Check out Breezer bicycles.
They have chain guards and up to 8 gears.
Not cheap, but really cool!

Any good bike shop worth it's rep will have chain guards that they can at least special order for you. If they're worth it (and they want you to come back) they'll install it for you too.  I've found many bikes on sale in the U.S. that have chain guards.  They're not just for ladys either, my brother is always getting his pants ripped by his chain, when he doesn't remember to rubber band his pants.

I'm constantly on the prowl for the great bikable/work  friendly threads.

Finding lightweight, flexible and cute/funky ( gotta have the cute, gottta bring the funk) clothes in general ain't easy

Anyone have suggestions on  work  apporpiate (sans  boring) clothing resources ? Or patterns,fabric options to  sew up one's own?

Thank you for restoring my faith in sexual dimorphism.  I live in Seattle where the definition of femininity is having one less tattoo than your boyfriend.  

As far as chains, that's why Schwinn designed those big clunky purple and white 3-speed bicycles with the basket and chain guard that my sisters used to ride back in the 60s.   I also suggest streamers on the handlebar ends.

Happy riding!

I have a girly Breezer, and I love her! The stepthrough frame and chain-guard mean that I can ride her in the girliest of girly outfits---the widest, flowiest pants, and the longest skirts (of course, you cant bike in a tight skirt).

It is more practical than some of the "cruiser"-style bikes, since it's actually meant for commuting and hauling things. They make a 7-speed, 10-speed, and 3 or 4 speed, maybe more.

I don't have streamers on the handlebars (yet---they are shiny and pretty), but I do have a pink smiley-face sticker covering up the American flag. Don't turn me in.

the simplest solution I have found is to bring up the back hem between your legs and pin in front to waistband, creating a temporary pair of pants!

but there was a recent thread on bicycles in which a commenter with the first name "Anna" complained -- quite rightly -- that at this point in US society, bicycles are associated with guy-things, e.g. athleticism, speed, long-distance endurance, competition, Lance Armstrong, lots of gadgets, lots of high maintenance, with the result that other bike-loving people, with other values and interests, e.g. ladies in skirts, but not by any means they alone, who definitely should be encouraged to use bikes as much as possible, are deplorably underserved.

And, an Umbra quibble: Europe is by no means uniformly "flatter" than the US.  In my experience, in those towns which lie fairly flat, and in which petroleum-fueled traffic has not taken over, such as Ravenna, bikes are very common.  In others, built on mountain slopes, such as Cortona, one would be crazy to want to resort to a bike for more than very short distances.

I bike to work through our 6-7 nonsnowy months, in a skirt and flats half the time. I second the idea that anyone who's not willing to sacrifice their clothes to the bike gets a lot of bad attitude at bike shops - and that is ridiculous, especially from anyone who wants to reduce the number of cars on the road. For instance, I keep the flat plastic pedals because they don't snag my tights - and I have walked out on (commissioned) salespeople who spend more time telling me to change how I dress/commute than finding me a bike that fits my specs.

The basic answer is to sit on the back of your skirt solidly, so it can't fly completely up, and have a rack on the back (which you have anyway for hauling things, right?) to protect your skirt from the back wheel. And ignore sexual comments - the spandex-wearing SuperBikers show a lot more of their bodies, they just don't look as girly so people don't bother them.

I had a Breezer U-frame and had to give it up. The little clips that hold the brake cable to the frame gave out in less than one summer, letting the cable wrap around a pedal and try to kill me in traffic. I also learned that the 7-speed u-frame has lower gearing than the standard 7 speed, which was the source of my irritating inability to gain real speed on straightaways on it.

Right now I have a Trek Cypress step through. I like it, but I was told it wasn't possible to get a chain guard for it, because a chain guard would interfere with the derailler. I just stick with skirts no longer than just below my knees, and that's been fine. A standard frame actually keeps a long skirt out of the chain better, but the stepthrough is easier on my hips & lower back.

A bike with a chainguard is hard to find, but since I bike in pants that I like to keep grease-free, I can relate.  And as I live in nearby San Francisco I am familiar with the hills, too (who knew all of Europe was so flat?)  A word of caution: it is not necessarily practical to add a chainguard to a bicycle with more than one gear on the front bracket, since there isn't room between the gears and the crank arm that holds the pedal.

That said, some bikes out there do happily come with chainguards!  I recommend the Bianchi Milano I used to own - it has an eight-speed internal hub that was easy to shift and had a very wide gear range, including low enough gears for SF hills.  It was around $650.  After that got stolen I found a lower-cost model with a chainguard from Pake cycles - about $350.  Breezer bikes do look good, but I've never owned one.  

Chain guards are very widely available and can be fitted to many bikes. Ask your bike shop to check their distributor catalogs. If they give you a hard time, find another bike shop.

Skirt guards a little more problematic -- I don't know of aftermarket skirt guards in the United States, though I haven't looked in the catalogs yet. If you don't want to go the DIY route suggested by Umbra, you can always buy a new bike equipped with a skirt guard. The two models available in the United States are the Electra Amsterdam & Batavus Personal Bike AT.

Most bike shops will be able to special order chain guards, and possibly skirt guards. I'm not sure what your local shops have, but I know the shop I part-time in as a mechanic often turns to a company called J&B Imports for oddball accessories. Ask to look through the customer catalog (the one without the wholesale prices printed in it), if they have it.

It's fairly easy to make your own fenders, chain guards, etc.

