At times like these I wish I was independently wealthy (for the free time as well as the free money):
http://fashionista.com/2010/01/20100104_-_0115_nyc_sale_norma.php
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Guest Blog: Confessions of a Recessionista
Confessions of a Recessionista
By Nancy Brenner
Long before it was fashionable, I was a recessionista. I'm not the"Girl in the Green Scarf" alter ego of Rebecca Bloomwood in"Confessions of a Shopaholic," I'm more the girl in a purple shearling purchased at wholesale. Yes, I would dash off to sample sales like the mad women of "Confessions of a Shopaholic," but I went with a battle plan that would make Tzippy Livni envious. I knew the brands, size and price range of what the merch was worth retail. I tried them on in brick and mortar stores to see if they fit and decide if I could afford them.
I am not moved by a generic "multidesigner sample sale" flyer. I am not moved by e-mails offering "free shipping," or "as seen on Michele Obama," even if she is gracing the cover of Vogue. I am not a model,or a rock star, or an Olsen twin – I am an ordinary citizen. Even the fabricated Ms. Bloomwood can't rock a $5,000 frock at sixty-percent off if she has a bill collector chasing her all about town.
I've never had a credit card denied - unless it was a mistake of the card company. Or tried to pay the piper by splitting the pot with a combo of cards plus cash. I usually favor sales that were cash only -chiefly because they offered the best deals. And I knew exactly how much money was literally leaving a hole in my wallet. I never came home to a bill and wondered what was on my statement and why.
In the past year I have dozens of converts, who have discovered the joys of "black opps" shopping and my Krav Magna retail techniques. They learned that 70 percent off retail is not the "new black." Not in my closet - if you can get it 20 percent off of wholesale. There is no greater joy for a recessionista shopper than finding an item cheaper than any Bluefly, Gilt.com, Rue La La, E-Bayor a froogle search. It's not a new cure for heart disease, but it's a cure for a cautionary era. When I found an out-of-town designer outlet store would take a picture of a sale shoe and e-mail it to me - I felt like I had unlocked a whole new sequence of savings genomes.
While it was the worst market in 60 years, it was my best shopping season on record - there was rampant deflation - a brilliant ballroom skirt that was selling at toney retailers for hundreds of dollars was had for $20, another top that was retailing in the $200 range was scooped out for $10. My sniff test for shopping - would I have coveted it retail? Would have I undergone "watchful waiting"until it went on sale to an "affordable price?" Would it be a one-hit-wonder, or would the quality and style hold up for many Fashion Weeks to come?
Coupon clippers have been proudly savings for years – mostly to the snickers of a consumerist nation. I am the clippers evolved equivalent. I would encourage everyone I know to go "off the grid"and steer them away from retail, or at least paying full price. If I was made to feel frugal, I didn't mind, since I was often the best dressed in the room. In the past, I would gladly regale dinner companions of grand tales of savings - like the time I went into a Fifth Avenue department store during a transit strike, figuring foot traffic would be low to minimal, as would the prices. I turned out to be right and scored a wedding quality velvet skirt for pocket change.
I liked the equal billing that men were given in the Shopaholics anonymous group in "Confessions of a Shopaholic" - men too can overspend and buy a watch for each day of the week - a frivolous purchase even by a man of means. Men are equal opportunity over spenders - now the economy is forcing them out of the consumerist closet. But c'mon guys, do you really need a spanking new $7,000 off-the-rack suit from Saks? Even Anna Wintour is selling "value" dressing and says anything "Too Dubai" is over.
Does that mean I never regret a purchase? Of course I do, I have at least half a dozen pairs of shoes that called my name, just like the department store mannequins who tried to seduce the protagonist Rebecca Bloomwood. But while others bought houses, SUVs, remodeled kitchens, digital cameras and stood in long lines for I-Phones; I still have my 35 M -and have not yet succumbed to digital - my Minolta Freedom zoom still takes great shots. I have not trashed my DirtDevil just because I couldn't locate the filters - I called the company directly to get them. And yes, I am one of the few remaining people on the planet who still have AOL dial-up, at least the fine people at Circuit City would like to have me believe.
