On the Street....Place Vendome, Paris

Photo: Garance Dore

On the Street....26th St., NYC

An Unknown Family of Style

Back to work yesterday after the holiday break (thanks for your patience) and the first place I went was the Chelsea Flea Market on 26th street. That has always been a great place to shoot and to just wander around for an afternoon.
At every flea market at seemingly every booth are boxes and boxes of old photos. I rarely sift through them because they are such a chaotic mess (the same reason I have no patience for tie sales).

Well yesterday was so cold I was looking for any reason to stay inside that toasty garage of a flea market. Without thinking I flipped through a few photos in a shallow box bursting with photographs and after a few moments I found this top image.

I was immediately charmed. The style of the clothes, the love of family, the spontaneity of the image all work to capture everything I love about photography. I mean come on, these guys are impeccable - the 3-piece suits, the crease in the pants, the quality of the shoes, the boutonnieres! Who are these people!

I also love that you can tell these are just ordinary family photos of some important event and not some onetime sitting for a professional family photographer. Notice the the negative in the top image is reversed. No suit that nice would have had the breast pocket on the righthand side or the boutonniere there either. Yes, I was feeling very CSI during this discovery. However, box I was looking through was such a jumbled mess that I never thought i would find another image from this family but after a few more handfuls of images I found another image, and then another, and another. It was so exciting having this human story unfolding in front of my eyes. I was trying to find clues that would tie them together, like the facade of the building in the 2nd and 5th picture.

Of course you start creating your own fantasy about these people. Where are they from? Are any of them still alive? Was the style of this generation carried on to the next? Where did they shop? What did style and fashion mean to them and how did it help them fit in or alienate them from their neighbors?

The not knowing actually is more fun, it gives you so much more freedom to imagine.

I LOVE old photos so don't be surprised if this becomes a more regular feature on this blog.

Notice the squared-off bottom of his suit jacket.


Notice the supertiny tie bar on on the gentleman second from the left.



I love that these images were taken over several years. This gentleman looks several years younger here than in the top photo. It gives me hope that somewhere out there are even more photos from this family waiting to be discovered. I asked the woman I bought these from to search her other boxes of photos at home to see if she had anymore. I'll keep you posted.

On the Street....Mr. Cortina, Paris

Lunch with Jessica & Jed, Los Angeles

Garance was shooting her friend Jessica yesterday so I hung out with Jessica's boyfriend Jed.

Jed is a very cool artist with a very cool laidback LA style. I love that big "grandpa-style" cardigan he's wearing in this shot.

It is always a little sad when you see things you'd love to wear but know that it would never look good on you. A chunky cardigan like his can only be worn well by someone bringing none of their own chunk to the collaboration of man and knitwear. It is a sad truth but I am wiser for knowing it and planning my wardrobe accordingly.

On the Street....Garance in LA, Los Angeles

Garance and I stopped over in LA on the way back from Australia.

The light here is incredible. Garance has been filming with her 5D like crazy.

Eating breakfast outside on a patio in the middle of December is something I could get use to quickly.

Book Soup is a great bookshop. Almost too many great book in one place and I can only carry a few more pounds in my suitcase. I did buy the new Paolo Roversi book Studio there, what a great book.

Opening Ceremony is really dominating the fashion scene here. No other store has nearly the edit and variety of collections that they offer.

So this leads me to painful question. What happened to Fred Segal?
I see they've dropped Dries Van Noten but picked-up Amber Valetta's new collection...interesting.

On the Street....The Stillness, Melbourne

On the Street....Chapel St., Melbourne

On the Street....Melbourne Man, Melbourne

I have heard a few concerns lately that this blog has become too heavily dominated by women's images. They worry about the "direction" of the blog.
Well, I can say that the direction has absolutely remained the same. I've always only shot what I really love and that sincerity remains intact.

Last week ,in Sydney, I didn't see any guys to shoot,, so....no guys shots. It would have been easy to take a few shots just to keep the mens audience happy but I just can't do that. I'm not saying that there are no stylish men in Sydney but that I just didn't run across any while I was there.

The honest nature of this blog is that the images are a by-product of the cities I visit. Some cities are very strong in womens (Paris) and some in men's (Milano). I always keep my eyes wide open in every city but that element of chance is what keeps this job fun.

Anyway, early next month I will be at Pitti Uomo (in Florence) which is the best mens shooting I do all year. So if you're needing your Classico fix just hang in there guys.

On the Street....Everyday Couture, Sydney

Vintage lingerie is still easily available at most good vintage shops. It is always shocking to me the level of handwork that use to go into ,basically, everyday underwear.


For our lingerie experts

Do you think this is just a design detail or a very elaborate mending job?


When I was in college I learned a lot of couture sewing techniques. If I had ever turned in a garment with the hand-stitching so visible ,as the garment above, I would had gotten an F!

However, the fact that you can see the hand-stitching in a garment like this is what makes it so charming and romantic.