The Game of Flickr

Oh my god, Jason just posted this and I was fully enthralled for twenty minutes: the Flickr wardrobe_remix group. It's exactly what I was looking for - Fruits for the rest of us. Real people in real clothes. I've always loved street shots , because there's something so incredibly off-putting about the artificiality of high fashion photography - sometimes it can be effective and beautiful, but it almost never translates to an aspiration for me, because the models are far too distant, too plastic, too unreal. But this, this makes me not only say, "I want that!" but also say, "I can do that better!"

...which leads me to my gaming instinct, to my competitive side. Now I am actually mentally putting together outfits in my head that will "win". It's not like the group is a competition; there is no ranking, no voting. But the thing is, I will know when I've won, and that's the important thing.

Comments

[Mai]

Hey Jane - I'd love to upload to wardrobe remix (I'm a member), but I'm usu. hurrying out the door if I've taken the time with what I'm wearing. So recently I've been interested in photographing other people's fashion commitments at http://fashioni.st because I find the street stuff inspiring too.

[jane]

Mai, that's rad! I'm totally subscribing to that blog now. It's so hard to take photos of yourself, isn't it? Some people do it so well. Anyone care to share tips on that?

[Alice Lee]

There are also a lot of candid harajuku photos on Flickr as well under the Harajuku tag. They're like the street shots from the magazines, only uploaded on a weekly basis by amateurs, tourists, and even some professionals. Ever since I discovered this, I haven't gone back to any of the Japanese fashion magazines I used to read.

[joshlee]

Wow, this is all great. And here I thought the Sartorialist had cornered the market on street photography.

The fashion game I always play is Vintage Bingo, where you're scored based on: 1) the niftiness/uniqueness of your look; 2) how old the pieces you're wearing are; and 3) how little you spent on your outfit.