Archives
Thursday, March 31, 2011
I Love What An Hermès Scarf Can Do For A Man, Milan
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
On the Street…..Slim Jeans vs Hipster Jeans, Florence & Milan
Monday, March 28, 2011
On the Street….Angelika, Milan
I saw this young lady in Milan several times this past season. She is one of the crop of new bloggers. (Read her blog here.) I loved that she’s a bigger, curvier girl than most of the other bloggers who you see in the press and tend to represent the genre.
The subtle thing she achieves so successfully in these two looks is to complement the sturdy but beautiful shape of her legs with an equally strong shoe. A daintier shoe would be overpowered but these shoes create a beautiful harmony for the lower half of her body.
Tomorrow I’ll post an image of a different young lady I met in Paris with a similarly curvy body type but a different method of creating body harmony.
A number of the commenters are upset by the word “curvy.” They feel I should have used the word “normal.” However, normal is relative. There is a young lady on my team who is 5’0″, and another who is 5’9″. Which would be “normal”?
Look at the man walking across the street in the first image, and the height of the umbrella in the second – and Angelika relative to each. This girl is taller than most, and has the bearing to match. Regarding the curves…just because you don’t see them does not mean they are not there. Is there a minimum degree of curviness to be considered “curvy”?
Remember, curvy is a body shape, not a weight. To be honest, you can’t really see in these photographs most of the curves – chest, stomach, hip – this woman has.
I get emails all the time from self-professed curvy girls who want to see representations of their size on the site. What sucks is that when I try to put a photograph up to talk about these issues, the post is hijacked over the political correctness of the words.
So help me understand; what is the modern way to speak about size? I’m not married to the word curvy. I’m just trying to describe her in the best way I know how. Let’s not hide from this issue; I don’t want to be afraid to talk about it on my blog. Help me describe this young lady without using the word “normal,” but in a way that addresses her body size and still references my point about the size of her legs relative to her shoes.
Last week I did a post of older women every day, and I was proud of that. I am proud to be a blog that is showing women of different sizes. I don’t want to lose the potential power of the post by being caught up in wordplay.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
On the Street…..via Manzoni, Milan
This woman was such a vision in her monochrome look. Her sole splash of color – a vintage red Hermes Kelly bag. I tried to communicate with her after the shot but the language difference was too much of a barrier.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
On the Street…..Piazza Oberdan, Milan
This is one of my favorite shots in a while.
I love shooting older people not because I think they are more stylish than any other age, but rather because they have different design references than someone 20 or even 50 years old.
For instance, I have never seen a scarf rolled under the chin like this Milanese woman has done. So chic and so subtle; I love the waves of fabric cascading over her shoulder. Maybe in her younger days all of her girlfriends wore their scarves this way but I’ve never seen it.
This is pure inspiration for me, and inspiration at its most powerful because it doesn’t cost money for anyone to recreate that element.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Costanza Pascolato of Vogue Brasil
Monday, March 21, 2011
The Sartorialist on Twitter
I’m now on Twitter!!
In the process of taking over the account I was not allowed to migrate followers so please take a moment to resubscribe.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Garance In Her New Prada Shoes, Paris
I had a great laugh the other day in Paris. Garance had recently written a very tongue-in-cheek post about how to be shot by street style photographers.
Well, when she broke out her new Prada shoes (the ones that everyone wants but very few have), she fell into her own trap. It seemed that her every step was snapped by at least three photographers. Don’t get me wrong, they weren’t interested in her….just the shoes.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
On the Street….rue Saint-Honoré, Paris
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
On the Street…Mixed Patterns, Paris
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
On the Street…Milan V., Paris
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Hermes Fall 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Haider Ackermann Fall 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Mugler Fall 2011
So, is Mugler back?
How long till we’re all discussing the Montana comeback?
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Fendi Fall 2011
Some people have commented that they don’t relate to the runways shots that I have posted on the blog during fashion week. They say they can’t afford the clothes or the looks don’t relate to their everyday lives.
I understand these comments but I challenge you to try and look at these runway shots in a new way.
Fendi, for example, was really about fantastic color combinations. Even if you didn’t like the clothes you can focus on the color schemes. These suggestions of color can be used whether shopping Fendi, or Zara, or vintage.
Maybe another collection – like Yohji – would be all about proportion and texture. Wearing all black is difficult but new ideas in mixing shape and fabric textures can be invaluable in keeping a monotone wardrobe fresh.
Dries and Gaultier’s strength’s have always been their great ability to mix genres and cultural symbols. I love the idea of Tibetan Fireman.
All I’m saying is don’t let the lack of funds keep you from having fun with fashion.
