VOLUME 1

Post No Bill: The Transience of New York City Street Style

BY BRENT LUVAAS https://doi.org/10.38055/FS010101

Abstract: The sidewalks outside New York Fashion Week are lined with makeshift plywood walls. They are designed to keep pedestrians out of construction zones, but they have become the backdrops of innumerable “street style” photographs, portraits taken on city streets of self-appointed fashion “influencers” and other stylish “regular” people. Photographers, working to build a reputation within the fashion industry, take photos of editors, bloggers, club kids, and models, looking to do the same thing. The makeshift walls have become a site for the staging and performance of urban style. This photo essay documents the production of style in urban space, a transient process made semi- permanent through photography.

KEYWORDS

• photography • street style • New York • Fashion Week • urban space VOLUME 1 Post No Bill: The Transience of New York City Street Style Street stylephotographofKateLanphear, Brent Luvaas,2013,photograph. outside PeterSominNewYork. FIGURE 1 BILL. in Manhattan,are covered with simple,boldwarnings:POSTNO dollar constructionprojects thatare inprocess atanygiventime as barricadesbetweenpedestriansandthemyriadmultimillion- venation ofthewoodremains visiblebeneath.Thewalls,erected impermanence. Nailspokethrough. Paintcracksandfades.The and fig.2) industrial-strength staplesholdingthemintoplace dark blueorgreen, withconcrete slabsattheirbase,and are located,are linedwithcheapplywoodwalls,painted where mostoftheoff-site venuesofNewYork FashionWeek The sidewalksofChelseaandtheMeatpacking District, . Theirshoddyconstructionbespeakstheirintended (seefig.1 2 VOLUME 1 Post No Bill: The Transience of New York City Street Style For themostpart,there are nobillsposted. The wallsremain empty. Pedestrianspass quickly by. New York. in NewYork. Brent Luvaas,2014,photograph., Street stylephotographoutsideJeremy Scott FIGURE 2 3 VOLUME 1 Post No Bill: The Transience of New York City Street Style 15th street inNewYork. Brent Luvaas,2014, Street stylephotographofJeannieLee, photograph. FIGURE 3 A- listthrough D-list—shoppingforgownsawards season. of aprevious show. There are eventheoccasionalcelebrities— stylists andmake-upartists,modelsstillmadeupinthe palette for fashionmagazines,journalistswithnotebooksinhand, hair are buyersfordepartmentstores andretail websites,editors pedestrians are ontheirwaytoandfrom shows previewed sixmonthsbefore theyhitthestores, mostofthose semi-annual marketingblitz,where designers’collectionsare During New York Fashion Week, the fashion industry’s (see fig.3) . There 4 VOLUME 1 Post No Bill: The Transience of New York City Street Style have alessformalstatusintheindustry. We could evencallthemusurpers,hijackingthe Most ofthepeoplewhopass,however, machinery offashionfortheirown personal ends. Fashion Blogging). blogs (Luvaas,Street Style:AnEthnographyof on thesidewalksforwebsites,magazines,and photographers likeme,shootingalltheaction erecting pedestrianraintunnels.Andthere are provided forthembyconstructioncrews hiding outinatemporaryshelteraccidentally for ahandoutfrom theover-dressed or There isalsotheoccasionalvagrant,looking for amomentontheirwaytoChelseaMarket. action, gawking atthe attendees, stoppingby of peoplejusthangingout,takinginthe and beseen(seefig.4). There are downtownclubkidslookingtosee “influencers,” promoting theirlifestylebrands. FIGURE 4 New York. Brent Luvaas,2013,photograph. Street stylephotographoutsideJeremy Scottin There are bloggersandotherwouldbe There are anynumber 5 VOLUME 1 Post No Bill: The Transience of New York City Street Style 15th street inNewYork. Brent Luvaas,2014, Street stylephotographofGreg Dacyshyn, photograph. FIGURE 5 else, fakebeing“somebody” untiltheyactuallyare. invisible line that separates the fashion industry from everyone on theirpartyinvitations.Maybe theusurpers,too,cancross that “free agent”entrepreneur statusintheindustry, “VIP”stamped Harper managedthatfeat.SodidNickWooster. Nowtheywield become minoronlinecelebrities,famousfortheirlook.Michelle Life: Becoming a Street Style Star at New York Fashion Week”), out of“street stylestardom” (Luvaas“InternetFamousinReal