Who Lives in a House Like this?

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>> Seeing as I lack a Tumblr aka stream of image-based consciousness, it was hard to fit the above image by Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre on the blog without it looking a bit random.  As it is, this is a post instigated by a lucky find of a shirt at my Brooklyn go-to place for vintage About Glamour as I'm currently in New York for a few days.  Still, I had to somehow facilitate the blogging of my fixation with this image taken from Marchand and Meffre's The Ruins of Detroit series.  Any folks at Steidl reading?  Would you be so kind as to send me the accompanying book?  Oh right, duh!  Nobody at lofty Steidl would be reading a blog like this.   

The French-Renaissance style William Livingstone House depicted above is the brutal and damaged reality of the cheerier houses on this vintage Korean shirt but there's still a beauty there that feels more uplifting than it should considering the overarching theme of Marchand and Meffre's work.  Still, go through the rest of the series and you can't help but be mesmerised by the extent of detailed decay. 

P.S. Tumblr keeps cropping up in my consciousness.  Do I want one?  Is there a point to my getting into another online outlet?  On another note, I suppose some of you have heard about Tumblr sending 20 bloggers out to New York Fashion Week, all expenses paid etc etc.  Some of the reactions are a little sour grapey but nonetheless it should be interesting to see how fashion week coverage pans out on a Tumblr blog. 

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49 comments

  3. I know what you mean about Tumblr. Most days I feel like I can’t be bothered with another site to keep up with, but other days I just squeal with delight at the brilliance that is the Tumblr reblog. Very tempting indeed.

  4. This incredible house look like it’s straight from Tim Burton’s movie. As for the shirt – i TOTALLY would love to wear it , it’s perfectly unisex, guys can wear it easily. Susie, great vision you’ve got – i scrolled down: you found some incredible sweaters
    Which fashion illustrator do you like most?
    Leon

  6. I stared at that photo for a solid minute. The house seems to hold character even though its rotting away. It some how is still holding on! I like the top too and checked out aboutglamour’s website. I’ll have to pay a visit there when I head to nyc!
    http://subversivefashion.blogspot.com

  7. to tumblr or not to tumblr… very tempting for me as well and now they are flying in some for fashion week! lucky them.. I guess I picked the wrong websites to post on LOL
    BTW lovely shirt!

  10. Sigh. The Tumblr debate…my man just signed up for one…I don’t have the energy to create a NW blog…perhaps a Tumblr IS the answer…

  16. I love photos of decaying and old buildings, they are so haunting and have a strange, ghostly quality. The fact the house was once quite opulant and bright makes it all the more atmospheric.
    Strangely I was just planning to go to an exhibition in Ealing, London, featuring urban photography at night- the same kinds of moods and tones.

  17. What an incredible house, wouldn’t it be great if you could make it structurally sound and then LIVE in it in that state! I always find it a little bit of a shame that in renovating falling-down houses, some of the charm is of necessity lost. There needs to be a construction company that specialises in keeping the wonkiness in!

  18. What a way to take us from a derelict house to a wonderful house pattern shirt. You are an inspiration allright my friend.
    Mil besos from Andalucía.
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

  19. House sadly torn down since Marchand and Meffre shot it…appears Detroit littered with faded glamour just left to rot. Sadness…

  22. I set up a tumblr over xmas… just daily dosages of what inspires me in the world of product and design really… linked it into facebook and twitter… was surprised at how many people took a random interest! An avenue worth considering when you begin to explore other peoples interests and sources… nice collaborative feature.

  24. I do love the shirt, I’m less taken with the ruins of Detroit having seen a lot first hand it is an awful sight and a real shame. The photography is stunning though.
    Tumblr – not another thing to stress over! Argh!

  26. I’m not sure if there’s any real inspiration benefits. I use it like sort sort of picture diary (my favourite tumblr is actually my own, ha! :P), I like to scroll over my archive & see everything that inspired me at some point! It brings order to the chaos in my head.
    I do follow some other tumblrs, but I don’t really get any inspiration from them. I do like travel tumblrs & the like!
    So I guess tumblr has lots of positive points, but there is a lot of garbage on it as well! Only yesterday some lovely girl spammed my ask feature, “hey ! justin bieber is calling girls now! .. one every night ! check http://www.call-justinbieber.com !”
    This actually made me chuckle though! ^ ^ Anyways, I’m sure your tumblr would be a hit!

