The Sartorialist

Hi Mom!
I’m having fun here in Paris, The City of Lights!!
please send money! (for shoes)
love Caroline!

Everything!
-the way the scarf is tied
-the traditional jacket
-the plaid pants
-the saving grace and the thing that keeps this from tipping to costumey is the very respectable shoes.

Bravo!

(of course she works at Paris Vogue)

I cannot wait to hear what you thought of the Viktor & Rolf show

I love all this layering of sleeve lengths that I have been seeing lately.
I also really like her mix of plum, taupe and grey.

While I was waiting for the Fendi show, I found this little barber shop down the street.

It was around 3 o’clock so the shop was closed for afternoon break but I wanted a closer look at the interior of the shop .

I peeked in the window and found this….

…the barber asleep in his chair!

Isn’t this exactly what Americans picture the Italian “afternoon break”must be all about?
This is like the perfect Floyd the Barber from the Andy Griffith show meets Milan.

He even looks a little like Floyd.

Actually I was a little embarrassed that I had peeked in and seen him sleeping – like I had peeked in his bedroom or something.

Of course, after about one second the photographer in me took over and I paced around out front trying to decided if I should take his photograph.
Among other things, I thought to myself – “what if he wakes up while I am taking the photo!?”

I finally decided to take the photo when I determined that I was probably faster than him and if he got too mad I could probably out run him.

I did have momentarily frightening visions of him running after me down the street yelling “Stop The Sartorialist!!!”
but I figured people would just dismiss it as anti-fashion rhetoric.

On a side note, afterwards I asked several Milanese , mostly people that worked at my hotel, if there was an Italian word for the afternoon break – like the Spanish word “siesta”.
Most of them thought for a while but could not come up with a word for it.
They could think of a word for a fast, short lunch break but not for the longer afternoon break.

I think “La Napoli” would sound good, be appropriate (nap time), and it could honor one of their most sartorial cities.
Lets see if they will adopt it!

All about the jacket sleeve length – longer than bracelet length but shorter than traditional plus the effect is compounded by the extra shirt cuff showing.

I also really like the fitted shoulder of the jacket paired with the slouchy belted skirt.

Is it too 1984 to call the skirt “paperbagged?”

There is just something about these Milanese gentleman and their bikes that brings the Sartorialist out in them.

The whole Gentleman Farmer look is fantastic.

The beautiful honey colored gloves really finish off the look perfectly

I love these two blues together.
I have been looking for that exact color a scarf for myself but still no luck and she was not selling.

When I walk around Milan I keep seeing all these beautiful fonts on store fronts and on the packaging.
I am not a graphics guy but it seems like all their most beautiful packaging and signage fit into a few ,very specific, periods like Belle

City of Shadows: Sydney Police Photographs 1912-1948 by Peter Doyle

Breathtaking!

Like Paolo Roversi crossed with Weegee

This is definitely one of my new favorite books.

If I do a book at somepoint I only hope that someday, somebody is as moved by my work as i am the the images in this book.

I am in Paris so I am not able to get the American version of Amazon but I’m sure you could get it through them or B&N.com.

I would really like to thank Nick Boston for the lovely article wrote about The Sartorialist in the New York Observer the other day.

here is the link: New York Observer Article

I have been trying to get a good photo of her hair for the last two days.

I’m often too practical for my own good. I never would have thought of putting teal socks with this look but this look would not be nearly as cool without them.

This just seems so natural for her

Somehow he is connected to Etro but I couldn’t quite understand how when he was explaining it to me. Something about a tailor, maybe he was one of their tailors?

So I just arrived in Milano for the womens collections.
The weather is great, surprisingly warm for Feb.
While I was waiting for the plane in New York I received an email from this woman – Renata Molho, remember her from a recent post?


She wanted to say thanks for the post and for all of the lovely comments.
Well, small world – when I got into Milan I really only had time to buy some magazines before doing todays posts and dinner. I went to the big Emporio Armani on Manzoni because almost everything is closed on Sunday. While I was there I saw a biography on Giorgio Armani titled Essere Armani.
As most of you know, Armani was a huge influence on me when I was young so I have secretly always wanted to write the first book on him.
Anyway, I quickly flipped through the book and was crushed to see that it was in Italian (makes sense).
As I tried to find the publisher or see if there was an English version and came upon this

It’s her!! Renata
I was so surprised.
What a small world.
Maybe if I bring the book with me to the shows she can read me a few chapters.

This past Pitti they were celebrating Savile Row so Florence was crawling with fine young gentleman like this man.
Unfortunately all my info is at home and I can’t find his name but I’m almost sure it is Angus and I know he runs Henry Poole & Co. on Savile Row in London.
I’m sure half this audience already knows his name so if someone could help out and put it in the comments that would be great.

love the suit, thick tights and the unexpected shot of color with the pale blue gloves

The time I spent as a stay-at-home dad was the most rewarding and the most trying of my life. I would not have The Sartorialist today if it were not for that experience but I remember that during that time ,everyday, wondering if I was doing the right thing but I would always ask myself “how can raising your children ever be wrong?”

