I did my first blog post for SFGate.com’s (the San Francisco Chronicle’s website) fashion blog, SF Unzipped and was my interview with Richard Press, the director of Bill Cunningham New York — check it out:

Even if you don’t know Bill Cunningham’s name, chances are good that you’ve seen his work. His candid “On the Street” fashion photo essays and coverage of the social scene in New York are one of the best loved features of the New York Times’ Style section, and his narrated slideshows on the Times’ Web site also have won a loyal following among the fashion set.

In the new documentary “Bill Cunningham New York,” director Richard Press turns his cameras on the famed photojournalist to create an intimate portrait of the man himself.

“I wanted to approach the movie as more of a narrative film with a very strong protagonist surrounded by this great menagerie of characters,” says Press, a New York native who studied graphic design at UC Berkeley. “(It’s) almost like a Robert Altman-esque film that seemed loosely structured but then all the threads come together to create this portrait.”

For nearly 50 years, Cunningham has captured fashionable people on the streets of New York for his column. His subjects range from unknown faces with style to high wattage fashion figures like Anna Piaggi and Patrick McDonald.

Press whittled down more than 60 hours of footage to 84 minutes of Mr. Cunningham hard at work in Paris and New York. The movie includes interviews with Iris Apfel, Vogue editor Anna Wintour (who says “We all get dressed for Bill,”), Tom Wolfe and a brief cameo from Academy of Art University School of Fashion Executive Director Gladys Perint Palmer.

The movie is currently making its film festival rounds, including the San Francisco International Film Festival — where it has its last screening this evening. Unzipped correspondent Dino-Ray Ramos talked with Press about the genuine wonder that is Bill Cunningham.

Read the rest by visiting SFGate.com

According to the Internet’s deluded “for the people by the people” encyclopedia, Wikipedia, the wallet chain was initially worn by motorcyclists back in the day so that when they rode their bikes, they wouldn’t lose their wallets.

My how times have changed.

I am pretty sure the guys I saw were not motorcyclists. Unless motorcyclists fancy popped collared pink Polos and skinny jeans.

I admit – I jumped on the wallet chain bandwagon circa 2004. I had two. One was thick enough to restrain a Rottweiler. The other one was a lot more decorative (code for gayer) – it draped around my waist and might as well have been a belly chain.

I think I wore them a total of four times each before I realized I was a hardcore poser. In fact, I just clipped them on to my belt loops. It wasn’t even a wallet chain because there was no wallet to accommodate the chain. I have no idea what made me buy the chains to begin with.

Actually, I think – I THINK– I decided to try out the waist décolletage after seeing Justin Timberlake wear it in one of his videos. Wow. Did I just admit that?

Perhaps it’s time to retire the wallet chain. Unless you are a motorcyclist, rockstar, associate of a rockstar or even a janitor, maybe you should pass on the wallet chain. When it comes down to it, the wallet chain is a conch belt for men – and we all know that conch belts are for turquoise jewelry-clad soccer moms named Iris who pride themselves on their hefty collection of Southwestern art and Dreamcatchers.