Story: Bicycles

Woman cyclist in knickerbockers

Woman cyclist in knickerbockers

Some 19th-century women wore ‘bloomers’ or knickerbockers for cycling – like this woman in Christchurch in 1896. But this attire sometimes attracted abuse from onlookers, as members of the city’s Atalanta Cycle Club found. They decided to revert to skirts in 1893, but later relaxed the rule as people got more accustomed to seeing women in trousers on bikes.

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Christchurch City Libraries
Reference: PhotoCD1, IMG 0062

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How to cite this page:

Jamie Mackay, 'Bicycles - Cycle clubs, advocacy and accidents', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/23435/woman-cyclist-in-knickerbockers (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Jamie Mackay, published 11 Mar 2010, reviewed & revised 27 Sep 2016