Fashion finds: The best-dressed blogs

by Angela Thornton '11

Monday March 24, 2008

I have come to the full realization that I am a fashion junkie. I am horribly addicted to fashion, and not only to the kind that’s seen in Vogue, on the runway, or at red carpet events. In fact, that type of fashion is fast becoming secondary to what I’ve found to be truly inspiring: street style—how regular people like you and I take fashion into their own hands. I am so drawn to this aspect of fashion, and rely on it so much for my own personal inspiration, that within the first ten minutes of waking up every morning I am bound to have checked at least three street style blogs. Lucky for my fashion-obsessed self there are myriad blogs available that bring pictures of street fashion from all over the world at the click of a mouse. I have at least ten blogs bookmarked on my computer, but there are three that I check religiously… and by religiously I mean twice a day or more.

The first is the New York based blog The Sartorialist (http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com). The Sartorialist (as photographer Scott Schuman is most commonly known) started this blog in 2005 “simply to share photos of people that I saw on the streets of New York that I thought looked great”. Schuman had been in the fashion industry for 15 years before he started his blog, so it’s fair to say that he has a keen eye for the ultra hip. The second blog is Painfully Hip (http://www.painfullyhip.com), a blog run by a pair of sisters, Amber and Eve who are dedicated to cheap, chic fashion. It’s a great site not only because there are frequent posts about the fashion world in general, but also because (and this is my favorite part) there are “thrift stars of the week” which feature super cool outfits submitted by the blog’s readers.

I also check, on a (bi or tri) daily basis, The Face Hunter (http://facehunter.blogspot.com), which is powered by Europe’s uber trendy Yvon Rodic, who I interviewed about his take on fashion, blogging, and the such. Rodic was involved in the fashion world before he took to the documenting of street style, working as a copywriter in advertising and a writer for magazines, and started The Face Hunter with the desire to share “personal creativity, beauty and uniqueness”. He was inspired to go online by both The Sartorialist and hel-looks.com (another fabulous blog). And although he is the powerhouse behind the Face Hunter, Rodic says that he does not consider himself “a proper fashion blogger”; even though he does use blog technology, he’s not involved in a blogging community. When asked if his life has changed significantly since he became so recognized as “The Face Hunter” Rodic answered, “Yes, I gave up watching TV and reading books!” His blog most certainly inspires me enormously, and though Rodic says that it is not completely obvious to him how much his photos hold sway on the masses of the fashion hungry, I think it is pretty clear that his photographs are fast becoming one of the biggest and best sources for fresh, unique takes on style. The great thing about these blogs is that (even though Rodic does not consider himself a part of the blogging community) there is a distinct connection between these street style blogs. This connectivity is made literal in the fact that many blogs cite links to similar ones on their sites. With direct links between differing blogs a symbiotic relationship is achieved, fueled by obsessive people like myself, who check out every link that’s included. And I’ve discovered some of the most amazing blogs using said links: Stil in Berlin (stilinberlin.blogspot.com), Copenhagen Street Style (www.copenhagenstreetstyle.dk), Reykjavik Looks (reykjaviklooks.blogspot.com) and Hel-looks, and the list goes on.

I think that the development of these particular blogs is very significant in the fashion world, as they are a recognized facet of inspiration, influence and expression. I also see them as being indicative of the continuing trend toward a world that is much more connected and prone to discourse through the use of Internet than it even was ten years ago. By using the increasing technology that the Internet has provided, the fashion world is becoming even more intermeshed and flowing than it was previously. When asked whether he was more inspired by style he sees on the street than by that seen on the runway Rodic answered quite fittingly: “I’m influenced by everything around me from the street to the runway. The street influences the designers, and the designers influence the street. For me there’s no hierarchy, no start, no end, everything is part of a complex network of influences. Today more than ever, because every citizen has become a one person media- influencing every part of that network.”