Outfit 1: Green cord suit
- Suit: Schaap tailors, green 700g Holland & Sherry cord
- Jumper: De Bonne Facture
- Shirt: J Press
- Tie: Drake’s
- Shoes: Alden cordovan, modified last
- Socks: Frans Boone
- Watch: 1960s IWC
Hi Bent. How would you describe what you do?
I’d say I find it hard to concentrate on just one thing! But no, I live in Belgium and the lion’s share of my life was spent in music. I was in a band [Das Pop] and made some solo records; I spent 20 years in bands, touring the world, all that stuff.
But I noticed that doing music, only music, didn’t really work for me, even though it was what was expected. And I’d studied painting originally – I always had one foot in the art world, one in the music world. I also wanted something more for my head, more thoughtful. So I ended up doing radio, presenting a culture show here in Belgium. That’s what I do mostly today.
I’d say the consistent thing there is enthusiasms for lots of things, rather than anything like a straight path.
And how long have you been into clothes?
From very early childhood actually. I was transfixed early on by clothes and what they could mean. My grandfather was someone who always wore tweed jackets and suits, and wherever I used to read a children’s book, I would ask my mother to make me clothes like the main character. So there was a period where I went to school in farmer’s attire, complete with wooden shoes filled with straw.
You’re kidding! How long did that last?
Well, longer than the headmaster liked. He wasn’t too charmed. But it was really my way of putting myself out there you know, and I guess it still is.
In children’s books the clothes are often deliberately over the top, to create a character. So you were always going to come across as something extreme.
You’re right, but it all seemed completely normal at the time.
I’ve always found it interesting how the villains in stories are portrayed as dandies. They’re a bit too smart, a bit too flashy. Loud colours, tie pins, spectator shoes.
That’s right, and in Disney films too. Always very snappy and quite camp.
The green cord suit you’re wearing here is pretty bold. Is this typical for you?
Yes I’d say so, though it was really a gamble at the time. It seemed fresh to me, something David Hockney could have worn I guess, which spoke to me.
Then as soon as I put it on, it was the most natural, most comfortable piece of tailoring I’d had – it’s like a tracksuit, yet the colour also means it has this kind of aura around it. It’s the piece I wear the most, oddly. You’d think it would be a kind of now-and-then thing, but no.
Are there times when a gamble like that hasn’t paid off?
Yes absolutely. Sometimes you just don’t know – you think something will be very versatile, that you’ll wear the hell out of it, and it doesn’t prove to be the case. It’s hard to know for sure.
If I haven’t worn something for a year, I tend to think I should pass it on, find someone else who will wear it. That’s happened to me with navy suits. I’ve tried a few, because you always hear that’s the thing you should really have, that everyone should have. But it’s never really stuck.
It doesn’t feel, at least from the times we’ve met, that you’re a navy suit kind of guy.
No, I have enjoyed wearing them and they hold a lot of meaning – I love what they stand for. But perhaps you’re right, perhaps it isn’t me.
Outfit 2: Dries
- Jacket: Vintage tweed, from Crowley Vintage
- Sweater: Dries van Noten
- Chinos: 1940s vintage, from Le Vif
- T-shirt: Norse Projects
- Beret: AWMS
- Socks: AWMS
- Shoes: Quoddy for Beige
How much does that idea of meaning affect how you dress?
Quite a lot I think, in that I’m really interested in the power a garment can hold, how it can influence how you move through the day and through your life.
How does it affect your day?
I feel like all the pieces I keep around are infused with this kind of meaning. Every time I put something on I cloak myself in that meaning, if that makes sense.
So are you saying particular clothes have personal meaning for you, or that a type of garment has meaning in the way it’s viewed in society?
Both I guess. Because clothes have a history, they have a context and a cultural significance; but then they always some personal significance as well.
Can you give us an example?
Sure, so I saved up – in terms of time and money – for my first tweed jacket when I was about 30. It was a very rough Harris Tweed, very classic, and very expensive for me at the time.
I had promised myself that I would buy this jacket when I had finished writing a particular short story, so when I did it was like a moment of emancipation, like I was allowing myself to be that guy. The kind that wore a tweed jacket and all the public associations – East Coast university, academic, oxford, all that stuff.
So it was like a moment you were allowing yourself to be more grown-up, more adult?
Exactly, exactly.
You’re wearing a sweater from Dries Van Noten here. How do you see the value of designer brands compared to more classic menswear?
