Name(Pseudonym): Jamie Williams
Age: 22
Hometown: Chapel Hill, NC
Profession/Major: Congressional Intern!!
Style Icon: Andre 3000
Blog and/or Twitter Handle: I don’t tweet much, but find me at Jamie_williams, or we can totally be Facebook friends
Any special skills (Photoshop, CSS, etc.): In addition to Photoshop basics and HTML, I play a mean tambourine.
Favorite Designer: Ron Liberti and Casey Burns
Favorite Retail Line: Rogues Gallery
Favorite Piece in Your Wardrobe: Authentic “Big E” (Pre ’71) Levis Jean Jacket
Piece You are Currently Coveting: Vintage Belstaff Roadmaster
Favorite Beauty/Skincare Product: Nivea for Men Under Eye cream
It’s Friday night. Your phone rings. It’s Anna Wintour and she wants to take you to dinner. Quick, what do you wear?: After shaking the confusion, I’d probably go black slacks, grey herringbone blazer and tie. Oh, and blue shirt.
In 200 words or less, tell us how you can contribute a fresh perspective to Capitol Hill Style.
Men’s fashion has seen such a huge resurgence in the last few years. Men are taking more care in their dress, designers are producing much more approachable pieces for everyday wear and the general attitude is that looking great isn’t for just for the ladies any more. While Capitol Hill Style is an incredibly female-centric blog, a fresh male view will bring in more readers and balance out the content. As a young, recent college graduate, I can help with the daunting transition from collegiate wear (don’t get me started) to professional style, all while maintaining a youthful enthusiasm for clothes, colors and cuts. Menswear is built on subtlety, whether it is fit and taper to the width and design of lapels. I can catch the distinctions and maintain a sense of style that remains both on-trend and timelessly American.
In 140 characters, tell us why you want this internship.
Men’s style deserves attention on this blog. We like to look good and get noticed too.
Loving all the Tarheel candidates!! GO HEELS!!!
I’m happy to see a guy posting! There are A LOT of men on the Hill (around DC) that need A LOT of help!
Not a fan. I think that believing Andre 3000 to be a style icon is ridiculous! lol I love Andre’s music and knowing him personally I love his attitude, but I am NOT a fan of his clothing choices especially not for a man who is “professional” YIKES!
I’m sure the other girls would make good contributions, but when I say a guy this morning I thought “wow – that actually would be a different perspective I’d like to read.” So my vote is for Jamie
LOVE! Very excited to see male fashion on this blog especially since I need help shopping for my husband at times. 🙂
How will reading about mens fashion help me become a better dresser? Call me selfish but that is why I read this blog and why I’ve read it every day for the past 2 years. I’m not interested nor will I ever be. I’m not saying that a male contributer is a bad idea… just that posts about mens fashion don’t belong on this site in any sort of abundance. If Jamie will cover women’s fashion I am all for him but that’s not the feeling I get from his introduction.
I can’t see why you could have both a male and a female intern. I think bringing a guy on board would bring a fresh perspective and there would be plenty for both interns to comment on…even have articles where both of them comment-allowing us all to see both sides of a story/product/designer/trend.
And for the record, I don’t really think Jamie was referring to Andre 3000 as his “everyday, every situation” go-to designer. I love certain designers for certain situations…you can’t tell me we expect these interns to pick one style for both their personal and professional life…
Esquire named Andre 3000 the world’s best dressed man at one point. And style is certainly about personality and pushing the envelope, even in a subtle way. Taking chances sartorially is valiant in any situation, and i’d love to see someone demonstrate how to do it elegantly in the workplace.
I think a male perspective would be a great addition to the blog, and I enjoyed Jamie’s introduction and articles. His style choices are my favorite of the potential interns (even though they’d be for my boyfriend and not for me)!
In response to an earlier comment, women can learn a lot from men’s style. Modifying and adapting men’s wardrobes to fit women’s styles and sensibilities has been a popular motif among designers in recent years. Fashion isn’t just for women. Having a male blogger would really widen the scope of this site. I think this blog could really benefit from having Jamie on board.
