What Would Jesus Do?

Follow in the footsteps of the Lord, and ride that bike!

You can find this miracle of a t-shirt at Jesus Skid.

the "it" list?

Everyone's got lists - top ten vacation spots, top ten best albums of all-time, top ten SF restaurants, etc. Each list is subject to the writer's opinions and tastes, and there always seem to be gems that are always overlooked, always left off the list.

That being said, people LOVE lists. Those "Top Ten" shows on television always seem to make the best ratings.

THAT being said, I still don't know what to think of lists. BUT - when Vélo Vogue makes the list of top 50 influential bike blogs, it certainly feels nice to be recognized. Extanz's rating system seems arbitrary to me, though the top two or three blogs logically seem to be in the right place. The rest of his ranking system doesn't make too much sense. Perhaps the list would better be represented by an amorphous blob of great bike blogs around the world.

So, thanks again for including me on your list, Yann.

AND NOW - please vote for Vélo Vogue so we can be included on another list. CBS Local has nominated Vélo Vogue as one of SF Bay's most valuable lifestyle blogs. Here's the link to vote, and please do so early (before Sep. 9) and OFTEN!



Merci beaucoup to all our fabulous readers and RIDE ON!!!

Little Black Backpack

Some things never go out of style.

Come On Aileen

For those of our readers out there on the East Coast of the United States who are waiting for the storm to make land, stay safe! If you haven't done it yet, make sure your bicycles are ready to go! They don't need gas, they don't need good roads and for those places the hardest hit, they could be your only way to get around for a few day. If you can, make sure you have spare tubes and tools to fix minor problems along the way. If you have to evacuate, try to take your bicycles with you so you will have low tech transportation when you get back in.

Good luck and see you on the other side!

Vogue Around The Globe - We're Everywhere

We're not just in Copenhagen and New York. Look all around you. Vélo Vogue is everywhere.


in Boston - Lovely Bicycle!


in Padova - Luca Violetto


in SF - dustinj


in Montreal - Mikael Colville Andersen


in Australia - baudman 


in Amsterdam - Amsterdamize


in London - zbloomz


in Paris - tofz4u


in Santiago de Chile - Claudio Olivares Medina


in Tokyo - persimmonous.jp


in Johannesburg - bicycleportraits

We've invaded every continent!

Do It Yourself

Sometimes you need something strange. One of those things that you are just not going to find ready made at Target. For myself, I found myself needing one of those strange things after Hubby the Bikeman (James) put something very useful and not strange on my Bat- a wheel stabilizer.

The front end of the bike was just so damn wiggly when parked that it was becoming a significant problem. Whenever I parked the bike on the center stand, the front wheel would flop into me and I would get tangled in the handlebars or my hair would get tangled in the brake levers while I was locking up the bike. More than once, this ended up with either me or the bike falling over. The problem with putting a stabilizer on was that my lower tube is very thick and tear shaped so James had to improvise with bits and pieces not meant for this purpose. The stabilizer worked, but the mounting was ugly and it caught on my longer skirts or wider pant legs. Thus the need for the "strange thing".

I needed something to wrap around the spring mount that would cover the metal that was sticking out. It needed to be removable in case we decided to adjust the mount. It had to be able to withstand the rain and sun, it would not be twine*, and it had to be made with stuff I had in the house. Of course, I decided to knit something! The World's First Wheel Stabilizer Cozy!

It was terribly simple- bulky acrylic yarn, a big plastic button and 20 minutes of seed stitch later and I had the "much needed strange thing" in hand. It has been on the Bat for about 6 months and has done exactly what I needed it to. I have not been caught on the mount, or cut myself on it once since I put the cozy on.

It isn't that noticeable on the bike, but it certainly serves quite a purpose. This of course what all "much needed strange things" have in common when we decide to make them for ourselves. What have you made for yourself? Share with the group!

*twine is all and well and good, and lots of people think it is great but I can't stand it most of the time and refuse to have it on any of my bicycles. Sorry if you love twine.

** This article is cross posted at Change Your Life. Ride A Bike!.

Is 7x7 out of touch with The City?

So unless you've been living under that rock, you've probably noticed that "cycle chic" and bicycle fashion have finally eeked its way into mainstream media lately.

You've seen bikes in haute couture magazines. New York Fashion Week is going bike crazy. Models and celebs are out cruising around on bikes, and the paparazzi is watching.

And now, thanks to mainstream media paying attention to the bike fashion movement that we've been committed to for years, we've got some newbies doing their little turn in the bike lane. This is a good thing, people! I am happy!