On rare occasion, I have paid full price. If you see a party dress or suit, don't wait until last minute - unless you are a total hermit, assume that invitations, even during a dire downturn will still be forthcoming, -- weddings, bar mitzvahs, anniversaries. And while the scale of the celebration may be downscaled and the menu may be more mac and cheese than foie gras, you will still need something to wear. Consider this too - with unemployment still climbing, it will also help to be well-turned out for job interviews that will be so uber-competitive, it will make shopping at Wal-Mart on Black Friday seem like nothing.
So, dear Pres and Congress, will be there be a bailout for Fashionistas who weren't frugal? Please make the bill pretty in pink.
------------------------------------------------------
While Nancy Brenner can't outfox a bear market, she can find you a warm coat to stave off the market's chills for wholesale.
By Nancy Brenner
Long before it was fashionable, I was a recessionista. I'm not the"Girl in the Green Scarf" alter ego of Rebecca Bloomwood in"Confessions of a Shopaholic," I'm more the girl in a purple shearling purchased at wholesale. Yes, I would dash off to sample sales like the mad women of "Confessions of a Shopaholic," but I went with a battle plan that would make Tzippy Livni envious. I knew the brands, size and price range of what the merch was worth retail. I tried them on in brick and mortar stores to see if they fit and decide if I could afford them.
I am not moved by a generic "multidesigner sample sale" flyer. I am not moved by e-mails offering "free shipping," or "as seen on Michele Obama," even if she is gracing the cover of Vogue. I am not a model,or a rock star, or an Olsen twin – I am an ordinary citizen. Even the fabricated Ms. Bloomwood can't rock a $5,000 frock at sixty-percent off if she has a bill collector chasing her all about town.
I've never had a credit card denied - unless it was a mistake of the card company. Or tried to pay the piper by splitting the pot with a combo of cards plus cash. I usually favor sales that were cash only -chiefly because they offered the best deals. And I knew exactly how much money was literally leaving a hole in my wallet. I never came home to a bill and wondered what was on my statement and why.
In the past year I have dozens of converts, who have discovered the joys of "black opps" shopping and my Krav Magna retail techniques. They learned that 70 percent off retail is not the "new black." Not in my closet - if you can get it 20 percent off of wholesale. There is no greater joy for a recessionista shopper than finding an item cheaper than any Bluefly, Gilt.com, Rue La La, E-Bayor a froogle search. It's not a new cure for heart disease, but it's a cure for a cautionary era. When I found an out-of-town designer outlet store would take a picture of a sale shoe and e-mail it to me - I felt like I had unlocked a whole new sequence of savings genomes.
While it was the worst market in 60 years, it was my best shopping season on record - there was rampant deflation - a brilliant ballroom skirt that was selling at toney retailers for hundreds of dollars was had for $20, another top that was retailing in the $200 range was scooped out for $10. My sniff test for shopping - would I have coveted it retail? Would have I undergone "watchful waiting"until it went on sale to an "affordable price?" Would it be a one-hit-wonder, or would the quality and style hold up for many Fashion Weeks to come?
Coupon clippers have been proudly savings for years – mostly to the snickers of a consumerist nation. I am the clippers evolved equivalent. I would encourage everyone I know to go "off the grid"and steer them away from retail, or at least paying full price. If I was made to feel frugal, I didn't mind, since I was often the best dressed in the room. In the past, I would gladly regale dinner companions of grand tales of savings - like the time I went into a Fifth Avenue department store during a transit strike, figuring foot traffic would be low to minimal, as would the prices. I turned out to be right and scored a wedding quality velvet skirt for pocket change.
I liked the equal billing that men were given in the Shopaholics anonymous group in "Confessions of a Shopaholic" - men too can overspend and buy a watch for each day of the week - a frivolous purchase even by a man of means. Men are equal opportunity over spenders - now the economy is forcing them out of the consumerist closet. But c'mon guys, do you really need a spanking new $7,000 off-the-rack suit from Saks? Even Anna Wintour is selling "value" dressing and says anything "Too Dubai" is over.
