Mary Ward – mock-up in action

We trialled the mock-up of the Mary Ward convertible skirt on the developing automaton.

Mary explains the aim of the ‘Hyde Park Safety’ skirt:

‘The danger of ladies wearing an ordinary walking dress when riding a cycle being so great through the liability of being caught in the machine, I have made the following improvement which enable ladies to ride cycles with perfect safety so far as the skirt is concerned’

It works.

The riders’ legs can move freely, unrestricted by the material and it doesn’t ride up.