Attire and riding to work???!!!

[MeanGirl]

Okeedokee then..... all you ladies riding to work. I have a dilemma. What to wear when I start riding to work?

The obvious would be to wear my boots and bring a change of shoes (sandals would not make for a smart shifting tool). What about dress pants and/or a skirt??? Do you wear chaps on top of your dress pants....do you wear jeans and change when you get to work....do you hike up your skirts and wear jeans underneath? If you wear leather chaps over pants do get uncomfortably hot or are there summer chaps I don't know about.

Hummm....something to ponder. So what do the rest of you do? Dear God in Heaven if this isn't the most important question I could EVER post!! Gosh darn if a dude didn't point this out to me.

[neebelung]

I'm lucky in that we can wear jeans/tees at work 99.9% of the time. So for me, I just keep an extra pair of shoes under my desk (or take a pair in my tank bag) so I don't have to clomp around in riding boots all day. There's an empty cubicle next to mine, and it's my "staging" area... I stow my riding jacket, helmet, boots and gloves over there while I'm at work.

I do know of other ladies who commute to work and have more stringent dress codes than I have. They wear mesh or textile overpants over their dress pants, and take extra shoes in their tankbag (or leave them at work). Stick to items that contain a bit of lycra or polyester so they don't get wrinkled under your overpants/riding jacket.

As for skirts, I wouldn't recommend trying to ride in a skirt under ANY circumstances. Either take it to work in a tankbag/saddlebag, or don't wear it at all.

[MeanGirl]

[quote=neebelung]I'm lucky in that we can wear jeans/tees at work 99.9% of the time.

Oh man....you are lucky. I work in a hospital and jeans are NOT in the dress code. I haven't seen any mesh over-pants. Who makes those? Any online dealers? That sounds perfect for summer. I think I need to get a light weight riding jacket as well. All I have is Kawi's leather cruiser jacket and it is heavy!

[neebelung]

Check out the Ladies riding gear from Joe Rocket... there's the Cleo jacket and pants (and they zip together at the back as well). The Cleo jacket is a bit short for me, but I love the pants (plan on getting some soon). The fit/cut is nice and actually has some shape to it. For cooler weather they also have the Ballistic overpants (and a ton of jackets).

Tourmaster also makes the mesh Air Overpant, but since no one around here carries Tourmaster, I've never tried them. (TM also has a great selection of ladies mesh and textile/mesh jackets).

And I believe First Gear also has some mesh overpants (not sure if they have some specific for ladies, or if they're just men's/unisex).

Check www.newenough.com.

[MeanGirl]

Awesome! The Kawi dealer here sells Joe Rocket attire. Hopefully they have the women's line in stock. I'll do an internet search for the other companies you mentioned. That's a big help.

[CRusa]

Well, Intruder, I also ride to work, I wear my jacket, gloves, helmet and boots ALL the time. But when it comes to my pants, I usually just wear the ones I'm gonna use at work, so they are dress pants (I work at one of those ''fancy" Goverment Buildings in DC... so U can imagine the face on people when they find out I ride a motorcycle, and TO WORK at that!!!) Some times if it's too hot I wear a T-Shirt and take my blouse in my backpack and change at work, and I do the same when I want to wear skirts... I'm lucky I have a locker. I also have to apply make-up and do my hair at work, so if I start working at 9 I arrive around 8:15 am... plus it helps to stay away from the extra-crazy 8:30-9:00-am traffic. Aaaggghhh what am I saying? Traffic in DC is always extra-crazy!!!

[MeanGirl]

CRusa,
You bring up another good point....HAIR. Nothing like helmet head all day. I think I'll need to start leaving a brush and some hair-spray in my desk. When I ride I usually do pigtails (or braids). That might look a little odd with my work attire. I've been in DC traffic...more power to you!!!! You are one brave girl. DC traffic on your bike while dressed up.

[CRusa]

Thank you thank you
I have 2 kinds of hair spray, a blow-dryer, a curl iron, a regular iron (for straight hair), a brush, and rolls in my locker... besides the make-up bag, plus I carry all my accesories for the day in my back-pack, and a body lotion... it's all in the name of love for my dear Esmeralda (Kawasaki)!!!!!

[MeanGirl]

Originally Posted by CRusa

Thank you thank you
I have 2 kinds of hair spray, a blow-dryer, a curl iron, a regular iron (for straight hair), a brush, and rolls in my locker... besides the make-up bag, plus I carry all my accesories for the day in my back-pack, and a body lotion... it's all in the name of love for my dear Esmeralda (Kawasaki)!!!!!

HOLY MACARONI!!!! Sounds like a beauty shop! Gosh darn you must have a big locker! Esmeralda had better appreciate your effort. You have me in stitches here!

[jukief]

Originally Posted by IntruderGirl

CRusa,
You bring up another good point....HAIR. Nothing like helmet head all day. I think I'll need to start leaving a brush and some hair-spray in my desk. When I ride I usually do pigtails (or braids). That might look a little odd with my work attire. I've been in DC traffic...more power to you!!!! You are one brave girl. DC traffic on your bike while dressed up.

