that quirky mysterious young femme

Revision to the previous post: Yes, I have been mostly absent from the blogging world, but I have not been missing out on Scott Schuman's The Sartorialist. Over the past year and a half, it's been ingrained in me to make daily visits to Schuman's blog. (Obsessive habit does that to a person, you know.) And ever since he started capturing fashion week attendees for style.com, I've been able to get a daily double dose of The Sartorialist twice a year.

Schuman tends to photograph many of the same people regularly: Vogue Paris editrices (plural for editrix, I should think :) Carine Roitfeld, Emmanuelle Alt and Melanie Huynh, Nylon Fashion Director Aya T. Kanai, i-D Fashion Editor Erika Kurihara, Browns' Director of Womens Buying Yasmin Sewell, Anna Dello Russo (previously of L'Uomo Vogue), and Vogue Italia's Editor-in-Chief Franca Sozzani, among others. However, The Sartorialist has focused his lens on another personality five times within the past month. (Five! In my opinion, five is a heck lot of times to have been Sartorialized.)

"That Girl", as Schuman is wont to refer to quirky and mysterious young-ish femmes, has been caught on film in both New York and Paris. (Incidentally, she also got snapped by the Facehunter, at left.) "Who is she?" is the question that is on everyone's minds, mine included. I've been trying to put the pieces together, and here's what I've come up with: Schuman tends to name his photos after the event, location, person and/or clothing worn. In this case, one of That Girl's photos was named "chnfruits." The "chn" stands for Chanel, since that was the collection Schuman was snapping at, so that leaves "fruits" as the description of the photo subject. That makes "fruits" clue number one! Now for clue number 2: This urchin/waif/sprite has been lugging a massive camera around, indicating she is a photographer.

When I put together the two things I know about her - "fruits" and "photographer" - what immediately comes to mind is the Japanese streetstyle magazine FRUiTS. The decade-old mag has achieved international cult status and was founded by Shoichi Aoki in order to document the playful styles of the Harajuku district denizens in Tokyo. Unfortunately, I was unable to dig up any confirmation of That Girl's association with this mag, nor was I able to come up with a name for her. All these thoughts are just stabs at an answer; they are by no means a, "Look, look at me! I figured out who she is!!" At this point, I am just as ignorant as the rest. Does anyone here know anything about her?




Curiosity and amateur detective work aside, I am quite enamored of her spunkiness. I don't care much for the blase body language and styling as she leans against the minivan, but I adore her outfits and posing in all of the other photos. This mix of aloofness, girlishness, naughtiness and frail toughness, accessorized with a smirk or two, is just such an intriguing combination...I find myself wanting to know more. Most of The Sartorialist's commenters despised her split-toe gold shoes, calling them gross and disgusting, but I thought they were a whimsical touch, reminiscent of Greek mythological centaurs. I also like how she managed to work the same pieces in different ways. Notice the multiple use of the gold shoes, sheer cream-colored slip dress, black high-top Converse, thick black glasses and, of course, that ubiquitous big black camera....

EDIT: I was replying to Riz's comment, and it finally occurred to me why I like the first pic so much. That Girl reminds me of my idol, Harriet the Spy! The eponymous young Harriet was curious yet distantly observant, peering at the world through her fake, thick-framed glasses as she snooped around taking notes on everyone. Although That Girl is not jotting things down in a marbled black and white composition notebook, she is nevertheless capturing the actions of those around her with her camera. I love the way That Girl is crouched down, ready to pounce into action...much like the serenity before the storm. She completely disregards what others may think her "inelegant" squatting, and frankly, I think that indifference simply heightens how inherently elegant and self-possessed she really is.