Envy is not a positive force in anyone’s life. As I browse the photographs of Scott Schuman’s popular street-fashion blog I am inevitably consumed by it. Scott originally started The Sartorialist to share photos of fashionable people he saw on the streets of NYC. The scope of his attentions later extended to fashion hotspots around the world, including Paris, Milan and Florence.

The subjects all share one thing, transcending age, gender or class: an innate sense of personal style – hence the source of my envy – I have almost none. Schuman’s aim is to draw inspiration from them, sometimes focusing more on individual elements as opposed to the complete ensemble. The photographs, Scott’s commentary, combined with comments from the blog’s fashionista audience provide unschooled types like me with a valuable guide to expressing our own particular brand of style.

I’ll never be brave or motivated enough to match some of the more eccentric looks captured by the Sartorialist photographers, but I can take cues to come up with something that expresses my casual, anti-elitist perspective.