Does that mean I never regret a purchase? Of course I do, I have at least half a dozen pairs of shoes that called my name, just like the department store mannequins who tried to seduce the protagonist Rebecca Bloomwood. But while others bought houses, SUVs, remodeled kitchens, digital cameras and stood in long lines for I-Phones; I still have my 35 M -and have not yet succumbed to digital - my Minolta Freedom zoom still takes great shots. I have not trashed my DirtDevil just because I couldn't locate the filters - I called the company directly to get them. And yes, I am one of the few remaining people on the planet who still have AOL dial-up, at least the fine people at Circuit City would like to have me believe.
On rare occasion, I have paid full price. If you see a party dress or suit, don't wait until last minute - unless you are a total hermit, assume that invitations, even during a dire downturn will still be forthcoming, -- weddings, bar mitzvahs, anniversaries. And while the scale of the celebration may be downscaled and the menu may be more mac and cheese than foie gras, you will still need something to wear. Consider this too - with unemployment still climbing, it will also help to be well-turned out for job interviews that will be so uber-competitive, it will make shopping at Wal-Mart on Black Friday seem like nothing.
So, dear Pres and Congress, will be there be a bailout for Fashionistas who weren't frugal? Please make the bill pretty in pink.
------------------------------------------------------
While Nancy Brenner can't outfox a bear market, she can find you a warm coat to stave off the market's chills for wholesale.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Friday, February 08, 2008
Frugal Fashionista
From one of my avid readers, who will remain nameless and faceless, on how a fellow blogger who helps her get dressed:So I thought you might be interested in this Web site. I’m not someone who can pull together an outfit without some level of anxiety involved. I like this Web site because it breaks it down.
http://frugal-fashionista.blogspot.com/
http://frugal-fashionista.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
WSJ: New Services Help Bloggers Bring in Ad Revenue
For all you bloggers out there, let's make 2008 the year we actually make money off these things! The following article details lots of ideas. Now I just have to figure it all out...
Small Business
Best of Independent Street / Excerpts from WSJ.com's Blog for Entrepreneurs
15 January 2008
The Wall Street Journal
New Services Help Bloggers Bring in Ad Revenue
---
Users Can Customize Appearance of Spots, Use Video and Audio
If you're not making money off your blog, 2008 might be the year.
As more people see potential in earning money off the Internet, there is a quickly expanding array of advertising services and tools for bloggers that go well beyond the standard pay-per-click text ads or display ads.
Many of the most widely used programs are adding features to allow users to customize the appearance and placement of ads on their sites. Some also are introducing newer money-making mediums such as audio and video ads.
"There's going to be a lot of new business models in 2008 that are geared toward more monetization," says Pete Blackshaw, executive vice president of strategic services for Nielsen Online, the Web analysis unit of the Nielsen Co.
Blog publishers could certainly use the help in making money. The vast majority of publishers make less than $10 or $20 a month through advertising, according to Internet-advertising experts. How much money is made through advertising on a site depends much on how much traffic a site gets, the trustworthiness of the content and how relevant the ads are to the visitors.
Starting Feb. 1, San Diego-based V2P Communications is offering five-to-eight-second audio ads, called NetAudioAds, that will automatically play when a visitor lands on a blog or Web site. Publishers sign up for the free service and V2P then lines up advertisers, who bid on rates they will pay to have their ads played on a given blog. Bids generally start around $14 per 1,000 plays. Blog publishers get a 25% cut of the ad revenue.
About 25,000 publishers have signed up so far, says Michael Knox, V2P's co-founder, and several large companies and 2008 presidential campaigns have expressed interest in becoming advertisers through the service. A site that gets 2,000 unique visitors per day with an advertiser paying $14 per 1,000 plays might earn $28 a day, or $196 a week.
Another model that's expected to gain traction this year are ads connected to videos. Revver Inc.'s Revver.com lets advertisers tack on ads to videos uploaded to the video-sharing site. Publishers who then put those videos on their sites, earn 20% of all ad revenue generated from plays of the videos on the blogs. Revver and the videos' creators, often amateurs, split the remainder.
