Every week, photographer Sarah Blais explores original street style via the uniform, a concept that predates fashion and goes unnoticed from Monday to Friday (and sometimes on weekends, too). Uniforms can encourage sartorial creativity, just like rules and restrictions allow for good art. This week, Blais shot butchers in their natural habitats. Here are three of our favourites.
At the Friendly Butcher on Yonge, staff like “Big Jim” (above) wear black while typical butchers wear white. Traditionally, white was a badge: the better (or more experienced) a butcher or chef you were, the whiter your outfit was. But at many places they now wear black. They have to wear some kind of hair protection, for obvious health-code reasons, which gives them a chance to add—as Jennifer Aniston would say—flair.
Chris, from the Healthy Butcher, (above and below) gets his checked pants from a uniform shop for chefs. His shoes are from Wal-Mart.
This is Jason, an Australian working at the Friendly Butcher, wearing his purple gangsta-styled Yankees hat (apparently the owner is not a huge fan of his lid and likes to tease him about it). He’s also wearing DC skater shoes, and he actually does skate in them.
