Reading the many sweet tributes to New York Times On The Street columnist Bill Cunningham these last few days has made me think about Lord Maxwell and yes, made me miss him.
It’s easy to remember how we came up with the name of our alter ego. Caroline Lord and I put our last names together, her idea: Lord Maxwell. The way he evolved took a little more time
We started writing our blog, Lord Maxwell, not totally sure what we would do with it. We thought of it as a love letter to the place we live and a gentle, affectionate spoof of street style blogs of the time, most especially The Sartorialist and all those impossibly cool people he managed to photograph so beautifully. Our town, Columbia, S.C., is not exactly famed as a fashion hub. We wanted to have some fun with that, but we most definitely didn’t want to be mean-spirited or make anyone feel bad. The internet has plenty of meanness without anyone else jumping on.
So we decided that Lord Maxwell would write as a newcomer to these parts, a fashion anthropologist who had inherited a house here. He would only write about people he appreciated. And he would look for—and celebrate—the many wonderful little things that people do with their style every day.
As his personae developed, I grew to love him—and think of him as real. Though he knew a tremendous amount, he sometimes mixed things up. His hearing couldn’t be trusted, so he was terribly sorry if he got your name wrong. The smallest flourish could make his heart beat faster. He didn’t care about fancy and famous (though he did capture this young woman before she became a superstar). He cared about inspired and real. He loved the people he encountered in Columbia—and anywhere else he ventured.
Before we started writing as Lord Maxwell, I really didn’t know much about Mr. Cunningham. But as I continued to learn more from writing our blog, I started paying attention to his work. In many ways, Mr. Cunningham was like our Lord Maxwell—or I should say, Lord Maxwell was just a little like the great Bill Cunningham. When I read this remembrance of Mr. Cunningham, in particular, I longed to begin writing as Lord Maxwell again.
Why did we ever stop? Because blogging is time-consuming. Because our following, unlike Mr. Cunningham's, was small. Because both Caroline and I have other writing that takes priority. Because sometimes it was nice to go to the local farmers’ market or museum opening and not approach people to ask if you could photograph them and explain why.
So, true, I don’t miss that especially. But I do miss the way I paid attention to other people’s style. Regular people around you really are very stylish. Even more, I miss the fellow we invented, his warmth and his quirks. And I miss hearing the occasional person say, “Lord Maxwell was here yesterday. I think I might even know who he is.” Of course, they didn’t. And of course, that was also part of the fun.
Now, blogs feel old-fashioned, even for a 70-year-old British fashion anthropologist living in the American South. Perhaps it’s time for LM to join Instagram.
