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Ivy with One Weird Thing with Eli Porkka
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A (Relatively) Long Time Ago, From a Coast Far Far Away…we introduce a fashion insider like no other: Eli Porkka, straight outta Bellevue, Washington, Reddit Rizz Rustler, video guy, photo guy, once Hollywood guy. We talk Seattle, LA, Milsurp, Ivy Style, Workwear, “Colorful White Person Streetwear,” film, Online/Offline Clothing Discourse, “Show Blacks,” Creating Creative Writing, Stand-Up Comedy, College, and way, way, more.
Where on earth do we host this thing?
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Transcript
Introduction of Eli Porca and Initial Discussion
00:00:08
Conor Fowler
He's from a galaxy far, far away. ah Well, I don't even know that I have enough material to do that. um So we have with us here, Eli Porca, who is a better dressed person than me and also knows how to use a camera.
00:00:26
Conor Fowler
So I have some questions for him for my own edification. But before that, we will ah needle him with some that may entertain our audience.
00:00:38
Conor Fowler
Welcome and thank you.
00:00:39
eli
Thank you for having me. Excited to be here.
00:00:41
matt
Yeah. Nice. how's How's your Monday going so far?
00:00:46
eli
Um, I mean, it's, it's the day that it is, uh, I've been, I've been now,
00:00:50
Conor Fowler
Yeah.
00:00:51
matt
Yeah, yeah.
Discussion on Political News and Eli's Background
00:00:53
eli
um, you know, yeah, it's an okay day.
00:00:53
Conor Fowler
It's MLK Day.
00:00:55
eli
It's nothing else.
00:00:56
Conor Fowler
Let's not forget.
00:00:56
eli
Yeah. Um, I haven't, I haven't checked the news today at all. I assume there's nothing happening.
00:01:02
matt
Yeah.
00:01:02
eli
Um,
00:01:04
Conor Fowler
Yeah, I read one piece that I was like, fuck.
00:01:04
matt
yeah
00:01:09
Conor Fowler
Oh yeah, Biden pardoned his family. That's not good.
00:01:11
eli
Yeah, we don't I mean, we I don't really want to turn this into a political hour discussion.
00:01:12
matt
Yeah.
00:01:16
Conor Fowler
No, we don't we don't. We don't want to either. I would prefer it to be positive. if
00:01:20
eli
Yeah, i yeah.
00:01:20
matt
yeah but One positive thing is Leonard Peltier's sentence was commuted today, and he's going to spend the rest of his time at home confinement. So that's at least something positive.
00:01:31
eli
That's good.
00:01:32
Conor Fowler
Yeah.
00:01:32
matt
But yeah, so Eli, um we usually just kind of like to start um with a couple of basic questions. um First one being, where are you from and where do you live now?
00:01:40
eli
Yeah.
00:01:45
eli
I am from Bellevue, Washington, and I currently... Bellevue is a suburb of Seattle. It's about 10 minutes outside the city, so I grew up there, and I currently reside in Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.
00:01:51
matt
Yeah, yeah. so it's in the I don't know what kind of music you're into, but aren't the Melvins from Bellevue?
00:02:03
eli
I'm not into that kind of music, so i' I'm not sure.
00:02:04
matt
Oh, okay, gotcha, gotcha.
00:02:06
eli
i've never I've never heard of this group before, so it's possible.
00:02:09
matt
Oh, shit, yeah, yeah.
00:02:10
Conor Fowler
Whoa, whoa.
Eli's Style and Fashion Influences
00:02:12
Conor Fowler
Well, so. Fuck, what was I going to say? What did you just say, Matt?
00:02:19
matt
Oh, I said the Melvins, I think are from Bellevue.
00:02:22
Conor Fowler
Yeah, yeah, so. I guess like what the. What the scene is like. That you are that you are involved in, I guess.
00:02:35
eli
Yeah. um Like with regards to what I do for work or what I do at home.
00:02:41
matt
just Just in general.
00:02:42
Conor Fowler
Music or clothes, something loose.
00:02:44
eli
um I mean, you guys found me because of clothes.
00:02:45
matt
Yeah.
00:02:48
eli
So I guess let's talk about that.
00:02:49
Conor Fowler
Yeah.
00:02:50
matt
Yeah, it's totally.
00:02:51
eli
um I guess I would classify myself as like a um
00:02:57
eli
I don't know, basic menswear guy with like, I kind of operate in the the triangle of Ivy Milserp and workwear. That's kind of my thing. Doesn't really relate to anything about where I grew up or what I do for work. It's just what I like. And that's how I dress.
00:03:14
matt
Yeah, so just and ah out of curiosity for our listeners, what do you do for
Eli's Work and Neighborhood Insights
00:03:20
matt
work?
00:03:20
eli
currently i am a freelance production worker at a uh large tech company is is what we'll call it yeah yeah not that one um i don't know why they call it capital hill it's just a big hill um it's a very like it's like the
00:03:27
matt
Oh, sick. Okay.
00:03:29
Conor Fowler
Sure.
00:03:30
matt
Gotcha, gotcha.
00:03:31
Conor Fowler
So I was going to ask about Capitol Hill because of course there's another Capitol Hill.
00:03:31
matt
Yeah. so
00:03:36
Conor Fowler
I mean like is it is it no but is it just is it just like it's it's on the seat of the Capitol and Seattle?
00:03:48
Conor Fowler
That's enough for us.
00:03:50
eli
It's like the the cool, one of the cool neighborhoods of Seattle. It's very like demographic skewing young, lots of stuff to do. There's like a lot of shopping, ah food, all kinds of stuff.
00:04:03
eli
It's really cool. I don't want to say artsy because that's not really what it is, but it's just a cool young progressive neighborhood.
00:04:12
matt
no Nice, nice.
00:04:13
eli
Yeah.
00:04:14
matt
What's the shopping scene like in in Seattle these days?
00:04:16
eli
So there's, there's a, there's glass wing, which is like the big, um, they stock a lot of Japanese brands like capital or slow, that kind of stuff. Um, there's some hot, yeah.