In October, Google Inc. released Video Units, a program that allows Web-site publishers who use its AdSense program -- which places Google-brokered ads on other Web sites based on the sites' content -- to add YouTube videos to their blog sites and have ads appear on the video player.
Some ad services are trying to help publishers expand their advertising by putting ads in their blog's Really Simple Syndication, or RSS feeds, which send blog posts out to subscribers. Some services even specialize in providing ads to publishers that pop up when someone visits the blog from a mobile phone.
Many of the most widely used ad programs -- such as AdSense and Amazon.com Inc.'s affiliate-marketing program, where publishers get a cut of all sales generated from ads on their site -- also are trying to make ads more appealing. For instance, they have rolled out new features in recent months to give publishers more control over how the ads look and where they are placed.
AdSense recently began testing gadget ads, which are more visually stimulating with graphics and interactive features than the traditional basic text ads the program offers.
"One of the biggest things we're trying to do is create more ad formats for publishers," says Google spokesman Brandon McCormick, adding that AdSense paid $3.5 billion to publishers in the first three quarters of 2007.
Meantime, Amazon.com in September introduced several free widgets -- easy-to-use programs that, by plugging a code into a site or blog, let publishers customize how and where ads appear in a blog. One widget lets people embed links to Amazon products in their text, while another lets publishers create a slideshow of relevant Amazon products displayed on their site. Amazon affiliates earn up to a 10% commission on all sales directed from their ads.
Some bloggers already are seeing results. Rhett Butler, founder of Mongabay.com, a site with articles on rainforest conservation and other environmental issues, makes $15,000 to $18,000 a month from AdSense, using various types of ads. Mr. Butler says his blog currently gets about 1.3 million unique visitors per month.
He's planning to eventually experiment with Google's video player ads and create his own video content for the site. "The rainforest has always been my passion, but I never expected to make a living off of it," says Mr. Butler, who quit his job as a product manager in 2003 when he realized he could make a living off his site.
Darren Rowse, the Melbourne, Australia-based writer of ProBlogger.net, a popular blog that teaches other bloggers how to make money, earned roughly $250,000 in 2007 off ads on three blogs he writes. Mr. Rowse says he makes the most off traditional display advertising, where advertisers pay a fee to appear, but he also has used affiliate ads and Google AdSense.
Mr. Rowse says publishers should experiment with several types of advertising and use an analytics program to figure out which ones are most effective. Once they do that, bloggers should, for the most part, rely on just one or two advertising programs "so they don't clutter the site," he says. Bloggers should be careful to pick advertising that doesn't appear to taint the content or reputation of the site, he adds.
Mr. Rowse says certain types of advertising can be most effective for certain sites. For instance, affiliate programs, such as Amazon's, tend to work best on sites with loyal followers who trust their blogger for recommendations. Sites with lots of general search-engine traffic but fewer devotees may do better with a contextual ad program, such as AdSense. Regular display ads can also be very effective, he says, depending on how well the ad matches the site's content.
Small Business
Best of Independent Street / Excerpts from WSJ.com's Blog for Entrepreneurs
15 January 2008
The Wall Street Journal
New Services Help Bloggers Bring in Ad Revenue
---
Users Can Customize Appearance of Spots, Use Video and Audio
If you're not making money off your blog, 2008 might be the year.
As more people see potential in earning money off the Internet, there is a quickly expanding array of advertising services and tools for bloggers that go well beyond the standard pay-per-click text ads or display ads.
Many of the most widely used programs are adding features to allow users to customize the appearance and placement of ads on their sites. Some also are introducing newer money-making mediums such as audio and video ads.
"There's going to be a lot of new business models in 2008 that are geared toward more monetization," says Pete Blackshaw, executive vice president of strategic services for Nielsen Online, the Web analysis unit of the Nielsen Co.
Blog publishers could certainly use the help in making money. The vast majority of publishers make less than $10 or $20 a month through advertising, according to Internet-advertising experts. How much money is made through advertising on a site depends much on how much traffic a site gets, the trustworthiness of the content and how relevant the ads are to the visitors.
