We live in an era where style matters more than ever. On Charlie Gandy’s recommendation I’m currently reading the entertaining best seller “The Substance of Style” by Virginia Postrel. If you need to get the word out about your bike minded service, product or advocacy I highly recommend you read it. In the book Postrel notes that “sensory appeals are becoming ever more prominent in our culture” and “in a crowded marketplace aesthetics is often the only way to make a product stand out.”

Bikes and bike riding are “in” right now and I say we strike while the iron is hot. Let’s take the ball and run with it. Let’s move into a new era of bicycle advocacy and learn from the masters and see how fun and alluring we can get.

On that note September’s Vanity Fair magazine (both print and online) features a fascinating array of photos from the upcoming book  “Cyclepedia: A Century of Iconic Bicycle Design” by Michael Embacher and photographer Bernhard Angerer.

Consider yourself a fine bike/pedestrian related photographer in your own right? The Alliance for Biking & Walking just launched the “2011 People Powered Movement Contest” with more than $8,000.00 in prizes to give away. I wonder if our own Allan Crawford knows about this…

On the apparel front a recent treehugger.com article (as well as a variety of trend reports) noted that Levi’s has a new style of jeans coming out focused at cyclists. As thrilled as I am about the new Levi’s, I have to agree with Alexis Lantz of the LACBC – where are the bike focused jeans for the ladies? Hello? The Gap is apparently moving some of its creative staff to an office in downtown Los Angeles to be more connected with the “street” vibe. Might some lean and mean fixie riders show up in some of their next campaigns? Stay tuned to find out.