00:04:25
matt
Oh, sick.
00:04:26
eli
So there's, that's the big one. Um, you know, you have your like Marine layers. I think there's a Taylor stitch coming in at some point. Um, but, uh, as far as for my purposes, I pretty much stick to, you know, good will crossroads of secondhand kind of stuff.
00:04:35
matt
Oh, yeah.
00:04:43
matt
Yeah, totally.
00:04:43
matt
Totally.
00:04:43
eli
There's, and there's a lot, there's a lot of that around here.
00:04:46
matt
That's cool.
00:04:47
eli
Yeah.
00:04:47
matt
Yeah. I remember years ago, there was a store called Blackbird that like did a, you know, they carry like Alden and, you know, some of the, some of the big brands. I think they're long defunct, but, uh, yeah, it was, I think they probably went out of business in like 2014 or 15, something like that.
00:04:57
eli
Yeah. I haven't heard of that.
00:05:05
eli
Oh yeah.
00:05:05
Conor Fowler
Yeah, they were like a darling of the of the early menswear.
00:05:10
matt
Yeah, they they were definitely like a style forum, you know, stuff, pilgrimage, that kind of thing.
00:05:10
Conor Fowler
ah Raw denim type place.
00:05:12
eli
Yeah. yeah
00:05:15
Conor Fowler
Yeah, for sure.
00:05:18
matt
How long have you have you been into clothes, Eli?
Fashion Journey and Community Engagement
00:05:21
eli
Um, I started like the, I feel like everyone that's in like the online fashion space goes through the, like they discovered r slash male fashion advice.
00:05:32
eli
Um, so I just, I got into that, like just loosely following what was cool to Reddit in 2014, my freshman year of college.
00:05:32
matt
Right.
00:05:42
eli
Um,
00:05:43
matt
Oh sick, okay.
00:05:44
eli
Yeah, and so I kind of worked there, kind of just like saw what people were wearing. So it was the first time I took a serious interest in like my appearance and how I looked.
00:05:52
matt
Right.
00:05:53
eli
So I got into that like formula of, you know, OCBD, Uniqlo, Chinos, Clark's Desert Boot, kind of just locked into that for all of college. And then after college, I moved to Los Angeles.
00:06:08
eli
Right around the time, like Tyler, the creator, Brockhampton, those kinds of acts were blowing up and I kind of just got into like,
00:06:11
Conor Fowler
Can you hear me?
00:06:14
eli
colorful white person streetwear where like Like, uh, you know, like the Uniqlo Sesame Street cause collaboration was the coolest thing ever to me.
00:06:25
Conor Fowler
Sure.
00:06:25
eli
And I had a pair of golf loafers and I was wearing like skinny light wash jeans. Um, and then as I aged up, I kind of, uh, fell out of clothes and just got into like, I didn't mean I was working in television.
00:06:38
eli
So working 60 hours a week, didn't really have time for like following anything outside of what I was working in. So I kind of just locked into like, I spent,
00:06:44
matt
Right.
00:06:45
eli
I spent like $800 at Everlane one time to just to just be done with clothes. I got like a whole bunch of you know plain colored flannel shirts yeah like shitty white t-shirts um and yeah I walked into like you know slim straight denim and chinos because that's not to me
00:06:55
Conor Fowler
Basics. Yeah.
00:07:04
Conor Fowler
And that's the outfit, the work outfit.
00:07:07
eli
Yeah.
00:07:07
eli
And that's like, and I feel like that's the end game for people that were my age, like working in a professional environment. They didn't really care about clothes.
00:07:07
Conor Fowler
It's like probably a final feature.
00:07:18
eli
They just wanted something that was like, set it, forget it, be done with it kind of thing.
00:07:23
matt
Right, right.
00:07:24
eli
But. I wrapped on um my last show in LA in November of 2022 and was told I was going to have like a three month hiatus, which later became an indefinite hiatus because the entire film min industry in Los Angeles exploded with the strikes and everything.
00:07:43
eli
um
00:07:43
matt
Yeah, same, same in Atlanta.
00:07:45
eli
Yeah, so I used my downtime. i kind of just like like It was the first time I'd had like time to myself in like six years.
00:07:51
Conor Fowler
Yeah.
00:07:52
eli
ah So I used that time to kind of get back into my hobbies. like I started cooking again and also started getting back into clothes.
00:07:54
Conor Fowler
Okay.
00:08:00
eli
I popped back onto r slash male fashion advice and actually started contributing. um I started just an Instagram account for myself to document like my daily outfits. Um, and with all this downtime, like I had a whole bunch of time and not a lot of money.
00:08:15
eli
So I started just going to thrift stores, uh, three, four, or five days a week. And I kind of just filled out my new wardrobe, uh, around that. Um, I lived in the South Bay of the Thai, which has a really good thrift scene.
00:08:28
eli
Um, I think you guys, I just listened to the Nick Andrey episode you guys did, uh, like a year ago at this point.
00:08:28
matt
Yeah.
00:08:34
eli
Um, but yeah, I was kind of, I was living in the same area he grew up in.
00:08:35
Conor Fowler
Yeah.
00:08:38
eli
Um, Yeah, did that whole thrift scene. And then, you know, film minist industry never really came back. So my wife and I decided, fuck it. We'll go back to where we're from. wck Back to where I'm from originally. Came back up to Seattle. And yeah. So I'm a pretty active participant in participants in, I guess, the online men's fashion scene uh r slash male fashion advice rolled over into a discord during the reddit api stuff um and i moderate i moderate that discord i'm a pretty frequent contributor and yeah that's kind of my whole i guess buttoned up clothing evolution for the last 12 years now yeah
00:09:11
matt
Right, right.
00:09:26
matt
Nice, nice. I went back to like the very first, or I guess the very start of your fits.
00:09:35
eli
Yeah.
00:09:35
matt
And i know I noticed that ah ah originally you were not showing your face and then,
00:09:40
eli
Yeah, I mean, that's just kind of what people did, like, on Reddit.
