Did a search on
Yahoo! for street fashion blogs. In Singapore, we have
The Clothes Project. I chanced upon this blog last year, and i must say it has since been under my Must-Visit blog-list. However, it doesnt get updated as often as the foreign ones, maybe due to the fact that the publisher has got a job-on-hand, like most Singaporeans. Or, maybe its because of the fact that Singporeans walk too fast (a recent survey found out that Singaporeans walk the fastest in the world). He finds it difficult to slow them down for photo shots. LOL.
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The photography in the blogs usually consists of straight-on, full-length portraits, but a few include some candid photojournalism. Unlike New York magazine's misanthropic "
Look Book"—which uses low camera angles that, intentionally or not, make its subjects look like snobs with upturned noses—the sites try to portray people in a flattering or at least neutral light. Anti-elitist and upbeat in tone, they tend to inspire appreciation or emulation rather than envy. Refreshingly, those that include comments from readers or the editors usually avoid the cattiness found in celebrity fashion blogs like
Go Fug Yourself.
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Each site has its own distinctive look and feel, as determined by the taste and skill of its editors and photographers (usually one person holds both jobs). In some, such as
London Street Fashion, the subjects pose self-consciously, while in others, such as Stockholm's
STHLMstil, they stand naturally and without pretensions.
StilinBerlin prefers ordinary people in mundane garb, whereas Shanghai's
Meet Cute concentrates on teenage b-boys and flygirls. Emphasizing the individual over his or her attire, Paris'
Facehunter puts decadent scenesters on display, and significantly it is the only one to sexualize its subjects, who sometimes
pose provocatively. As of yet, there are no street blogs from Italy, which is surprising given that country's ties to the fashion world. It's not a shock, though, not to find any from Los Angeles—after all, more attention is paid to public attire in pedestrian-friendly cities, which offer the most opportunities to see and be seen.
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But the standout street-fashion blog is far and away New York's
the Sartorialist. Unlike nearly all of the others, it concerns itself more with adult elegance than adolescent faddishness, and its subjects range from
elderly Harlem popinjays to chic ladies on bicycles. Paying special attention to fine men's clothing, it shows how even a
fat, bald guy can look dashing when clad in an impeccable suit and tie..
Helmed by Scott Schuman, a former showroom owner who used to work for Valentino, the Sartorialist has attracted a large and influential audience (averaging 7,000 visits per day) that includes a number of industry insiders. The comments posted by Schuman and his sophisticated readership can offer quite an education to the unschooled eye. It is possible, for instance, to learn the pros and cons of
"freelancing" socks as well as how to spot Italians by the length of their neckties. The best remarks, which reveal how clotheshorses obsessively and discerningly judge others, bring to mind the example of Beau Brummell, the 19th-century dandy who famously used to lounge in front of the bow window of a London gentlemen's club while criticizing the dress of passers-by.
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Schuman's blog has now become so well-known that he was recently asked to cover men's Fashion Week in Milan for
Men.Style.Com, and Esquire will soon devote some space each month to his work. In October he will receive an even greater honor: Saks Fifth Avenue will be showcasing the Sartorialist's photos in its landmark display windows.
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P.S Some of the comments from this article can be found on www.slate.com
