Bike Shorts Are Fashion Now (Seriously)
We've come to an entertaining point in the history of cycling apparel: If designer runways and celebrities are to be believed, wearing bike shorts as regular shorts equals fashion now. And I am 100-percent behind this trend.
It’s a look I wore often ten years ago, when I was a 20-something living in New York City. I was commuting around the city and didn’t want to wear dreadful jeans. People still bring up one pair of red bike shorts I wore all the time that rode up into a permanent wedgie. It was a hot look, though! And now fashion designers think so too!
The bike shorts we mostly see celebs wearing around are more fashion over function-the spandex kind that lack a chamois pad-so I wouldn’t recommend riding farther than the club in these shorts, as cute of a look as this is.
It’s not only bike shorts. It’s performance eyewear, too. It was all over the runway at Paris and New York Fashion Weeks. Just last week, one of my friends that works at Condé Nast put on a new pair of Oakleys to go out. “These are so hot right now,” she said. I was like, “Those are bike racing glasses! What are you doing!?”
There is a part of me that feels a bit cheated, like Hey, cyclists did it first, and we got teased for it! I remember carrying around an extra pair of casual sunglasses to put on before and after riding, just to avoid wearing cycling glasses as regular glasses! But mostly, I’m both relieved and entertained that this is cool right now. I already have everything I need to be on trend. It’s my time to shine.
This trend is a facet of "gorpcore," a recent style that can be described as "mountain chic" or "camping glam." It's on the brink of exploding, and is going to make every one of your outdoor adventurer friends seem super fashionable. For the first time in history, Teva sandal tanlines are going to get you into the club! “Patagucci” is just Gucci now-I’m pretty happy I purchased a hot pink Patagonia puffer off the sales rack a few years back. At the time it gave me buyer’s remorse, but soon people are going to be fighting over those like Tickle Me Elmos in 1996.
I think it’s only a matter of time before fashion influencers discover true cycling bibs and start to wear chamois under their clothes to make their butts look bigger. I’m going to really celebrate this moment that sports and fashion became one, and you should too. Wear that brightly colored spandex and GoreTex, and maybe even go full fashion-risk-taker and wear your Poler sleeping bag as a dress. Pair it with your Oakley Jawbreakers to complete the look. Off the bike and straight onto the runway.
Balenciaga, I am available for sponsorship for my next bikepacking trip.
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