For the fashion conscious, there is often nothing more important than the designer collections on the runways, as the recent fashion weeks have just shown. But sometimes the designs can be as baffling as they are impressive. For that reason, thousands of people are taking inspiration from somewhere much more accessible and understandable — people on the streets.
Admiring street style is not a new idea, so luckily there are already hundreds of established websites around the world observing the attire of ordinary people, and bringing it in from the streets to your computer screen.
The Sartorialist is one of the longest running and best known style blogs. Scott Schuman brings photos of the stylish from the fashion capitals of Milan, London and New York. The looks featured are high fashion and sophistication, and The Sartorialist has even captured the outfits of people in the business from outside Milan fashion week. Styleclicker and Facehunter are doing a similar job.
Hoy fashion features younger people on the streets of the UK and is more typical of everyday style. Their archives are primarily made up of pictures from Manchester, Liverpool and London. Being mainly UK based, it means that if you’re looking for new outfit ideas, at least the people featured are dressing for the same weather and season as you.
Stitsh has style galleries from London, Manchester and New York. Again it is less high fashion and more representative of ordinary people and high street outfits but Stitsh sets itself apart from the rest by linking readers directly from a photo, to purchasing a particular piece on each outfit. Style stealing made easy.
Based in San Francisco, Lookbook is a street style blog constructed by the stylish themselves. The site invites particular people to upload photos of their own outfits, and each person creates their own lookbook. You can browse by the top looks of the day or if you love one person’s style, view all the looks they post.
There are thousands more sites showcasing fashion from the streets of the UK, as well as America, Denmark, Germany and France. Together they are making style sharing easier than ever, and providing alternative inspiration for the occasions when designer collections are just a bit too far out of reach.
— Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly stated that Lookbook was based in New Zealand. It has now been corrected to San Francisco, USA. (Thanks Liam Haynes)