Starting Feb. 1, San Diego-based V2P Communications is offering five-to-eight-second audio ads, called NetAudioAds, that will automatically play when a visitor lands on a blog or Web site. Publishers sign up for the free service and V2P then lines up advertisers, who bid on rates they will pay to have their ads played on a given blog. Bids generally start around $14 per 1,000 plays. Blog publishers get a 25% cut of the ad revenue.
About 25,000 publishers have signed up so far, says Michael Knox, V2P's co-founder, and several large companies and 2008 presidential campaigns have expressed interest in becoming advertisers through the service. A site that gets 2,000 unique visitors per day with an advertiser paying $14 per 1,000 plays might earn $28 a day, or $196 a week.
Another model that's expected to gain traction this year are ads connected to videos. Revver Inc.'s Revver.com lets advertisers tack on ads to videos uploaded to the video-sharing site. Publishers who then put those videos on their sites, earn 20% of all ad revenue generated from plays of the videos on the blogs. Revver and the videos' creators, often amateurs, split the remainder.
In October, Google Inc. released Video Units, a program that allows Web-site publishers who use its AdSense program -- which places Google-brokered ads on other Web sites based on the sites' content -- to add YouTube videos to their blog sites and have ads appear on the video player.
Some ad services are trying to help publishers expand their advertising by putting ads in their blog's Really Simple Syndication, or RSS feeds, which send blog posts out to subscribers. Some services even specialize in providing ads to publishers that pop up when someone visits the blog from a mobile phone.
Many of the most widely used ad programs -- such as AdSense and Amazon.com Inc.'s affiliate-marketing program, where publishers get a cut of all sales generated from ads on their site -- also are trying to make ads more appealing. For instance, they have rolled out new features in recent months to give publishers more control over how the ads look and where they are placed.
AdSense recently began testing gadget ads, which are more visually stimulating with graphics and interactive features than the traditional basic text ads the program offers.
"One of the biggest things we're trying to do is create more ad formats for publishers," says Google spokesman Brandon McCormick, adding that AdSense paid $3.5 billion to publishers in the first three quarters of 2007.
Meantime, Amazon.com in September introduced several free widgets -- easy-to-use programs that, by plugging a code into a site or blog, let publishers customize how and where ads appear in a blog. One widget lets people embed links to Amazon products in their text, while another lets publishers create a slideshow of relevant Amazon products displayed on their site. Amazon affiliates earn up to a 10% commission on all sales directed from their ads.
Some bloggers already are seeing results. Rhett Butler, founder of Mongabay.com, a site with articles on rainforest conservation and other environmental issues, makes $15,000 to $18,000 a month from AdSense, using various types of ads. Mr. Butler says his blog currently gets about 1.3 million unique visitors per month.
He's planning to eventually experiment with Google's video player ads and create his own video content for the site. "The rainforest has always been my passion, but I never expected to make a living off of it," says Mr. Butler, who quit his job as a product manager in 2003 when he realized he could make a living off his site.
Darren Rowse, the Melbourne, Australia-based writer of ProBlogger.net, a popular blog that teaches other bloggers how to make money, earned roughly $250,000 in 2007 off ads on three blogs he writes. Mr. Rowse says he makes the most off traditional display advertising, where advertisers pay a fee to appear, but he also has used affiliate ads and Google AdSense.
Mr. Rowse says publishers should experiment with several types of advertising and use an analytics program to figure out which ones are most effective. Once they do that, bloggers should, for the most part, rely on just one or two advertising programs "so they don't clutter the site," he says. Bloggers should be careful to pick advertising that doesn't appear to taint the content or reputation of the site, he adds.
Mr. Rowse says certain types of advertising can be most effective for certain sites. For instance, affiliate programs, such as Amazon's, tend to work best on sites with loyal followers who trust their blogger for recommendations. Sites with lots of general search-engine traffic but fewer devotees may do better with a contextual ad program, such as AdSense. Regular display ads can also be very effective, he says, depending on how well the ad matches the site's content.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Seth Godin on What People Want
Thought this blog entry from Seth Godin back in August of 2006 was relevant to the shopping experience of today...and I do think it's true -- for most people, but not for you, the devoted Guerilla Shoppers. You want more than this:
What people want
The same thing everyone else is having, but different.