00:09:40
matt
ah
00:09:44
eli
And so, like, you know, I wasn't really that concerned with privacy, but it was like I was putting myself out there into a new space. That's just what a lot of people did.
00:09:52
matt
Right, right.
00:09:52
eli
And I wasn't really sure, like, if I was going to keep doing this, if, like, I wanted people I knew to know that I was doing this.
00:10:00
matt
Right.
00:10:00
Conor Fowler
yeah there is a weird shame about it right i mean
00:10:01
eli
that's like No, that's a shame so much as it's like I have I have I have a habit of like I'll start a hobby and then I'll just you know, I'll keep at it for like a week or two or three and then I'll stop doing it.
00:10:13
matt
right
00:10:14
eli
And it's like I wasn't sure when I started the Instagram, like how long clothing was going to be like an interest of mine, you know. So, yeah, I blur my face and at a certain point I was like tired of finding ah making the circle color match my outfit.
00:10:24
matt
yeah
00:10:31
matt
Right. right yeah Well, wait we had we we had John and Dan from We John's On.
00:10:32
Conor Fowler
yeah
00:10:33
eli
Sorry, I will fuck this.
00:10:35
Conor Fowler
That's funny as shit
00:10:40
matt
And Dan doesn't really seem to post much of himself in general. But like John, you know I feel like in the time that I have followed him, so I guess like a year or so now, like he went from you know trying to be anonymous to showing his face too.
00:10:56
eli
Yeah, I think that I think that I think John's I think if John's I don't actually know people's real names outside of the, but he's active in a couple of the spaces I'm active in and I kind of feel like the move from Reddit to discord made people a lot more comfortable with showing themselves because it's so much more it's like
00:10:57
matt
so
00:11:02
matt
Right. Yeah, totally. Because it's a it's a it's definitely more private.
00:11:15
eli
Yeah, it's a much more, and also like it's a much more intimate like group chat setting where you kind of become, you're able to have like more real time discussions with people and like become like closer friends with them, which makes more comfortable like putting yourself out there.
00:11:26
matt
Right.
00:11:29
matt
Yeah, totally. Well, part of the reason why we wanted to have you on is because John Bats for you. So, yeah, yeah.
00:11:33
eli
Oh, nice.
00:11:35
matt
He's a homie and any homie of his is homie of ours. So, yeah.
00:11:40
eli
Cool. Well, yeah, happy to be here.
Seattle's Fashion Scene and Instagram Presence
00:11:44
Conor Fowler
So Seattle is the grunge Mecca was the grunge Mecca, right? yeah We were wondering what the what is the like, is there a scene?
00:11:50
eli
Yeah.
00:11:55
Conor Fowler
Is there like a is there like a Seattle kind of uniform still?
00:11:57
matt
there Is there a look?
00:11:59
Conor Fowler
Yeah.
00:12:00
eli
You know, I mean It's interesting because like I feel like it's, I don't think that Seattle is a city that you can really boil down to a certain aesthetic just because like it's now this huge tech capital of the country, the world, whatever, with like Microsoft and Amazon being here. um So you have a lot of people that are in very much like the you know, the late 2010s style of just like everything slim fit, you know, minimalistic white leather stickers.
00:12:33
matt
Right.
00:12:37
eli
And then like in my neighborhood in in the city proper, there's a lot more experimentation, I guess you would say a lot more stuff that isn't like
00:12:47
eli
norm core kind of stuff. But then you also have like like the like the so there's the stereotypical tech outfit, but then there's also like the Seattle outfit of like you have blondstones, little shirt and like dark wash jeans.
00:12:49
matt
Right.
00:12:56
Conor Fowler
Yes.
00:13:00
eli
There's a lot of that too, because there's a lot of like, you know, hiking clothes.
00:13:05
Conor Fowler
Yeah, see, that's what I was looking for.
00:13:06
eli
and such's a huge high
00:13:07
Conor Fowler
I mean, it's the right.
00:13:08
eli
here that that kind of just drips into what people yeah And I think it's interesting that since I moved up here, I've become more, I've pivoted more towards like, like I bought a pair of Danner's.
00:13:21
eli
I'm wearing my Patagonia Retro X a lot more. um Yeah, it's interesting.
00:13:23
matt
Yeah.
00:13:25
Conor Fowler
Danners are one of the first like full price clothing items that I bought and I still have them and wear them. I mean, I think they're freaking awesome.
00:13:32
eli
Yeah, I used to get the ah whatever the the red lace ones. I think you have them, Connor. I've just got like a pair of dark brown leather ones I got in a thrift store for $30.
00:13:42
Conor Fowler
my My red lace ones are Eddie Bauer Women's.
00:13:43
eli
Great.
00:13:44
matt
Nice.
00:13:45
eli
Oh, really? Yeah.
00:13:47
Conor Fowler
Yes, they are like they don't make that colorway. Not that shoes are gendered at all, but I bought the ladies ones because they look fucking cool.
00:13:53
eli
Yeah. Yeah. Nice.
00:14:01
matt
Yeah. I guess being, being in the Pacific Northwest, like offers, you know, just, or kind of lends itself really well to like, I hate the fucking term, but quote unquote, Gore, you know?
00:14:10
Conor Fowler
Yeah.
00:14:12
eli
Yeah.
00:14:12
matt
five
00:14:12
eli
I mean, I think that also moving, like moving up here from L.A. was also just a big step for me fashion wise because in L.A. it's like 70 degrees or higher all the time.
00:14:21
Conor Fowler
Yeah, you can't really dress.
00:14:22
matt
Right. Right.
00:14:23
eli
Like limits like what you're able to wear.
00:14:24
Conor Fowler
Yeah.
00:14:26
eli
Whereas is here, like I actually experience seasons. So I actually like have seasonal clothes, which is a brand new thing to me in my adult life because I was I spent my entire adult life in California last year.
00:14:37
Conor Fowler
Yeah, and you can see it in your in your posting too.
00:14:37
matt
Right.
