Sunday Style 08/02/09

The other day at the bookstore I treated myself to a French magazine. They can be pricey but always provide a different angle on style and fashion as well as a new vocabulary word or two.

My faves are the Elle family, especially Elle à Table, but today’s selection was Marie Claire Ideés. It had a bicycle on the cover — no contest.

This magazine, which has no American equivalent as far as I know (maybe one of Martha Stewart’s line?), is full of beautiful photos of craft projects, theme parties, fashions, etc., and then contains instructions for doing them yourself at the back.

Unfortunately, the only bike project they had instructions for was a saddle cover — but the inside spread provided a lot of inspiration for customizing your bicycle.

Ma petite reine!

Sorry for the crappy photos — I don’t have a scanner. But this adorable bike had been custom painted with polka dots.

This “Vélo de nuit” page featured a black and yellow bike with matching accessories. Some of the ideas are breathtakingly simple (fastening those glow-in-the-dark ceiling stars to a black wire basket, for example) but effective. The pump and helmet are decorated with stickers, and the seat has been painted with some sort of special metalic paint. The box is a recycled plastic container that has been painted in a checkerboard pattern — guess it’s supposed to go on the rear rack?

Starry starry bike

Again, the ideas on this “Vélo fleurie” page are simple: cover your seat with a flowered fabric. Paint your helmet and attach flowers to it (the caption says this makes it more like a hat than a helmet — I am itching to do this with my sporty summer helmet). Put plastic flowers in your spokes. Paint and decorate your bell and a basket (to carry the obligatory baguette).

Flowers and bikes are a natural combination

Where do you find bicycle inspiration? And do any of these ideas appeal to you?