Sactorialist: definitely fashionable, highly bloggable

The Sactorialist is seated at the Capitol Garage bar on K Street sipping a beer with a couple friends waiting for this interviewer to arrive. Jeans, leather jacket, taupe scarf—she’s a fashion blogger, so you kind of expect her to be stylish, and she delivers. But conversely, meeting the Sactorialist in person has me questioning my own threads, which on this appropriately bright Wednesday includes, of all things, tie-dye.

But the Sactorialist, or local blogger Jennifer Traverso Sedda, goes easy on me. She likens the Bows and Arrows-purchased, Zac Nelson-designed T-shirt to “that one Red Hot Chili Peppers shirt from the early ’90s.” She means the Blood Sugar Sex Magik official tour shirt. Could be worse.

The Sactorialist isn’t one for Vice magazine’s “Do’s and Don’ts”—though she won’t hesitate to break out the knives when it’s time to slice and dice bad styles. It’s just that her blog, www.sactorialist.com, which she began last year, is more about celebrating locals who take fashion risks than dissing faux pas.

“I don’t consider myself a fashion expert. I’m just an enthusiast,” explains Sedda, 29, while chatting outside during a breezy late afternoon on the Capitol Garage patio. Sedda, who lives in East Sacramento, works in advertising by day. But on the local blogosphere front, Sedda keeps the pulse on Midtown and downtown style.

It seems that all the best blogs are conceived during evenings involving friends and libations, and the Sactorialist is no exception. Sedda remembers her pal Eric coining the term “Sactorialist”—which is a spin on the famous Web fashion blog The Sartorialist—during a “drunken fest.” But the Jackson, Calif., native, who’s lived in Sac for more than a decade, loved the idea of being the proverbial “woman on the street” who stops Sacramento fashionistas dead in their Jimmy Choos, snaps a photo and blogs it.

So she ran with the idea, secured the URL and started The Sactorialist in April 2008.

Sedda wasn’t always into fashion. She grew up with six siblings—hand-me-downs, Mervyns, Weinstock’s. In high school, she says she was nerdy. The kind of girl who, during the grunge early ’90s, sported red jeans and oversized flannels. (Incidentally, she says, these late-Reagan, Bush-41 trends are back this spring. “It’s OK to wear an obnoxious ’80s bow.”) But while traveling in Italy—her husband, Gianni, is Italian—she became more aware and interested in people who care not only about couture design, but also everyday fashion.

Her first attempt at taking people’s photos for the blog was at Concerts in the Park last year, where she discovered a lot of suburban girls in divergent spring dresses (some girls wearing tights, others yellow jackets). Sedda still remembers, however, a girl in turquoise boots with a matching summer scarf, and cites her as an example of taking the right risks.

“If you have the right attitude, anything can work,” she says.

On The Sactorialist, Sedda highlights mostly working women, often pointing out bold and unexpected fashion statements. More and more local blog readers found her site—including the editors of Midtown Monthly, to which Sedda is now a contributor—and now Sactorialist is one of the more popular Sacramento Web sites.

And now, what with all the attention, she kind of carries the weight of the local fashion blogosphere on her shoulders. Lucky for Sedda, big shoulder pads are back in spring 2009.

When asked about Sacramento’s style in general, she says people here are casual—and concedes that she too fits this mold. But, according to Sedda, Sacramentans also commit a fatal flaw: being boring.

For starters, Sedda says skinny jeans have to go. “They’re too tight, and when people walk, they fall down and your ass hangs out,” she laughs, noting it’s a sin committed by both men and women. “I’m just sick of them.”

As an alternative, she points out that more men are wearing jeans that don’t even extend down to their shoes. “I really like high-water jeans on guys right now. Isn’t that weird? Not like man capris, but just a slight high water. Like right here,” Sedda laughs, gesturing to just above her ankle.

Lately, Sedda says she’s seen women leaning toward the boyfriend jean, or relaxed fit—which is an improvement in her eyes. “This one thing I really hate is when women wear pants that stop right below the knee,” Sedda explains. “And my worst pet peeve with those is when women wear boots, too, and it’s always overweight women.

“OK, I’ll stop being a bitch. I just think women really need to know their bodies.”

So what do Sacramentans do well?

Sedda points out the inventive ways that Sacramento women incorporate color into their outfits, specifically in bursts of brightness that “don’t necessarily match but are successful.” She also gives a thumbs up to strappy sandals, which are du jour.

As for dudes: “I really like my husband’s style,” she says, noting her affection for his sweater vests.

Recently on The Sactorialist, Sedda celebrated the zany stylings on St. Patrick’s Day (Pendleton woolen hats, a switchblade in the socks), the look of a Korean foreign-exchange student she encountered outside Forever 21 at Arden Fair Mall, and bold women wearing socks with pumps and another in an ermine fur coat.

“I just appreciate people who take the time to look interesting,” she humbly says.