Jungnickel - Bikes and Bloomers

2018 Goldsmiths Press

Published in 2018 by Goldsmiths Press

Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross

London SE14 6NW

Printed and bound by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc

Distribution by The MIT Press

Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England

Copyright 2018 Kat Jungnickel

The right of Kat Jungnickel to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and 78 in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and review and certain non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Jungnickel, Katrina, author.

Title: Bikes and bloomers : Victorian women inventors and their extraordinary cycle wear / Kat Jungnickel.

Description: Cambridge, MA : Goldsmiths Press, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017039950 | ISBN 9781906897758 (hardcover : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Women cyclists Clothing Great Britain History 19th century. | Womens clothing Great Britain History 19th century. | Cycling Social aspects Great Britain History 19th century.

Classification: LCC GV1054 .J86 2018 | DDC 646.4/04dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017039950

ISBN 978-1-906897-75-8 (hbk)

ISBN 978-1-906897-78-9 (ebk)

www.gold.ac.uk/goldsmiths-press

To Raylee, my mum, who taught me to sew,

tell stories and be brave in the world.

Most people who have followed the recent discussion of the dress question must have marveled at the rapid change in public opinion. It is only within the last few weeks that we have begun to realize that the time of our emancipation from a dangerous and incongruous riding skirt is at hand.

Of course, there will be a terrible outcry against it, and an attempt will be made to denounce it as immodest, but time will work wonders. Perhaps in time, even it will be understood that women should be judged by their lives and not by distinct dress.

All we can do now is persevere.

Ada Earland

Dress Reform For Women

Bicycling News, 1893

Contents

Acknowledgements

My writings about the past have been greatly inspired by people in the present. This book is for my friends in the vast, warm and wonderful cycling communities I have had the pleasure to be involved with over the past few years. They have supported this project in many ways; from attending events, asking questions and trying on costumes, to carting things around and setting up exhibitions. We have also gone on some great rides. My ideas are richer for their interest and encouragement. To LFGSS, London Bike Kitchen, LBK WAGFEST, Look Mum No Hands, CarryMe Cargo Bikes, The League of Ordinary Riders, YACF and more thank you!

Like all projects of this nature, there are many people formative in its making over the last few years. I use we a lot throughout the following pages, as the research would not have been possible without collaboration. This book is a product of the combined contributions of a collection of people. The core interdisciplinary team included: Rachel Pimm (research assistant) who was involved in almost every aspect of the project; Nadia Constantinou (pattern cutter) who translated our ideas and the patents into block patterns; and Alice Angus (artist) who worked in the studio/office with us, listening, drawing and painting in response to our findings. Alices wonderful illustrations were digitally printed onto silk and sewn into skirts as linings, and are revealed when the garments convert from ordinary dress into extraordinary cycling wear. The linings add yet another layer to these remarkable multi-dimensional storytelling objects. Thanks also go to Guy Hill of Dashing Tweeds who supported the project and to Nikki Pugh, Annette-Carina van der Zaag and Britt Hatzius who helped with research, sewing and the exhibition, Charlotte Barnes who took many of the terrific photos and Lan-Lan Smith and Amanda Windle who appear in costume.

I also want to thank Michaela Benson and Imogen Tyler who reminded me at exactly the right time how social writing should be. To James Fraser, it almost goes without saying but also cannot be said enough, thank you for always being there. Many thanks to Genevieve Bell and Nina Wakeford who continue to encourage my practice and support my work, and to Rachel Aldred for the opportunity to start to explore an interest in Victorian cycle wear during my postdoc. My appreciation also goes to the Economic and Social Research Council and Intel Corporation for initial funding and to Goldsmiths Sociology Department, which is filled with an incredible group of intellectually generous people who support me in doing the kinds of critical and creative research that have inspired this book.

Finally, this project is dedicated to Raylee, my mum. She taught me to sew and showed me that if I could imagine it, I could make it. She instilled in me a love of creating three-dimensional objects sculpted out of material and mess, pins and patterns, time and sometimes blind optimism. After a break of many years, this project reawakened many embodied sewing memories. It was poignant, as it was a time when mum was slowly disappearing through illness. But it is through sewing that she stays with me. I am also greatly moved by and feel an awesome responsibility to the cycle wear inventors in this book. I hope I have done justice to their creative and inventive spirit and commitment to exploring new ways of being in the world.

Overall, this book is what happens when sewing, cycling and sociology collide. It is sometimes worrying to bring all your interests together in a project. As fond as I am of alliteration, I wondered if it might dent my passions. It didnt. In fact the opposite happened. I remembered my love for sewing, made new friends and networks and I now think differently with and through things. I also have a lot more cycle wear in the wardrobe. I wholeheartedly encourage my students to bring their interests to their work. After all, doing what you love can only make life better.

Part I