The matron and the maid - vintage bicycle

The Belle of Mayfair - c 1905

The Belle of Mayfair

The Belle of Mayfair

Said the maiden to the matron. “If a bicycle I use,

Pray what garments would you counsel me to choose?

Should I have recourse to rationals* whene’er I take a ride,

Or my form in flowing skirts securely hide?

Which should be the mode adopted - pray, my ignorance direct —

The attractive, or the costume circumspect?

Should my nether limbs be negatived, or daintily displayed?”

“Let your measurements decide you!” Said the matron to the maid.

Artful matron! Artless maid!

* The word rationals derived from the rational dress movement dating from the mid to late Victorian period (1850s - 1890s) .The movement's aim was to provide more practical clothes for women than those generally worn at the time. Rational dress was not widely adopted by women and was only worn by a few members of the elite classes. By the mid 1890s more women were wearing trousers for cycling, known as bloomers.

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