WARNING

The following scenes may cause distress to those who pine for Dutch-style bikes but can't afford $500 for new wheels, even if an awesome company in Melbourne is now making them locally.
Oh Papillionaire. You're breaking my heart with your hott, hott bikes. At least on your website I can spend endless procrastinatory minutes of my workday fantasising about the different paint jobs and leather trimmings and wicker baskets I would customise you with. Oh, your swoopy step-through frame, your chain-guards and handlebars like a delicate hipster's moustache...

And speaking of hipster facial hair... How utterly fabulous is this? Are you sitting down? OK.

The Seersucker Social from ReadysetDC on Vimeo.

There's a group outta DC called "Dandies and Qaintrelles", and while you may have heard of tweed rides (where bike geeks get gussied up in their best houndstooth and hunting caps), this weekend just passed they organised a "seersucker social". Think straw boaters, suspenders, floaty floral dresses, pearls, and loads of seersucker. Add bikes, a lack of laws requiring the wearing of helmets, and many good-looking young hipsters; serve over endless emerald lawns on a sultry afternoon, and garnish with mint like a classic southern cocktail. Delicious. We need to organise one here for spring!

PS: Quaintrelle may be my new favourite word.

"A quaintrelle is a woman who emphasizes a life of passion expressed through personal style, leisurely pastimes, charm, and cultivation of life’s pleasures..."