Street Stories » layers

renay on walnut street

Lisa — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:57:00 +0000

Renay was born and raised in Philly and has lived in Rittenhouse “forever.” Her favorite thing about about the city is the people and the abundance of things to do. Harry, her dog, also loves living here! She likes to go spinning, shop, go out with friends, and go to wine bars.

Renay likes to be comfortable. She enjoys wearing leggings, flats, tunics, and fun jewelry. She found her shirt at Anthropologie and her vest at Urban Outfitters. Her shoes are Tory Burch.

gabby on 13th street

Lisa — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 16:10:00 +0000

Gabby found her hat at a thrift store, which is where she finds most of her clothes. Her earrings are from Francesca’s.

Gabby is studying fashion merchandising at Philadelphia University. She’s originally from the Boston area and has been in Philly for about three years. She loves coming downtown to walk around, and she enjoys the different dynamics throughout the city. Her dream job would be something related to sustainable fashion — “trying to come up with new ways for making it a more environmentally conscious area . . . more artistry, and making it more beneficial for everyone involved.”

victoria on arch street

Lisa — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 18:48:00 +0000

I spotted Victoria while she was in line to get into the Tattoo Convention. I thought it’d be a good spot to find people. It was, but I found the prospect a bit overwhelming. She was like an understated and natural diamond in the rough of pink hair and weather-inappropriate clothing. Ladies, I know you want to show off the tattoos on your thighs, but when it’s twenty degrees at least wear some sheer tights. It made me cold to see so many people with bare legs and no coats.

Victoria is from D.C. and was in town for the convention. Her boyfriend was getting a tattoo there, and they wanted to visit a few artists. It was their first time in Philly. When we talked, she said her favorite part of the trip was Hotel Monaco, where they were staying, because it was the only thing they’d seen at that point.

Victoria’s shoes are Sam Edelman. She likes to shop at D.C.-specific boutiques and thrift stores. She also mentioned that she likes to find more professional wear at Anthropologie. She’s a professional photographer. It seems I have a thing for photographers. Or photographers just wear things I’m drawn to and enjoy.

alexi on walnut street

Lisa — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:16:00 +0000

Alexi lives in Camden. She’s a first-year law student at Rutgers. “I think that my entire outfit probably is like, 16 dollars!” She got her dress second hand, her shoes from Old Navy, and her jacket from Wilson’s Leather on clearance. Her Ray-Bans do throw off that estimate, though. If she could wear just one thing for a week, it would be a giant onesie with footies. A wise girl. Comfort over style, people.

dion on chestnut street

Lisa — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:58:00 +0000

Either there aren’t a lot of men in Philly dressed to catch my eye, I just don’t have an appreciation of men’s street style, or I am too scared to approach them, but as you may have noticed, there is a great shortage of men in this project so far. So I’m really excited to introduce Dion. He looked so put together that I was nervous to stop him, too, but something made me speak up anyway. Which is good, because he was a total sweetheart about it and we had a really great conversation.

When I asked him how he spends his time, the first thing he told me was that he’s a Christian. I really admire how forthcoming he was about his faith when talking to a stranger on the street. He enjoys going to basketball games and sits courtside at the Sixers games. Dion works at Boyd’s, and he’s in the process of starting an online Christian young adult lifestyle magazine, called Different by Choice. He will be looking for web designers, writers, and photographers for this upcoming venture!

Dion graduated from Overbrook High School, and he’s now attending LaSalle University. He was born and raised in West Philly, but he just bought a house in the suburbs. He loves Philadelphia and sees a lot of opportunity here, but there’s a lot to be done here as well: “…but you gotta be the change you want to see… so I’m not going anywhere. There’s a lot of change that needs to happen.”

Dion loves Greek mythology and art and would rather go to a play than a movie. He enjoys reading. He also mentioned that he’s old-fashioned and looking forward to getting married and settling down someday soon!

In terms of style, for Dion it’s all about fit, detail, and how clothes complement the individual. He enjoys J. Crew, J Brand Jeans, and Jack Wills.

His jeans are J Brand, his blazer is from H&M, his shirt and scarf are both from Urban, and his glasses are Ray-Ban.

montse on broad street

Lisa — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 16:59:00 +0000

Montse is from Barcelona and seemed to just be visiting Philly. She told me that she isn’t really into fashion, but she likes to mix in pieces from new designers in Barcelona who are still relatively unknown.

Montse is wearing Vans that she bought in Philly the day before we met and a scarf that she borrowed from her sister. Her shirt is from Top Shop, and her shorts are from a Spanish department store, similar to Zara. Her super cozy poncho, which I am completely in love with, is by a designer in Barcelona whose name she couldn’t recall at the moment.

paige on walnut street

Lisa — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 16:10:00 +0000

I’ve spent hours walking around, standing on street corners, and people watching, too scared and shy to approach anyone. I’ve seen lots of people I’d like to photograph, but didn’t get up the nerve in time.

One day, while standing on the corner of 18th and Walnut, a well-dressed couple crossed Walnut street towards me. I was thinking about how much I liked the girl’s outfit, and what a shame it was that I was too scared to talk to her, when the guy with her looked at me and said, “Hey, I really like your skirt!” I smiled and thanked him, and they kept walking.

I started feeling worse and worse. They were totally approachable! He talked to me! They probably would have been fine with it. I turned to see how far they’d gone down the street, but they stopped outside of Barnes and Noble to smoke! Now was my chance…

I turned away from them again and decided that if they were still there by the time I turned back around it was meant to be.

And they were still there!

Meet Paige.

Paige is a photographer and artist from Colorado. She complimented my camera, and told me she just got the same one. She sung the praises of the thrift stores in Colorado, specifically The Arc, where she found this skirt. “I basically just pick out whatever anyone else wouldn’t pick up out there,” she told me. I love the way she layered her fitted jacket over a long flannel shirt. Paige and I bonded over our mutual love of skirts with pockets and tried to explain their virtue to her friend, Kevin.

Paige and Kevin were super sweet, and I felt a little silly about how intimidated I was when they first walked by. They were the perfect first people to approach for Street Stories. I am so glad I met them!