00:14:40
Conor Fowler
I mean, it's like,
00:14:40
eli
yeah like as soon as i oh as soon as i also got like the seattle backdrop the pacific northwest backdrop it's such a like it's such a uh like a steroid for photography as opposed to la which is just like it's always like overexposed it's always super bright uh yeah it's like it's nice i really like being back up here
00:14:57
matt
Yeah.
00:14:57
Conor Fowler
You seem you seem happier. Like ah I was going to say like. And this is my like pet question for the show, but like so the pictures are great.
00:15:12
eli
Yeah, thank you.
00:15:13
Conor Fowler
The physics are great. The big big bigs have been great since it the beginning. We found it. We found them. What is your process? I mean, do you are you just walking out into the alley of your apartment or whatever and like, yeah, no, this is just going to work great.
00:15:29
eli
Yeah. i mean um It's not so much a process, but my wife used to be a wedding photographer and I own a DSLR camera.
00:15:37
matt
Oh.
00:15:39
eli
So yeah, like we have that, that alleyway that like half, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:15:41
Conor Fowler
So it's a team effort.
00:15:43
eli
So like, yeah, yeah, the alleyway that half my fitness are in Earth is like a 30 second walk from my apartment.
00:15:43
Conor Fowler
It's a team effort. Jesus.
00:15:50
eli
um So one day is that I'm ah um'm home. It'll just be, I'll have an outfit on, I'll buy her a coffee and then she'll take fit pics of me in the alleyway.
00:16:01
matt
That's adorable.
00:16:02
Conor Fowler
Yeah.
00:16:02
eli
Yeah, it's fun.
00:16:02
matt
Yeah.
00:16:02
eli
that kind of we kind We kind of started that whole like photography thing.
00:16:03
matt
Yeah.
00:16:06
eli
like The first ever DSLR fit that I did was back in like November of 2023, I was in the Discord fit battle.
00:16:16
eli
And I had been taking just like iPhone pictures the entire time I was doing this.
00:16:20
Conor Fowler
Yeah.
00:16:21
eli
um And then just for this like competition based outfit challenge, I just stepped it up, did a DSLR fit pic and I was editing the pictures and I was like, holy shit, these look really good.
00:16:31
eli
And it's like, it's like addictive to just see good pictures of yourself. And it really doesn't add that much more time since I have a DSLR.
00:16:37
matt
Right.
00:16:40
Conor Fowler
I wouldn't know.
00:16:42
eli
Yeah, it's just cool. um It's like very, very self-indulgent.
00:16:46
Conor Fowler
Yeah, but it's it a little journal.
00:16:47
eli
But yeah, it's fun.
00:16:48
Conor Fowler
It's a diary.
00:16:49
eli
And it's like, i don't I never really had good pictures of myself that weren't like with a mall Santa.
00:16:50
Conor Fowler
Yeah.
00:16:54
matt
Right.
00:16:56
Conor Fowler
No, exactly.
00:16:56
eli
So it's fun. Yeah, I really like...
00:16:58
Conor Fowler
it's good I feel it's a little therapeutic, you know?
00:17:01
eli
Yeah, it's like... um
00:17:02
Conor Fowler
I always thought I looked weird, but here I am looking pretty good.
00:17:05
eli
Yeah. Like, and then like color correcting yourself. So you look like you're actually in a brand look book. It's just like a fun little micro creative thing to do.
00:17:15
matt
Yeah. I also like the fact that you, um, like the way that, you know, you post the caption, it's like the date and the day of the week.
00:17:22
eli
Yeah.
00:17:24
matt
Like that's cool.
00:17:25
eli
Yeah, um that kind of just started because, like I mean, people people will caption their outfits with whatever and that's fine, but I really didn't want this to be anything more than just like, this is what I'm wearing today.
00:17:36
matt
Yeah.
00:17:36
eli
Here it is.
00:17:36
matt
Yeah.
00:17:36
eli
um I don't really think I need to... I don't know anything about clothes other than like just buying stuff. like I'm terrible at articulating why i why I wear things.
00:17:48
Conor Fowler
You were quoted in the Wall Street Journal.
00:17:48
eli
So I really don't have... i Yeah, that's true. that i don't I still don't understand why that happened. but yeah like
00:17:54
Conor Fowler
So you know what I'm saying? You know a thing or two, right? I mean, you aren't you are not actually an idiot, even though it is the name of your handle.
00:17:56
eli
well i know yeah i think that like um i just have zero clothing theory knowledge i just know like certain things work for me like i like yeah that's exactly it it's ah it gets it gets overused it's a word that gets overused so but like it really is like getting dressed is so
00:18:08
Conor Fowler
It's about, yeah, but it's about the, I hate the word vibe, but it's about the vibe, right?
00:18:10
matt
That's okay. Yeah, I think the path.
00:18:14
Conor Fowler
It's like picking something off the rack and being like, Right.
00:18:19
matt
Yeah.
00:18:23
eli
I'm gonna say it vibes base for me that it's like, I and and don't really buy into like that there's rules you need to follow.
00:18:26
Conor Fowler
Yeah, it really is.
00:18:30
eli
I think there's like good, I think like whatever the menswear rules are a good entry point.
00:18:34
Conor Fowler
Mm hmm.
00:18:36
eli
So you're not throwing a whole bunch of random shit together and and it looks terrible. But I think that it's like the saying you need to learn the rules so that you can break them, I guess is the kind of, it's what I subscribe to.
00:18:47
matt
Right. And I've always thought that like, you know, whether or not someone can tell you the thread count on a fucking shirt is kind of pointless.
00:18:54
eli
Yeah.
00:18:54
matt
Like if there's no passion behind that, like not, not to say the two are mutually exclusive, but you know, like you know things because you're passionate about, about looking cool and what you like.
00:18:54
eli
Yeah.
00:18:57
eli
yeah
00:19:01
eli
Yeah. Yeah.
00:19:05
eli
Yeah. It's like why it's just's just just as an example, like I just learned like what chunky shoes were, like what makes a shoe chunky.
00:19:06
matt
So.
