How to wear… Jerseys
Le Col’s Yanto Barker provides style salvation for the item of clothing at the heart of every outfit
I’ve talked enough by this point about accessories, about finishing touches, about peripheries. Your accents and appendages should have been en flique for a while now. Now it’s time to get down to business, time for some definitive guidance on the most important part of every outfit – your jersey.
As the most storied of any item of cycle clothing it seems right to start by talking a bit about the history of jerseys and how they have evolved under the eye of Old Father Time. Wool was the initial fabric of choice, which was itchy, loose and very heavy when wet but performed as well as anything else available at that time. Anyway, in an era when your bike was single-speed and weighed close to 15kg, a saggy jersey was the least of your worries.
Most people barely knew aerodynamics existed back then, let alone how to minimise its effects, so pockets were on the front and the cut was relaxed. Yet the desire to go ever faster and further and in greater comfort drove relentless innovation that got us to where we are now: jerseys weigh less than a rice cake, wick sweat and are so tight spray paint would seem baggy in comparison.
Fit but never forget
An efficient fit has probably been the hardest thing for the industry to perfect. About 15 to 20 years ago, when I raced as an amateur in France, you would give your jersey size in advance of the season without getting measured. Sometimes the jerseys I received were totally unacceptable by today’s standards, but that was that. Any further personalisation was up to me and my safety pin-tailoring skills. Even in the early Lance Armstrong years, jerseys were decidedly flappy. Nowadays, though, individual custom fitting is the norm so the devil has manifested in the detail: most pros are super-fastidious – as few wrinkles as possible and those short sleeves have to sit just above the elbow, which is a trend you’d do well to adhere to.
Colours, styles and designs continue to evolve. Time was you could pretty much only buy pro team kit or novelty, poor-quality stuff. Then Rapha’s boutique minimalism arrived, and now Australian brands such as Maap and Attaquer are blending performance with kooky fashion.
The present-day cyclist is in a privileged position and all of this choice is a fantastic thing. I’d encourage you to let your imagination (and your wallet, if your partner lets you) run wild. If you do, just make sure you wear black shorts and complementary socks and you won’t go far wrong. With so many colourful designs you have to include some plain items that are not competing in style with every other item you have on. Call me what you will, but my favourite kit is still just plain black despite whatever Le Col’s latest season includes.
All of the above is important, but I’ll finish with the golden rule: unless you’re a member of the team, or a winner of the race, then pro team kits and Worldtour race leader’s jerseys are never to be worn, ever, under any circumstances. No disciple of mine will ever be a TKW. I’ll leave you to puzzle out that particular acronym. For stockists see p168. Next issue, Yanto runs his sartorial eye over the humble cycling cap
Relentless innovation got us where we are now: jerseys weigh less than a rice cake, wick sweat and are so tight spray paint would seem baggy in comparison