I have long hair, and I used to have bangs. But the helmet smashed them down and gave me a really bad case of helmet hair. So I grew them out. I put my hair back in a ponytail when I ride, and then put a second rubberband about halfway down the ponytail to keep my hair from blowing around and getting tangled. When I used to ride to work, which was about a 25-minute ride, the ride was just short enough that my hair didn't look too bad when I got to work. But after an all-day ride, it looks pretty smashed. What are you gonna do?

I also worked at one of those companies that didn't have a dress code. But years ago, when I used to commute to work by bicycle and had to be dressed up at work, I took my work clothes and shoes in a backpack and changed in the bathroom (no lockers there). It worked fine.

I miss commuting to work by bike now that I work at home.

[windrider18]

I don't have to dress up for work, so I'm usually in just jeans and a nice shirt. I keep a pair of sandals at work to change into and I generally just either ponytail my hair or put it up in a barrette. My hair ends up being a little flat, but in the humidity, it's flat anyhow

DH has to wear dress pants, shirt and tie and he has no problems when he rides. He just puts chaps over the dress pants and the rest of the gear on and away he goes.

[MeanGirl]

Hi Jukief,
By your picture, your hair looks thick and naturally wavy. I'll be all you have to do is the upside down flip and you probably have supermodel hair. You lucky girl! I've been doing the pigtails frankly because it gives me that "young girl" look. At my age I'll try whatever I have to (46)!

[MeanGirl]

Originally Posted by windrider18

I don't have to dress up for work, so I'm usually in just jeans and a nice shirt. I keep a pair of sandals at work to change into and I generally just either ponytail my hair or put it up in a barrette. My hair ends up being a little flat, but in the humidity, it's flat anyhow

DH has to wear dress pants, shirt and tie and he has no problems when he rides. He just puts chaps over the dress pants and the rest of the gear on and away he goes.

Men have no idea how easy they have it!

[jukief]

Originally Posted by IntruderGirl

Hi Jukief,
By your picture, your hair looks thick and naturally wavy. I'll be all you have to do is the upside down flip and you probably have supermodel hair. You lucky girl! I've been doing the pigtails frankly because it gives me that "young girl" look. At my age I'll try whatever I have to (46)!

I don't even do that much. I just comb it and let it dry by itself. I do the upside down flip if I have to go somewhere right away and don't want to go out of the house with wet hair. (Although I do often go places with wet hair.) I'm SO lazy when it comes to hair and makeup. I do as little as humanly possible. A tiny bit of foundation, a bit of mascara, and I'm out of there. I even started using dye on my eyebrows so I wouldn't have to use eyebrow pencil. LOL I dye them about once every three weeks, and I'm good to go.

That bad thing about the wavy hair is that the helmet flattens the top part around your head, but the bits that are sticking out below the helmet stay curly. It looks kind of odd.

I have a girlfriend who has very short, very thin, fine hair. She actually bought a wig to put on when she took off her helmet. She found out that that didn't work too well, though, (the wig got smashed, too, in the saddlebag) so she ended up just getting a baseball cap to wear. She puts that thing on FAST, as soon as she takes off the helmet. LOL Of course, you can't really wear a baseball cap at work all day, but the wig might work.

Men do have it easy. I'd go completely without makeup but my eyelashes and eyebrows are so pale that I look like a corpse if I don't put at least a little makeup on. I envy those women with long dark lashes!

[MeanGirl]

[quote=jukief] I do as little as humanly possible. A tiny bit of foundation, a bit of mascara, and I'm out of there.QUOTE]

AMEN SISTER! The older I get the less I want to do. I even started wearing the 8-10 hour lipstick so I don't have to touch up through the day. On that note...the 8 hr lipstick is GREAT for long bike rides.

[jukief]

I'm ashamed to admit that I have never worn lipstick in my entire life. Chapstick, yes. Lipstick, no.

See, I told you I was lazy!

[MeanGirl]

Now I'm the oppisite...I'd rather not wear mascara/foundation/blush/etc. but I will ALWAYS have lipstick on. We spend our weekends on our boat. I won't have a stitch of makeup on but I guarantee you I'll have lipstick on.

[jukief]

Isn't it funny how we all have such different habits? My mom has always worn lipstick, and my sister does, too. But somehow I just never got into it. Maybe because I had my children so young, and back then I didn't have time to think about lipstick. And now I"m old and set in my ways.

I haven't owned any blush in years and years. With all the hot flashes I have, the last thing I need is rosier cheeks. LOL

[ervins]

We have business casual at my work...So I wear my gear - leather jacket, ICON Timax pants, boots, etc. When I get to work, I change, brush my hair, etc. Looking good is a must at my work place. On a day when I have a demo or have to go to a customer site, I need to dress sharp so I have to drive my car. I rode a few times to work in business casual with just my jacket, but a bug splattered on my pants one time and that was it. In addition, I felt naked without my riding pants so now I bring change of clothes. I actually keep a spare pair of shoes here at work so I do not have to carry them all the time as well.

[NinjaGirl]

I would gear up and take a change of clothes in my tank bag or at the least leave a pair of shoes at work.
For "helmet head".....I would always carry clips or barretts (can get away with this with my short hair).

Hope this helps.