Image
This is the starting line of a penny-farthing race at Dunedin's Caledonian sports ground, around 1880. The rider's clothes are fascinating, both for their informality (the amount of exposed flesh was unusual) and their functionality (the lack of layers helped to prevent over-heating). Such clothing was considered too immodest for women riders.
Using this item
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Burton Brothers Collection
Reference: C.011957
by Burton Brothers
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.