Refinery 29 has got a piece today asking whether street style photography has jumped the shark, and hurray for that. Because as I’ve said before, and will surely repeat, the act of shooting the same handful of editors and bloggers—who at this point get tons of their clothes for free from designers—should not fit anyone’s definition of portraying style as it is created from the ground up.
It got me thinking about Amy Arbus and all of the fantastic work she did in the 80s for her “On The Street” column in the Village Voice. Do any of you remember it? That’s a pre-fame Madonna, of course, caught by Arbus on St. Mark’s place in 1983.
How fantastic is this chick? It’s also just a really beautiful portrait.
This is 80s club queen Suzanne Bartsch. That jacket is tame now, but it seemed totally scandalous at the time.
Looking at her pictures again makes me realize how lucky we are to have somebody who got down for posterity so much of what 80s style, especially 80s East Village style, was all about. Because even just physically (so many of the old buildings and bars and restaurants are gone) that part of town is not the same anymore, which makes it that much easier to forget. Here’s her book of photos from the era, if you’re interested.
Also, this is the Clash and a few friends in 1981.
Maybe the Sartorialist will now refer to his photos as “very AMY Arbus”
this should be a book about real fashion creativity not what we usually see – air-brushed shit and a truckload of clothes and stylists to staple everything in place so the lines look good
This blog is a breath of fresh air. Thank you.
I was lucky enough to be living in the East Village and
being in a band in the 80s… in fact Madonna and myself,
to my knowledge were the only two chicks rehearsing in
the Music Bldg. I love this photo of her… even though
she was always mean to me in the elevator of the practice
space!
LOVE.
Always wondered why Amy Arbus was not well-known as The Godmother of Street Style, thanks Kim for this entry. I remember back in the day when you didn’t ask someone what label they were wearing, because it was probably from a dry-cleaner closeout sale. When I tell people that when I arrived in Manhattan in the late 70s, there were no black jeans to be found so we had to use industrial dye we sourced on Orchard Street to dye bluejeans, they think I’m nuts!
Amazing shot…so agree with you. So many of these blogs ar contrived yet trying to be spontaneous. Love yours…check out mine..would love your thoughts.
xo
E
http://www.urbanchiqueness.com
LOVE THIS BOOK! I totally remember dressing like Madonna in the photo and remember the EV when it was like that, was a great time in NYC.
You are so right about bloggers. If I see another “what I wore today” blog, I’m going to scream. There is absolutely no creativity in that. Amy Arbus’ “On The Street” was always the first page I turned to in the Voice.
Your blog is great!
OMG! Thank you for returning to us Kim! I love Amy Arbus. And I loved Lucky. And where is Andrea Linett? Thanks for coming back to us. You were our fashion Bible. Keep it coming.
Trudy Anderson
http://www.adgals.com
Thank you, dear! Happy to be back. Ms. Linett is global creative director at Michael Kors. Fancy, right?
I totally forgot about those photos from the Voice! They are amazing and I loved the 80s. That was when having your own style, really meant having your own style. Celebrities copied us club kids! During that time my worked at Bloomingdales and later Barneys so we were always mixing up finds from Salvatore Armani (remember that one?) with cheap stuff we dug up at Unique on Broadway and the original Canal Street jeans. God I have not thought of those stores in ages. Thanks for digging up a few fond memories for me!