The New York Look Book

What do you get when you put together a gypsy, a park ranger, an opera lover, a hedge fund manager and a real estate broker? The answer is the New York Look Book: A Gallery of Street Fashion. Published by New York magazine, this opulent book captures some of the city's finest dressers. The celebration of style in NYC is something that has been celebrated since 2004 in the iconic New York magazine in it's weekly feature, The New York Look Book. This consisted of contributing editor, Amy Larocca and photographer, Jake Chessum setting up an impromptu studio on street corners in hip areas in Manhattan like Soho, Nolita, Lower East Side, East Village, west Village, the Meatpacking District, Chelsea and Union Square. Brooklyn is no longer seen as a no go area as places like Carroll Gardens, Boeum Hill, Cobble Hill and Williamsburg get their props.

My first impression of this title was that it was a great looking style book to flick over while chilling out on the sofa. However after a few pages it becomes clear that this is no coffee table book. The New York Look Book has hidden depths in terms of its photography and its witty observations by residents of the Big Apple. It is not just a book, it is a window into people's lives and voyeurism at its finest.

Written by Sylvia Ade