Style on the Street
The Jakarta Post - WEEKENDER | Sat, 08/23/2008 1:16 PM |
Great fashion taste, style and trend-setting aren’t just the realm of beautiful young things or snooty fashion industry insiders. And internet style icon The Sartorialist (www.thesartorialist.com) goes out with his camera to prove that every single day.
Scouring the streets of New York, Milan and Paris, American Scott Schuman goes snap-happy at regular people who manage to pull together runway-worthy ensembles. Unlike the stick figures that grace most fashion runways and rags, Schuman’s subjects come in all shapes and sizes, from avuncular elderly gentlemen and matronly types to street- chic sophisticates and edgy urbanistas.
Indeed, for the one-man fashion police, who formerly served as a hack in sales and marketing for high-end women’s designer wear, the objective of his blog was to “shoot people on the street… and get and give inspiration to lots of people in the process.”
By golly has the guy done it. The Sartorialist, which was started in 2006 when Schuman quit the industry to become a stay-at-home dad, has been named by Time magazine as one of the Top 100 Design Influences. Fashionistas all over the world log on daily to check out what or who about town have caught Schuman’s eye.
“When I worked in the fashion industry (15 years), I always felt that there was a disconnect between what I was selling in the showroom and what I was seeing real people (really cool people) wearing in real life,” Schuman says on his site.
And real life is chockfull of beautiful people with fresh, personal takes on style that may not conform to the conventional standards that get shoved down our throats in the fashion do’s and don’ts of magazine columns. Short, tall, slim, stocky, old, young, disheveled, pristine, loud, subtle – Schuman’s chosen ones weave a rich tapestry of colors, fabric, esthetics and styles that’s just plain pretty. The best part is that unlike the verbose, overly snarky and self-indulgent nature of too many fashion blogs out there, Schuman lets his pictures do the talking.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and boy, are we glad for Schuman’s expert eye.
Scouring the streets of New York, Milan and Paris, American Scott Schuman goes snap-happy at regular people who manage to pull together runway-worthy ensembles. Unlike the stick figures that grace most fashion runways and rags, Schuman’s subjects come in all shapes and sizes, from avuncular elderly gentlemen and matronly types to street- chic sophisticates and edgy urbanistas.
Indeed, for the one-man fashion police, who formerly served as a hack in sales and marketing for high-end women’s designer wear, the objective of his blog was to “shoot people on the street… and get and give inspiration to lots of people in the process.”
By golly has the guy done it. The Sartorialist, which was started in 2006 when Schuman quit the industry to become a stay-at-home dad, has been named by Time magazine as one of the Top 100 Design Influences. Fashionistas all over the world log on daily to check out what or who about town have caught Schuman’s eye.
“When I worked in the fashion industry (15 years), I always felt that there was a disconnect between what I was selling in the showroom and what I was seeing real people (really cool people) wearing in real life,” Schuman says on his site.
And real life is chockfull of beautiful people with fresh, personal takes on style that may not conform to the conventional standards that get shoved down our throats in the fashion do’s and don’ts of magazine columns. Short, tall, slim, stocky, old, young, disheveled, pristine, loud, subtle – Schuman’s chosen ones weave a rich tapestry of colors, fabric, esthetics and styles that’s just plain pretty. The best part is that unlike the verbose, overly snarky and self-indulgent nature of too many fashion blogs out there, Schuman lets his pictures do the talking.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and boy, are we glad for Schuman’s expert eye.
+Chan Hse May
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