00:19:13
eli
I just learned yesterday, in fact, that it's about like the height of the sole. I always thought it was like the width of the shoe that makes something.
00:19:20
matt
Oh, right.
00:19:22
Conor Fowler
interesting well see i think you could go you could argue about that probably we're pro-chunk on this program for what it's worth
00:19:26
eli
Yeah, probably.
00:19:28
matt
I'm sure they're in the bowels of style forum or something. There's definitely arguments about chunk versus not chunk.
00:19:33
eli
Yeah. But yeah, it's all vibes. specific
00:19:39
matt
We are pre we are pro-chunk.
00:19:43
matt
Do any of your coworkers, like, are they clothes close people also? Or is it, like you said, kind of?
00:19:47
eli
No, it's definitely, yeah, it's like, but I was, one not really, I mean, I work in tech adjacent in a tech adjacent world so it's a lot of that and then like the days I the i the work I do is like you're on your feet the whole time so it's like when I'm at work I'm wearing just like functional comfortable clothes that
00:19:55
matt
Right.
Work Attire and Workplace Fashion Evolution
00:20:05
eli
I can stand for long hours of the day on
00:20:05
matt
Yeah. Well, what's like a typical work fit for you?
00:20:10
eli
um I have this like so typically they want you to be wearing like show blacks for the kind of work I do just because it's like production dress code so I have I don't wear a lot of black but I have this
00:20:19
matt
Right.
00:20:24
eli
this palace adidas collab fleece zip up and then i have and then I'll just do like a pair of black 501s and vans usually.
00:20:28
Conor Fowler
see
00:20:36
eli
Any kind of sneaker and then like a beanie or a hat or something if it's an early day and I don't want to do my hair.
00:20:41
matt
pretty so Pretty solid.
00:20:43
eli
Yeah. Nothing. Nothing. Just a default outfit, I guess.
00:20:48
matt
Right, right.
00:20:48
Conor Fowler
It's a little bit like ah color removed Steve Zizzo, right? like
00:20:53
eli
Yeah, this kind of, yeah.
00:20:57
eli
this.
00:20:58
Conor Fowler
So much has been said of Bill Gates, even Bill Gates as concerns clothing. So we were wondering here if you in Seattle, the home of Microsoft had any anything any thoughts about ah business dress and Bill Gates at Microsoft and that sort of thing.
00:21:15
Conor Fowler
One company town.
00:21:15
eli
Yeah. um I mean, in general, I think that um Bill Gates and like the whole tech push in 80s and 90s into a more casual workspace has kind of done an interesting thing. And I think that it's touched on an amateur or articles of interest, one of those that in the 80s and 90s, we kind of moved away um from like a formal wardrobe in the workplace.
00:21:45
eli
And as a result, like Americans got rid of a lot of stuff. like They got rid of Levi's that are now considered vintage, all these like things that have like subsequently been brought up um and re yeah bought up and reproduced in and Japan.
00:21:57
Conor Fowler
one man's trash.
00:22:03
eli
And I think that I'm sorry, I really don't. I don't i don't know.
00:22:08
matt
ah
00:22:09
Conor Fowler
We're good.
00:22:09
matt
It's all good.
00:22:09
Conor Fowler
We'll get on to the next one. We'll get on to the next one.
00:22:10
eli
yeah
00:22:12
Conor Fowler
um yeah i mean is he is Is Microsoft still huge in Seattle? I guess it's there, but it's like
00:22:20
eli
Yeah, it's there it's i it's a huge draw like the town I grew up in Bellevue is basically exists to be a hub.
00:22:26
Conor Fowler
That's the town, right?
00:22:27
eli
Well, yeah, like Bellevue is like this soulless husk of a town that has no like, it's completely artificial. It has no culture, which is why I was so caught off guard when Matt said that a band was from Bellevue, because it just Bellevue is just not a place that things are from.
00:22:40
Conor Fowler
Oh, that's dude, and that's so funny because the Melvins are like not they not, they're not just any band, right?
00:22:42
eli
um like
00:22:46
Conor Fowler
I mean, I feel like they are, ah they probably are not Microsoft users.
00:22:51
eli
No, it's just like there's so like Microsoft and like the core company headquarters is in Redmond and all I feel like of the surrounding suburbs are like have just like because we moved to I was born in Wisconsin and we moved to Bellevue in 1998 when my dad got a job at Microsoft. So I got I got to grow up and watch Bellevue become like it went from like as a town, I guess, to like now it's got like a downtown like high rises and stuff and like all of this like expansion and modernization purely to meet the needs of Microsoft and then Amazon when Amazon got bigger. But it's ah it's just interesting because it's like it's grown so artificially because it was only pulling in people to work at tech companies that I really don't
00:23:39
eli
This could be, I mean, I could be ignorant of Bellevue culture, but in my understanding, Bellevue doesn't really have culture. It's kind of just a place where you lived because you worked at one of these tech companies.
00:23:49
matt
Uh, because we are serious journalists, I do have to correct, um, myself. I was misremembering the Melvins are from Montezano or um want to say montin I don't know how you say that.
00:23:57
eli
Ah, well, yeah, I mean, gotcha. Yeah, i imagine I just don't ever think there will be anything artistic of merit that comes out of Bellevue.
00:24:06
Conor Fowler
It's kind of amazing like because i mean I'm from a suburb of Annapolis.
00:24:06
matt
You could. very
00:24:11
Conor Fowler
They have built that up hugely. They have gotten rid of farmland and made it into subdivisions. But like skyscraper is like a different level of development.
00:24:22
eli
Yeah, it's pretty it's pretty remarkable how much it's changed and because like there's Bellevue like the east side where I grew up, which is like still very, very suburban, just like neighborhood cul-de-sac, you know, green space kind of thing. But then if you go into downtown Bellevue, it's It's just fascinating.
00:24:44
eli
It's just like there's all of these high rise buildings. There's like this gigantic mall that has like Hermes, all these high end Louis Vuitton, all of these brands have storefronts in Bellevue, Washington, which is because that's just where people live.
