The Man Repeller Predicts a "Backlash" Against the Internet

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Referencing the recent New York Times article that questions the authenticity of street style photographs, Man Repeller blogger Leandra Medine has posted her own thoughts on the issue. At the end of a lengthy and introspective post, in which she admits that having your picture taken is "addictive," Medine concludes that street style looks "do tend to feel more manufactured these days."

She goes on to predict a shift in the way all of us think and feel about street style. "What I predict in the coming years is one long string of backlashes—toward the internet, toward technology at large, toward fashion, and toward the excessively accessible cues of personal style."

Medine seems to have touched a nerve among her commenters, many of whom have weighed in with their own thoughts on the state of the genre.

A commenter named Sarah says:

I'm inspired by street style because the people being photographed look like "real" people, albeit amazingly stylish real people. If street style blogs are going to turn into lower-budget replicas of a polished fashion spread, that's an entirely different breed and needs to be distinguished as such. I just want honesty.

A commenter named Erin Michelle says:

[I] read the NYT article last week and found myself wondering how much further can this go in the coming years? Can it get any more downright commercial than it is now? I love seeing slideshow after slideshow of kooky awesome street style, but it does seem so contrived and so branded. It bothers me thinking that someone can be decked out by a designer who is really just trying to advertise and thereby considered super fashionable.

Yet another says:

Street style is interesting and inspirational when it really does capture people on the street, but how often is that the case anymore? It's supposed to be accessible, but instead it's become as elitist as being on the cover of Vogue.

The comments on our own post about that Times article—in which we highlighted the product placement involved in street style—echo the attitude of Medine's readers.

One commenter put it like this: "The thing appealing about street fashion is how "real" it is. One appeal of street style is its supposed nonchalance -- as opposed to the heavily orchestrated visuals observable in the mainstream fashion system."

So what do you think? Are we at the end of the street style era? Do you agree with Leandra Medine that there's going to be a backlash? Speak your mind in the comments.

· An Afterthought [The Man Repeller]
· Is Product Placement in Street Style a Problem? [Racked]