non male il tatuaggio...
Style on the move
Minneapolis Star Tribune, November 3, 2004
By Claude Peck
http://www.startribune.com/stories/389/5058864.html
Araby Williams, 26, favors black outfits, to match her fingernail
polish and punkish affect. Ebullient Tim Hayes, 23, is more colorful,
in camo shorts, a flaming red helmet and blue-tinted wraparound Spy
shades. Soft-spoken Matt Allen, 23, boasts vintage bike shoes and a
prized shoulder bag he won in the annual Twin Cities bike-race-bar-hop
called the Stupor Bowl.
Bike messengers in Minneapolis, those fixed-gear phantoms who tear down
Marquette Avenue and disappear into skyscraper lobbies, are fast-moving
fashionistas whose runways are city streets. Their style draws from
punk, bike culture, thrift stores, practical necessity and tribal
flair.
"Most of the way we look is for utility, but it definitely comes across
as a certain look," Williams said. "We get a laugh when we see
non-messengers emulating our style."
Williams was sitting in the front window of the Dunn Bros. coffee shop
on Nicollet Mall, a popular hangout for many of the downtown
messengers. Their stripped-down, fixed-gear bikes, or "fixies," lean
against trees and posts out front, locked only to themselves. Though
employed by different courier companies, the messengers usually sit
together, a few goldfinches in a flock of sparrows. They swap stories,
rib each other and work crossword puzzles while awaiting their next
call.
"The messenger community is pretty tight," Hayes said. "You can go
around the country and always have a couch to sleep on."
Despite differences ranging from preppy to punk, the messengers share a
look that identifies them just as surely as the Target executives,
instrument-toting Minnesota Orchestra players and WCCO-TV camera crew
members who also frequent the cafe, which often fills with the
burnt-coffee smell of an on-site bean roaster.
Allen, who rides for Blazing Saddles, said that messengers elsewhere in
the country tend to wear more bike-specific clothing. "The Minneapolis
messengers look a little less 'technical' than in other cities, and a
little more thrift store-y," he said.
Messenger style is born of necessity. Stiff-soled biking shoes are
popular, though some messengers wear sneakers. The bike shoes, with or
without pedal clips, distribute leg power more evenly to the pedal.
The spandex bikewear of the weekend warrior is worn by some of the
messengers, but they favor black over bright, and hide their spandex
under long, baggy shorts or pants with cuffs rolled high to avoid chain
grease. On the upper body, layers help control body temperatures
between cool outdoors and heated buildings, while bright colors help
riders to be seen by motorists and pedestrians stupid enough to get in
their way.
Bike-lock keys often are worn singly on telephone-cord bracelets or
slung from carabiners to speed the repetitive locking and unlocking of
bicycles.
Common to all messengers -- and widely adopted by the rest of us -- is
the cargo bag. The big waterproof bags (popular brands include Timbuk2,
Dank, Reload and Baileyworks) are worn high on the back, with a wide
padded strap across the chest that has a ring or buckle for quick
release. Most of the messengers have their phone or walkie-talkie
clipped to the strap, and a smaller strap under the armpit to hold the
bag and its contents (legal documents, architectural renderings,
contracts, burritos) tight against them.
Hayes is proud of the blaze-orange Dank bag -- handmade in Seattle,
with an appliquéd Grim Reaper on the flap -- that he won in a Chicago
bike race.
Headgear includes wraparound shades, baseball caps and the smaller
bicyclists' caps (Hayes prizes his orange one with the insignia of a
Spanish Tour de France racing team), knit caps, tighter-fitting helmet
liners in black polypropylene, earrings. A few messengers wear bike
helmets, though just one messenger company requires them of its riders.
Damien Tank, 22, has ridden for Benco since May, and also plays in a
band, the Skinnys, with another bike messenger. His look is "all about
practicality." He resembles a university student, in baggy cords, wool
socks, sneakers and a ball cap. But even his low-key look shows
glimpses of messenger style: new high-tech biking gloves and a Crumpler
shoulder bag. In an adaptation worthy of the cult movie "Grey Gardens,"
Tank fashioned a no-flap scarf by ripping the top off a maroon knit cap
and pulling what was left down over his head as a neck warmer. By all
means, do try this at home.
