One of my favorite fashion blogs is The Sartorialist because it relies on photographs and just a bit of copy. The point is to let the pictures speak for themselves and give you ideas and inspiration. The photography is also great. The posts get a lot of comments but I never read them because the photos are enough for me and, if I really like one, I don’t feel the need to read all the commentary.

The other great thing is that the author, Scott Schuman, travels all the time so he gets a variety of looks, just about all of them on the streets of major cities like Paris and Rome.

Sometimes I’ve looked at The Sartorialist before getting ready in the morning and found myself inspired to try a scarf or jacket or color combo I hadn’t ventured before. Maybe this is what we all need: visual inspiration. Once you start looking at the site, you start realizing how most people don’t consider their clothing to be an expression of who they are. Some people might think this is shallow – that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

But I always look at what people wear. I’m not looking for labels or assessing how much they spent; I’m looking for little twists of creativity and a sign that someone is home inside. Maybe a funny t-shirt. Maybe some interesting jewelry. Some sign that people CARE and didn’t just go to Kohl’s.

There’s a lot of Kohl’s running around Minnesota. I’m not saying I’ve never bought anything there, but its certainly not my entire wardrobe.

In contrast to The Sartorialist, there is a site out of Minneapolis that is an homage of sorts to called The Minneapoline . I’ve tried to get into it because I support the idea but its kind of like looking at photos of some poor cousins from the hills in comparison to The Sartorialist.

And that’s to be understood. For one thing, there’s not a bunch of highly stylized people walking the streets of Minneapolis. (We’re all in our cars) And for another, the site tends to focus only on college-age people who can be found in bars or at parties (our answer to the streets, apparently).

It’s disappointing that they can’t seem to find anyone over 30 to photograph. Maybe they’ve tried and couldn’t find anyone? In any case, I just don’t find it nearly as inspiring. The best photos I’ve seen there were from the last batch of Voltage pictures.

Where could one go in Minneapolis/St. Paul to take pictures of great street fashion without going to the U of M or to bars? This is the question.