The Sartorialist

Josh Schulteis and I have a strange sort of connective history even though we haven't really spent that much time together. I went to Interlochen Arts Academy for my senior year of high school in 2001/02. Going to Interlochen was a huge, great, scary kind of awakening for me. I learned a lot, opened up a lot, made a lot of new friends, learned some more, and truly discovered what I wanted to do with my life.

One of my closest friends at Interlochen was Carolyn Zeppa. I called her Co. We met over lunch one day in the cafeteria which was one of the places at school where all the different artists (dancers, actors, visual artists, vocalists, etc.) would blend together and inadvertently create this really intense atmosphere. I mean, not all the time, but enough of the time to keep things very interesting. Co and I connected over, surprise, Madonna and Michael Jackson. I probably had a Madonna CD in my discman (yeah, no iPod for me back then) and that sparked her interest.

Co and I became great friends and as the year went on she told me all about her friend Josh. He was a really talented dancer who had graduated the year before and they had apparently practically been soul mates. When Co found out that I would be going to Boston Conservatory for college she was really excited for me, especially since Josh was studying dance there.

I got to meet Josh at the end of my senior year when he came up for graduation and he was just as fabulous as she had described. Once I got to Boston, he was really welcoming and kind. I also discovered that he was from my hometown!!! Crazy. We had different friends so we never really hung out all that much, but whenever we ran into each other at school it was always great.

I even ran into him at a store in Georgetown when I was home for break one summer. Random.

Anyway, this is totally not the point of this entry but just to wrap up this little section, let me list the random connections Josh and I share:

a. We instinctively became very close with the exact same girl.

b. Unfortunately, we have both lost touch with our girl because of distance and such. It sucks.

c. We both went to Boston Conservatory.

d. We're from the same place.

e? We're both kinda ethnic? I think? Not quite sure what his background is but I'm pretty sure he's just as much a mutt as I am.

That's all the connections I can think of right now. And those may all be pure coincidences but I don't really like to think of them that way.

I still haven't even reached the point of this entry. Wow.

I was snooping around Facebook the other day and I happened upon Josh's profile. I looked under his Interests and one in particular caught my eye. I'm always looking for other interesting blogs to add to my page so when I saw that he had listed TheSartorialist.blogspot.com under his Interests I immediately went to check it out.

The Sartorialist is a collection of pictures taken by a very handsome man named Scott Schuman. He used to be the director of men's fashion for Bergdorf Goodman here in NYC but quit in order to raise his daughter. He then began taking random pictures around the city of people who caught his eye. Some of the people are very fashionable, some have a sense of style all their own, some aren't really fashionable at all but they do seem very comfortable in their own skin. I guess you could say The Sartorialist is Scott's take on fashion. Fashion is whatever makes the person, be it the latest trend or whatever that person felt comfortable wearing that particular day.

I myself think I go through fashion phases. Sometimes I'm all about creating something all my own. Usually it's a pretty simple, or 'sensible' as Paul would say, ensemble with something kinda drastic added on for good measure. Other times, most of the time, I just wear anything that feels good and doesn't make much of a statement (if it even makes one at all).

The Sartorialist is kinda inspirational in its own way. I looked at picture after picture and was totally awestruck by the outfits people put together. And I'm not talking about ridiculous Harajuku-like craziness here. I'm talking about simple pieces put together in order to create something really interesting but really simple at the same time. The best outfits to me are the ones that you may not even notice if you're walking down the street, but if you pause to take a look you'll see how everything fits together and works perfectly.

Here are some of my favorite examples.....

Those gladiator sandals!!!!!!!! No words. I'm not gonna lie when I say I'm pretty sure I would wear those. No shame. And everyone in this picture is so disgustingly fashionable it kinda makes me sick.
When I go to Italy this is all I'm wearing.....the whole damn time. Except for the pendant. I hate choker style pendants on guys. Blech.

Look at the cutoffs! Now my friends can't make fun of me for cutting off the ends of my pants. It makes no difference that she's a girl.....

These green pants remind me of Paul. They're totally something he would wear ;)

I own this brown striped sweater. Does that make me fashionable?!?

Simple old Asian man perfect.

If all goes according to plan, this will be me in 50 years. Ha!

And there you have it. Fashion! Ooh! Thanks to Josh for pointing me in the right direction. I'm gonna put The Sartorialist under my other blogs to check out.

Bye!