00:24:59
Conor Fowler
But that's like the first scene, right?
00:24:59
eli
and have a bunch There's just a bunch of money in the town and like the people
00:25:03
matt
Yeah!
00:25:04
eli
I can say it's just all as a result of this tech boom in the 90s. Like, um I think my parents house when they bought it was I think they bought it for like 200 250,000 and it's now well over a million dollars just by virtue of being in Bellevue.
00:25:18
matt
Jesus.
00:25:19
eli
Yeah.
00:25:19
matt
Right.
00:25:20
eli
um
00:25:22
Conor Fowler
What a strange, what a strange country.
00:25:22
eli
Yeah, it's it's just it's very, not dystopian, I wouldn't say, but it's just it's like, Bellevue is a result of pulling in a bunch of people who then made a bunch of money.
00:25:24
Conor Fowler
yeah
00:25:35
eli
And the town I think the town culture is a reflection of that.
00:25:39
matt
right
00:25:39
Conor Fowler
It's like the uncanny valley of towns.
00:25:41
eli
Yeah, it's just weird. I like i don't i don't like it. I really don't like going to Bellevue.
00:25:48
matt
hey no one says you have to like your hometown right right tech and shopping like that's yeah
00:25:50
eli
No, you know, um, yeah. And people say Seattle as a result has changed from what it used to be. And that's absolutely true. But I think at least Seattle benefits from being slightly removed and being like a fully fledged city that has other stuff besides tech. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:26:10
Conor Fowler
It's like the Amazon town in Northern Virginia.
00:26:15
eli
Yeah.
00:26:16
Conor Fowler
like it's just ah It is just a huge mall.
00:26:19
eli
Yeah, there's this, like in Bellevue, like I went, when I first moved back up, um, I went and got drinks with some friends at, there's now a brewery in Bellevue that's like ensconced by high rise apartment buildings.
00:26:20
Conor Fowler
That's the whole thing. It's a mall and an airport.
00:26:34
eli
It's like this micro, like four or five square blocks of just like planned living so that you can have everything you want and then jump on a bus to go across the street to work at Microsoft.
00:26:45
Conor Fowler
to go work for 15 hours.
00:26:46
eli
It's, it's, there's just so many, like, yeah, so many, like.
00:26:49
Conor Fowler
Dude.
00:26:50
eli
how it's How fast it all popped up is just, it's so bizarre.
00:26:54
Conor Fowler
Well, I was using the word the phrase company town, but like that is what it is.
00:26:57
eli
That's what it is, yeah.
00:27:00
Conor Fowler
It's the new company town and it's, ah I don't know, I guess it shouldn't really come as any surprise, just like anything we have seen this before.
00:27:08
eli
Yeah, I would say it's, Bellevue's a strange place. I can't recommend anyone visit.
00:27:14
Conor Fowler
I wonder would what does it even look like?
00:27:16
eli
It's like, honestly, it's like when I was growing up, Bellevue was like, what you imagine like a, like if you see on television, a neighborhood, like in a family sitcom, that's what Bellevue is.
00:27:21
Conor Fowler
Oh, my God.
00:27:29
Conor Fowler
Yeah, it really is picturesque.
00:27:29
eli
or Yeah.
00:27:31
Conor Fowler
It's like it's like on the water.
00:27:32
eli
it's I mean, it's beautiful. It's done a really good job, like maintaining like green space. There's lots of parks. There's lots of like activities to do. Like as a kid, it was a great place to grow up, but like I can't imagine living there as an adult.
00:27:45
Conor Fowler
It seems like not a very diverse place would be my.
00:27:48
eli
I mean, it is just because of the diversity of tech. Like there's a huge Indian population. Like I went to a high school that was 50% Southeast Asian.
00:28:00
Conor Fowler
Really.
00:28:01
eli
Yeah, I was, on my i was ah as a white man, I was a minority in many of my classes in high school.
00:28:07
Conor Fowler
That's pretty tight.
00:28:07
eli
So, I mean, seattle Seattle itself is not a very diverse city, but I think Bellevue within that is actually pretty diverse just because of where just because of tech itself.
00:28:19
eli
like Yeah, i mean i think I mean, tech companies, as you move up the ladder, it becomes less diverse.
00:28:19
Conor Fowler
I would have sort of expected the opposite.
00:28:26
Conor Fowler
Sure, sure.
00:28:27
matt
Right, right.
00:28:28
Conor Fowler
It's like who's them who is really making the money, I guess.
00:28:31
eli
Yeah, ah of course, we say that Microsoft has an Indian CEO right now.
00:28:35
Conor Fowler
Yeah.
00:28:35
matt
attic Right, right. Yeah. Well, there's, you know, things happen.
Career Path and Passion for Comedy
00:28:40
matt
So, how did you how did you get started working in film?
00:28:40
eli
Yeah.
00:28:45
eli
um I went to Washington State University with the intent of being a business major. um And then after a year or so, I realized I didn't want to do that. So I switched over to communication just because it was a broad major that sounded interesting.
00:29:03
matt
right
00:29:03
eli
And within the commit College of Communication, Washington State has a student-run um film production extracurricular, so I started writing and producing shows for that.
00:29:11
matt
Right.
00:29:18
eli
i Found out I really liked it then I cuz like and it never really occurred to me that you can just do TV is a job until It's like like when you're watching TV is like again.
00:29:24
matt
Right, right.
00:29:27
eli
You don't really think about it like that's somebody's job ah People do that for money um So yeah, I was doing I was pretty active in the student film Stuff throughout college and then after graduation my girlfriend at the time now.
00:29:32
Conor Fowler
Yeah.
00:29:43
eli
She's my wife and We just was like, fuck it, let's move to LA, see what happens. So we did, like we graduated college, loaded everything up into a U-Haul, moved down to Koreatown.
00:29:54
eli
ah We had, there's a pretty solid alumni network of people that did the same thing we did from Washington State. um So we had some connections down there were already, but yeah, we figured we were 22 years old.
00:30:08
eli
Let's try it, and yeah.
