Style blog creates photo story of traditional looks with modern take
On Saturday, April 2, the Carolina Cup horse race will be held at the Springdale Race Course in Camden, S.C. The annual event has held an important place in South Carolina culture since it began in the 1930s. Shopping Savage, a new Columbia style blog, has focused in on the event’s famous fashion.
Former Free Times Style Editor Dwaun Sellers and his team of interns, including fourth-year political science student Ashleigh Armstrong and third-year retailing student Hallie Lipsmeyer, are kicking off the blog with a photo story based on the Cup entitled “Carolina Cup Presents: Young Money.” The story was launched Tuesday, March 15.
Using garments provided by local retailers like Brittons of Columbia, LaRoque and Pink Sorbet, the team sought to style contemporary versions of the traditional Cup wardrobe.
While neither Sellers nor Armstrong have attended Cup before, both understand how much the event resonates with the people who attend yearly.
“We kind of expanded on Dwaun’s original idea of these four kids who are in college: They’ve gone off and left the Carolinas, and they came back because [Cup] is such a deep tradition in Southern families,” Armstrong said, about the story line.
She said there was no particular runway collection that inspired them.
“While we respect and appreciate runway for the art and the beauty that it is, we would never try to replicate or duplicate the runway,” Armstrong said.
Instead, they used a variety of pieces not only for the races, but for a regular wardrobe. The blog featured seersucker items and pastel frocks, as well as a black skirt from Brittons (repurposed as a dress for the shoot), which could be dressed down, paired with a simple T-shirt or V-neck, or dressed up with a clean, white blouse.
In addition to “Carolina Cup Presents,” Armstrong and Lipsmeyer have been working hard on revamping the blog, which will feature hard news on Mondays by Lipsmeyer, beauty posts on Tuesdays by Armstrong, “savage style” on Wednesdays, trends on Thursdays and sartorial advice from Sellers on Fridays. “Shopping Savage” is an expansion of what used to be a strictly sartorial advice blog.
The website has several projects pending for the summer and the creators plan on building new relationships through the “Carolina Cup Presents: Young Money” shoot.
Images, posts and more information can be found at www.shoppingsavage.com.
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