Illadora Mindy Skirt
Most fashion forward female cyclists know that there will be times when they will want to wear something other than jeans, maybe there's a gallery opening or a date with their beau to a nice restaurant. Some will feel they'll have to break down and hop in their car for a night on the town, but as we see the commuter cycling community grow, we find companies that are more geared to the dressy side of this fashion. With companies like Outlier, Iva Jean, Vulpine and Vespertine focusing on good looking, well-made clothing for women, we found a new company, Iladora, based out of San Francisco is focused on producing female specific cycling line. So for the next two weeks, The Spindle will be featuring Iladora's whole line of commuter apparel. For this week, we had our Spindlera, Caroline Templeman, rock through The Mindy Skirt:
#bikebeautiful – I couldn’t agree more with Iladora and what a great inspiration for a women’s clothing line. I am all about skirts in the summertime on or off the bike so when I came across The Mindy Skirt, I was super excited. I love the color and slim fit, it is flattering, stylish and easy to wear with many different tops and shoes. The fabric has a great four way stretch so you are never limited in movement and keeps its form well after hours of riding.
The skirt has a longer length and a drop-tail for coverage in the back so all your unmentionables are safe from public viewing. I am 5’9”, so I don’t mind the longer length of the skirt but I can see some shorter women having a hard time fitting this skirt without hemming it shorter which can’t be easy with the special contoured hem. The fabric is a synthetic blend so it naturally has a slight water resistant character, so don’t worry if you are caught in a rain shower.
Other features include, a hidden zipper pocket, which is nice to have but you realistically couldn’t keep much in it because the location is right at the hip where your leg bends to pedal. The invisible side zipper is nice but has an extra interior button on a flap of fabric which, in my opinion, isn’t necessary and adds a bit too much extra fabric at the waist. The skirt sports a high waist, with an even higher rise feature in the back. While I appreciate the function of this feature, I also find this the downfall of the skirt. The waist has so much material and is so high-waisted that it isn’t flattering to wear a shirt that is not tucked it. In my opinion, the rise in the back is just too high, loosing style and making it down right hot in the summer time, but would fare well for the fall/winter/early spring months.
The skirt also tends to ride up pretty easily when off the bike so I find myself pulling down on the skirt often to readjust. Overall, I like the color, fabric and fit of the skirt with the exception of the waist. I can see the skirt holding up well to lots of use and washing, making it a good, affordable purchase for the style conscience bike rider.
