Looking back at these pictures I had a sense of deja vu. They had Nylon's global street style book written all over them. I'm not sure who did the appropriating here, me or Kevin, but there's something distinctly London early '00s about both the look and my photograph of it.
Which begs the question: is there such thing as an original street style image? And is there any such thing as an original style? Or we all just recycling all the time — both in what we wear and in how we document what other people wear? At the very least, we recognize someone as worthy of being photographed by virtue of their resemblance to other photographs we have previously seen. I like Kevin's look. And I like it precisely because of its familiarity. It conjures something up in me — like a half-remembered memory.
I think I would argue that nothing is an "original style;" we're always building off others.
ReplyDeleteIt's been suggested that people dress from the images they have seen, but also dress imagining what they will look like in the clothing. As such, I wonder if Kevin's look feels familiar because you're building off the same images or because you're aiming to appear in the same way?
I agree with you, Ethan. Style only makes sense within the context of a cultural system.
ReplyDeleteAs for whether Kevin's look feels familiar because we're both building off the same images or because we're both aiming to appear in the same way, I can't say for certain, but I'm leaning towards the former. I understand and relate to Kevin's look because of a common visual vernacular, but I don't think I'm aspiring towards it. It's much too clean and tidy of a look for me. Maybe if it were Pete Doherty-ed up a little. Throw in a bit of grit.