00:30:09
matt
Hell yeah.
00:30:10
eli
It was fun. It worked out for a very long time until COVID happened. And then right after we were getting back from COVID, everybody went on strike.
00:30:18
matt
Right.
00:30:20
eli
So it is what it is, but it was a good was a good eight year run.
00:30:24
matt
Yeah, so the you may have answered this question already in that response, but we' like were you into, or did you have an interest and in you know movie and television and stuff as as a young person before you kind of started just jumping into it?
00:30:41
eli
No, not per se. I was a big creative writer as a kid.
00:30:44
matt
Oh, okay, cool.
00:30:45
Conor Fowler
Interesting.
00:30:47
eli
When I was 19, I started doing stand-up comedy.
00:30:51
matt
Oh, shit!
00:30:53
Conor Fowler
I can see that.
00:30:53
eli
yeah yeah yeah I to LA with the intent of writing for shows, but of course, nobody actually gets to have their creative dream.
00:30:54
Conor Fowler
Yeah, I can see that. Definitely.
00:31:03
eli
um so that kind of just
00:31:04
Conor Fowler
Unless you're very, very, very rich.
00:31:05
eli
the like It's like it's like you know one in 1,000 or whatever the statistic is.
00:31:09
Conor Fowler
you well you're still doing a what You were doing a 1 in 50 million job right like to work on ah to work on TV at all.
00:31:14
eli
Yeah.
00:31:16
Conor Fowler
like No one can do that.
00:31:16
eli
Yeah. So I mean, so that, yeah, so, um, yeah, so my interest was never per se in television, just because, like I said, I didn't realize that that was something that you could be interested in as a career until I was like, you know, one year old.
00:31:27
matt
Right.
00:31:28
Conor Fowler
But you wanted to write.
00:31:29
eli
Yeah, I wanted to write. Um, yeah.
00:31:31
Conor Fowler
What kind of
00:31:32
eli
And so,
00:31:34
Conor Fowler
What kind of stuff has it inspired you or writing? I mean, like their movies, screenplays, poems.
00:31:37
eli
um, books. i I was a big book kid as ah they read a lot of books.
00:31:41
Conor Fowler
the Yeah.
00:31:43
eli
I wrote a lot of like terrible, like 30 page novels that are probably on my parents house.
00:31:48
Conor Fowler
yeah
00:31:50
eli
But yeah, just really any kind of creative writing as a kid and that kind of evolved into stand up, I guess.
00:31:59
matt
Do you still do stand-up?
00:31:59
eli
Yeah. Yeah. There's a couple of comedy clubs up here that I perform at. every Yeah, I do a lot of open mics.
00:32:04
matt
Oh, that's sick!
00:32:06
matt
Yeah, yeah.
00:32:08
eli
I moved down to LA, and I did stand up down there, too. But like the open mic comedy scene in LA is just so depressing. And like i was and up on i was like I was working a full day, and then I would drive to like some shitty bar in West Hollywood and pay a guy $10 to talk for three minutes in front of like four other people that were just there to do the same thing.
00:32:14
matt
I can imagine.
00:32:28
matt
right right i can of i can only fucking imagine especially because of a has like yeah yeah and it's like it's legendary you know but
00:32:29
eli
ah like There's always so much of that you can take. but and like back there because Down there, it's like it's a lifestyle. People go down there to do...
00:32:42
eli
Yeah. And up here, like the pressure's off up here. It's a lot more fun. Like I have other things like when I was 22 and like broke as shit doing standup comedy, I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to like, this needs to work kind of thing.
00:32:54
matt
right
00:32:54
eli
And now that like older, um, my worldviews are a lot more evolved, which I think is important for doing standup.
00:32:59
matt
Totally.
00:33:00
eli
Like I look back at stuff I was saying when I was 22 and it's not like offensive, but it's just, I was 22. I was stupid. I didn't know anything.
00:33:06
matt
Right, right. Not like you were having a Michael Richards moment, but...
00:33:07
eli
Um, No, no, no, no.
00:33:10
matt
ah Yeah.
00:33:10
Conor Fowler
and
00:33:12
eli
No, just like stuff that wasn't thoughts I had that like weren't fleshed out. I wasn't like, my my brain wasn't fully developed.
00:33:19
Conor Fowler
Well, no one can I mean no no decent person would hold a 22 year old to any kind of standard about
00:33:25
eli
No, I think that I just, I mean, I think I hold myself to a standard and then I just like, like I went back and read the stuff I was running and I just didn't like it. It was just bad, not for like any reason other than I was 22 and was stupid.
00:33:34
matt
Right.
00:33:38
matt
Yeah.
00:33:38
eli
like i wasn't saying i wasn't saying I wasn't saying anything like it was just not funny.
00:33:39
matt
Yeah.
00:33:39
Conor Fowler
Yeah, it's nice to have that, right?
00:33:39
matt
so
00:33:42
Conor Fowler
Yeah, yeah, but it's like you you have your work, your old work to look back at, which is good.
00:33:46
eli
Yeah, so yeah, I kind of so I got back in and it been set up ah like six months ago up here because I realized that there's a comedy club I can walk to.
00:33:49
matt
Oh, that's sick.
00:33:55
Conor Fowler
Huh.
00:33:55
eli
Yeah, so it's fun.
00:33:56
matt
Yeah. Do, so do you, do you like sketch out like on paper or, you know, notes app or something like, Okay.
00:34:03
eli
Yeah, so um i have so i'll I'll get an idea, I'll write it down on my notes app, and then like I'll go to a coffee shop and flesh it out like on the computer or on the phone. And once like I'm happy with the joke, like i write I write all my jokes out like word for word what I'm gonna say. like i used to i Which is another thing that's kind of changed since I've gotten older. like I used to just go up on stage with like an idea of what I was gonna say, but now I'm much more into making sure like every word, the timing of every word is like as dialed as I can get it.
00:34:38
matt
yeah
00:34:38
eli
Um, so ah once like I'll run through it and then like run through it on a Google doc, say it out loud, see how it feels. And once I'm happy with it, I have a little notebook that I'll hand and write it out in just because like, I mean, that just makes it seem like final.
