LA isn’t just home to a community of bright entrepreneurs; it’s also home to a legion of great writers and bloggers. Throughout the year, Lalawag will be chatting with some of the city’s most prominent bloggers to find out a bit more about what makes them tick.
Haas Sullivan (@princeofgundo) has always liked finding unique pieces of clothing to wear. He would always be inundated with questions from people on where to obtain the gear. Eventually, his passion led him to create Oh Snaps! That’s Tight, a clothing and lifestyle blog focused on sharing his passions with the world.
Tell us a little about your blog
My blog started out just featuring different t-shirts and shoes that I was in to, and basically grew to an archive of everything that if I were to see it on someone walking down the street – it’d make me say stop and say “Oh Snap! That’s tight!”. Aside from fashion related items, it’s grown to feature information related to art shows from some of my favorite artists, and music as well. I actually brought a friend on board with similar tastes in music to help handle the music posts on the site (Shout out to @jeramiehopson!). I have some other surprises planned for the future as well with respect to having more lifestyle-related posts. The blog is dynamic and growing – and that makes it fun.
What are your favorite spots in LA to shop for streetware?
I think the Fairfax district in LA is pretty much holding it down right now as the area to shop at. On a stretch of a couple blocks – you can find flagship stores for Supreme, The Reserve (carries Freshjive, Warriors of Radness, various vintage books, and art gallery, all-in-one), Hall of Fame, Diamond, Flight Klub, The Hundreds, as well as some pretty amazing thrift stores. Aside from that, the food is pretty impeccable. On that same stretch, you can stop at Canter’s for one of their world-famous Pastrami sandwiches, Golden State (which is kind of a Hipster haven, but the burger is worth it), or Nyala over in the Ethiopian District (my friend and his mom introduced me to this place a few years back and it’s become a monthly destination for me). Before Fairfax really came to be what it is today, I was a big fan of the La Brea area. Right before La Brea hits Melrose, there is a 3-store stretch with Stussy, Undefeated, and Union LA, with a nice art gallery (Gallery1988) at the corner.
How did you get started blogging?
It was actually pretty random – I’ve never been much of a creative writer or anything like that, but I first started blogging around five years ago and sort of grew from there. I’ve always liked having the cool clothes that no one else had. A lot of times when I’d go out, people would frequently comment on what I was wearing — “That shirt is crazy – where’d you get it?” or “I didn’t know Nike still made those shoes?” I would give people my sources or whatever, but they often wouldn’t be able to get their hands on the product before they were sold out in stores. The thing about streetwear (I’m not a huge fan of the word, but I don’t know what else to call it, and “Young Men’s Fashion” doesn’t really cut it for me – and there is no need for age discrimination) is that the products are always released in limited numbers and when they are gone, they’re gone. I’m not really talking about items you can find in department stores or places like Urban Outfitters. A lot of these companies only sell through their website, their flagship store, or select boutiques. I like using my blog as a platform to give people a heads up that stuff I’m into is going to be released on a certain date – and give them an opportunity to get to purchase some of these items firsthand, rather than having to pay a 100% mark-up on eBay and risk not knowing the authenticity of the goods they purchased.
What platform do you use for blog publishing? What made you decide to use it over the other choices out there?
To be honest – I use Blogger. Their whole set-up is so user-friendly and intuitive, that I was really able to just dive in and get started. I’ve though about switching it up to something a little more sophisticated, but just haven’t been inspired enough to make the jump yet.
Being a tech enthusiast, I’m not ashamed to admit that I haven’t kept up with the fashion scene. Do you have any advice for people like me who are “fashion newbies” on how to get informed/caught up on what to wear?
Go to my site! But seriously, I know my site isn’t for everyone and I’m okay with that. At the end of the day, just because I like everything that goes up there doesn’t mean the next person will, but for the people that share similar interests – it’s the place to be!
With respect to your question, I think the key is to be comfortable in your own skin. I think deep down, everybody kind of knows what they like to wear or what they feel like they look good in. My advice would be to just embrace what your gut is saying and work off that. If you feel like you’ve a bit out of the loop as to what’s in or your current wardrobe is a bit outdated, I’d say hit the streets to find inspiration. Go to a coffee shop and hang out, lurk in a book store, or even people watch down at the beach. You’re bound to find something you like somewhere. Once you find that “look” you want to go with, I think its important to try and not do too much too soon. You don’t want to dump everything you own and buy an entire new wardrobe – that’d be expensive for starters, and aside from that, you’d likely get caught up in buying in to the current fad or trend – and those things don’t always last (remember the “all-over print” hype that was going on a few years back?).
I recommend building your wardrobe slowly and over time. Some of my favorite shoes and other articles of clothing are things I’ve had since I was in high school. Certain pieces – like a nice pair of dark, raw, salvage denim will never go out of style – so I’d say that’s a great place to start! Try APC – they have a flagship store pretty close to the Beverly Center – and the team there is very helpful.
Other than your own, what are the first three content sites/blogs you check when you wake up in the morning? Why?
