making safety chic

I have found over the years living in NYC, that the fastest, most reliable, and most pleasant mode of transport is my trusty bicycle. I love cruising around the city. No waiting for subways, fighting for taxi cabs, and the added bonus of scenery and cool breeze on my face.

Despite the new additions of bike lanes around the city, my friends still feel that riding my bike might be a tad dangerous. Personally, I have been absolutely fine, but I think my friends are referring mostly to the fact that I have not been wearing a helmet. Someone stole mine years ago, and I thought it was ugly, so I just let the whole thing slide.

In a recent conversation with a friend who was reprimanding me for riding bare-headed, I realized that 90% of the reason I did so was sheer vanity. Let's face it, bicycle helmets are gross. They are way too big for my head, and the modern aerodynamics are ugly and unnecessary for my jaunts to the west village.

But hey, I'm a stylist. It's my job to solve such dilemmas, and source a good solution. I've been doing some research, and my favorites are in the photo to the left. I love love love the color of the magenta helmet, and the style reminds me of the iconic A-Ha video...all I'd need are goggles and a menacing wrench in my hand to complete the look. I also thought I might turn some heads in the chrome german style helmet, which would be equally bad-ass. But I think I have decided on the white jockey style helmet. I had told my friend that I mostly wanted a helmet that was small and chic, which I think this fits the bill. I really like that it is solid, glossy, and rather small. The visor adds a little flair that makes it slightly less helmety. I then thought it would be great to embellish the edges with brass pyramid studs to make my helmet special.

So far, I haven't found any stores in the city to try it on, so I will have to risk an internet order. I promise to post the results when I have finally achieved the goal: chic head safety gear.