  27. I started a proper tumblr recently. I use my other tumblr as an actual blog. My image-based tumblr is nice because it’s not stressful and just somewhere I can store images I like. Starting a tumblr isn’t really as big of a commitment as some people assume because unless you have an ask feature, you’re not really engaging in an actual conversation with the people who look at your tumblr beyond likes and reblogs. Most (or all…) of the time you don’t even have to create original content.
    It makes me sad to see a house like that so rundown. It’s basically a rundown version of the house I used to dream about when I was a kid. Always wanted one with a pointy, circular attachment.

  30. I hadn’t heard about the Tumblr bloggers but I find it funny how mainstream fashion is always just a little behind the curve in these things. The aim when labels like Vuitton invited bloggers to sit front row was to improve their own street cred and I guess since the bloggers get a free trip they benefit in that way. I don’t believe it will benefit their blogs and I actually got away from covering runway on my blog because What’s the point? Everyone else is doing it anyway. What new perspective could I possibly offer about a Fashion Week runway show? The only interesting blog report I’ve seen about mainstream runway is Vogue Gone Rogue’s The WORST of Milan Fashion Week because she had the guts to do it. Now that’s different.

  31. Thanks for all the Tumblr opinions… I may venture down that road if i feel I need that sort of outlet….
    Annastarbird: Whaaaa? They tore it down? What is the US equivalent of The National Trust and why didn’t they stop it?
    Laura Connell: I struggle with a similar predicament – obviously what goes on in fashion week is important and affects part of my content and since I am there covering the shows (albeit for another website…) it seems silly not to have some sort of presence on my own blog.
    I still find it tricky to cover shows without it looking banal or predictable…

  37. Though I grew up in those dreaded suburbs, the city of Detroit was always a big part of my life and it really is such a sad sight. Though I do know first hand a large group of young people who are really dedicated to trying to help bring the city back to life. I recently wrote about the riots along with some photos taken at a Detroit art project if you would like to check it out.
    http://aestheticattic.blogspot.com/2010/12/heidelberg.html
    -Minette

  38. Love that shirt. I’d love to wear it with wide leg violet or orange trousers 70’s style with those high heeled Prada loafers.
    I don’t think you need a Tumblr because this blog is already well known and would only add to your workload. But you could join just to have all those you follow in one feed or ‘dashboard’ which is handy.

  39. I saw you tweet the link about the Tumblr bloggers going to NYFW. I seriously could not believe all the negative comments.
    I personally think it’s cool that bloggers from a different platform get recognized. Can’t wait to see the coverage!

  41. I saw this at About Glamour the last time I was there and even remember thinking I only know one girl who could wear this. I picked it up three times and then put it out of my head. So glad you went! Did you make it to Beacons too?

  43. I love the print on that shirt but then again I am a complete retro print nerd..got to love them!
    …xXx

  44. This house looks like A Disney home…Its so interesting !!!the way u designed the shirts with home is absolutely stunning… http://www.edgonline.com/ and its very impressive too…Can u pls update some home decor collections..

  45. This incredible house look like it’s straight from Tim Burton’s movie. As for the shirt – i TOTALLY would love to wear it , it’s perfectly unisex, guys can wear it easily. Susie, great vision you’ve got – i scrolled down: you found some incredible sweaters
    Which fashion illustrator do you like most?

  46. Irena Krajina said…
    David Byrne talks about the ruins of Detroit in his book Bicycle diaries and he actually uses the same photo as an example of the ruins. He compares it to Berlin after Second World War – recommended reading.

  47. I saw you tweet the link about the Tumblr bloggers going to NYFW. I seriously could not believe all the negative comments.
    I personally think it’s cool that bloggers from a different platform get recognized. Can’t wait to see the coverage!

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