Scott Schuman

'While the popularity of streetstyle blogging format may ebb and flow with the fickleties of fashion, Scott Schuman and the Sartorialist will remain.'
Aischrolatreia

Bio:
Scott Schuman, became disillusioned with the disconnection he saw between the clothes hung in designer showrooms and the overwhelming supply of real style available on his home streets of New York. Seeking more direct contact with the style he praised, he opened his own showroom specialising in younger more fresh designers.
In the mid-2000s personal reasons motivated Schuman to close his showroom, and he began to shoot real people from the streets of New York and post them on his blog 'The Sartorialist'. The blog soon began to attract swathes of followers both inside and outside the fashion industy. His concern to showcase original raw style was a feeling shared culminating in Times Magazine rating it as one of the top 100 designer influences.

6 years on his reputation for shooting unconventional and ordinary people continues, The Sartorialist growing to become one of the top 10 most popular blogs globally. His blog has since made the transition from digital to print, with the release in 2009 of his first book. Presented is a sample of the many interesting and inspiring people who through the blog have inspired, enlightened and enhanced a whole host of personal styles, runway shows and collections.

Despite inspiring a whole host of copycat blogs, The Sartorialist has continued to remain top whether they be the chicstyle eminating from the boulevards of Paris or the gritty realness from the avenues of New York. Schuman proves that the popularity of the streetstyle blogging format will remain, hiding away from the ebbing and flowing of the fickleties of fashion.

Some of my personal favourites:

Russian Mafia Tattoos

Images from the russian Criminal Encyclopedia

Just found an amazingly site about Russian mafia tattoos. I keep on thinking about tattoo designs, and I like the images of power and fear in Russian images. There is something rather different about Russia, especially with the mix of Asian and European imagery and developing a new beautiful style. Their tattoos aren't the tear drop symbols of murder or other images I associate with British and western criminality.

The particularly skinny nature of them is due to malnourishment, quite a contrast from the muscle madness of my stereotype vision of a prisoner. Many of these individuals had torturous past lives and their tattoos are testament to this. Pornography, politics, alcohol, violence and religion all feature in the motifs depicted. I like the grim reality Sergei produces.

Sergei Vasiliev a prison warden, alongside other prison wardens and ethnographer Danzing Badaev compiled thousands of drawings and photos from 1948 to 2005. Supported by the KGB they produced a beautiful collection of images showing an amazing aspect of Russian history that would have likely been forgotten. In 2003, The publisher fuel, compiled these images in the Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedia. I hope you enjoy the images.

 

Death Perception

The acknowledge of death remains a western taboo; which grows as we distance ourself further from death in daily life.

Death has been acknowledged in literature for many centuries, and also within the world of Art. Frans Snyder, a popular flemish artist held a taste for paiting dramatic scenes of dead animals. The 'Fish Market' is a fitting example of such work.

Damien Hirst is a modern suitor of death. His phemaldehyde animals offer a real assault on the conciousness of death in the minds of his audience. This death obsession is the focus for many contemporary works. Death is a central theme to many modern works including those of Fumie Sasabuchi.

The above image by Sasabuchi attempts to induce a chilling atmosphere of anatomical disfigurement in a partially lifelike human figure.Skeletal forms are superimposed on the bodies of models, countering the beauty underneath.
Hazy skeletal forms feature in many of her other pieces, aiming to alter the viewers perception of perfection in fashion magazines.

The Adoption of High Society Attire by Youth Culture

This musical find is definitely worth a listen. It holds a haunting tone with associated quivering and lofty vocals; Wild Beasts - Two Dancers (ii).

The picture above definitely represents the essense of the article i wrote that was published in the Manchester Student paper this week;

The majority of fashion related journalism will state the exponential growth of street style as the latest and most important source for designer inspiration. We ought to consider where these youngsters look for inspiration. I put it to you that the conservative dress of the upper crust is the new inspiration behind many youth trends this past decade.

The first to adopt aspects of the style has been the ‘chav’ generation. Tucked in socks and popped up collars were practical for the country walks of the gentry but are now common looks within the inner-city. This link however could be pure coincidence or a reversal of an age-old fashion tradition.

Consider the wave of Burberry check which has flooded the fashion high street. Formerly a symbol of the Eton elite it quickly became the symbol for the aspiring ‘WAG’. However, all high fashion labels rely on the importance of exclusivity. This prompted the appointment of Christopher Bailey to rapidly quash this association.

Those looking to avoid the mainstream have turned to the county-club class for their latest trends. You will find them occupying Wednesday nights ‘Now Wave’ at Deaf Institute or the weekend crowd of Red Rum (Fallowfield’s place to be seen.). It is a Barbour wax jacket or a pair of Russell & Bromley brogues that gain you respect on this scene.

Vintage is also big with this crowd, a Ralph Lauren Sweater or Lacoste Polo shirt is THE hot find. These brands commonly linked to a public school girl’s post-riding attire are rapidly featuring in the wardrobes of the non-mainstream youth.

Why this social phenomenon has quite developed is unknown? It could be a consequence of our rapid regeneration society. With little originality in fashion, everyone is looking elsewhere for inspiration. The current look of the high street is a fusion of the previous 50 years of fashion. With the latest staple of the denim jacket and a marked return of the Doc Martin boot.

With so many years of fashion to regenerate, and the nature of ‘disposable fashion’, trends are short lived and require constant new influences. Celebrities are often a major source of trends. With Alexa Chung sporting a Barbour jacket sparking a chain reaction of youngsters buying one.

Celebrities may be the source of this adoption; however I feel the roots to this trend lie in the constant seeking for something new by youth culture. I hope to see this trend continue to thrive, and quite what will be the next upper class trend to be taken is unknown.

Terry World - Terry Richardson

Terry Richardson, an infamous leader in the fashion photography world. His disgusting and vulgar nature provides the appeal to his work. Selections of his works are so perverse, they would not be legally sold as pornography. Despite this reputation which generates much public disgust he is grossly in demand. Top magazines are clamouring to feature his work whilst celebrities fight to be the latest feature.

His celebrity models have stretched the entire cultural spectrum from the usually risqué Macauley Culkin and Jackass cast to respected figures such as Barack Obama. the level of perversion alters dependent on the clientele allowing him to work with such a wide cast.










I recently purchased his book Terryworld which includes many of his most profane works. Some of the images were described as disgusting by members of my house; however I failed to see the book as shocking. Instead i found it rather amusing, particularly the photo below.


This publication to me marks a change in society. Where such levels of crude imagery become normalised. A variety of online and offline stockists have sold this book to much success; quantifying our taste for such images. His works stretches the limits of 'art' to the extreme without using this as the selling point.

A talented photographer and truly modern individual he represents the forefront of western culture today.

For more Pictures see theBlog;Main Website

The Hedi Slimane Diary

A small selection from the wonderful blog of Hedi Slimane, demonstrating that his sharp eye for detail and beauty can be transferred from the Dior Homme runway to the camera lens.


More Avaialable at The Hedi Slimane Diary.