Michael, 16th St, Philadelphia

"I would describe my style," said Michael, standing on the corner of 16th and Walnut, "like a food that you like. Like you like pizza. [But] if I could describe my style it would be like ice cream. That's what I would describe it as. Anybody can say urban. Urban is urban. I really don't know. I just like my flavor of cake or ice cream."

Michael does a lot of his shopping at Zara, and much of what he is wearing is from there. There and Target. He doesn't think so much about brands. He thinks about flavors, getting the flavor he likes.

As a general strategy for putting together an outfit, he'll select one or two relatively nice things that he likes — this "leather" motorcycle vest from Macys, for instance, or that pair of Doc Martens boots — and he'll build the rest of his look around it. "I just match off of that," he said. "Like, my jacket may be the thing that costs the most on me, and I just go cheaper from there."