A menu where the prices aren't all the same.
More attention than the person sitting next to them.
A slightly lower price than anyone else.
A new model, just moments before anyone else, but only if everyone else is really going to like it.
A seat at a sold out movie.
Access to the best customer service person in the shop, preferably the owner.
Being treated better, but not too much better.
Being noticed, but not too noticed.
Being right.
The same thing everyone else is having, but different.
A menu where the prices aren't all the same.
More attention than the person sitting next to them.
A slightly lower price than anyone else.
A new model, just moments before anyone else, but only if everyone else is really going to like it.
A seat at a sold out movie.
Access to the best customer service person in the shop, preferably the owner.
Being treated better, but not too much better.
Being noticed, but not too noticed.
Being right.
Friday, August 03, 2007
GS is "Featured Blog" on SpreeNewYork!
From the geniuses at SpreeNewYork, who are obviously on the bleeding edge of blogging: Scroll down a little bit to: Jill Anderson Wearable Wedding Wear and voila!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
New York Observer on The Sartorialist
You must have checked out my blog a week or two ago about another great blog known at The Sartorialist. I got the tip from one of my most esteemed stringers and I love it! Well today it is being reported in the New York Observer that the guy who runs it has been "gobbled up" by Conde Nast. I'm not exactly sure what that means, but it sounds good to me and I shall wait to be gobbled now as well:
New York Observer
The Heir to Bill Cunningham? Condé Nast gobbles up fashion photo-blographer Scott Schuman.
By: Nicholas BostonDate: 2/26/2007
Page: 7
When Scott Schuman, the amateur photographer who runs the fashion blog The Sartorialist, first attempted to take a photograph of Carine Roitfeld, editor in chief of French Vogue and mom to New York “It” fille Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, at the spring 2007 Burberry show in Milan, she had no idea who he was. “I was trying to take a picture of her, and I don’t use flash,” Mr. Schuman said the other day, “so I was having a hard time focusing, and I could tell she was getting a little frustrated.” Luckily, Fabien Baron, the former creative director of Harper’s Bazaar and one of the industry’s foremost photographers, was also on the scene. “He leaned over and he said, ‘Give him a chance; I’ve seen his work and he’s really good.’ So, for the whole rest of that trip, she was very nice and very calm.”
Things were even better in Paris, after Ms. Roitfeld had had a chance to view some of Mr. Schuman’s work. “She literally stopped her car on Rue St. Honoré,” he said with satisfaction, “and said, ‘Oh, come here! I really like your photographs! Take more of me.’” An upcoming issue of French Vogue is slated to feature that photograph, along with ones of others by Mr. Schuman, including mega-stylists Emmanuelle Alt and Anastasia Barbieri.
C’est incroyable! Since it began in September 2005, The Sartorialist (thesartorialist.blogspot.com) has become a heavily frequented pit stop along the information superhighway for style watchers in and out of the fashion business. “It is sort of a mini–Who’s Who of the fashion industry,” said Nick Sullivan, the fashion director of Esquire magazine, the first traditional print outlet to publish shots by Mr. Schuman (in its August 2006 issue). “Real people. Ordinary guys on the street, like bankers trying to get it right.”
Thanks to photos such as these—mostly of men expressing a plurality of dress sense—Mr. Schuman came to the style establishment’s attention. “We were just fans of his blog,” said Dirk Standen, editor in chief of Style.com, the online home of Vogue and W. “We were sitting around one day planning our coverage of the Milan and Paris shows: ‘Instead of scratching around for a photographer,’ we thought, ‘why not send Scott?’ That was the eureka moment.”
And, suddenly, the Sartorialist was transformed from dilettante to demographer. Now under contract to Style.com, he jets from collection to collection—on Saturday, Feb. 17, it was back to Milan—documenting the comings and goings of the fashion flock. Like his biggest influence, gray eminence Bill Cunningham of The New York Times (Mr. Cunningham was traveling and unavailable for comment on his young upstart counterpart), Mr. Schuman rarely captions his subjects’ identities: It’s primarily about how clothes are worn, not by whom. But for those fascinated by the demimonde of editors, stylists, etc., there is much to gawk at—Wait, isn’t that guy in the beige trench coat and stovepipe jeans Jefferson Hack?
