One of the most popular cultural canons right now is the social media spoof account – as an audience, it seems, we cannot get enough. The @youdidnoteatthat Instagram account recently topped 100K followers and prompted a rigorous backlash. One of the first fashion spoof enterprises, the infamous and now defunct Twitter account @CondeElevator – by an anonymous Conde Nast employee in the US – garnered over 75K followers and bowed out in 2011, admitting that the account had got out of our control.
So what's the latest? @Sarcastialist – a spoof Twitter account that's dedicated to gently taking the piss out of street-style shots. It's endearing and funny, with a northern bias, and since its creation in December of last year, has over 11K followers. Taking high fashion street-style pictures and adding imaginary, non-ritzy dialogue about teatime, buses and nans, The Debrief caught up with the anonymous 'he' behind the account, to find out what he really thinks about the fashion industry.
The Debrief: Hi, Sarcastialist! We really, really want to know who you are, but we are guessing you want to protect your anonymity…
SC: I suppose I'm just maintaining my anonymity because it's fun. That and because if people knew about me being a 75-year-old nan from Birkenhead, or an unemployed ex-public schoolboy from the Cotswolds, they might be a bit disappointed. Some of my friends know about The Sarcastialist, and a few of them even think it's a bit funny. The only reason I started the account was to amuse myself and some of my mates. All the other followers are a very welcome bonus.
**DB: So why did you start the account? Your name obviously sounds quite like Scott Schuman's The Sartorialist. Which is nifty… **
SC: The Sartorialist was the only street-style blog I'd heard of when I started the account, so it was obviously a factor. My memory's a bit sketchy about this, but there's also a fairly good chance that I came up with the name first and then tried to think of something to do with it – I do like the idea that I've invented a word, though.
DB: Your tweets are funny and never mean, which is refreshing. How much is it for lols and how much does street-style peacocking annoy you?
**SC: **It's all about the lols. I'd have to be a pretty special kind of weirdo to start a Twitter account just to be horrible about people's jumpers, wouldn't I? All these people have done is stand still while someone takes a photo and says their hair looks nice – they're not there to be targets for abuse. If you could see some of the horrible crap I wear you'd understand that I'm in no position to judge anyone! I've found loads of street-style blogs through the account, obviously, but the internet's a pretty big place. I think there's probably room for loads more. Maybe if we reach saturation point, they'll get a bit more niche – entire accounts devoted to photos of people wearing the same bobble hat, or standing in the same Lidl car park.
**DB: Did you ever expect it to be so popular? **
SC: No. I sort of imagined it would just be me posting a Tweet, laughing to myself, then going off to stick another load of washing on, or stand by the fridge eating cheese triangles. As it happens, this is exactly how it's turned out, but there are a few other people reading it as well as me. I don't do it for any other reason than to see how many times I can reference Captain Beefheart, boiled ham and Adidas Samba before they stop making me laugh.
DB: Which fas -celebrity is your favourite to make jokes about?
**SC: **Karl Lagerfeld and something about mini kievs – always good for a cheap laugh. I reckon I'm probably only funny about six times out of ten, so I'm still not always sure that people are finding it super entertaining.
DB: Do people ever misunderstand your Scousisms!?
SC: I did think about writing some kind of glossary to explain things, like why someone heading for Ormskirk might get battered if he had to get off the train at Sandhills, but I probably won't do that. I can't really be arsed going through all my Tweets looking for obscure Scouse references, so I've already started telling myself I might spoil it if I over-explain everything.
DB: So do you have tons of celebrity Twitter friends now?
**SC: **Well, my first famous follower I'd already heard of was Pete Wylie. Pete's a Liverpool legend and I really like his music, so it's nice to know he's reading my nonsense and having a little laugh. Sinbad from Brookside is also following me, but he hasn't let on if he's seen the Tweet I did about him having a pint spilled down his fleece.
Follow The Sarcastialist on Twitter @****Sarcastialist and Pandora on Twitter @pinsykes
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.