jersey fashion & age

[Aggie_Ama]

Love the socks! I wear what I want and I do not think it is indicative of my age, I have always just been a "who gives a darn" type. Since I am young, I assume this is something I will carry until old age. My 90 (91 next Monday) year old Mammaw is completely confident, I hope to be her one day. She seems to never look for approval and never has in my life. I was floored to hear straight from her mouth she really struggled to move along when her husband died, she seems so together I figured she just rolled on because life required it.

I do have days where I care what people think but more often than not I care what makes me happy.

[Crankin]

I was very conservative in my dress for a long time. Then, when I started cycling, I became a little wilder in my dress at work, at home, etc. I've moderated a bit, mostly because although I feel young, I am not, and nobody wants to see a 55 year old trying to be 25. I mean, I think that I don't look 55, but I certainly don't look 25, either. This seems to be a bit more acute right now, as I am going to school with people mostly in their 30's, with a good sprinkling of 20 somethings. The other older students look old to me...
I don't wear any "revealing" cycling clothes, but my jerseys do have some wild prints. I have the Terry hula girl jersey and the city girl one, too. Always a good conversation piece. But, I also have solid jerseys. On the other hand, I wear longer shorts because I don't think anyone would want to see me in short shorts.
And Mimi, I have been behind a "see the crack in the ***" person more than once...

[Miranda]

Wow, thx for the number of posts thus far to my question! I appreciate the feedback, and support of "just be and ride happy".

I think it has struck a cord in a couple ways for me...

In terms of my life in general, being 40, I do most certainly care less about what others think (sometimes not at all, as long as it's not purposefully hurtful). I think it comes from experience in living, and knowing how you feel in your heart alone at the end of the day is what matters. To the wind with the rest.

However, with my riding, I have definately made progress, but still feel very unsure and insecure in ways. So maybe that makes me of adolescent age in that respect? I'm breaking away from mom and dad to be independent, but still need some reassurance "is this ok" sorta thing.

As mentioned, there are definately riders who have very strong opinions about fashion and gear for the road on "looks" (regardless of age). I don't really know where that comes from originally?

I think I won't worry about it, and just ride my heart out. If I get ditched by the bike fashion police, I'll have my yellow jersey puppies to keep me company.

[PamNY]

However, with my riding, I have definitely made progress, but still feel very unsure and insecure in ways. So maybe that makes me of adolescent age in that respect? I'm breaking away from mom and dad to be independent, but still need some reassurance "is this ok" sorta thing..

That's a very insightful comment. I have wondered, if I do some club rides, will I HAVE to wear conventional bike clothing? That would annoy me no end, and I'd want to show up in evening dress. (I'm talking about casual riding on a hybrid). Will it be high school redux?

Yes, biking is a whole new activity; it's very public in some cases, and the need to discuss attire/appearance is quite understandable. I think Miranda's original question is perfectly sensible. Bike jerseys are downright peculiar if you aren't used to them.

I do think women in general tend to assume, sometimes wrongly, that questions of this type reflect underlying insecurity. If I mention that I want to paint my bedroom, someone will chime in, "But it looks fine!" Yes, it does; I just want it to be different now. If I mention losing 5 pounds, which for me is fairly easy, someone will say "You're not fat!"

I still don't know if I will ever waltz through Grand Central Station in tights (that's my route to country biking). I suppose time will tell.

Pam

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

My grandmother was a sweet but rather conservative woman, clothing-wise.
Many years ago, my mother would tell me how her mother (my grandma) would always ask her opinion on some outfit just before they were going to go somewhere. Grandma would always say to my mother "Do you think I can get away with this?"...referring to her outfit. She was always impeccably dressed and that's why my mother and I had a good chuckle over the thought of some fashion police arresting my grandmother in the street and dragging her off to the pokey.

Well, years later, Grandma was long gone and my mother was now in her 60's and she started saying the very same thing to me if we were going somewhere together- "Do you think I can get away with this?"- then she'd catch herself and we'd have a good laugh over it and I would say something like "I'll go your bail if you get caught." or something similar.

It was all so silly really, and funny.


PamNY- knowing Grand Central station fairly well, I can assure you that if you wore your biking lycra there you'd be better dressed than half the people there.