At 39, Mr. Schuman stands just over 5-foot-6, with a compact frame and steel blue eyes. Originally from Indiana, he worked in women’s fashion sales and marketing in New York for 15 years before starting his own showroom to promote emerging designers like Peter Som. The fallout of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks killed that venture, and Mr. Schuman, whose wife of 18 years, Christa, is a design director at the retail conglomerate the Limited, decided to stay home and raise their two little girls, Isabel, now 8, and Claudia, 4. Without formal training in photography—he still knows very little about the technical end of things, he said—he began snapping shots of his tots on the go, modeling outfits that he himself had put together, before turning to the public at large. Mr. Cunningham was not his inspiration, he said. “My major influence is Bruce Weber.”
“He’s the elegant voyeur of just people on the street,” said Michael Hainey, deputy editor of GQ, which has signed Mr. Schuman as a contributing editor with a monthly photo-essay page entitled, naturally, “The Sartorialist.” The Condé Nast takeover is complete this week with the debut of Mr. Schuman’s new page, “The Sartorialist Jr.,” in Cookie, Condé Nast’s “kid culture” magazine.
“It’s not just the people he chooses; it’s also the backgrounds he uses,” Mr. Hainey said. “He can take a gray, cold, grimy Milanese street, and all of a sudden it looks warm and lush and intriguing.”
In one of Mr. Schuman’s recent shots—of an Audrey Hepburn look-alike descending a flight of stairs—Mr. Cunningham, camera in hand, is caught in the background, casting a kind of curious glance. “Bill, everyone tells me, doesn’t have a computer,” said Mr. Schuman, himself clad in floodwater pants and brown suede desert boots under a navy DKNY parka. “He recognizes me now. I don’t know if he really knows what I do or where my photos are going—but he sees me.”
New York Observer
The Heir to Bill Cunningham? Condé Nast gobbles up fashion photo-blographer Scott Schuman.
By: Nicholas BostonDate: 2/26/2007
Page: 7
When Scott Schuman, the amateur photographer who runs the fashion blog The Sartorialist, first attempted to take a photograph of Carine Roitfeld, editor in chief of French Vogue and mom to New York “It” fille Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, at the spring 2007 Burberry show in Milan, she had no idea who he was. “I was trying to take a picture of her, and I don’t use flash,” Mr. Schuman said the other day, “so I was having a hard time focusing, and I could tell she was getting a little frustrated.” Luckily, Fabien Baron, the former creative director of Harper’s Bazaar and one of the industry’s foremost photographers, was also on the scene. “He leaned over and he said, ‘Give him a chance; I’ve seen his work and he’s really good.’ So, for the whole rest of that trip, she was very nice and very calm.”
Things were even better in Paris, after Ms. Roitfeld had had a chance to view some of Mr. Schuman’s work. “She literally stopped her car on Rue St. Honoré,” he said with satisfaction, “and said, ‘Oh, come here! I really like your photographs! Take more of me.’” An upcoming issue of French Vogue is slated to feature that photograph, along with ones of others by Mr. Schuman, including mega-stylists Emmanuelle Alt and Anastasia Barbieri.
C’est incroyable! Since it began in September 2005, The Sartorialist (thesartorialist.blogspot.com) has become a heavily frequented pit stop along the information superhighway for style watchers in and out of the fashion business. “It is sort of a mini–Who’s Who of the fashion industry,” said Nick Sullivan, the fashion director of Esquire magazine, the first traditional print outlet to publish shots by Mr. Schuman (in its August 2006 issue). “Real people. Ordinary guys on the street, like bankers trying to get it right.”
