Guys and gals don dresses for annual ride

Good times, pretty dresses, nice legs. Participants in the annual Pretty Dress Ride pose in their Sunday best.
(Photos by Brad Reber)

Continuing a proud Portland tradition, a fun-loving group of folks got together on Sunday for the Pretty Dress Ride. The ride was founded by local artist and bike-funnist Carye Bye, who created the ride with one simple rule — show up in a dress.

Lauren Pedersen and Lilian Karabaic
enjoying the sunny day.

That’s not too big of a deal, but it applies to guys too!

According to Brad Reber (who did the ride, wore a dress, and shot some great photos), about 20-30 people showed up to take part.

Brad said they rode from Ladd Circle, down toward the Ross Island Bridge, and then back via the Esplanade before settling down at Terry Schrunk Plaza for a picnic.

I asked him if the manly legs under those flowerly dresses got any curious looks from passersby. He said:

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“One bit I found amusing was the people sitting outside OMSI barely even looked up as the first several riders went by (all girls). It wasn’t until about a third of the way into the procession that they had to do a double take to see that there were men in dresses too. That got them laughing a bit.”

Check out more great photos from Brad on his Flickr photoset.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, contact me via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a paying subscriber.

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Geoff
Geoff
15 years ago

It looks like it was fabulous ride!
I’m kicking myself in the pant(ies) for not going.
Thanks to all the guys for representing confidence and open-mindedness.

Portland,
I love you.

April
April
15 years ago

I’m sorry I missed it due to illness. I totally had an awesome outfit planned. Damn.

Ben Foote
15 years ago

I look fat in that photo.

P Finn
15 years ago

It seems appropriate to quote Monty Python here:

“People are not wearing enough hats”

Spencer Boomhower
Spencer Boomhower
15 years ago

SUVs (and everyone else!) must yield the right-of-way to pretty dresses: http://tinyurl.com/dzvbjj

Brad Reber
Brad Reber
15 years ago

Ben, don’t be silly. The camera adds 10 pounds. You’re lovely.

Ben Foote
15 years ago

No Brad, *you’re lovely*

(I’d blame it on the dress but the person who lent it to me didn’t appreciate my other dress comments)

Donna
Donna
15 years ago

So sad I had to work.

Carice
Carice
15 years ago

So, how did you guys solve the age old “skirts blow up in the wind” problem?

carye bye
carye bye
15 years ago
mle
mle
15 years ago

my solution to “skirts blow up in the wind” = fabulous underwear

big petticoats help keep things under wraps when skirts go flying.

I’ve found long skirts tend to stay down better if you let a bit of fabric hang between your knees

and riding at a moderate, and not fast pace helps keep the skirt catching wind down.

I love tennis skirts for their built in shorts/liners.

Brad Reber
Brad Reber
15 years ago

Carice, we didn’t so much “solve” the problem, we just rode with absolutely no modesty or sense of common decency. At the time I thought it was curious that mothers would race to their children and cover their eyes while men would shake their fists angrily at us. I figured they just hated us because we were beautiful but now you’ve got me thinking it was something else.

If only we’d had mle’s sage advice before the ride…

April
April
15 years ago

Carice, I just make sure I’m wearing nice underwear.

Also, somehow wearing petticoats, or anything underneath other than tights, seems to help.

But as a general rule, skirts don’t ride up enough to be indecent, they ride up just enough to be flirtatious. Yet another reason to be a fan of cute over-the-knee socks, I suppose.

Paul Tay
15 years ago

Big floppy, really busy, flowery skirts work best on bikes. It’s actually a safety item that makes even the crankiest cager break out in uncontrollable laughter.

And, from personal experience, DON’T forget to velcro a BIG wig onto the helmet. Kills EVERY time!

Robert
Robert
14 years ago

Guys if you want to stop having your dresses or skirts from blowing up in the wind, try wearing what I do…SKORTS.
skorts are full skirts with shorts built into them. I have 6 of them in typical male colors–navy blue, black and khaki or tan. I wear them all of the time in spring, summer and fall. Winters here in Northeast Ohio are to harsh for either skirts or skorts. They are extremely comfortable.