Week best-dressed list.They might forge an unlikelyfashion career up onVogue.com orRefinery29.TheymightmakesomeFashion that ambiguity. Iftheygetshotbytherightpeople,mightend passing crowd. Somesocial(media)climberstakeadvantageof The photographersdon’t alwaysknowwhoisamongthe 6 VOLUME 1 Post No Bill: The Transience of New York City Street Style as ostentatiouslypossible,likemobile fashion showattendeesweartheirstyle billboards forabranded self.Someof currency thesedays,andtoattractit, Social mediafameisfashionindustry photographers. Mostofthemdon’t. them getnoticedandstoppedby Luvaas, 2015,photograph. outside Jeremy ScottinNewYork. Brent Street stylephotographofMiyakoBelizzi, FIGURE 6 will getthemontheirfeet. on theirknees.You can’t alwayspredict what along thesidewalks,theirheavyDSLRsresting The photographersremain crouched 7 VOLUME 1 Post No Bill: The Transience of New York City Street Style Street stylephotographon15thstreet in New York. Brent Luvaas,2014, photograph. FIGURE 7 B self-conscious are There — and insiders brands industry are mostly There represented. demographic accidental anthropologists(seefig.6) . on Barthes, out playing frames still (Bourdieu) into them freeze photographers The sidewalks. distinction of games of There fashion. high into ascent their signalling luxury their off showing kids rich also are There form mild a 214), (Solnit statement political a is being exclusive these in presence very Their ix). (Kelley in them of parade then representation, popular means own their create a They (Polhemus). terms” as style on sm gender some rown, There is no uniformity to the styles that pass b ie msl wmn i otis ond o hm by them to loaned outfits in — women mostly White, ; Sontag) Photography; on Reflections Lucida: Camera eind o eosrt ter lgn restraint. elegant their demonstrate to designed li, oe rn — lutn ter street their flaunting — trans some fluid, usdr — many — outsiders oie o “hi own “their on noticed cutrmgs to “counterimages” rn o te lens the of front industry spaces industry of provocation. of y, no one single duds, rappers duds, are hundreds are ak many Black, these (see like 8 VOLUME 1 Post No Bill: The Transience of New York City Street Style agreement betweenthem. to ignore them once they have. It is a kind of gentleperson’s do theirbesttodrawtheeyesofphotographers,thenpretend their movements,enhancetherhythmicalityofwalks.They togainmasteryoverthegazeofothers.Theystylize (Wissinger), worked hard tomaketheir gestures count,toperfecttheirlook mean it’s notwork.Thepeoplewhoattendtheseshowshave be alessconvincingperformanceifitweren’t. Butthatdoesn’t self-stylization isinvisible(Duffy; Pham).It’s meanttobe.Itwould between itandthem(Butler). The labourbehindsuchacts of performance issothoroughly embodiedthere isno distance Only thenare theysuitableforpublicconsumption,oncethe privacy of one’s home until they become second nature (Pham). out infront ofamirror before theevents,donerepeatedly inthe social difference (Bourdieu). Theseare practicedgestures, acted — thoseintimateactsofbodilyhexisthatchallengeorre-inscribe cigarette of peopleinmotion.Theyfocusongestures —theinhaleofa Most ofthephotosphotographerstakeare candidshots (see fig.5and7) photograph. 15th street inNewYork. Brent Luvaas,2014, Street stylephotographofDanielleBernstein, FIGURE 8 , thekeyingofaphone (see fig.8) 9 VOLUME 1 Post No Bill: The Transience of New York City Street Style Street stylephotographofMariMalek,15th street inNewYork. Brent Luvaas,2014, photograph. FIGURE 9 me, please!” postcard home?Orjustascrappypapersign,reading “Lookat writing atthosedesks?Asoliloquy? Apaeantourbanliving? But whatare theslapdashcollectiveofNewYork FashionWeek walls withtheir‘PostNoBills’are itswritingdesk”(Benjamin423). not betterthan,anoilpaintinginthedrawingroom ofabourgeois; “glossy enameledshopsignsare awalldecorationasgoodas,if own fourwalls”(423).