The first site I check out on the daily is Twitter. From being spoon fed links to check out, to seeing what everyone in the world is talking about at that specific time (whether your follow them or not), to planning stuff with friends, to seeing how self-absorbed/crazy a lot of your favorite artists/entertainers are (you know who I’m talking about — the “I only retweet compliments about me and don’t really say anything of value type”), Twitter is sort of like a one-stop shop on the web. A lot of my favorite brands will post content related tweets related to product drops, music artists tweet about performances in small venues you may have not known about otherwise, online publications post links to their articles, news sites give instant headlines – I feel like I could just be connected to Twitter and get enough information from the internet.
Aside from Twitter – the next two sites I check are probably ESPN and CNN.
Who are the five most important people you follow on Twitter and why?
Wow – that’s a tough question. I think the most important people I follow on Twitter first hand are my friends – we all have pretty similar interests so when they tweet, I’m generally interested for the most part.
Aside from them:
@dopeboyc – He has a lot of good fashion tweets, but writes about so much more – parables, advice, stories, etc. He’s a real clever cat.
@TheEconomist – I’ve always been fascinated with the economy, and The Economist is a great publication.
@SoleCollectors / @nicekicks / @nikestore – Three-way tie – they all provide great up-to-date product release info for shoes.
@kanyewest – Like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get with ‘Ye. His tweets also inspired one of my favorite websites of all time – kanyenewyorkertweets.com – where they’ll mash-up tweets from Kanye West with cartoons from the New Yorker.
@complexmag – I needed something that is all-encompassing, or else this list would turn in to me listing everyone I follow. I think Complex does a good job of blending fashion/music/pop culture/sports and other general interest items.
What smartphone apps do you find indispensable on your home screen? Why did these apps make the cut?
My three favorite apps are probably Twitter, Email, and Facebook. I love iHome - an app that a friend put me on to a while back – its basically an alarm clock that allows you to wake up to music from your iTunes library. It helps me get out of bed in the morning with something better than incessant beeping. ScoreCenter from ESPN is obviously great – you can set your favorite teams and get instant updates on how they are doing. I’m a huge fan of Dilbert, as I’m sure everyone that has ever worked in an office environment is, so the official Dilbert app is definitely a daily check.
Where do you do your best writing? (at home, starbucks, the park, etc.)
The majority of my blogging gets done at home while sitting on the couch. From time to time I’ll head over to a local boba shop down the street, but for the most part, nothing beats the comfort of home for me.
What’s your best source of inspiration? Do you have a particular muse?
I think I’m probably most inspired to blog by the products themselves. I love products and designs that are stylish and functional. It’s exciting when someone brings something new to the table, but at the same time some of my favorite posts relate to classic items: Denim jackets, Nike Air Max 1′s, Timex/Swatch watches, Oakley Frogskins, and so on. I think its great when collaboration projects between two companie bring something unique to the table without being just a matter of slapping two logos together. I like when I see a product come out with a color combination that you think would never really work, but on that particular pair of shoes or shirt, it comes together beautifully.
It’s also fun to see a piece of artwork and say “I could have done that!” but then step back and realize that in reality, you couldn’t have executed it as well as the artist did and you would have never thought of the concept on your own. Nothing beats hearing a song and being reminded of a past experience, or being inspired to get up and produce something of your own. I guess what I’m saying is that I’m easily inspired. There is so much great stuff out there nowadays!
What are your thoughts on the daily fashion deal sites such as Gilt Groupe or JackThreads? Do you buy stuff from those or any other ones?
I think they are great! I’ve never actually purchased anything from them – but I’ve referred a few people to JackThreads and I’m ready to cash in some points! I think its a great way for people around the world to get some nice products at a huge discount. They are also nice in that they protect the designers and companies making the products as well. Not every piece of clothing these companies produce is going to be a hit, so Gilt Groupe and JackThreads give those companies a chance to sell some of the slower moving product at a huge discount and recoup some of their costs so the can reinvest their resources. I think it’s a cool marketplace idea that creates a win-win for all parties involved: the stylish kid that may not be able to afford goods at retail price but still wants quality and fashionable products, the company that wasn’t able to move the goods on the first pass gets the opportunity to get the clothing out of their warehouse and recoup some costs, and finally, the online discount retailer gets a percentage of the sale and traffic — looks like a sweet deal for everyone involved!
What helps you the most in terms of expanding your readership?
I think Twitter, Facebook, and social media in general do wonders. Actually talking about your site with real people doesn’t hurt either! Speaking of real people, a shout out to all of my friends and followers that have been going to the site, sending me links, or spreading the word in other avenues since day one!
Do you have any other tips for the budding bloggers out there?
Just have fun! As long as you are posting stuff that you are interested in and are genuinely excited about, you can’t go wrong, in my opinion. If your blog becomes something you “have to do” instead of something you “want to do,” you should really think about switching something up. I try and stay in my lane so to speak — I may not be able to hit my readers over the head with update after update on a daily basis, but I’m also not trying to keep up with the Complexes, the Hypebeasts, the High Snobietys, and the SlamxHypes out there. Yeah, there are a lot of fashion related “drops” on a day to day basis, but they don’t all interest me. There is typically at least one thing that I’m genuinely excited about on a day to day basis, and when I find it, that’s what I’ll post about. I’d like to think that I surf the net and filter through all of the mundane stuff so you don’t have to!