My favorite material is coroplast, ie plastic cardboard, which is most frequently used to make signs, especially campaign signs.

After an election it is usually easy to harvest a couple signs.  I found two different 4' x 8' signs recently, one lying in the alley and another in the street.  Each had some traffic damage but both had large useable sections.  I've made a ton of useful things from this material.

Coroplast is easy to cut with a utility razor knife or heavy duty scissors.  You can punch holes in it with a small screw driver.  By cutting through only one side, especially along a flute, it is easy to make 90 degree bends.  Gentle bends like for fenders can be done by heating with a paint stripping heat gun.

Most clear packing tape sticks well to it, although my preferred methods of joining/attaching is punching holes and using cheap nylon cable ties.

The end result is extremely light and can be very rugged too if you do a good job of it.

I wear a skirt or dress everyday and I also bike everyday.  I have found that I am most comfortable riding in medium length A-line skirts, which require no tucking or pinning. If you want to go shorter, wearing shorts under the skirt is an option, and when wearing longer skirts/dresses/coats I use scrunchies or rubberbands.  If the skirt is particularly long the tied up bunch of fabric can be a bit cumbersome so I have also found bringing the hem up between your legs and pinning it to your waistband to be helpful.

To be honest, the A-line skirts and pinning has always worked so well and has been cheap/convenient enough that, for the most part, I see skirt guards as unnecessary.

I seldom wear long skirts.  (I'm too short and boy shaped to pull them off.)  But back in the '80s I used to wear them- despite how unflattering they were on me- and what I did was tuck the outside hem of the skirt up into my undies on both sides- this created a 1/2 length skirt on the sides that hangs full length in front and back.  If you sit on the back of the skirt, the whole thing stays up above the chains, etc.

If you're very modest, you could wear shorts under your shirt- but I don't think this method leads to very much "showing".

Binder clips, amigas - simple office binder clips.  
I gather from near my right knee to near my belly, pinch the little black & silver gizmo around the fabric, and I'm off on my 25-year old red "girls" Panasonic.  Takes about two seconds; no wrinkles or rips; and they are quite secure.
Happy biking!

I've been a bike commuter since I was 16 and running deliveries in Seattle. I've been car-free since I was 18, and now at 24 I have finally learned how to bike in a skirt. There are great comments on the board already, so I'm going to toss out just a few, especially as I have two bikes and zero chain-guards or skirt-guards between them.

On the short side: I know that I can ride in any skirt with a hem within seven inches above my knees. Sit firmly on the back of your skirt and the front will stay in place.

On the long side: I know that for the most part, I can ride in any skirt that doesn't come within 12 inches of my feet. There are a few that I pin up, etc., but I've never had the skirt-in-the-works problem. Not yet, at least.

Trendy: So it might sound weird, but skirts that are shorter in the front than they are on the sides are perfect. The front sits nicely on the crossbar and the sides keep you from getting unwelcome exposure.

I'm not for pimping brands, but a couple of (hint) sustainably-minded companies make practical, beautiful SKIRTS that are designed for biking in. Happy hunting . . . I bought three in different colors.

Ride safe.

I've been a bike commuter since I was 16 and running deliveries in Seattle. I've been car-free since I was 18, and now at 24 I have finally learned how to bike in a skirt. There are great comments on the board already, so I'm going to toss out just a few, especially as I have two bikes and zero chain-guards or skirt-guards between them.

On the short side: I know that I can ride in any skirt with a hem within seven inches above my knees. Sit firmly on the back of your skirt and the front will stay in place.

On the long side: I know that for the most part, I can ride in any skirt that doesn't come within 12 inches of my feet. There are a few that I pin up, etc., but I've never had the skirt-in-the-works problem. Not yet, at least.

Trendy: So it might sound weird, but skirts that are shorter in the front than they are on the sides are perfect. The front sits nicely on the crossbar and the sides keep you from getting unwelcome exposure.

I'm not for pimping brands, but a couple of (hint) sustainably-minded companies make practical, beautiful SKIRTS that are designed for biking in. Happy hunting . . . I bought three in different colors.

Ride safe.

May consider using the foot guards from a baby/child bicycle carrier as a wheel/spoke guard.  Could probably order these items from the manufacturer or find them at garage/yard sales.

Here in England there's a trend to wear black leggings that stop mid-calf underneath your skirt (whether you're cycling or not).  You can get them so that they're proper pants rather than tights style.  Now, almost all of my skirts have holes and grease stains on them, as do the right legs of most pairs of my trousers.  But if the skirt needs preserving, I just take the skirt off, stash it in my backpack and cycle in the leggings.

Even here in posh (but cyclist's paradise) Cambridge, I've never seen a skirt guard on a bicycle.  In fact, it's not wholly uncommon to see a woman cycling in black tie/formal apparel, in high heels, with a bottle of wine in the water bottle holder (to be fair, it's all I've ever used my water bottle holder for).

Thanks everyone for the creative ideas. I've been gone all summer and just found all your responses.

Still have not worked out how to mix my lovely, light, 24-gear bicycle that scales the hills, and the longish, fullish skirts I like. I've had some experience with the skirts escaping the pins and clips, and have gone back to wearing trousers.

If I had a chain guard, I could attach a skirt guard to it... but can't find a chain guard.

When the elections are over, I'll look around for good materials to try making my own stiff shield that might stand out beyond the chain. Perhaps held out by chopsticks lashed to the rack.

Heels are not a problem on a bicycle, isn't that nice? But the toe cage does tend to eat up nice shoes.