Georgia In Dublin Hustle and Bustle Jacket

Georgia in Dublin's Hustle and Bustle Jacket is a love or hate piece of cycling kit. If you love it, it's a truly innovative design, that looks a bit different and raises the spirits, whilst still managing to be functional and technical cycle wear. Or you'll hate it. It's a fact.

Bizarrely you may even find yourself doing both at the same time. Its style is definitely different, harking back to Edwardian times with a nipped in waist, ruffled cuffs and flouncy tail and it's certainly a jacket that sits most easily with a more genteel ride such as a Pashley or one of Halford's new Pendleton bikes. It's designed to look good with a skirt as well as trousers and to elevate cycling attire to a whole new, more elegant level.

But it's not all style over substance as this jacket and gilet combo is fully waterproof and breathable. The jacket comes in two parts, an outer waterproof jacket with button fastening at the front, and a waterproof fronted gilet with mesh back.

Both parts can be worn separately if desired, although the jacket does look a little strange without the gilet underneath. The jacket has an internal Velcro fastening phone pocket, full mesh lining and a large Velcro fastening pocket in the tail area. The collar can be worn up or down, and has a button to secure if desired, while the long ruffled cuffs can either be worn down to cover hands or gloves, or turned back. Both cuffs and main jacket are generously decorated with reflective trim. The gilet is reminiscent of old fashioned waistcoats in style, and actually looks great on its own, for less hostile conditions. It has two side pockets with no fastenings, a decent high collar, an adjustable back to accommodate bulkier layers, but no reflectivity.

OK, so the style isn't going to suit everyone, and to be honest, I'm not sure it entirely suited me. But, having seen it on other women, of a taller and more willowy variety, it can look very good indeed, especially when paired with a long skirt, skinny jeans or the waterproof skirt Georgia in Dublin also make.

It's comfortable to wear, offering good levels of protection against the elements, and the fabric is pleasantly breathable, with underarm zippable vents offering some level of extra ventilation to offset the extra heating side effects of the jacket's mesh lining.

The Hustle and Bustle is certainly a jacket better suited to less warm conditions, but still functionally useful for year round wet weather use. The gilet on its own is as useful as you could hope for a gilet to be, a great easy way to keep your core warm and dry, without overheating. It's not the lightest jacket combo, nor is it the most packable out there, but it's a jacket designed for more refined cycling excursions than for dashing about on your road bike, although if you can style it right, it'll do that too. The sizing is a little on the neat side, so if you're borderline, consider going up a size.

Yes, it's expensive, there's no denying that, but it's a designer jacket, with genuine technical features and you're not going to see every other Tamara, Dyllis or Harriet riding about in one. If it suits your style and your shape, and you want to look a little bit different, then it's a good investment.

Georgia in Dublin Hustle and Bustle Jacket €195 - price at top of review current sterling conversion at time of publication.

Verdict

Expensive but exclusive, innovative and practical leisure cycling waterproof.