Hamida is a student in New York. She’s studying Global Studies and Film at The New School.
“I like a lot of frumpy, very boho clothes lately, especially for the winter,” she said. She told me that her clothes are mainly thrifted, but she also finds pieces at Urban Outfitters, “to step it up” a bit. Her scarf is from Urban, and everything else is thrifted. I asked her what she would wear if she had to wear one thing for a week, and she said, “A huge coat, probably.” I don’t blame her. She looks both cozy and playful. The last photo is one of my favorites that I’ve taken so far. Her joy is infectious.
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!
It’s my pleasure to introduce you to Street Stories, a street style blog based in Philadelphia! As a new inhabitant of this city, this is a project to help my extremely introverted and sometimes painfully shy self get out of my beautiful West Philly apartment, explore Philadelphia, practice photography, and start talking to people (which will be the most difficult part for me).
I will feature people wearing clothes that strike my fancy (obviously), but more important than the clothes are the people who wear them. We all have a story to tell, and some people are especially good at communicating by how they choose to adorn their bodies. I’m a firm believer that it doesn’t take piles of money to be able to express yourself through what you wear, even though I am a total sucker for Anthropologie displays.
To paraphrase C.S. Lewis (ok, and add a bit of L.A. Yoder): These souls have bodies, and those bodies wear clothes.
I hope to not forget the souls. The quirky, interesting, diverse, imaginative, serious, whimsical, classy souls of Philadelphia & beyond.
