Topshop is trying to overhaul our work wardrobes with cycling shorts - and the cycling community is having absolutely none of it.
The high street retailer took to Twitter this week to recommend a “smart way to wear cycling shorts” which involved teaming a tailored blazer with a white T-shirt, skin-tight black cycling shorts and some unusual sandals.
We know what you’re thinking: firstly, that’s not winter-appropriate. And secondly, who wants their colleagues knowing every single nook and cranny on their lower half?
Cycling shorts have become a somewhat unexpected emerging trend in the run up to autumn, with people tending to wear them casually under dresses, skirts or long shirts rather than - ya know - instead of work trousers.
That said, Naomi Campbell did sport a white pair with a blazer at Paris Fashion Week. But that’s Naomi on a runway, not the rest of the population going to work in an office and having to watch as their colleagues try and keep a straight face...
After Topshop shared a photo of the look, members of the cycling community began to offer their two cents on the trend, the verdict being: cycling shorts belong on bikes, not in the office.
Topshop has since deleted its original tweet.
It wasn’t just cyclists who were unimpressed by the trend. Katie Griffiths tweeted the brand to say: “This is just wrong. Too far Topshop.” Her opinion was echoed widely.
Judging by this reaction, we don’t think it’ll catch on anytime soon.