In a flash ..
Sometimes the immediacy of our world as enabled by the web is quite astounding. About 3.30 yesterday afternoon I was perusing The Sartorialist and found myself drawn to this image.

I'd spotted it previously and could only agree with The Sart himself that the slim chino pants are vey nice indeed. Thanks to some helpful (and for once, consentual) TS posts I learnt that said pants are Uniqlo's Vintage Chinos. Come 5.30 I was on a train to Oxford Circus heading for Uniqlo and come 6.00 I was a happy owner. So in less than 3 hours I've been inspired by a photo taken in Paris by a New York based photographer, directed to the fashion item in question by more New Yorkers and then go out and buy the exact item in London. OK, so Uniqlo are a global brand selling (sadly) a product mass produced in a Thai sweat factory to the world but it's the speed with which fashion trends are now communicated that gets me. Trends used to be transferred like germs from person to person, a subtle transference of signs and often took years to communicate internationally. Now it takes minutes. A sign of globalised times or an inevitable consequence of being able to communicate instantaneously with the rest of the world? Perhaps both. Ooh philosophy.