Any girls here..? Would you ever wear this?

[human909]

Sorry, this is starting to move off topic a bit, but may still be of use to OP.

Clicked the link, started reading, quit after some paragraphs. Anecdotally, I have never heard of anyone buying Lycra items a size up, that is a weird twist.

Anecdotally, I have met or know plenty of women who are neither 'preternaturally lean' nor 'fictional' and manage to wear Lycra cycling gear stylishly, minus what that writer makes sound like huge amounts of sausaging. All body shapes.

Agreed.

While the asthetics of Lycra remains in the eye of the beholder, I think the author's contention that Lycra makes you look unattractive is just absurd. Ironically she ends the piece with "beware of falling into the vanity trap". Um.. Mam, you've already fallen into it and are simply arguing that you should ignore that you are in the trap!

(Personally I've got no affinity towards wearing cycling specific clothes and largely no need. So much so that a few on this forum describe me as a Lycra hater. Each to their own I say.)

[baabaa]

Hi mj53. Not a girl but have two daughters who bike so..
Without being a wet fish the volume for good quality bike stuff that is made in Australia for Australians is just tiny and you may struggle to get any commercial volumes of raw materials such as fabric and then to ask a processor/ manufacturing factory to make a small number of items in each size to make this a worthwhile exercise. Look at organisations such as Lab Gear / ELEVEN vélo. Well designed and made clothes with a good following but could never make the volumes. The good quality means the item lasts longer and that just not work for retail in the modern fast fashion textile market.

Giro in the usa did quite a few lines of not so spandex type clothing for women who bike, not sure it did that well outside of Europe.
Shimano do the same like https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/apparel- ... lorerWomen
I guess you may know but unless you are very lucky as well as having good line of products and then customers the textile market is one of the most difficult industries to make and keep a viable business from.
Looking at your sketches (they look good to me) maybe look at tops that do yoga, gym and bike not just single use. Could be just most of the group of people I know but few women now bike for fitness, they prefer to keep off the roads and go running.
Oh and lycra is not a thing just a commercial brand. Lots of other very exciting new fabrics are coming into the active wear area to think around if you wish to be doing different stuff.

[Thoglette]

The issue may be in finding the right cut of gear to suit.

Agreed, there's so many more, ah, independent variables in the equation (just observing from my side of the gendered fence).

Somewhere there's an article about the struggles the British Women's Cycling team had in finding gear (and seats) that fit.

Also +1 re: your comment on vendors/ranges disappearing.

[Jmuzz]

Somewhere there's an article about the struggles the British Women's Cycling team had in finding gear (and seats) that fit.

Don't pro teams do custom cut already?
Supposedly it is why they have such perfect fit, every rider on the team has their own custom cut.
It costs no more because the machine doesn't care, it's cutting each piece by its individual file regardless and isn't even aware of a difference.

Is anyone doing custom seats? With the price of seats bespoke would be competitive.
Or does UCI production model rules prohibit that?

[mikesbytes]

I saw a young lady running, holding her phone in her hand listening to music. While there are arm bands that can be used to hold the phone a back pocket would be excellent for this purpose.

Like many young ladies she was wearing figure hugging activewear and it occurred to me that while many would adopt the concept of back pockets they would probably prefer if the pockets were entirely flat to their body when not in use which is a case of material selection and design

[Ross]

Maybe OP could join up to the Facebook group Cycling Fashion Victims (https://www.facebook.com/groups/cyclingfashion/) and discuss with them her proposed cycling outfit designs

[g-boaf]

Somewhere there's an article about the struggles the British Women's Cycling team had in finding gear (and seats) that fit.

Don't pro teams do custom cut already?
Supposedly it is why they have such perfect fit, every rider on the team has their own custom cut.
It costs no more because the machine doesn't care, it's cutting each piece by its individual file regardless and isn't even aware of a difference.

Is anyone doing custom seats? With the price of seats bespoke would be competitive.
Or does UCI production model rules prohibit that?

The pro teams do have custom cuts for some cycling gear. Heck, even us lot can get it to a degree from the likes of Cuore of Switzerland. Assos certainly does so too if you've got the dollars.

Saddles on the other hand I'm not so sure about. But we've seen stems at arbitrary lengths (147mm, 136mm, etc) used by some teams.

[CKinnard]

I'd forget about the nth variation on lycra cycling gear.

I'd suggest you consider the majority of women are overweight and very self conscious about wearing lycra in urbansville.

And consider that on most days in Oz it isn't hot and sweltering.

On that basis, I'd suggest you take a trip up to SE Asia, and study what women cyclists wear up there.....then use that as a theme for Western consumers seeking novelty.

[trailgumby]

If you're worried about razor sharp tanlines being a faux pas when wearing a sleeveless dress, why not go full length sleeves instead?

I'd kill or a decent summer weight jersey with long sleeves. When you get older, and you see the accumulated years of sun damage start to
show their ugly spots, you realise how dumb trying to get a suntan was. (And it's not that many years for many.) 50+ blockout still doesn't compete with fabric.

[CKinnard]

cool

[mikesbytes]

My observation with my regular customers is that overweight females purchase considerably less active wear than females that are not overweight and while all purchase, the market sales demographics are not even with the population demographics.

[fat and old]

My observation with my regular customers is that overweight females purchase considerably less active wear than females that are not overweight and while all purchase, the market sales demographics are not even with the population demographics.

I believe that. The amount of overweight females wearing active gear at the shops is scary.

[Neddysmith]

My observation with my regular customers is that overweight females purchase considerably less active wear than females that are not overweight and while all purchase, the market sales demographics are not even with the population demographics.

I believe that. The amount of overweight females wearing active gear at the shops is scary.

Even ironic.......

[CKinnard]

My observation with my regular customers is that overweight females purchase considerably less active wear than females that are not overweight and while all purchase, the market sales demographics are not even with the population demographics.

I believe that. The amount of overweight females wearing active gear at the shops is scary.

big diff in which shops you go to.
In Brisbane, the number of overweight and poorly dressed women is much lower at Indooroopilly, than at North Lakes, Morayfield, or Logan.

[fat and old]

My observation with my regular customers is that overweight females purchase considerably less active wear than females that are not overweight and while all purchase, the market sales demographics are not even with the population demographics.

I believe that. The amount of overweight females wearing active gear at the shops is scary.

big diff in which shops you go to.
In Brisbane, the number of overweight and poorly dressed women is much lower at Indooroopilly, than at North Lakes, Morayfield, or Logan.

Until the weekend. Then it's a free for all as people move out of their own areas for a day excursion to the "nicer" areas. This goes for men and women alike mind you.

Then there's the Government offices vs the private sector. You don't need any signs to let you know there's a gov. office close by

[CKinnard]

You don't need any signs to let you know there's a gov. office close by

LOL

[donnaeastman]

There would be some girls that would wear that, but for me I'm more concern with my skin. It depends also in our own perspective.

[Koala Adams]

I'm sure there would be a market for short sleeves. Check out Betty Designs and She Beast.
But I'm from North Queensland and prefer the sun protection of short sleeves.