I was fascinated by this book and by what I learned about what we wear on bikes and how women have worked (and still are working) to make it all fit better. So much has changed since the days of bloomers, and yet so much hasn't. Kat Jungnickel's book is a valuable new resource for anyone interested in women riding bikes and how they do it.
Emily Chappell, fastest woman in the 2016 Transcontinental Race, founding member of the Adventure Syndicate, and author of What Goes Around: A London Cycle Courier's Story
Utterly fascinating, beautifully written and a work of supreme scholarship. Much more than an account of an emergent Victorian cycling revolution, this is a social history told through the story of invention, technology, craft and female subjugation. More importantly, this is a book about controlling narratives and the telling of history itself.
Dallas Campbell, BBC presenter, Bang Goes the Theory; author of Ad Astra: An Illustrated Guide to Leaving the Planet
Kat Jungnickel effectively rewrites a traditionally masculine history of bicycles: these women are recast as makers of the world, not just spectators of masculine innovation. Through radical sociology, Bikes and Bloomers breaks new ground for design studies and dress history while also becoming an exemplar of inventive research methodology. A rigorous, enjoyable read!
Timo Rissanen, Assistant Professor of Fashion Design and Sustainability, Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York; author of Zero Waste Fashion Design
This meticulously researched book demonstrates how women hacked their way into cycling culture. Kat Jungnickel opens up new pathways for thinking about and researching the relationships of design, mobilities and women's history.
Guy Julier, Professor of Design, Victoria and Albert Museum and University of Brighton
The story is as extraordinary as the garments themselves.
Jacqueline Banerjee
Times Literary Supplement
At its heart, this is a story of imagination and the freedoms we take for granted: what we wear, where we go and how we get there. It is about the strictures of gender, and the social and historical cost of resisting them. Brimming with hope, it shows us how we might refashion our realities with ignition and grit.
Vonny Leclerc
Spectator
This brilliant book is a wonderful insight into the inventiveness and strength of women at the vanguard of societal changes and these stories – many of which Kat has uncovered for the first time in a century – are truly inspiring.
Laura Laker
Casquette
