When he dresses up, the online community watches: Meet 'Uncle' Ali

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet

Curious about what ‘Uncle Ali’ is wearing today? You can follow him on Zoe Spawton’s blog, ‘What Ali Wore.’

Is your regular fashion standard-bearer a young, skinny, glamorous woman or a charismatic, preferably well-built, handsome hunk? 

If so, it might be time to meet “Uncle” Ali, because if you’re looking for elegance, style and creativity, Ali, a Berliner since time immemorial, has it all. In fact, he is the incarnation of “chic” in his neighborhood of Neukölln. So much so that Zoe Spawton, an Australian photographer who lives in the Berlin borough, decided to take pictures of him several times a month and regularly post them on the fashion blog “What Ali Wore.”

Ali is playful, too. At the photographer’s own admission, Ali tries not to re-wear outfits for the perfect picture. He hits the street like a model shows off on the catwalk, always neat and always with his clothes meticulously chosen. 

But graceful as he is, Ali is not afraid of experimenting with youthful creativity. He once wore “Doc Martens” boots, a trademark of the grunge era, on a snowy day. His preference may be for suits, but he can also trade in the business wear for a leather jacket and a baseball cap with a skull and crossbones, or perhaps blue jeans or purple trousers with a matching tie when he wants to add a little exuberance and eccentricity to the mix.  

Above all, Ali never loses the twinkle in his eyes and his love of life. He shows that age is not a pretext for forgoing the pleasure of being all dressed up for the mundane, or that style is not a monopoly of whoever is chosen by advertising companies as the next big thing. And why shouldn’t it be so?