Hybrid, Grayslake Heritage Center Community Room and Facebook Live
Tune in or join us in person on September 28th at 7 PM for a hybrid lecture about women’s fashion, bicycling, and the New Woman movement that stemmed from it. The rise of the “cycling craze” in the late nineteenth century transformed not only women’s leisure and mobility but also their fashions. Symbolizing a new understanding of femininity, the cycling woman represented the new demand for political rights as well as women's new status in the public sphere. This talk explores how the rise of the New Woman, the bicycle, and dress reform shaped ideas concerning women’s rights and movements, as well as the ways in which liberating ideas regarding cycling attire translated into everyday wear and politics.