Thanks to photos such as these—mostly of men expressing a plurality of dress sense—Mr. Schuman came to the style establishment’s attention. “We were just fans of his blog,” said Dirk Standen, editor in chief of Style.com, the online home of Vogue and W. “We were sitting around one day planning our coverage of the Milan and Paris shows: ‘Instead of scratching around for a photographer,’ we thought, ‘why not send Scott?’ That was the eureka moment.”
And, suddenly, the Sartorialist was transformed from dilettante to demographer. Now under contract to Style.com, he jets from collection to collection—on Saturday, Feb. 17, it was back to Milan—documenting the comings and goings of the fashion flock. Like his biggest influence, gray eminence Bill Cunningham of The New York Times (Mr. Cunningham was traveling and unavailable for comment on his young upstart counterpart), Mr. Schuman rarely captions his subjects’ identities: It’s primarily about how clothes are worn, not by whom. But for those fascinated by the demimonde of editors, stylists, etc., there is much to gawk at—Wait, isn’t that guy in the beige trench coat and stovepipe jeans Jefferson Hack?
At 39, Mr. Schuman stands just over 5-foot-6, with a compact frame and steel blue eyes. Originally from Indiana, he worked in women’s fashion sales and marketing in New York for 15 years before starting his own showroom to promote emerging designers like Peter Som. The fallout of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks killed that venture, and Mr. Schuman, whose wife of 18 years, Christa, is a design director at the retail conglomerate the Limited, decided to stay home and raise their two little girls, Isabel, now 8, and Claudia, 4. Without formal training in photography—he still knows very little about the technical end of things, he said—he began snapping shots of his tots on the go, modeling outfits that he himself had put together, before turning to the public at large. Mr. Cunningham was not his inspiration, he said. “My major influence is Bruce Weber.”
“He’s the elegant voyeur of just people on the street,” said Michael Hainey, deputy editor of GQ, which has signed Mr. Schuman as a contributing editor with a monthly photo-essay page entitled, naturally, “The Sartorialist.” The Condé Nast takeover is complete this week with the debut of Mr. Schuman’s new page, “The Sartorialist Jr.,” in Cookie, Condé Nast’s “kid culture” magazine.
“It’s not just the people he chooses; it’s also the backgrounds he uses,” Mr. Hainey said. “He can take a gray, cold, grimy Milanese street, and all of a sudden it looks warm and lush and intriguing.”
In one of Mr. Schuman’s recent shots—of an Audrey Hepburn look-alike descending a flight of stairs—Mr. Cunningham, camera in hand, is caught in the background, casting a kind of curious glance. “Bill, everyone tells me, doesn’t have a computer,” said Mr. Schuman, himself clad in floodwater pants and brown suede desert boots under a navy DKNY parka. “He recognizes me now. I don’t know if he really knows what I do or where my photos are going—but he sees me.”
Saturday, February 10, 2007
The Sartorialist - Cool Fashion Blog
Once again, one of my key stringers has provided me with new information. A blog that features this City's (and Paris, and others) most fashionable people doing what they do best - be fabulously fashionable.The blogger lady is a photographer and she just posts a number of well-dressed people every day. It's Fashion Week now in NYC, so that's what she's been focused on, but she often takes pictures of just random kids on the street.
Fun stuff.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
WSJ: Heard on the Runway
Remember where you heard it first! I know it may sound odd to you - a fashion blog on the Wall Street Journal Web site? But trust me, I read that newspaper almost everyday and they've got some of the best fashion coverage out there. Apparently, it's "big business" ;)But be true...
WSJ Launches Fashion Blog
Thursday, Feb 8, 2007 6:00 AM ET
The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday launched a free fashion blog, "Heard on the Runway," offering updated news, images and analysis of this year's collections from New York, Milan and Paris. The online Journal ran a series of other event-driven blogs in recent weeks on such events as the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the Detroit Auto Show, and the Davos Economic Forum in Switzerland. The new fashion blog will be written by the Journal's team of fashion and luxury goods reporters including: Teri Agins, Ellen Byron, Rachel Dodes, Vanessa O'Connell, Ray Smith and Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan. "Heard on the Runway" is offered for free at www.wsj.com/runway, and will include links to fashion stories appearing in The Wall Street Journal.
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