I recently received The Sartorialist by Scott Schuman as a gift (I know, I'm such a laggard) and feel compelled to rant about a few things.First, I'm now convinced a lot of it is staged. It was my understanding that Schuman's premise was to capture real peoples' personal style as seen on the streets of New York, Paris and, well, New York. I soon realized that "real people," according to the Sartorialist, consists of editors, models, stylists, buyers, scenesters, and other industry buffs.
Kate Lanphear appears 3 times in his book (I'm still counting); Matteo Marzotto, Anouck Lepere and Coco Rocha are just a few more recognizable subjects.
There's nothing wrong with Scott Schuman using famous fashion folk in The Sartorialist; in his defense, the book serves as a useful reference, a veritable lookbook of insiders, for those aspiring to look the part (despite his efforts to capture a sense of "individuality," there's a clear pattern -- almost unfiorm-like -- among his subjects).
Heck, if I wanted to differentiate myself from the masses of street-style bloggers, my strategy would be to exploit my network. It lends credibility to what you do and sells (cough, Charlotte Ronson).
There's nothing wrong with Scott Schuman using famous fashion folk in The Sartorialist; in his defense, the book serves as a useful reference, a veritable lookbook of insiders, for those aspiring to look the part (despite his efforts to capture a sense of "individuality," there's a clear pattern -- almost unfiorm-like -- among his subjects).
Heck, if I wanted to differentiate myself from the masses of street-style bloggers, my strategy would be to exploit my network. It lends credibility to what you do and sells (cough, Charlotte Ronson).