“Forthiscollective,”hewentonto write, and inventsasmuchindividualsdowithintheprivacyof their between thebuildingfronts —experiences,learns,understands, “eternally unquiet,eternallyagitatedbeingthat—inthe space the Parisianflâneur, “are thedwellingplaceofcollective,”that “The streets,” wrote Walter Benjamininhisclassicessayon 10 VOLUME 1 Post No Bill: The Transience of New York City Street Style and fig.11). style photographs,Irecognize NewYork immediately(seefig.10 dark blueorgreen inthebackground ofotherpeoples’ street New York, abackdrop, aprop, abarrier. WhenIseethatmuddled impression. The wallswillbecomepermanentlyassociated with of cinematicromance. Theywillleavewithquiteadifferent still brownstones andgothichigh-rises,somevaguepromise they were imaginingwhentheycame.Forthem,NewYork was Sudan to appearinfront ofthesewalls—HongKong,Paris,Japan, People cometoNewYork Cityfrom allpartsoftheworld (see fig.9)—thoughthewallswere mostlikelynotwhat York. Brent Luvaas,2014,photograph. Street stylephotographon15thstreet inNew FIGURE 10 11 VOLUME 1 Post No Bill: The Transience of New York City Street Style 15th street inNewYork. Brent Luvaas,2014, Street stylephotographofMiaMoretti, FIGURE 11 photograph. get discovered byanindustrywithanotoriouslyinsular gaze. Style: AnEthnographyofFashion Blogging).It’s where you Street StyleStaratNewYork FashionWeek”; Luvaas,Street style star(Luvaas,“Internet Famous inRealLife:Becominga The sidewalkiswhere youbuildyourreputation asastreet many wannabeinfluencersshowupintheiroutlandish getups. their whittleddownimagestoW, i-D,and Elle. That’s whyso out there, shooting off twelve frames per second, and selling walk withinthem.That’s whythere are somanyphotographers coverage ofthesceneoutsideshowsasoutfits that self-appointed ambassadors.Magazinesfeature nearlyasmuch Yarhi; Yi). Brandsparade theirwares ontheborrowed bodiesof action is.OutsideThesidewalksare thenewcatwalk(Menkes; like tosayinknowing,breathy voices,are nolongerwhere the The runwaysofNewYork FashionWeek, fashionjournalists 12 VOLUME 1 Post No Bill: The Transience of New York City Street Style It moveson.Onlyasaphotographdoes In urbanspace,styleoccursinpassing. it takeonthefeelofpermanence (see fig.12and13). in astateofalternately-conscioussomnambulance(Benjamin). those spacesoftransiencethrough whichthecity’s inhabitantspass takes place (Hebdige; Polhemus;Sennett,TheFall of PublicMan), once reserved for models and stylists. “glamour labour” (Wissinger) requirements. Editorsnowhavetocarryoutthe never-ending appeal. Butthatdoesn’t meantheydon’t resent thenewjob engagement, leveragetheirfollowingstomaximizemarket up to be seen on it. They too build their brands on social media (Menkes), recognize thepowerofsidewalk.Theytoodress huddled withtheirnotebooksinthecornersofrunway Of course,thesidewalkshavealwaysbeenwhere urbanstyle Even the editors, once safely ensconced in simple black, in NewYork. Brent Luvaas,2013,photograph. Street stylephotographoutsideJeremy Scott FIGURE 12

13 VOLUME 1 Post No Bill: The Transience of New York City Street Style Street stylephotographofLindaTol, 14th street inNewYork. Brent Luvaas,2016, FIGURE 13 photograph. these e te aea t cik o te. o eeyn cn e a be can everyone social mediastar. Not them. for click (Pham). to cameras the get blogosphere personal as everyone Not them. for work sidewalk the make can everyone the hierarchies and racial same magazines The the (Pham). by one structured old an alienating opening to key imagined with twenty-somethings find populations Nordic young (Mears; atclry niil t te lens: LGBTQ the to invisible particularly editor selectsthemformediacoverage.Somepopulations seem Most ofthepeopleattendingNewYorkFashionWeek passby walls withoutnotice.Nophotographersinglesthemout. youth, women over the age of 50, anyone over size 6 size over anyone 50, of age the over women youth, ar-rfi. hy ietp hmn are of barrier human a sidestep They Sadre-Orafai). blondes to make their way to the entrance. Other entrance. the to way their make to blondes hmevs n oetr fvu: Asian favour: momentary in themselves a distinctly middle-brow sensibility,the middle-brow distinctly a p hg nw akt without market new huge a up ak and Black ieak, ht s are is, that sidewalks, on people, Brown lt fashion elite Not can 14 VOLUME 1 Post No Bill: The Transience of New York City Street Style There is,then,areality tothedangerthat It’s just not,perhaps,thedanger the makeshift walls warn usabout. the makeshiftwallswarn city imagines. wardrobe