Random fashion thoughts - Part II (A New Hope)

[dieworkwear]

This might be a dumb question, but why don't more stores do lookbooks?

These two shots from Mr. Porter are like night and day. They're both showing an Oliver Spencer jacket, but the styling and photography of the "lookbook" (actually just a photo to accompany a feature on William Gilchrist) is so much better than the product shot.

Assuming you know someone photogenic, and can hire a photographer for like $500, wouldn't it be pretty low cost for a store to put together a lookbook every season? You could do the color correction yourself (maybe not something super professional, but it's not that hard to learn)

This feels so much better than a product shot.

 

[habitant]

The product shot is how ****** it will look on everyone. Look books are false hope.

 

[dieworkwear]

Same with this Kingsman suit (Kingsman now seems to be just a Mr Porter house line)

 

[Nik Telford]



Chef's Table is a great series.

I've also been binge watching Mind of a Chef. Love the first and third season the most and watching David Chang eat all that ramen in Tokyo just makes me want to go back that much more.

I actually loved the first half of season 2.I really loved hearing about the cultural origins of traditional southern dishes.

 

[Parker]

This might be a dumb question, but why don't more stores do lookbooks?

These two shots from Mr. Porter are like night and day. They're both showing an Oliver Spencer jacket, but the styling and photography of the "lookbook" (actually just a photo to accompany a feature on William Gilchrist) is so much better than the product shot.

Assuming you know someone photogenic, and can hire a photographer for like $500, wouldn't it be pretty low cost for a store to put together a lookbook every season? You could do the color correction yourself (maybe not something super professional, but it's not that hard to learn)

This feels so much better than a product shot.

The product shot is how ****** it will look on everyone. Look books are false hope.

Because a good photographer shooting a whole lookbook would be WAY more expensive than that. ++ models, assistants, hair/make-up, location fee, design, retouching, etc. all add up.

I love look books -- they embody the romance and ideals of fashion -- along with runway shows and editorials. But for my own clothes buying I've learned to accept habitant's idea: if it looks good on some short model with average build on some half-baked e-commerce page, there's a pretty good chance it will look good on me.

I think it's a good investment for brands though, because as we know the image has a lot of power to persuade. A good look book or campaign or whatever can cement your impression.

 

[dieworkwear]



Because a good photographer shooting a whole lookbook would be WAY more expensive than that. ++ models, assistants, hair/make-up, location fee, design, retouching, etc. all add up.

I assume if you're a big store, you have to pay the big bucks. But for a small operation, can't you get a lot of that stuff for relatively cheap?

Back in the '90s, I organized some fashion shoots for a few streetwear companies. The models and make-up artists were basically free and the only person who really got paid was the photographer (partly because of film developing costs). Obviously, as a freelancer, I like to see people get paid for their work -- but if a store wanted to, it seems like a relatively easy thing to pull together. Esp now that everything is digital.

 

[t3hg0suazn]

TIL that Kingsman is an actual brand, and not just a made up front for a secret British spy organization in a movie.

 

[basil rathbone]

The product shot is how ****** it will look on everyone. Look books are false hope.

All advertising is false hope.

 

[dieworkwear]



TIL that Kingsman is an actual brand, and not just a made up front for a secret British spy organization in a movie.

They actually named the movie Kingsman so they could have a brand. The original title of the film was The Secret Service, but then they realized that would make for a weird clothing label name, so they changed it to The Kingsman.

Was originally just supposed to be a one-season thing, to tie in with the film, but it's since morphed into Mr. Porter's house line.

 

[nicelynice]

Small shops that do a lot of business on the web in Japan and especially Korea do this all the time with their garbage H&M-quality clothes. Not necessarily a look-book, but they'll take pictures of their clothes outside, giving them context. I don't know why more US stores don't do this. Just try clicking on a random product on Gmarket (http://gcategory.gmarket.co.kr/Listview/Category?GdlcCd=100000003), everything has a ton of product shots. I don't know if it's because "creatives" actually get paid more in the states, but in Japan and Korea everything from photography to styling to doing the web stuff would be a minimum wage job.

Also Fascinate's blog: https://www.fascinate.jp/english/blog
Like, these guys just go outside with a decent camera, I doubt they're planned or touched up much, and it looks leagues better than any product shots.

 

[dmash]



This might be a dumb question, but why don't more stores do lookbooks?

I don't think it's a dumb question at all. Yes, if you have seen and felt a piece that you're set on, a look book won't make a difference. However, antsy buyers (usually with an urge to burn a hole in their wallet) are shmoozed all the time into buying stuff just because the pictures look good.

I definitely agree it's as stated above, you're talking a much greater sum than $500. Day rate of a decently experienced male catalog model is going to run you like $1-$3k alone.

 

[dieworkwear]



I definitely agree it's as stated above, you're talking a much greater sum than $500. Day rate of a decently experienced male catalog model is going to run you like $1-$3k alone.

You don't need to get an experienced catalog model. You just get friends, or maybe models who are looking to build their portfolios. Or you get a cross promotion going with someone -- like a musician, artist, writer, blogger, editor, or whatever. There are lots of ways you can get free models. They're not going to be the same person who models for J. Crew's catalog, but you don't have to choose between doing something like what Mr. Porter puts out and doing nothing at all.

 

[gettoasty]

That'll make for an interesting blog idea. Pitch to stores that you'll model for free to give their clothes some more context and in return you can generate some traffic and maybe make some change off sponsors / ads.

I think the only criteria or a basis to build the website is choosing interesting locations and above average photo and editing skills.

Words can be kept at a minimum. It will be just pages and pages of new season gear modeled in the wild.

 

[dieworkwear]



That'll make for an interesting blog idea. Pitch to stores that you'll model for free to give their clothes some more context and in return you can generate some traffic and maybe make some change off sponsors / ads.

I think the only criteria or a basis to build the website is choosing interesting locations and above average photo and editing skills.

Words can be kept at a minimum. It will be just pages and pages of new season gear modeled in the wild.

That's basically what Instagram has turned into -- covert ads for brands and stores. Basically lookbooks/ paid advertisements trying to pass as selfies

http://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/trends/a10949/how-bloggers-make-money-on-instagram/

 

[dmash]



You don't need to get an experienced catalog model. You just get friends, or maybe models who are looking to build their portfolios. Or you get a cross promotion going with someone -- like a musician, artist, writer, blogger, editor, or whatever. There are lots of ways you can get free models. They're not going to be the same person who models for J. Crew's catalog, but you don't have to choose between doing something like what Mr. Porter puts out and doing nothing at all.

Yeah, completely right, overshot my estimates.

Hell, now that I think about it I've modeled numerous times for a few different boutiques in exchange for clothing as payment. I thought it was a fantastic deal (as long as one meshes with the style of said boutique).