Tweed Ride: What was the inspiration for your outfit?

Swing dancers from the Bees’ Knees ensemble were spinning their petticoats and wheels at the annual Tweed Ride.

Tweed Ride in photos

We asked: What is the inspiration for your outfit today?

Photos by Andrew Bacchus, Interviews by Tammy Thorne

The third annual Tweed Ride Toronto took place last Saturday. Vintage-clad participants rode their bikes across Toronto, stopping mid-ride for “high tea” and ending at the Firkin pub on King for an after party and prize giveaways.

The old school ride is a fundraiser for Bikes Without Borders. The charity donates bikes to empower and provide mobility to developing communities.

dandyhorse magazine was there to spot all the dandies, and we asked:

What was the inspiration for your outfit?

Glen shows off his “Sgian Dubh” – Scottish sock knife (properly worn with kilt.)

Glen Allardyce:

This is my Royal Stuart kilt. My mother is a Stuart and I had it hand made. This sporran is my fathers from 1953. The jacket is from Lawrie’s of Glasgow and it is in the Robert Burns check which is also a tartan. I’m wearing a Fair Isle sweater and a Tattersall shirt. This is a tweed bow tie and tweed pocket square from Fine and Dandy in New York.

My tea cup is in a holster that was custom made in the States for this 100-year-old tea cup. He molds each one to the cup so I had to ship him the tea cup and the saucer … and I was a bit reticent to do that.

[Note: Glen was voted 'dandiest' male dresser two years ago at tweed and he was graphic designer for the Tweed Rally last year-there was no official Tweed Ride due to sponsorship issues so a more grassroots 'rally' was held instead.]

Glen in his dashing and dandy Tweed ensemble.

Custom-made tea cup holster.

Thea Vincent and son Nesta pose with their Roadside Repair Service vehicle.

Thea: This is our third time at the Tweed Ride but first time doing repairs. Our outfits are special for today as we wanted to be the matching mechanics.

Nesta: Wish I’d thought of this earlier! If anyone needs air, we got you covered.

…

The repair kit box on the Roadside Service trike is up-cycled from an old box spring frame.

Yes, those are pink moustachio’d socks!

Cole Cioran and Georgette Peters

Cole: The roadside repair already helped me out! And these garters help to keep my pants out of my bike chain.

Georgette: I though the socks would suit the day.

Nancy Bieman:

I’m kind of into Steampunk so today I am playing an Austro-Hungarian spy and she has to have a summer outfit. My name is Ivanna Bebad, in this world. I’m also a cartoonist. This [cat purse] is an homage to my dead cat.

My bike is a 42-year-old Raleigh TWENTY. I was looking for a folding bike to take into Toronto. I live in Burlington and need to commute by train. This is the same quality as a Brompton and is all original except for the brakes, the saddle and the pedals. It does fit in the trunk of the car or in the back seat and it’s legal on the sidewalk.

Steve Sandford:

My wife Thea’s company Brazen Razor made the product that is keeping my moustache up in this “handlebar” fashion. I made my own (leather) suspenders. I needed something tweed, and I knew it was going to be hot today, and so the dear stalker hat is a classic and the goggles are kind of looped in. I’m going for the sporting look. One of the things I’ve heard is that events like the Tweed Ride in the UK are held to replace the fox hunt for some people. It’s a sporting event… and hunting foxes is cruel and unusual… so people in the UK have turned to cycling instead.

Thomas and Genny:

Genny: Look! Our Pashley bikes match. It’s fun to get dressed up for the Tweed Ride.

Thomas: Yes, these are “every day” bikes but, you can never have too many bikes.

Sam Yeo:

I was inspired by the bicycle corps and gave it a modern twist. The plaid helmet I ordered from Bikes On Wheels in Kensington Market as I’m a regular customer and I like to order things that are not stocked. My bike was originally a Linus bike but I modified it with custom parts.

Ann Margaret Oberst:

The idea of tweed inspired me.

Geoff, Bryan, Mandi, Joanna and Kevin were in fine form at the Tweed Ride.

Mandi:

We’re here representing Bees’ Knees swing dancers, We have a free workshop Sunday, Sept. 28.

I’m surprised that not all of the people here today are not already swing dancers. It’s a dance for real people. This is actually a real helmet that I ordered. I have an vintage hat collection but I wanted to be safe while riding my bike, so I ordered this from BandBox helmets. Bryan ordered one too.

Geoff and I just got this tandem recently and had it fixed up.