ofitsowncreation. Thecitybecomesacage. in tooneparticularlook or scheme. Self becomes trapped in a and harder toexpress yourselfwhenyourpersonal brand islocked stick toit,it’s nolongerclearthatit’s yoursatall.Itgetsharder around it,yourfollowersexpectyoutostickit;andonce Turkle). Onceyoufigure outyourthingandbuildafollowing was oncefluid.Likesare addictive,followerslikedrugs(Marwick; in doingso:atwo-dimensionalrepresentation that ossifieswhat And noteveryonecanstandwhattheybecomeifsucceed Luvaas, 2014,photograph. outside PublicSchoolinNewYork. Brent Street stylephotographofLainyHedaya, FIGURE 14 15 VOLUME 1 Post No Bill: The Transience of New York City Street Style Studios inNewYork. Brent Luvaas,2014, Street stylephotographersoutsideMilk “Post nobill,”theyread insimple,laconic prose. Leavenomark,theymightaswell say. Passthrough withouta trace.The city, hiddenbehindthesewalls, does FIGURE 15 photograph. not belong to you. makeshift wallsimpart?Whatisthemeaningoftheirtext? Urbanism”; seefig.14and16).Whatmessagedothese through it are both its readers and its writers The city, claims RolandBarthes,isatext,andthosewhomove (“Semiology and 16 VOLUME 1 Post No Bill: The Transience of New York City Street Style embodied performancesplayedoutonsomeoneelse’s stage. Week”). in RealLife:BecomingaStreet StyleStaratNewYork Fashion the icyroadways whilethe shuttersclick(Luvaas,“InternetFamous Editors borrow sports cars from luxury brands. Influencers dancein devise newmethodstogetnoticed.Outfitsmore extreme. harder toreach venues,onlineonlypresentations —theinterlopers devises newmethodstothwarttheinterlopers—smallershows, while benefitingfrom its associations. Andasthefashionindustry seems tobeconspiringagainststreet stylephotography, even gets smaller. More constructionzones.More traffic cones.Thecity do. Yet everyseason,thespaceallottedtothosephotographers Fashion Blogging).Theyneedthesidewalkstoshowwhattheycan their ownonlinebrands(Luvaas, photographers usethisspacetobuildtheirreputations, establish in Western Civilization),blocksinflow. Likethepeoplethatpass, urban arteries(Sennett, pedestrian zonesdesignedformovement.Theyare clotsinthe coffees inonehand,theircamerastheother, whilelingeringin more photographers(seefig.15),cradlingtheirBlueBottle This is how urban style evolves: as a series of improvised, Every season of New York Fashion Week seems to bring out in NewYork. Brent Luvaas,2013,photograph. Street stylephotographoutsideJeremy Scott FIGURE 16 Flesh andStone:TheBodytheCity Street Style:AnEthnographyof 17 VOLUME 1 Post No Bill: The Transience of New York City Street Style ---. FleshandStone:TheBody theCityinWestern Civilization.W.W. NortonandCompany, 1996. Sennett, Richard. TheFallofPublicMan.W.W. Norton&Company, 1974. Sadre-Orafai, Stephanie.“DevelopingImages:Race,Language,andPerception inFashion-ModelCasting.” Polhemus, Ted. Streetstyle: From SidewalktoCatwalk.ThamesandHudson,1994. Pham, Minh-HaT. AsiansWear ClothesontheInternet:Race,Gender, andtheWork ofPersonalStyleBlogging . 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AloneTogether: WhyWe ExpectMore from Technology andLessfrom Each Other.BasicBooks, Sontag, Susan.OnPhotography.Picador, 1973. Solnit, Rebecca.Wanderlust: AHistoryofWalking . PenguinBooks,2000. News Street Style.” 2015. by RobinD.G.Kelley, W.W. Norton&Company, 2000,pp.ix-xi. 2011. , 5vol.February5,2012,p.4. National Post,vol.Saturday, October13,2012132012,,p.WP6. This Year’’s Model:Fashion,Media,andtheMakingofGlamour. NewYork University Press, 19 VOLUME 1 Post No Bill: The Transience of New York City Street Style Author Biography Brent Luvaas Blogging recently, of style andstreet photography, heistheauthor, most A culturalandvisualanthropologist focusingonurban at Drexel University. Brent Luvaas is Associate Professor of Anthropology UNIVERSITY DREXEL Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- Fieldnotes (www.urbanfieldnotes.com). Digital Cultures. HeisalsothebloggerbehindUrban NoDerivs 3.0Unported(CCBY-NC-ND 4.0)license (see: Copyright ©2018FashionStudies-AllRightsReserved https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/) and Street Style:AnEthnography ofFashion DIY Style:Fashion,Music, and Global 20