Somehow I missed this July 22, 2011 article in San Francisco's 7x7 magazine - a lifestyle publication containing all the latest trends in food, fun and style in our magnificently diverse city. Yesterday, my friend Gwen, who has been directing bicycle fashion shows for the Bike Expo and SFBC and designing women's bicycle fashion apparel for years, called it to my attention that it was an article in the New York Times from 2010 - NOT the efforts of homegrown bike fashionistas like Gwen and bike fashion bloggers like myself (among many others) - that inspired and convinced the writer of the article to give the two-wheeled life a try.

Whereas I wholeheartedly applaud writer Janis Cooke Newman's transformation from driver to cyclist, I must ask her, is today's San Francisco bicycle fashion not stylish enough that you must take inspiration from last year's photos of bike gals in Brooklyn? I mean, come on! 7x7 could do a little research and give our city some PROPS! Seriously!

In addition, Newman implies that the different bicycle cliques cannot intermingle. Again, do you and I live in the same city? This is SAN FRANCISCO, where we believe that the diversity of our community enriches our lives! With all due respect, Ms. Newman, it's time for you to truly become one of us.

I would like to personally invite Ms. Newman to 1) join the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and become one of the 11,000+ bike advocates from all different walks of life who - in solidarity with each other - represent the bicycle culture of San Francisco; 2) ride with all of us one Friday at a San Francisco Bike Party, or attend Sunday Streets, so she can see with her own two eyes that the dreadlocked and the coiffed hang out and party together on and off the bike lane; and 3) come to the bike fashion show at the SF Bike Expo in November so she can see the latest trends in bicycle fashion from local SF designers.

San Francisco has been way ahead of the bicycle fashion curve for years. We have the largest bicycle advocacy organization in the country, which includes men and women who bike in the clothes that they wear to work and play every day. That mainstream media sees this as a trend is laughable, and that journalists act like they're doing something that hasn't already been done in San Francisco is somewhat embarrassing.

In any case, congratulations, Newman! You are on your way to becoming a true SF cyclist. And thank you for giving bikes & fashion some printed real-estate in your magazine. Also, if you need any help distinguishing a kitten heel from a platform, look no further - I'm your gal.

;-)

Punctured Bicycle On a Hillside Desolate!

Wednesday brings you Morrissey on a bicycle in this lost 1992 press video of the iconic band from the 80s - The Smiths.

I was at the 1985 Meat Is Murder concert. Brings back memories!

Win or Lose - Together We're Giant

Even though our team has been wrought with injury and disappointment this entire season and brought the Torture to a whole new inconceivable level, the Giants are still our team, and we're riding with them to the very end, wherever it leads us.


What I love about this team and our ballpark is that a whole baseball culture has come about in San Francisco, especially along the Embarcadero before a home game.

You can hop on a pedicab and get a free ride to the park.


Or meet up with friends at the bike valet on McCovey Cove.


Once inside the park, there ain't a bad seat in the house.


And while watching our national pastime, you create memories with friends old and new.




Oh yeah, and our pitching is pretty awesome.


Winning or losing, I will almost never say no to a ballgame and the entire experience the evening brings.




What a long strange trip baseball season is.

Give it up for Mom!

After decades of not riding, and then two partial and THEN two FULL knee replacements, my mom is finally back on a bicycle.


Give it up for Moms!


We went for an inaugural spin around her neighborhood this past weekend on the bike I bought for her almost a year ago, right before her second knee replacement. Since then, it's been sitting idly in her living room or on the deck, kind of like the holy grail. Recently, after a few months of physical therapy, she told me she was ready to get back in the saddle.


My mom was the first person to teach me how to ride, decades ago. She on her blue Schwinn Suburban, me on a yellow Schwinn with banana seat and training wheels. And here we are years later, enjoying a bike ride together.

If you think your mom will never ride a bike with you again, let this video inspire you otherwise. In about two minutes, riding a bike came back easily to my mom, almost as if she had never stopped!


I'm very proud of my mom!

I'm just a busy gal

That I haven't been posting a lot of my own street fashion photography lately doesn't mean that I've given up on that hobby.


It just means that I'm a busy gal with places to go and people to meet.


KT is back on the street [I never left].

Different Bikes for Different Dudes?

Photo Shelly Morris

We know that there are different types of cyclists. The chic, the lycra, the skinny jeans, the bmx boys, and more. Is your type of bike simply an extension of your personality? Admittedly, the francophile that I am, I fell in love (coup de foudre) with Le Rouge et Noir simply because it said "Made In France" on the black mixte frame. But would I be a different kind of rider if I started riding a Dutch bike? A fixie?

Does the man make the bike or the bike make the man?

This insightful article in the UK Guardian asks that very question: Can a different bike make you a different rider? Switching from his typical road bike built for speed to a sturdy European bicycle inspired Peter Walker to also make a fashion change.

Is it Nature vs. Nurture or Sink or Swim?

In my mind, style defies definition because everyone has his or her own unique way of expressing it.

This totally rad video from the Netherlands nullifies the one bike/one style argument. A Dutch boy on a Dutch bike in a business suit, seemingly commutes to work, but boy oh boy, does that boy have some tricks up his sleeve.

I like what I see! ;-)

May we not judge another rider until we have rode a mile in his chamois.

Tour de Fashion - NY Fashion Week

Another example of how art imitates life.


The Fashion Center is outfitting New York City with "Tour de Fashion," a fleet of thirty bicycles customized by the city's top designers just in time for Fashion Week, September 8 - 15.


The bikes, purchased by the Fashion Center from Bowery Lane Bicycles, are handmade in NYC and are being embellished by 30 of New York’s top designers, including Diane von Furstenberg, Betsey Johnson, Isaac Mizrahi, Nicole Miller, Patricia Underwood, Elie Tahari, Nanette Lepore, Rebecca Minkoff, Carlos Falchi, Doo.Ri Chung, Rebecca Taylor, Prabal Gurung and others, making these the most fashionable bikes in town.

Bike Wardrobe Remix: We are not the elite.

We are normal people.

Where did people start getting the idea that bike fashion blogs are dictating what people are supposed to wear on a bicycle?

Au contraire! We here at Vélo Vogue say "Vive La Difference!"

We celebrate the diversity, ingenuity and unique style of each man and woman who chooses to ride a bicycle. This movement began as a revolt of sorts to the "uniform" of the lycra-clad or skinny-jeans + hoodie bicycle crowds (and sometimes we choose to wear those uniforms too - they can be perfect for the right occasion). You really can wear whatever you like on a bike. These images should inspire you that your bike style choices are limitless and are not dictated by haute couture or anyone for that matter.

Without further ado, here is the latest installment of Bike Wardrobe Remix.

Heather & Bo Liles


Vintage dress: Buffalo Exchange
booties: Buffalo Exchange
Jacket: Thrift Town
vintage hat: Husband
bicycle: little Edie

Simply Bike


Cycling at 38 weeks pregnant

The only bike ride I went on this week; an easy 3.2 mile ride to a cafe and home. It didn't feel like too much work but I also didn't feel like pushing much past that distance. Overall, I think I'm ready to be done being a pregnant cyclist. :)

juleskills


July is too Hot Floral Mash-Up

I guess every day I wear a floral print and ride the bike with the floral Basil panniers on will be a floral mash-up. Keds match panniers beautifully!

HOT JULY Morning in Central Park + Biker in the background.

Shades: Wal-mart $3 or $5
Dress: Target
Belt: Came on some Charlotte Russse shorts
Sneakers: Mossimo fake Keds

Stef/Diversions


Flat tire fixed: My bike is back :)

Blog: Diversions

sunnies: claire's
wrap blouse: h&m years ago
brooch: ark
bracelet: primark
cardi: modcloth
jacket: h&m years and years ago
skirt: etsy
carry on: etsy (modified)
heels: office

macdon512


turquoise earrings: Forever 21
dress, belt, shoes: Goodwill
silver cuff: found in my parent's basement

Elizabeth Royal


Schwinnifred and I go jaunting a second time...

Dress: Vintage
Shoes: Vintage
Purse: Vintage
Sunglasses: Pilgrim
Bike: 1960's Schwinn

Read more on her blog.

Lulu Letty


Millicent on the Boardwalk

Mums the Word dress: c/o Ruche
Shift into Neutral heels: c/o ModCloth
Chloe sunglasses: swirl.com

mamichan


snake girl

We went to SooVAC's 10th anniversary Sideshow Soo carnival. I went as snake girl and wore most of my snake print things. My hair ended up different by the end of the night...

all remixed.

dress - vintage, from japan
bracelet - art leather etsy
scarf as belt - thrifted at june resale
sandals - target

And last but not least...

Kasmeneo

2011-05-20 red grey

shirt - Bon Prix
belt - don't remember
pants - H&M
shoes - Tiggers
watch - Tissot
pendant - Celtic Style, design by Roger Stuart Hill, bought on holiday in Scotland

It's inspired by a typical mizket look again, but then I reeaally like the belt-over-shirt thing. Gives the outfit a medieval touch.


P.S. This is KT officially calling Ramona Wheelright back to Vélo Vogue!

Guest Photo: Alicia Oblander

All words and images by Alicia Oblander, a girl on a bike here in San Francisco who has a great photo blog, so check it out.



This is just a fun little side project my boyfriend and I are working on, kinda explains more on my blog. But we're planning to shoot lots of girls and lots of bikes and make a coffee table book of portraits.



I'm just trying to get these pictures out in the world and raise awareness of girls and bikes.



Our first shoot back in April which was in Bernal Heights and around Valencia Street.