Three men about town talk about photos of their fathers they remember from childhood
KEY POINTS:
Everyone's got one: a photograph of their parents when they were younger that just seems to epitomise a different, carefree, more stylish era.
You know, it's that picture of your dad or mum when they wore flares and had flowers in their hair. Or perhaps they were rock'n'rollers back in the day, or punks at a nightclub, or wild adventurers in the woods.
Whatever flavour their wardrobe, somehow that dog-eared memory in the family photo album seems to have made a lasting impression on you.
Maybe it's because those were the days before your parents had even thought about you - they were different, altogether more glamorous people than the responsible elders you've known your whole life.
They partied, they drank, they may even have smoked, without worrying about what the kids were thinking.
And sometimes that lasting impression, that nostalgia for a time you never even knew, will make an impact on your own clothes or sense of style.
We asked three fashionable fellows about town about the parental pictures they hold most dear, and how they may have had an effect on their sartorial choices.
BENNY CASTLES
Menswear designer at World
The picture is of his parents, Eion and Mary Castles, at a party on the North Shore where the couple lived when they moved back to New Zealand in the 70s.
"This is a photo that's in my parent's house in quite a prominent position, so I do see it quite a lot. My dad is wearing this classic 70s outfit where everything looks half-a-size too small: a flat front, beige trouser with [a] wild, short-sleeved shirt tucked in.
"The outfit wasn't really risque but it would have been quite groovy for the time. These days it would probably turn people's heads if you wore it down the street. But the best part of the photo are his accessories - rather than jewellery, it's a cigarette and a glass of wine.
"I like this picture because it's great to see them as young people enjoying themselves and it's great to see how different the times were.
And if you want to get philosophical about it, it also says something about how you have to be young and stupid before you can be old and wise.
"And it's not really just this one picture that I find inspiring.
"There's something about the way Dad puts himself together.
"There are lots of classic elements but there's always personality.
"He's a lawyer and a businessman these days so it's usually suits [that he wears], but he still takes the same pride in the way he puts everything together. There's a real flourish about the way he dresses.
"It's interesting actually - when I was younger I would always go [clothes] shopping with Mum, but I think it was my Dad that had a real passion for fashion.
"I think when you fall in love with a brand or look, it's always fulfilling to find out more about the story behind it. I think it adds to your whole experience of fashion. And I think that's come from Dad.
"As an example, there's a scent that we're stocking at the World beauty stores called Acqua di Parma. It's Italian and was first made in 1916 and is this Mediterranean floral scent that was worn by people like Ava Gardner and Humphrey Bogart.
"My dad was the first person I knew who wore it and that's where I got the idea from that we should bring it in."
BRODIE WHITE
Lead singer and guitarist with local band, the Have, who are just about to release their next single
His picture is of him and his father on the couch, asleep, when Brodie was about 3 or 4-years-old.
"I'm kind of cuddled up next to Dad and he has his arms around me. We're both asleep. I've got a pretty rock'n'roll kind of Dad - he was a bit of a biker, he got into a bit of trouble back in the day.
"I like this photo because it reminds me of childhood. Because I guess when you're a kid, you always want to be a grown-up.
"And when you're relatively grown-up - I'm only 22 but still - there are times you just want to be a kid again.
"When I was a child I remember I used to be like, 'oh God, what's Dad wearing now?' But fashion today appropriates or borrows a lot of things from the past. So I think my father has affected [my style] more indirectly, in that he was around in the 70s.
"For instance, there's another photo of my dad wearing blue jeans and a denim jacket. And for the photo he was trying to dress me up - I was about four at the time - exactly like him. I remember thinking afterwards, 'I am never going to wear a pair of jeans ever again'.
"But yesterday, when my girlfriend and I were looking at that picture, we were both saying how Dad's denim jacket was pretty cool.
"My dad bought me my first guitar, even though he wasn't really musical himself. I've also got pictures of him in the 70s hanging around with these dudes in a band called Libido, and they're all wearing these crazy hippie headbands and jeans.
"I also remember once our parents picked me and my sister up from school and they told us there was big surprise waiting for us at home. I was probably about 8 or 9-years-old and I thought it would be something like a puppy or some new toys.
"It was actually a brand new, huge stereo. And I remember my dad putting on AC/DC's The Razor's Edge, and showing me how loud it would go. And my sister and I were like, 'Turn it down, turn it down'. Now I'd probably tell him to 'Turn it up'.
GEORGE BOWLER
Sales manager at Workshop Clothing
His picture is of his father, Pat Bowler, at his mother Mary's house at Miramar Heights, Wellington, in the late 60s when the couple first started dating.
"Dad looks pretty pleased with himself here, for some reason. He was a prefect at St Pat's College and Mary was a prefect at St Mary's College - I'm deadly serious.
"He's wearing typical late-60s garb - oversized sunglasses, a cardigan - which I like to call cardi-man because that's what they are, cardies for men - desert boots and a rather fetching pair of shortened, cream drainpipe trousers.
"I love this picture because it's not often you get a glimpse of your parents outside of their parental role. In this picture Dad's about 18, generally footloose and fancy free.
"Thankfully Dad hasn't followed the path of most middle-aged corporates, wearing pink shirts, brogues and loud pinstripe suits to work and pink shirts, brogues and chinos in the weekend. He's more likely to be found [wearing] Workshop, Prada, Martin Margiela, Costume National and Helmut Lang.
"He's got an absolutely awesome wardrobe and it's an ongoing disappointment that my father and I are not the same size - and nary a cast-off has made it to my wardrobe.
"He has however offered me his 1970s Burberry Mac which sits at home patiently, waiting for the day that I finally fill out.
"He's a pretty stylish guy, he's usually quite simply but smartly dressed and he's tried to instil in me that less is more, because I'm a bit of a more-is-more sort of person.
"We actually have quite similar tastes - we even have a few of the same things. For instance, I will come home wearing something that he will quite like and then later he'll go out and buy one but he won't tell me. And I'll do the same to him. In that way it's just lucky we live in different cities.
"Basically when I grow up, I want to have a wardrobe just like my dad's."
