The Chainlink

Chic Cyclists- I want to take your picture

Hello Fellow Cyclists,

I am working on a small project photographing stylish cyclists, and I want to photograph you with your bike (outside somewhere).  I have a few rules:

1.  No active wear, you should be wearing work clothes or going out clothes.  (unless you can make a case for a particularly nice looking "functional" outfit)

2.  I want all kinds of bikers but prefer women and commuters. 

3.  Look cute and dress up a little!

Send me your email and a photo (if you want) and I will contact you with a time slot.  You can have a hi-res digital copy of the photo. 

~thanks
martha williams

mafaw1@gmail.com

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Permalink Reply by Dr. Doom on October 19, 2010 at 10:30pm
Am I the only person (no offense to chic people) who finds "cycling chic" to be ridiculous? Seems to have started with some dude in Copenhagen blogging about fashionable Copenhagen people tooling around—but of course Copenhagen, strictly defined, is a third the size of Madison, so ladies are free to wear heels, not being inconvenienced by having to, like, ride their bikes moderate distances to get to work and such. For my part I find anything that keeps someone on a bike in Chicago in February, or allows someone to ride in busy traffic safely, to be stylish. In any event, the people of Latveria are encouraged to ride bicycles to work at Doombot factories wearing whatever they'd like.
Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on October 19, 2010 at 10:48pm
No. But don't be caught dead on a bike that doesn't match your clothes.

Dr. Doom said:
Am I the only person (no offense to chic people) who finds "cycling chic" to be ridiculous?
Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on October 19, 2010 at 10:54pm
Until I saw Ryan's response, my answer was going to be an emphatic "Yes." Now that I've seen Ryan's response, my answer is a qualified "Yes."


Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:
No. But don't be caught dead on a bike that doesn't match your clothes.

Dr. Doom said:
Am I the only person (no offense to chic people) who finds "cycling chic" to be ridiculous?
Permalink Reply by Spencer "Thunderball" Thayer! on October 20, 2010 at 9:24am
If you need a hipster who can match his outfit to his bike, I'll do it.

PS. My bike is awesome.
Permalink Reply by Martha Williams on October 20, 2010 at 6:26pm
Hi All,

If you would like to start a thread debating the "Chic Cycle" aesthetic please start your own thread. This is a thread about me (martha) looking for people to photograph. Thank you kindly


Dr. Doom said:
Am I the only person (no offense to chic people) who finds "cycling chic" to be ridiculous? Seems to have started with some dude in Copenhagen blogging about fashionable Copenhagen people tooling around—but of course Copenhagen, strictly defined, is a third the size of Madison, so ladies are free to wear heels, not being inconvenienced by having to, like, ride their bikes moderate distances to get to work and such. For my part I find anything that keeps someone on a bike in Chicago in February, or allows someone to ride in busy traffic safely, to be stylish. In any event, the people of Latveria are encouraged to ride bicycles to work at Doombot factories wearing whatever they'd like.
Permalink Reply by Martha Williams on October 20, 2010 at 6:27pm
Love it!


Fred Noinaj said:


all of these people.
Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on October 20, 2010 at 8:48pm
WOW! You're new here, aren't you? Heh-heh-heh...


Martha Williams said:
Hi All,

If you would like to start a thread debating the "Chic Cycle" aesthetic please start your own thread. This is a thread about me (martha) looking for people to photograph. Thank you kindly


Permalink Reply by Dr. Doom on October 20, 2010 at 10:10pm
Well I don't mean to be rude, but if you're just looking for people to photograph and don't want to be bothered with backtalk you should probably take out an advertisement. Posting on a discussion forum tends to lead to... discussion.

There are two problems with the "cycle chic aesthetic." The first is that it assumes that what works in one culture works equally well in another, which isn't always true. Chicago, for example, is neither the size of a postage stamp nor a town that rarely sees temperatures much below 30 degrees. Thus practical cyclists here don't dress as they do elsewhere. The second, and more important, is that it purports to make cycling friendlier and more practical by offering the possibility of doing normal things in fabulous clothes while doing exactly the opposite. Cycling in heels and fedoras is simply not practical in Chicago for anything other than neighborhood jaunts or parades (not that there's anything wrong with either), and people who insist on doing so are cutting themselves off from a lot of what makes riding a bicycle fun and useful. "Cycle chic" is, essentially, a fetish.

What I'm suggesting is that there might be something to a notion of "cycle chic" that actually fits with life as cyclists live it in Chicago—something a bit less sexy, perhaps, than is on offer in certain European cities, but something that is at least our own. So sorry to be of any offense, but there really are places to take out advertisements and some of them don't even cost any money.
Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on October 20, 2010 at 10:29pm
Also consider that annoying chatty posts bounce your thread to the top.
If you'd rather it sink to page two and beyond you can always close it.
Permalink Reply by spacemodular on October 21, 2010 at 8:09am
Notice T.C. distancing himself from the crowd...

I like the picture that you took of me when I used to work for Time Out Chicago. I can't locate my copy, but feel free to repost it if you have it still.

Cycle chic can be ridiculous, but it can also be fun.

Nick





Martha Williams said:
Love it!


Fred Noinaj said:


all of these people.
Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on October 21, 2010 at 8:38am
Notice T.C. distancing himself from the crowd..

My read on what's going on in this photo is that the guy in the white dinner jacket is generating a lot of heat and the others are backing away to keep from getting burned . . . some sort of weird superpower maybe.
Permalink Reply by Duppie on October 21, 2010 at 9:03am
Having lived in the cycling chic's heaven (Netherlands) for nearly 30 years, I can attest that cycling chic even over there is a niche. What I (and everyone I knew) did was simply ride in their daily clothes. I wouldn't call sneakers and jeans cycling chic

Dr. Doom is right in that what might work over in Europe may not work here. Instead of trying to find those few people who attempt to copy this style in Chicago, why not focus on the US version of cycling chic: Hipsters. Regardless of your opinion about them, they often have a clear sense of style and are more closely aligned with US clothing trends, which tend to be more informal than clothing trends in Europe.

Lorena's picture is a prime example of what I mean. There is no way that can be called cycling chic (in the European definition of the word) but she has an absolutely crazy amount of style.

Dr. Doom said:
Well I don't mean to be rude, but if you're just looking for people to photograph and don't want to be bothered with backtalk you should probably take out an advertisement. Posting on a discussion forum tends to lead to... discussion.

There are two problems with the "cycle chic aesthetic." The first is that it assumes that what works in one culture works equally well in another, which isn't always true. Chicago, for example, is neither the size of a postage stamp nor a town that rarely sees temperatures much below 30 degrees. Thus practical cyclists here don't dress as they do elsewhere. The second, and more important, is that it purports to make cycling friendlier and more practical by offering the possibility of doing normal things in fabulous clothes while doing exactly the opposite. Cycling in heels and fedoras is simply not practical in Chicago for anything other than neighborhood jaunts or parades (not that there's anything wrong with either), and people who insist on doing so are cutting themselves off from a lot of what makes riding a bicycle fun and useful. "Cycle chic" is, essentially, a fetish.

What I'm suggesting is that there might be something to a notion of "cycle chic" that actually fits with life as cyclists live it in Chicago—something a bit less sexy, perhaps, than is on offer in certain European cities, but something that is at least our own. So sorry to be of any offense, but there really are places to take out advertisements and some of them don't even cost any money.

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