Well I love Dries van Noten – fantastic stylist, fantastically nice guy. Antwerp-based so I know a lot of people that work for him, and I know him a little. I love his universe.
I wear more classic menswear because it’s less prone to change, but I love fashion as a window towards the possible you know? A show is like a walk through the head of a designer. They’ll show you this view of extremity, but then there will always be more familiar things you can buy into as well.
That’s interesting, because sometimes readers find fashion a little alienating, too extreme to really connect with.
Yes I get that. For me I love the richness of clothing and a show is an exploration of that, a mining of a particular inspiration and often a time, filtered through the view of this one person. It has a freshness always, and provides context for all the more traditional clothing.
What other designers do you like?
Another Belgian guy, Raf Simons of course. Also strongly rooted in classic menswear but willing to go very far out. Then Italians, Prada and its interpretation of their traditions too.
Outfit 3:
- Overcoat: De Bonne Facture
- Jacket: Drake’s
- Sweater: Frans Boone
- Trouser: Adret
- Belt: Uniqlo
- Shoes: Alden modified last, Color 8 cordovan
- Cap: Vintage, McDonald’s Olympics sponsorship
How much has your attitude to clothing been influenced by the fact that you’ve been a performer for much of your life?
Quite a lot probably. The way I’ve always seen pop music, the visual is just as important as the aural. I’ve always loved playing with it, being adventurous for this, and maybe even doing things that would shock my contemporaries.
What kind of thing?
Well, I would play a show in a bright purple ski outfit, that was actually probably a women’s ski outfit. But the way it made me feel, well it made me feel like a beautiful space man. So it all worked out.
Amazing. I was going to ask actually how what you wore on stage differed to what you wore in normal life, but it sounds it was basically taken up a notch?
Well, yes taken up a notch, you want a little more shake, a little more drama. But a little more sophistication too. So I like to wear quite rugged things during the day, tweed and corduroy, but during the night there can be some satin, some shine, some velvet.
Has that changed since you’ve stopped performing, or has it pretty much stayed the same?
It’s really interesting because I’m about to perform again, in May, after a long hiatus. So I’m now pondering what I’m going to do on stage, I’m in the middle of thinking about it actually.
Will it be a little more grown-up, now you’re older?
I guess the purple ski outfits are a thing of the past. I might have something made, some tailoring, perhaps a pastel. I have this tailor, Schaap, that is quite willing to try different things and that helps a lot.
Do you think you might develop a kind of uniform, I’m thinking of someone like Nick Cave with his black suits and big-collared shirts. Artists tend to become more consistent but in some ways also more themselves, as they grow older.
Yes I can definitely see that. I think it’s something you just have to feel, how the clothes make you feel.
Your Aldens here are all on the modified last, is that the most comfortable for you?
Yes in fact it’s the only shape of leather shoe I can wear without an [orthopaedic] insole. I have them from both Paris and New York, so naturally the Parisian ones are one size larger!
Ha! And which do you prefer, the Anatomica sizing or the Moulded Shoe?
The Parisian I think, they’re more comfortable.
You only have the one watch here, an old IWC. I think you said you’re not much of a watch guy?
Yes though it’s largely a budgetary thing. I’m the watch guy I can afford to be!
There is a fair range in prices of things in this outfit as well, from Adret cords to a Uniqlo belt. How do you see that contrast?
I spend more on jackets and shoes generally; shetland sweaters never last very long so it’s ridiculous to spend too much on them.
Those Adret cords were very expensive but I was immediately smitten with that old 1980s corduroy when I saw it; it was like nothing else. So yes that year my children had to eat nothing but salted peanuts.
But it depends what you want out of clothing. The belt is from Uniqlo but it’s strong and its aged well. There’s only so much you can do with a brown leather belt; but then sometimes you have to allow yourself to be bedazzled by something, like that Adret corduroy and the way it was made.
Some things are just a question of function – I picked up that belt years ago and I’ve liked how it’s gained this patina so I’ve kept it. Whereas other things are about beauty and romance. It’s often a mistake to value all clothes by the same factors.
Wonderful, thank you Bent. Any closing thoughts?
I buy a fair amount of clothes, certainly compared to the normal guy; but I buy sturdy things and I often go weeks thinking about something before I buy it. I think that’s a sensible approach, and if you do it thoughtfully and don’t buy too much, it is possible to build a wardrobe that is very enjoyable and suitable to yourself as a person.
Perfect.
