Shiny Happy People

I have started reading The Sartorialist, a lovely fashion-photo blog. Basically, the author (a photographer) takes pictures of outfits he admires in the cities where he finds himself. It's great.

Anyway, Justin and I were admiring a particular photo, a man wearing rolled khakis and a half-tuck shirt, and wondering how people get away with that. Then we realized. They live in New York.

People in New York (that far off, exotic place) can do anything. There are so many of them that nobody seems to have time to discourage another New Yorker's fashion decisions. And in all the hustle of the Big Apple, probably not that many people even notice. (This is a timely post, with Sex and the City coming out this weekend.)

We also realized you can't do that in Cleveland. Well, unless you are either 1)a high school student 2)an art student 3)a scuzzy punk 4)a really really incredibly rich person, but in this case you probably wouldn't live here. Or you'd be really old and people would just think you were crazy.

This place is so much smaller that a daring or couture fashion statement sticks out like a yellow elephant in a parking lot.

All this means is that I will continue to admire the Sartorialist without making any high-fashion asjustments until I move to another, bigger, busier city. For now, that means rotating the same three pairs of jeans with different shirts from 4 or 5 seasons ago, purchased new or used.

Comments

Anonymous said…
What makes you believe the people are happy?
Jess said…
good question. its highly likely that they aren't. the title was referring more to the REM song than the actual people...plus, don't people who dress well seem shiny and happy, even if they're not?

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