Boulder Fashion Seen. Story by Katie Brown, photos by Caroline Treadway.

Just one of Boulder's many fashionable guys. Photo by Caroline Treadway.

Who knew it would be considerably easier to find fashionably dressed men than women in Boulder? (at least at 1:00 on Thursday afternoon on Pearl Street)

We’d barely crossed Pearl Street when we spotted our first fashionable candidates stepping out of the always trendy Laughing Goat Café. We easily spotted the Member’s Only jacket from our vantage across the street, chased them down and asked to take their picture. We never thought to consider the possibility that someone might say no, but sure enough, straight out of the gates with our fledgling idea (said idea being the street style blog you are currently reading), and all we got was a resounding no. We stared at our fashionable friends, speechless. Wait. This is Boulder, land of the coffee shop and the bicycle commute. What did they mean they didn’t have time for a two-minute photo shoot? Had we suddenly been transported to New York? But no. The sun was out and someone in spandex whizzed by on an $8000 road bike. Definitely Boulder. Huh. Strange.

We turned from our rejection somewhat aghast. For a brief moment we pondered the possibility that the fashionable must also necessarily be assholes, and wondered if this hypothesis would prove to be true. But then we decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps they were painfully camera shy, or were on their way to a meeting with a client who was about to deem their graphic design capabilities “overpriced in the current economy.” Who knows.

Turns out, it was a good thing we went the ‘benefit of the doubt’ route, because our next fashionably dressed candidate, spotted at The Cup, just a few doors down from The Laughing Goat, not only proved that Boulder was indeed the land of the coffee shop, but also that the fashionably dressed are definitely NOT necessarily assholes.

Josh, Pearl Street. Photo by Caroline Treadway.

Name: Josh

Occupation: Owner, Pangea Organics

Shoes: Stacy Adams

Jeans: Levi’s 597

Reclaimed vest and tie pin

Jacket: vintage Russian military

Underwear: PACT

** As a sidenote, Josh did not actually show us his underwear. He merely extolled their virtues. And virtuous they are (and we mean in the “give back to the world and environment” sense of the word, not in the chastity belt sense). Check them out!

www.wearpact.com

Sunglasses: Oliver Peoples

Kane from Gloucester, Goldmine Vintage, Pearl St. Photo by Caroline Treadway.

Soon we found ourselves in Goldmine Vintage, where we were briefly distracted by cute earrings and vintage jeans before running into Kane, from Gloucester. His accent matched his style, and both were great.

Name: Kane

Occupation: Retail Sales, Goldmine Vintage

Cardigan: Lacoste

Vintage shirt

Jeans: Urban Outfitters

Hometown: Gloucester, UK

Ryan, Sam and Gabe, Pearl St. Photo by Caroline Treadway.

At this point we were beginning to wonder about the lack of fashionable girls in Boulder because we had barely left Goldmine when we spotted a trio of trendsetting young gents, who, it turned out, all worked in various capacities for Kid Robot, and who were not only fashionable, but charming and friendly.

Name: Gabe

Occupation: PR/Event Management for Kid Robot

Jacket: H&M

Hoody #1: Kid Robot

Hoody #2 American Apparel

Shirt: American Apparel

Jeans: Uniqlo

Shoes: Generic Surplus

Name: Sam

Occupation: Kid Robot

** I forgot to write down what this guy does for Kid Robot, but I got his website. Here it is: www.nvrvr.com

Jacket: thrift store in Phoenix

Shirt: American Apparel (or Am Appy)

Jeans: bought in LA

Shoes: Installation

Name: Ryan “the wheelbarrow”

Occupation: social media ambassador for Kid Robot

** Ryan the wheelbarrow also has a website he’d like to share. You guessed it: www.ryanthewheelbarrow.com

Jacket: thrift store

Hoody: Kid Robot

Jeans: Marshall’s

Shoes: thrift store

Hoofing it past Centro, we both did a double take and then doubled back to get a second Josh’s photo, this one a host at said restaurant. We loved his hair, his suspenders, even his socks, and especially his attitude.

Josh, Pearl Street. Photo by Caroline Treadway.

Name: Josh

Occupation: Host, Centro

Jeans: Forever 21

Shoes: Globe Castro

Socks: Urban Outfitters

Shirt: On the Bias

Suspenders: vintage

We walked to the end of west Pearl Street, stopped briefly in another coffee shop for a bathroom break and headed back the way we came. Thank heavens we bumped into Alex, who at first veered away from us as though we were about to hand her literature to join our cult, because we were beginning to wonder if this week’s blog was going to be a men’s only version. Turned out, Alex also works at Kid Robot. She had just moved here from Brooklyn and was the definition of city chic. Understated colors, perfect tailoring, and just a pop of color. Perhaps we should just line the employees of Kid Robot up at the door and find out what each one was wearing…

Alex, Pearl Street. Photo by Caroline Treadway.

Name: Alex

Occupation: graphic design, Kid Robot

Jacket: B.B. Dakota

Handbag: boutique in New York

Jeans: Uniqlo

Boots: Frye

Last, but definitely not least, we ran into Lindsey, just before totally giving up on the female population of Boulder. She looked so cute we nearly fell over. An aromatherapist and jewelry designer, this starving artist knows how to look darling and artsy on a budget, including but not limited to her super cute el naturalista boots she traded for a blog piece. And we may have just recruited Lindsey to join the fashion seen team, so don’t be surprised if she asks to take your picture someday soon.

Lindsey, Pearl Street. Photo by Caroline Treadway.

Name: Lindsey

Occupation: aromatherapist, jewelry designer

Boots: el naturalista

Tights: Target

Sweater: thrift store

Jacket: H&M

Bag: Target

So, LADIES! Where are you? (Actually, I hate that word. Don’t you? It makes me feel like I should either start singing “All the Single Ladies” or else, be sipping tea in a large brimmed hat). But I digress….

So, GIRLS! Where are you? Put on your cutes and come out come out! I know you’re here. I’ve seen you, I’ve envied you, hell, I’ve copied you. Until next time.  The team at Fashion Seen.