Better Know a Blogger: Standard Culture’s Stan D’Arde
Standard Culture bon vivant Stan D’Arde is an enigma rolled up inside of a mystery. When he’s not feeding his insatiable appetite for leisure at Standard Hotel properties in New York, Los Angeles and Miami, D’Arde — who has never shown his face on the property’s dazzling blog — effortlessly waxes poetic about everything that’s cool and chic. Société Perrier managed to track down The Standard’s elusive Minister of Merriment and ask the life of the party a few questions about his “work.”
How did you land your job as the voice of The Standard? I imagine being named Stan didn’t hurt?
Stan D’Arde: I don't really remember "landing" the job. When the first Standard in Hollywood opened 14 years ago, I was just there, poolside with martini in hand, and I just never left. The Standard are me, and I them. It's really a beautiful relationship.
Readers of Standard Culture have never seen your face. Why have you chosen to live a life of anonymity? Are you in the witness protection program or something?
With anonymity comes pure, unadulterated privacy, and that’s most important to me. I can go where I like. I can do what I like. No one bothers me at the hotels because no one knows it’s me. But I can bother them, and they’ll just always only know me as a regular man named Stan. Plus, I like the intrigue. Aren’t you more interested just because you don’t see the full package? A bit like sous-vêtements...if you don’t mind the pun.
Which of your posts are you most proud of and why?
It’s hard to be proud of just one posting from my blog. They are all so special in their own way. Like my children. If you really want to know, I’m most proud of StandardCulture.com as a whole. It’s an incredible center for everything that the Standard Hotels stand for...art, music, fashion, entertainment, humor, cuisine and party pics. And it gives me a safe place to call home.
Who are your influences in the blogosphere?
There are so many out there that I love dipping my fingers into. Finely curated list as follows....
The Moment
Dlisted
The Selby
Nowness
PaperMag
Purple Diary
Men.Style.com
Complete the sentence: Without my blog posts Standard Culture would be….
....still the greatest culture site known to man!Is that a bit too much?
Have there been any benefits to blogging, either professionally or personally?
Professionally, the outlet to my creativity has been the greatest benefit of writing for StandardCulture.com. I love knowing that somewhere out there are one, maybe two, people who might be chuckling. Personally, there is also a lot of benefit. When I’m out and about and people talk about Stan in front of me, but they’re not looking at my shoes to know that it’s me, I am the one who chuckles.
What’s the best part of being Stan D’Arde?
There just isn’t enough cyberspace on the Internet to answer this one....
