ABSTRACT
To ride a bicycle is a particular way to show oneself off in public. Due to the inevitable visibility of the cyclist, the ways in which cyclists choose to present themselves come into focus. During the late 1860s, cycling became a popular sporting activity for wealthy young men in France and Great Britain. The fashionable exercise of cycle racing spread first in those countries and from there across Europe and to North America. With a few notable exceptions among female adventurers and circus artists, the high-wheeler had never really been an option for women. In different ways, the bicycle dress poses a problem regardless of which perspective one choses. An inventory of the cycling dresses mentioned in Swedish and Danish ladies’ magazines shows that all magazines published detailed descriptions and sewing patterns for the fashion-conscious female cyclists.
