BC’s Stars is a series of articles that highlights people of the BC community who should be getting more attention. They are the people who make BC such a great and unique place.
Exactly what I was wearing the day Alex Lee stopped me for a photograph is unimportant (except I was wearing a skirt, which meant the sun still graced us with its presence). As I made my way past Devlin Hall, I was surprised by this polite gentleman wielding a camera and a camouflage backpack. “It’s for a style blog,” he said, handing me a business card. It was a discreet one, at that: the card bore no name other than “The BC Sartorialist.”
I visited his blog, excited to see my picture, and discovered a variety of other photos like my own—students, even faculty in some cases, all around campus sporting eclectic fashion choices. A sense of anonymity pervades the blog. Lee never discloses his real identity, stating only that he is “a BC student who thinks that people who look good and dress well deserve some recognition.” After a semester of noticing Lee posted at his usual haunts (mainly O’Neill Plaza and the Hillside area), I decided to find out more about this intriguing “fashionographer.”
A junior transfer student from Syracuse University, Lee arrived at BC less than thrilled by the uniform fashion trends, something he noticed as well at his previous college. “But then there’s still a good base of people that are willing to do something different,” he shared. The desire to spotlight these unique individuals led him to start his blog, the BC Sartorialist (inspired by the original New York street style photographer, The Sartorialist), which now has over 23,000 hits.
In fact, Lee hadn’t even owned a camera before beginning this project in early September. He now describes photography as one of his main interests, particularly photographing people. “I really like taking photos of people more than like, buildings. People are so much more interesting, so much more fun,” says Lee.
While Lee’s personal style plays a role in his photograph selection, he emphasizes that the main criteria for his pictures is simply “what I think is cool.” Lee tends toward “patterns, mainly vintage stuff, and colors,” but he is interested in all outfits that stand out.
“I’m not trying to define what ‘good fashion’ is,” says Lee on the theme of his blog. “Style is very subjective, so this is my opinion of style… and people agree or not. And that’s okay.”
There is an admirable laissez-faire attitude about Lee, which shows through his photographs. One quick look at his blog and you’re sure to see a series of funky, seemingly outlandish ensembles. “I don’t force anything. There’s no quota, no rules,” says Lee. “I choose anything that strikes me—something I can appreciate, and I usually decide within the first five seconds of seeing it.”
This idea of “no rules” extends to Lee’s own fashion habits. I asked Lee to share one tip for our HC BC readers when it comes to getting dressed in the morning, or even on the weekends. Spending all day between classes scoping an area with as much traffic as O’Neill Plaza, he nearly has a degree in BC fashion—so who better to ask?
“I like when girls are creative. I love when they experiment, mess around with things—different patterns, different textures,” he says. “There are no rules. Don’t follow rules. I don’t follow rules—just do what you want.”
Within one semester, the BC Sartorialist has already met much success. The blog has expanded past our campus’ cozy border, including street style photos from Lee’s recent trip to New York. He speaks of future plans to extend the blog into Boston. “The thing is, I don’t want to ever stop, so when I’m not at BC, I’m still gonna do it. There’s cool stuff everywhere.”
The BC Sartorialist’s expansion includes “cool stuff” of his own—a new clothing brand called XXBC. The brand, described by its creator as “vintage-style streetwear,” offers a limited supply of custom sweatshirts made with rare, vintage fabric, and t-shirts with funky vintage prints. It all started with a sewing machine. “One of my roommate’s mom’s gave me a sewing machine cause she didn’t use it [anymore],” recalls Lee. “So I started sewing over [winter] break. I made this sweatshirt that I posted online and a ton of people wanted one.”
Aside from their creative designs, the shirts bear an aspect of Lee’s life philosophy that is present throughout his work—the refreshing reminder to “be yourself.” The back of each shirt bears the catchy slogan, invented by Lee, “When in Rome… do you.”
With that motto in mind, I encourage you to “do you” while getting dressed in the morning. Lee’s fabulous project brings to light the importance of self-expression through fashion, even if it means a little more effort. Who knows—you might unexpectedly catch the eye of one semi-anonymous Sartorialist.
Check out The BC Sartorialist’s blog at http://bcsartorialist.tumblr.com/and the XXBC clothing line at http://xxbc.storenvy.com.