The Remezcla offices are located right snug in the middle of Williamsburg and every morning, like many of y’all, I walk past the Bedford L stop, headphones on, mostly looking bleary eyed and fiending for espresso. I don’t expect anyone to pay me, or my outfits, any mind but, WAIT. Enter StyleBlaster.net, a fashion blog that just hit the webz and has got everybody slightly confused and exposed. More Big Brother than The Sartorialist, the creators of Styleblaster have set up a camera in their apartment – located a block from the Bedford L – that snaps photos whenever anyone steps in the frame. The pictures are uploaded in real time to their site, allowing users to “click the top hat if they’re stylin’!”
While most street style blogs tend to feature only the young, hip & waif-ish, StyleBlaster’s mission is somewhat broader; it aims to explore the gentrification of the neighborhood. According to its “About” page:
Unlike a typical streetstyle blog, Styleblaster documents all — the visiting fashion plates, the hipsters and have-nots, the native Polish and Italian proud who have for years called this neighborhood home. And above all — the dapper salarymen and businesswomen who stand to inherit the area.
Ed Note:
This article was initially going to be an exploration of whether it was creepy/invasive to photograph people without their knowledge or consent – it’s clear from the photo stream on the site that the vast majority of subjects are unaware they’re on camera. In the course of drafting it, however, we decided that it was WAY more important to just find the camera and troll it. We sent author Daniela Cabrera on a mission to find the stretch of sidewalk where these photos were taking place, with little more than a construction barricade and a grey Jeep cherokee as contextual clues. AND SHE SUCCEEDED.
This is only the beginning. Stay tuned for more!