I’m proud that I accepted the responsibility with my full heart, and not as some distracted parent always talking on their cell phone. The best was when kids at the playground would see me playing with my own kids, look me up and down, and ask me, “How old are you?”

A huge part of the tone/voice of this blog was first articulated when I started talking to my kids about how I thought they should try to look at the world. Actually, the photo of Isabel with her arms up is probably the photo that began The Sartorialist (in my mind, at least). It?s everything I want to capture, joy, style and humor. What?s more, my dad loves that photo, which means the world to me.

For these reasons, I?m so happy to announce that I will be doing a page for Cookie Magazine, called The Sartorialist Jr. Which will basically be what I already do, but with parents and kids in mind.

The whole thing came about quite naturally: when I was in Europe during the shows, I kept seeing all these really cute kids dressed in a way I didn’t see, here in the US. I wanted to take their pictures and bring them back to show my kids and beg them to let me dress them that way. I realize I’m not that different from other parents, so I thought it would make for a good page in an appropriate setting. I immediately thought of Cookie: it?s hip, cool, funny and not over-edgy. To me, it is the best kids magazine out there.

The first issue with my page should be out any day now.

Here?s a link to their website with more photos from my first page: The Sartorialist Jr. for Cookie Magazine

ps I swear I didn’t tell Claudia to stand that way, some kids are just born with the pose gene.

This look captures two of my new obsessions – winter white pants and printed silk scarves.

Anyone who has read this blog for a while knows that I have always supported what Thom meant to New York menswear. The work he began several seasons ago was a giant step forward, and put New York menswear back on the map.

At his show last week, I felt like it was just more of the same (same shapes, same colors, same proportions), and what was new was unwearable.

The other thing that?s getting old is that it?s all done with such deadly seriousness. I like when someone like Yohji does really advanced work, but it?s always done with a wink.

Thom is getting close to a one-trick pony. I hope he proves me wrong, and maybe the Brooks Brothers gig will open a whole new chapter in his evolution, but I’m starting to get tired of waiting for something new.

Am I off base here?

I’m not crazy about the fit of the jacket but I love the color combo.

Today, I found this photo that I took this past summer and never published. I told you this guy is slick!

Almost 100% sure it is him–the shirt collars are the same. (How else do you think a Sartorialist would ID someone?)

A vest on a three-piece suit can totally make or break a look. Here the vest is just the right length.

Also, I love the paisley tie.

I’m really feeling for paisley right now, I hope Etro comes back from being so over-the-top and gives me some truly elegant paisley items (ties, scarves, etc) that don’t have wacky contrast colors as the backing.

I’m pretty sure she said her jacket was Derek Lam for Tod’s.
If this is what the new Tod’s is going to look like then we have an even better reason to spend more time (and money) there.

Ascot with Converses: it just doesn?t get any better than this guy.

The look is both sartorial and hip at the same time.

This is exactly the type of look I wanted to capture for men when I started The Sartorialist.

I have a lot of scarves, but most of them are a solid color in wool or cashmere. I saw this gentleman and immediately realized that I need to add a few print silk scarves to my wardrobe.

I like what the color and pattern can bring to a look, but I also like that they?re not too bulky around the face.

UPDATE
Yesterday I received an email from the gentleman pictured above

“Yes, it is beautiful scarf. It?s double face in fact, plain cashmere and print silk. We sell them very well, they are from Nick Bronson”

His name is Vicente Torres, he owns a store in Valencia, Spain
Here is the store website link Torres Gaston

The Teen Vogue team always looks fantastic, and the magazine looks great. Teen Vogue is using the best photographers (Bruce Weber!), with seriously excellent editorial styling. Gloria Baume, the lady a few posts down in the camelhair coat/yellow nylon windbreaker, is the fashion director, so I guess they come by that style naturally.

To be honest, though, as a man approaching the age of forty, Teen Vogue is the only magazine that I feel a little self-conscious buying at the store, especially if I’m out of town. The name The Sartorialist still doesn’t carry much weight in Evansville, Indiana, and buying Teen Vogue there, while driving through, always gets me a few funny looks from Doris, the cashier.

I love how that scarf (tied in that way?so simple, but so important) elevates his entire look.

I love the characters that fill the Pitti Uomo menswear trade show in Florence.

This gentleman’s little neckerchief is priceless, especially when coordinated with the not-matchy pocket square.

The hat tops off the whole look perfectly. (Wait, was that a pun?)

Trying to look great for a week of shows is more than a little daunting on a limited budget, especially for a young fashion editor.

I think this young lady did a great job of putting together two very different looks.

It was cold all week, so it was smart to work her looks around her coat since it was the item most people would see anyway.

I also like how both versions accentuated her long legs, but again, in very different ways.