I think this is great! I’d be intersted to see a spattering of men’s fashion posts, especially from Jamie. I like his clear and concise responses to the interview questions and approachable writing style. My husband is always asking me if he looks okay before we go out and, frankly, I don’t usually have a clue. I’m not much help when we go shopping together either. I mean, how do you properly pick out a tie for someone? Help me, Jamie.
I really like Jamie so far. Good perspective, and a unique opinion. I think he could fit in very well here, especially if he weighs in on women’s fashion as well as men’s. My vote is for Jamie!
I wouldn’t call myself a fashion enthusiast- but certainly would agree with Jamie’s thoughts on looking good not being just for women any more. The better you look the better you feel and allowing a male perspective on your fashion blog could attract that sneaky huge crowd of guys who like to ponder cut, color & style topics but don’t express an interest out of fear of looking gung-ho and a tad bit out there. Looks like he can write a bit too!
I’m a woman, but I’m interested in fashion as a whole, not just the clothes that I put on everyday. Jamie has a great “voice” and is my favorite candidate so far. His sample post also have a level of maturity and professionalism (yet still fun!) that the other intern candidates weren’t able to match.
Belle, you did a post not too long ago about some amazing dresses that were “girl cute” – intended to appeal to your girlfriends, not your boyfriend. I’d love to see a Belle v. Jamie, “she says/he says”-style debate on both women’s and men’s clothes.
I really like him, but I think his posts would mostly be a scroll-past for me. Men’s fashion isn’t super relevant for me so I probably wouldn’t read those too often, unfortunately.
I think Jamie looks like a cool guy, but I think for an overwhelmingly female-centric audience… it would only make sense for Jamie to do a post once a week. Maybe Jamie’s posts about men’s fashion could be on a Friday, when Belle’s busy and the other intern is done posting for the week? I think Jamie’s insights could bring more male readers to the blog, which could be pretty cool. Also, I do like the idea of getting fashion tips or advice for my boyfriend (who is a very boring dresser).
I agree with A–I have no interest in reading about men’s high fashion. I don’t think women are going to buy their husbands Prada, and I don’t think that most men will be particularly interested. I like Beau’s posts about matching for men and specific style dos and don’ts–like the zipper sweater–but I was bored reading through this post and I’m not sure who it would resonate with.
He has a good eye for style, but would I read him if you brought him over? No. He would make me less likely to visit your blog. I racked my head for ways a man could do well here and yes, I think it is possible. He’d have to show ability to write about women’s fashion and be a little cheeky about menswear posts. If he would have led with something like “How to Dress Your Boyfriend” to earn some love I think he would have fared much better.
I think he’s fresh in enthusiasm and unique in his ideas. Two thumbs up on his application. . . now for the posting. . .
I like Jamie WAY better than any of the girls so far. I totally agree that looking good isn’t just for women and I don’t see any reason why women can’t take inspiration from men’s fashion… I mean, how often do you hear something is “menswear inspired”? I also thought that the concept for his post was really creative. That said, I thought the post itself was way too wordy. If he could cut some of the text, I think it could be a cool addition to the blog. And I’d really like to see him contribute to some of your traditional (i.e. women-centric) posts. I think most girls would LOVE to have a stylish guy who could comment intelligently on women’s fashion.
I think it’s all good trying to get a male perspective on the site. But that place is already filled by http://www.districtcut.com and http://www.offthecuffdc.com. And i think they do a pretty good job. Keep this women focused.
I don’t think there are enough male readers here to merit a guy being the sole intern.
I’m surprised that no one has mentioned anything about the brevity of this post. Aside from the second to last question, this looks rather sparse. It is evident that the other candidates have put a lot of effort and care into their posts, but this one was disappointing and left me wanting to hear more from him. His gender does not make up for any shortcomings. And on that note, I originally assumed he would like to contribute to this blog by working with both men’s and women’s fashions. However, I get the impression that this is not the case. If it is, then his flexibility to work with both, which could have been a very attractive pitch, was clearly not advertised.
This one is BY FAR my favorite. He is not only the most clever and freshest of the interns, he brings new perspective. Honestly, Belle you do a great job on a huge variety of women’s fashions and I would rather read something new than more of the same. Sure, I’m not a guy, most of your current readership isn’t, but I still love reading about men’s fashion done right. I think expanding into this territory would make it much more likely that posts/content here get picked up by other like-minded bloggers.