, really liked it.
I felt cool. And my worries that I was too old or not toned enough to pull it off flew out the door, because I felt like a babe. And they were really goddamn comfy too.
So yes, I dipped my toe in and the water was fine. I am fully converted to the bike short trend. Does it make me a terrible trend-hopper, or even worse a basic bitch? Sure, maybe. But it’s hard to find clothes that make you look and feel good so I’m just gonna embrace it. Sometimes things take off for a reason.
Also I live in Copenhagen and ride my bike almost daily, so if you find your self getting upset with me, just remind yourself that it’s practicality, not fashion.
(Lies. It’s fashion. I ride my bike in backless mules and kitten heels!)
