Early English cyclists, what they wore

Brian Boru

Brian Boru

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In the 1880s tricycles were popular although expensive and were mainly used by older men and women of all ages while younger men rode high-wheel bicycles ('ordinaries') that were later referred to as 'pennyfarthings'.
The female fashion and social conventions of the time precluded women from riding anything other than tricycles.

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Not surprisingly the most radical changes, partly due to the rising popularity of cycling, from the 1890s on, were in what women wore when cycling. While men could still be seen wearing the Norfolk jacket with knickerbocker trousers and long stockings (see left in the first post) well into the 20th C. women began adopting what was known as 'rational' cycling attire, from the radical bloomers to the more popular divided skirt of the late 19th & early 20th centuries.

I can best illustrate the progression from this British cigarette card album published in 1939.

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The development of the 'safety bicycle' in the 1890s as shown to the right on the front cover was crucial in making machines more accessible in terms of cost and comfort, particularly for women.
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A couple of familiar names are prominent among advertisers in British cycling literature of the late Victorian and Edwardian periods.

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Advertisement from a British Library reprint of a cycling book 1888. At this time the supposed medical benefits of wearing wool, especially when engaged in vigorous exercise, were heavily endorsed by all cycling writers. Wool was said to be more porous than other materials like cotton or linen and thus allowed body vapours to exit rather than be funnelled up to the neck where they were more likely to be inhaled.

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An advertisement for Jaeger (note they've dropped the 'Dr.') in Health's Highway by R. J. Mecredy (1909), an advocate of outdoor living, camping, cycling and driving in open-top cars. Mecredy was a prominent early Irish cyclist and publisher who certainly practiced what he preached.
Richard J. Mecredy - Wikipedia

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Burberry before they became synonymous with the trench coat worn by British Army officers in WWI. Also from Health's Highway.
 
Finally (I promise) I had to include this photo, not of a British lady cyclist, but an American.


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"The author, in blouse and divided skirt, dismounts from her bicycle to chat with the best-dressed girl in the village of Rasinari, in Transylvania. Fine black wool aprons , one worn in front and the other in back, are beautifully embroidered in black and gold, with the same motif appearing on the black velvet jacket. Bits of gold also enliven the black embroidery on the sleeves. The only other touch of color is the grosgrain ribbon around the waist in red, yellow and blue, the Romanian national colors."

The author was Dorothy Hosmer and the article titled 'An American Girl Cycles Across Romania' had appeared in the November 1938 issue of National Geographic Magazine. Dorothy had already cycled alone across Poland to the Romanian border a journey which she chronicled in 'Pedaling Through Poland' in the June 1939 issue. Two more of her articles appeared in 1940 & 41. She was one of the first females to write and photograph for National Geographic.
 
Bought this today in a local market and had to share it in this thread.

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An original Vanity Fair magazine fold-out supplement print (June 1896) titled 'Cycling in Hyde Park' Among the ladies are L-R The Marchioness of Londonderry, The Countess of Minto, Lady William Nevill, Lady Alexander Kennedy, Lady Norreys and The Countess Cairns.
Obviously not your average Victorian London ladies cycling group. :)
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The explanatory page.
 
This was published by Vanity Fair a year latter in June 1897.

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'Au Bois du Boulogne' Les Parisiennes a vélo including a couple of princesses & countesses.
Illustration supplied by a fellow collector of early cycling printed material who lives in the U.S.
 
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