I love that he coordinated his socks with his boutonniere plus he was also able to match is hair to his glasses….too much?
I think his obvious charisma makes it work.

No, not Liv Tyler.

I?ve received a few emails lately saying that I?ve been shooting a lot of ?fashionistas? during the shows. That?s true, but I guess I don’t see it that way.

Because not all fashionistas are created equal.

Sure, some are high-paid editors, but just as many, if not more, are simply women and men, of all shapes and sizes and income levels, trying to do the best they can with what they can afford to buy. The magazine and retail industry are not known for big paychecks.

I think this young lady is a great example. I saw her at a few shows, but she is not a high-paid editor. No one is giving her a bunch of free clothes, but she has great style and was rightfully proud of her vintage (second-hand) Perry Ellis coat.

Later today I will post another shot of a young editor and how she wore her coat in two very different ways, which has everything to do with creativity and nothing to do with money.

Even the high-paid editors are mixing their camelhair, fur-trimmed coats with nylon windbreakers from American Apparel. That?s big style, not big bucks.

Another thing that I really like about this young lady is that she is obviously very attractive, but is not falling into the bimbo trap that so many young ladies fall into–that is, feeling they have to show skin to be considered sexy.

She reminds me of a young Lauren Hutton or Lauren Bacall. She was actually wearing some very librarian-esque glasses right before I took the photo.

I just found this Watteau-pleat illustration, see what I mean?

After reading some of the comments on this post yesterday, I see the reactions were very mixed.

And I know I?ve said it before, but I still think that people too often judge a look as a total “Yes!” or “No!”

Which really misses the point of most of the photos.

When I look at this shot, I never get past the little detail section that I’ve added today.

I love that combo of patterns and solids. Plus, the silk scarf, wool coat and suede jacket are so texturally rich.

Try to consider most of the shots in a slightly abstract way. I rarely shoot anything that I like as a whole head-to-toe look, but if I can get a little something, then it?s up to me how I use it. This strategy allows me to open my eyes and not worry about who, what and/or where.

And isn?t that what it?s all about?

That this man is Alan Flusser is secondary to me. Honestly, I just couldn’t think of a pithy title for the shot, so I just used his name.

Stewart Shining, photographer

I love how she has mixed a super lux coat (Prada?) with an everyday windbreaker in a very noticeable contrast color.

Any person with good style could have done the windbreaker/lux coat combo but a person with great style takes it the next step and layers the windbreaker over another super-lux piece like the cardie in this photo.
To me it is not about the fact that the cardie is probably cashmere but that the stitching detail at the cuff shows just how beautifully it is made and yet worn in a very nonchalant way with totally unpretentious pieces.

Sorry the photos are not larger. I will correct that tonight.

Also, I have received a few emails want more “on the street” shots in NYC – I will be doing those over the weekend and next week so please hang in there.

ps I know I have not shown as many mens shots because most are on men.style.com but there will be more starting Monday and all through the European women’s collections

Sorry I haven’t been able to write more, i miss writing more but so many photos and shows that i am working very hard to get it all out for you to see. Having such a great and supportive audience has made being outside shooting in this very cold weather much easier to handle. It is hard to work the camera dials when your fingers are freezing but I’m really happy with the photos i have been getting.

We have a lot to catch up on next week.

I want to hear what you guys think about the shows. who you loved, fav looks, most disappointing show etc.

Off to the Ralph show now!!

Love the shoes and love the style – how the fur vest is just tossed over the coat

I just took this shot today at the tents so I haven’t even thought about how to articulate my feeling about this image.

I know one of the first things I think of (in an abstract way) is the movie Funny Face with Astaire & Hepburn.

When it is so cold outside (like it is lately in New York) few people want to stand and have their photo taken so I’m having to work on the fly more right now.

Apparently his suit is vintage J.C. Penny’s from the 1960′s – nice
I love the whole color story here.

So what did you guys think of the Marc Jacobs show?

I don’t know why but i kinda like the idea of him in those Ugg boots.

I just love this whole look
- the hat,
- 3/4 sleeve, belted coat
- the contrast sleeve and gloves peeking out underneath that coat.
- the full skirt
- the natural smile

I love his style – the long, blonde, stick-straight hair and the slim suits. He looks like a designer’s sketch.

I rarely shoot at night but sometimes the situation and light is just right.

I was walking back from the Dries Van Noten show and saw these two young ladies looking in the windows at Colette.

Actually I had seen them earlier at the Dries show and had wanted to shoot them then but the lighting just wasn’t;t right.

I’m glad I got a second chance.

I have added a permanent link to my new Intersection video (Soho/Prince St.) on the Video page of this blog.

I love this look…actually, I don’t know if I love it or if it just really reminds me of my days as I high school kid working at Chess King.

I kept seeing this lady at the shows in Milan.
She has such a presence, such charisma – even without wearing anything that would be considered “fashionable” she is no doubt very stylish.

Is it style or dignity?

The way she walks and the way she holds her head

is is Effortless Chic at its most extreme.