Tahoe Gear: Dude Girl

TRUCKEE — Named after the story of her horse wrangling grandmother’s two-month trek across the continental divide with horses and girlfriends in 1928, Truckee’s Kim McElhinney rooted her Dude Girl line of women’s athletic clothing in the adventure spirit of the old west cow girl.

But despite the in–the-saddle inspiration, Dude Girl clothing is no ranch wear. The Truckee-based, nationally distributed sports wear brand makes clothing for women that might express the zeal of a confident female rodeo champion, but are more likely to stand up out of the saddle pedaling a bicycle than gripping a horse’s bridal. In fact, McElhinney debuted the clothing line in 2006 as an off-shoot of her Dude Girl adventure travel company, an outfitter specializing in European bike tours.

“After two seasons of adventuring, we have launched our own apparel brand exemplifying the same heart, soul, and quality that we put into our active tours,” says McElhinney.

A majority of Dudegirl's garments feature organic and sustainable materials like bamboo, cotton, and soy.

“With our organic line of yoga apparel, we make the choice to pay more for natural and organic fibers,” says McElhinney. “In doing so we also make a choice to make less on, or sometimes to charge more for, these items, but we know that there is value in the non-toxic farming methods and healthy treatment of the environment. We hope you recognize the value in making your own conscious choices about where something comes from and how it is created too.”

Shops throughout North Tahoe have taken notice of Dude Girl's unique apparel and have set aside rack space for them. See the garments for yourself at Alpenglow and Sassafras in Tahoe City, and Mountain Hardware, Tahoe Donner XC, Lahontan Golf Club, Shag, and Tahoe Yoga and Wellness in Truckee.

To see Dude Girl’s complete clothing line including a few men’s and kids items, visit www.dudegirl.com.