On The Street... Koto Bolofo Fashion Shoot, New York

I was walking in Chinatown yesterday and ran into a full blown fashion shoot with Koto Bolofo behind the camera (thats him in the green shirt). He really is one of my favorite fashion photographers - his use of color is incredible.

He captures his subjects in a very heroic manner - I have used a lot of his tears for inspiration. His recent book Racing Style is a must have.

Here is a link to his page at the Jed Root agency Koto Bolofo @ Jed Root

On The Street... Midtown, New York

I love the windowpane pattern of this suit - I think it shows that even a guy under 6 foot can wear it as long as the suit fits properly. The only thing I would do is shorten the shirt sleeve length but that is just one of my pet peeves.

On The Street...Yet Another Great Summer Dress, New York

Obviously all the drama of this dress is in the back

Cary Grant - North By Northwest

I just bought the North by Northwest DVD and I have become obsessed with Cary Grant's grey suit. - partly because it looks so good on him and partly because it is so easily adaptable to a modern wardrobe.

I used the remote noted the exact scenes and times that reveal the little details that make such a big difference.
Notice how all the following elements help create the long, lean silhouette.

Chapter 2 02:17
The Jacket
- With one dramatic but subtle sartorial gesture CG set himself apart from all the other men in the scene. What is that important single element? look at that shirt cuffs/jacket sleeve proportion!
Not one other guy in that scene is showing ANY shirt cuff and Cary is showing ,like, 3/4 of an inch. So much white that I didn't even notice until half-way through the film that he was not even wearing a pocket square.


Chapter 7 21:28
The Socks/Shoe
- The most compelling argument I have seen yet that socks should match your pants. It creates such a long lean body line.
- Freeze the frame and look at the shoes - Not Black! but deep cognac brown and no chunky, thick sole clodhoppers here - long, lean and very English

Chapter 9 31:18
The Pants - These are key!
- Notice CG's pants are worn on the natural waist not the hips like jeans are.
- No belt - when coordinated with the tonal socks this gives his lower half a very long visual line and no belt removes the "matching shoes" problems obsolete
- Inverted pleats - gives fullness to the pant leg but keeps the hips looking narrow
- No sloppy big American break in his pant hem

Chapter 22 1:03:00
The Shirt
- Look at the large amount of shirring at the yoke of the shirtback. This shirt is actually quite full through the torso but because he wears his pants at his natural waist this de-emphasizes the fullness while still giving him plenty of room for movement. If he wore the same shirt with his pants at his hips his torso would look much wider and chunky.

On The Street... Vintage Dress Seaming Detail, New York

The seaming detail in the bodice really makes this whole dress

On The Street... 39th Street Flea Market, New York

On The Street... Vintage Guy, New York

Usually I'm not a big fan of looks that are too vintage but this look is just modern enough. I guess the only super vintage element is the color but even that is a nice break from downtown black and charcoal.

On The Street... A Style All Her Own, New York

This is one of those women that is just so.....unique.
You can't help but look and see what you can pull from het look -the little socks, the cardigan half on, the hat, the giant bag.

You can just tell she is one of those people that just sees clothes differently - she has a different connotation of what certain pieces mean and what they say about her and what they say to others.

Like a great wine I bet she will only get better and more eccentric with time, or at least I hope.

Old Man Style....Madras With Cargo's & Trainers

Women talk a lot about looks that are "too young" for them. This is definitely a young look but it looks really good on this guy that was at least mid-60's. I love the bold, athletic colors of the shoes and hat working against the more "traditional" madras jacket. Didn't I hear recently that 60 is the new 40!

On The Street...At The Farmers Market, New York

This dress is all about the stitched-in collar detail