How to Bike in a Skirt Without Wearing Shorts Underneath

Today I received an awesome question on my Twitter account:

"Do you have any tips on how to bike in a skirt (other than layering w/shorts)?" -@Twice

The short answer is to sport an A-line skirt, much like this one:

And that's about all I could cover (pun intended) in 140 characters. But there's so much more I want to tell you about biking in skirts.

First of all, you don't need to ride a step-through to bike in a skirt. It's never made any sense to me how the presence of a top-tube could mess with my outfit while riding, but it does make the mount/dismount a tiny bit easier. I don't have a step-through so when I'm getting on I just tilt my bike sideways until I can get a leg over without flashing anyone.

Skirt length is really important if you opt to go shorts-less. Make sure you wear something that hits at just above the knee or longer. Cycling posture tends to lengthen the back of your torso making a mini even shorter.

The weight of your fabric is really important, too. Anything gauzy or flow-y tends to blow back off your thighs in your self-generated breeze. Look for sturdier twill weaves that have a bit of heft.

Full, gathered, or pleated skirts also tend to fly up so look for something without excess fabric in the hips.

On the other hand, the longer the skirt, the thinner the fabric needs to be. Only then can you bike like Hanelli:

“I wear whatever I like,” she says breezily. “In fact, I once tied a knot in the hem of a long summer dress to stop it from flowing into the brake and that worked fine.” -Vogue.com

Pencil skirts are nearly impossible, which probably lead to the bike fashion cliché below, but I'd like to design some sort of convertible skirt using zippers and godets made of stretch fabric.