For years Austin has been the home of many cyclists whether they be hipsters on the East side with their fixed gears, girls with bike baskets riding around UT campus, or the Lance Armstrong lookalikes in the Northwest hills. Our city has claimed to be “bike friendly” for quite some time now, but, with the growing amount of traffic combined with an increase in cyclist deaths, it lately has felt like Austin has some major room for change regarding its “bike friendly” nature. This past weekend was an attempt to bring together the bike community with activities such as “Bike to Work Day” and especially “Vivia Streets!“, a worldwide event that up until last weekend Austin had never been a part of. And smack dab in the middle of the bike events, was Austin’s first ever Fash Bash! This bicycle fashion show was put on by BikeBot and BikeyMeLikey to encourage growth of the cycling community and raise funds for The 1 Love Tour.
With a $20 cover ($25 at the door) to get into the show, I wasn’t sure what the crowd would be like at a cycling themed fashion show on the East side of Austin. Seeing as Austinites expect everything to be free, I wasn’t surprised that when I walked into the event there were 3 people at the entrance frozen and bewildered at the fact that they had to pay $75 to get in. But with an abundance of free whiskey and beer combined with hot girls riding bikes in mini skirts, it seemed worth it. There was a decent crowd, and it was a different one than I’m used to seeing at fashion shows in Austin. This was a fashion show that was a little less about the fashion and a lot more about the concept. That’s not to say that the fashion was bad. The wardrobes provided by local boutique SoLa and local brand Psychlist were of course bike friendly and very Austin appropriate. Although, I don’t think you will ever see me riding around in heels and a mini skirt. But then again I’m also terrified of riding a bike on the street at all…
Check out our photos of the first ever Fash Bash:
