Scott Schuman (The Sartorialist) and Garance Dore

[LUXXX]

Reading interviews with both, they seem so incredibly up their own butts and snobby to boot! Ugh...

 

[lucy92]

japoelflaco, the only reason that people comment on his height is that he's incredibly vain and he may judge other people for being short in stature, or that he has a "Napolean complex" apparently.

this man is so horribly sexist.

he said that tavi views's or her blogs could never be taken seriously 'if she has never had a boyfriend or any of that Kind of stuff".

 

[CielDeLit]

^Oh wow

That said, I hate the expression "Napoleon complex" because it's particularly inaccurate and irrelevant, nothing against you, I just loathe this "conventional wisdom", I understand what it means but the origins are wrong. Napoleon was of perfectly average height for his time, so he was never complexed by his height, unlike Scott maybe, which would account for many things..

 

[fashionista-ta]

japoelflaco, the only reason that people comment on his height is that he's incredibly vain and he may judge other people for being short in stature, or that he has a "Napolean complex" apparently.

this man is so horribly sexist.

he said that tavi views's or her blogs could never be taken seriously 'if she has never had a boyfriend or any of that Kind of stuff".

Oh good Lord I hadn't heard this quote before. So I guess if a woman is gay, he won't think she can be taken seriously at any point in her life? I really need him and his chin to explain to me how 'having a boyfriend' or 'that kind of stuff' gives a woman gravitas. Apparently a woman is invisible to him until she's received some male stamp of approval, like the Good Housekeeping seal? How can he be so sure it is or isn't there?

Jane Austen has been extremely relevant for centuries now without ever meeting his standard (assuming I understand it correctly ...).

Jacka$$ ...

 

[justlooking]

wow, when did he say that Tavi quote?

 

[MulletProof]

This is the full quote:

What does he think of other bloggers who have enjoyed similar success, like Tavi?

I don’t think her audience is that big. I think her success is a little bit of a conspiracy by established print media that wanted to show that this blog thing is not that important, that it’s done by a bunch of twelve year olds. But a lot of us are serious grown-ups. I think it’s great that Tavi can create a blog and write for other people that are like-minded — probably other kids around her age — but I don’t know how that is going to help a 26-year old, if she has never had a boyfriend or any of that kind of stuff. She’s just a kid, so she can talk about art and stuff only in an abstract way ... to me it is like a five-year old Michael Jackson singing about love.
​

via nymag.com

.. I'm not a fan of Scott, I don't even visit his blog, not even in fashion week, but there's a lot of truth in what he says, and I'm admittedly guilty of having that tendency to put all bloggers under the same 'inexperienced/teenager that babbles about anything just because he can' category, when it's certainly not the case for a [tiny] fraction of them. Thing is, many bloggers are infiltrated with that, and I think that's what he was getting at, not the simplistic "get a boyfriend and I'll believe you" argument but life experience and solid knowledge in order to function as reliable media.

 

[japoelflaco]

japoelflaco, the only reason that people comment on his height is that he's incredibly vain and he may judge other people for being short in stature, or that he has a "Napolean complex" apparently.

this man is so horribly sexist.

he said that tavi views's or her blogs could never be taken seriously 'if she has never had a boyfriend or any of that Kind of stuff".

Thanks for the answer
I've been reading about him, and I don't like him at all. Belive me not all shorties are like that.

But I don't know what kinda uprising he has had in order to think of himself like this superior being, or that he needs to put his stamp of aproval in all things fashion.

 

[franki]

^^ i understand his point about a 5 yr old michael jackson singing about love, but the 'never had a boyfriend' argument only would be plausible if SHE too was singing about love. but she is not, therefore it is irrelevant. let me say, i do NOT like her blog at all, because of her precocious/poor writing. but when it comes to fashion she has every right to write about what she wants. she has a lot more access to rtw fashion than most run of the mill local bloggers, and myself. so who is he to say she can't write about it. she never demanded that people follow her either and take her as gospel.

and art does not have to be appreciated only by those with more 'life experience', it just may be appreciated in a different way, for different reasons.

 

[Dkammern]

What's worse about this, is that he is criticizing Tavi for being chosen by the media in a way that is very similar to his own.
She didn't get there because she is "someone's daughter" or something like that. Like it or not, she had traffic in her site to begin with, and that's what granted her an invite to the shows.
Sure, she was young and that makes a looooot of free publicity, but so it does to invite Julia Frakes (bunny bisous, anyone?) to Delacroix and her spotlight didn't last nearly as much, regardless of what she is doing now.

If you think of it, despite of his previous experience in the industry (one could argue how successful his previous ventures really were, if at all) Schuman was chosen by the media for the same reasons Tavi was. He was just "the FIRST" (not the BEST) to be really popular doing streetstyle (Cunningham, yes, he was there before but Scott deserves credit for taking the thing global).
He was then smart, and found his ways to turn his site into a cash machine (the BoF run a fantastic post on that recently) but if you look at his work, there is nothing all that special about it.

Not really being the best at his job brings up another important topic which is the weaknesses of his business model: his work is far too easy to replicate.
So he shoots with a nice big Canon... anyone can take a decent pictures with that! His subjects are uninspired, his writing is dull... still people talk about him as if he was some sort of Helmut Newton of our century when there are so many bloggers doing a far better job out there (not that he would know, because as he said he only reads Garance's blog and only recently opened up to the likes of Bryanboy, whose business is not photography).
As he says in an interview, Garance is a lot more versatile: she draws, she takes pictures, she writes (like it or not, there is a big audience for her girly-shallow writing. there's really nobody who can do it quite like her) and delivers content that is easy to digest, that somewhat makes you want to know the subject of the picture, visit the place... and that is also not easy to access too (everyone can shoot in the street, but not every 'cool parisian girl' will let you shoot her apartment.
To take another example of a blogger that has also moved on from just doing street-style is Jak&Jil's Tommy Ton: the backstage, the collection previews, when he shoot's some editor's closet, when he does a campaign for a brand that doesn't look like streetstyle... it is not like Schuman taking pictures of people in the street (even if he does it for Burberry and it's all trenches and stuff. it is still just street-style!)

Well, bref. give me a $quarter for every interview where he sounds like an arrogant, I'll give you a dollar for the ones where he doesnt. You owe me (a lot).

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ We're going to have to work out a payment arrangement

Having read the complete quote, I still think he's full of it. Shakespeare wrote about being royal, and by all accounts did it well. Carole King has written many successful love songs (e.g., Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow), and has stated that she's never been in love.

Perhaps Scott has missed his calling, and should be singing love songs instead of being a fashion expert

 

[fashionista-ta]

askmen, wikipedia

You know, sometimes I think Scott dresses like a guy who's never had a boyfriend ... I'm really starting to question his credibility.

 

[olga.]

Have bought his book with photographs from The Sartorialist and I remember how disappointed I was because of the uninspiring content. Been looking at the pictures, trying to grasp the sense, but it was not there. This was the moment I stopped reading/watching his website. The man seems shallow and petty. Now I am reading the interviews and his attitude seems so unapproachable. The comment about Tavi and boyfriends is out of line - feeling fashion, emotions and cultural items is not about "boyfriends and stuff" - but about sensibility, creativity and so on. And Scott smells like superficial spirit...

On the other hand, I like Garance's youthful blabbing and her watchful play with teenage words, still she seems immature and girlish. Can't decide whether this is a compliment, but certainly I wish them all the best.

 

[LuLover]

I don't like Scott but there is merit to his comments regarding Tavi. I think it's a direct reference to the bull**** she was trying to drum up about Terry Richardson a while back....

 

[fashionista-ta]

I don't like Scott but there is merit to his comments regarding Tavi. I think it's a direct reference to the bull**** she was trying to drum up about Terry Richardson a while back....

I say good for Tavi for taking him on. Her comments on him that I've read haven't seemed at all out of line. What's disturbing is the women who are editorially in charge of fashion not taking him on.

 

[Les_Sucettes]

I say good for Tavi for taking him on. Her comments on him that I've read haven't seemed at all out of line. What's disturbing is the women who are editorially in charge of fashion not taking him on.

I do find it extremely ironic that is a child is trying to take on a photographer that takes p*rn*gr*ph*c pictures and labelled as over 18. She did not just refer to his fashion pictures. It's like a child deciding to watch a p*rn film and finding it inappropriate. It's tremendously stupid. And yes, i do think you need to have some life experience if you want to tackle certain subjects.
Her feminist icon is Courtney Love for FGS, i guess that should ring some bells.

Said that, Tavi is a teen, she only sprouts all this bull because she's teen, and she would be sprouting the same kind of nonsense even if she was not given bigger platforms, but Scott on the other hand becomes more and more arrogant and entitled everytime that he's given the exact same opportunities that Tavi seems to not deserve in his opinion.

 

[fashionista-ta]

I certainly said some stupid things when I was younger ... at least I was passionate about my opinions, about something Better to be hot or cold than lukewarm.

I just don't think age is terribly relevant when it comes to expressing your opinion. Everyone should do it. There are 80 yos not worth listening to, and plenty of kids who are. Everyone who's alive (OK, dead too) has life experience.

 

[Les_Sucettes]

I just don't think age is terribly relevant when it comes to expressing your opinion. Everyone should do it. There are 80 yos not worth listening to, and plenty of kids who are. Everyone who's alive (OK, dead too) has life experience.

Far from me to say that life experience will make anyone's opinion relevant. But without life experience some people a priori are unable to make sense of certain subjects. Tavi is the perfect example. And it's certainly not opinions about fashion that I'm talking about.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ I guess making sense is in the eye of the beholder

 

[LuLover]

There is an opinion and then there is "taking someone on" which requires a degree of perspective - a 14 year old would have little perspective on sexuality.
What is confronting to a 14 year old may not be to someone older. And thats how it should be but that doesn't mean that we can ask the kid to judge.

 

[Les_Sucettes]

^ I guess making sense is in the eye of the beholder

Not when we are talking of children tackling subjects that a priori should not even have an opinion about. We do not live in cultural vacuum, this idea that has been hammered that everything in a certain way can be subjective is a false one. Societies are only work when a set of standards has been generally agreed on. Children should not tackle p*rn*gr*phy, Tavi, as a typical young teen, has absolutely no concept of the power relations involved in any form of sexual relations, that's exactly why we have an age of consent that more or less in all western countries around 16, so what makes everyone think her opinion may be in any way or form be relevant in this subject?
Don't get me wrong, Tavi is not to blame in here, the people to blame are the ones that spread her word, the fact that she thinks she is experienced enough to give an opinion about this is typical teen behaviour. When i was a teen i said the most outrageous things about all sort of subjects with the utmost conviction, but i just thank the Gods no one was stupid enough to listen and that i grew up in an age I had no outlet for my rants.
I do not agree AT ALL with Scott when she say that people focus on Tavi to mock the blogging community, I just think the media focus on Tavi because she looks like a very very young child sprouting grown up opinions, she's "different". If she didn't have this granny/child thing going on, and looked 18, like a lot of 15 year olds do, no one would pay attention. She found her niche, good for her, I do not understand why Scott thinks it's a slur upon himself.