00:34:48
matt
he yeah
00:34:51
eli
Like this is like, I'll write it out in, like if when you write something down, like in pen, it's like permanent.
00:34:56
Conor Fowler
Yeah, yeah, no, it's good to hear that that that that sort of, I guess, fleshed out process exists still even.
00:34:56
matt
yeah yeah i
00:35:01
eli
Yeah.
00:35:05
matt
Yeah, yeah.
00:35:05
eli
Yeah, it's fun. It's a fun little hobby. and i think I really like Anthony Jeselnick.
00:35:08
matt
What are some of your favorite stand-up, comedians?
00:35:14
eli
um
00:35:14
matt
Okay.
00:35:15
eli
he's a Cause like, you know what, the whole thing that's happening in comedy is like, people like Dave Chappelle and Louis C.K. are like reeling against like this woke ideology of like, you can't say that.
00:35:26
matt
Right.
00:35:27
eli
And that's fucking bullshit. You can say a lot of things that just has to be funny. And I think Anthony Juslik is like, he like, his jokes are like super outlandish, but he's able to do it in a way that's A, not offensive to like a protected class, which is important.
00:35:42
eli
Um, and just, he, he uses, um, misdirection in a way that's just really, really admirable. And I think that um it's just a good foil to this bullshit idea that comedy is ruined because white people can't say the N word on stage anymore.
00:36:03
matt
Right, right, and the the the so-called canceled comedians that are still making, you know, millions of dollars on a Netflix special.
00:36:04
Conor Fowler
is what it is, right?
00:36:08
eli
Yeah, like no, yeah. Yeah. like Dave Chappelle just hosted SNL last week.
00:36:14
matt
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:36:15
Conor Fowler
What the fuck was he wearing?
00:36:15
eli
Yeah.
00:36:16
Conor Fowler
I saw that on Throwing Fits. What was he wearing?
00:36:18
eli
Oh, I had to say something about it.
00:36:18
Conor Fowler
The sleeveless.
00:36:20
eli
I just know he was... I just saw he was doing I'm pulling up.
00:36:21
Conor Fowler
He was was wearing a sleeveless, what looked like a sport coat and like a kind of a priest. Collar, it was very strange.
00:36:31
matt
Ooh.
00:36:32
Conor Fowler
I would look it up if I were you, because I'm pretty sure the caption was, you're homie who has stuck with his New Year's resolution to work out every day.
00:36:42
eli
Oh my god, yeah. It looks like he ripped the sleeves off of it.
00:36:46
Conor Fowler
Which is another one of my favorite things in the world, the t-shirt from the boardwalk. I flexed and the sleeves fell off.
00:36:57
matt
Okay, now now i have to now I have to look this up because it sounds absolutely terrible.
00:36:57
Conor Fowler
Yes, that will live a name for me.
00:37:03
Conor Fowler
You gotta check it out, it's like it looks like a bit.
00:37:06
matt
Right.
00:37:08
eli
I'm sure this, us all looking up a picture of an outfit is going to be great content for this audio. yes
00:37:15
Conor Fowler
Well, we'll give everyone a chance to look it up in their own time.
00:37:15
matt
it's a Yeah, yeah. Anyone that's listened to any episode knows how how we go on tangents and dumb shit.
00:37:25
eli
Not really.
00:37:27
Conor Fowler
Do you have like a writer that has inspired you? I'm curious. like
00:37:32
eli
um
00:37:34
Conor Fowler
You don't have to.
00:37:34
eli
I think, no, I know, I think that I haven't like, I mean, I stopped, I used to consume just tons and tons and tons of standard comedy and when I was like in high school, early college, but like, I don't really, not really so much anymore. Like I have a couple of people like, and like I said, to Anthony, just look, I'll see what he's doing.
00:37:52
eli
landlord controversy aside, I think Hannibal Burris is still funny, but I kind of just like, it stopped being something that like interested me to consume.
00:37:56
Conor Fowler
in
00:38:02
eli
It's kind of just something I'm more like doing myself.
Unique Approach to Stand-Up Comedy
00:38:05
eli
um I don't know, I think
00:38:06
Conor Fowler
No, that's interesting, because I never have liked it. I like have never liked stand-up.
00:38:10
eli
Yeah, I mean, there's like, I forget who it is.
00:38:10
Conor Fowler
I always thought, why would I watch this?
00:38:12
eli
And this is gonna sound super pretentious to say, but like, there's this idea, like, there there was some sports commentator I listened to an interview with where he said he tried to never, he never watches sports with the commentary on, because he doesn't want that, like, that influence, how he himself commentates on sports.
00:38:32
eli
And I mean, I'm not saying like, I'm at the level of that, but I do think that I like to i don't I don't want to draw influence from anywhere because I want the things I say to be as much my own as they can be.
00:38:43
matt
Right, right. I think it was Marc Maron and Pat Nosvold on the, you know, Maron's podcast where they were talking about how like, as a comedian, you you know, if you do like a week, week run with someone, you kind of like,
00:38:57
matt
end up picking up some of their mannerisms at times.
00:39:00
eli
yeah
00:39:00
matt
And so, yeah, I feel like that's, yeah.
00:39:01
eli
yeah and Yeah, and it's like like for me Stan, it's one of those mediums where you don't really want there to be any question that what you're doing is 100% you.
00:39:10
matt
right Right.
00:39:11
eli
It's not like there's no like cover comedians like there are.
00:39:15
matt
Right.
00:39:16
Conor Fowler
Right, right.
00:39:17
matt
Well, den Dennis Leary, perhaps, but breaking out all the references today.
00:39:18
Conor Fowler
Yeah, that's a good point.
00:39:19
eli
Yeah.
00:39:20
Conor Fowler
Yeah, yeah that's funny.
00:39:25
eli
so
00:39:27
matt
Uh, so, um, another, another clothing question.
00:39:28
Conor Fowler
move
00:39:32
matt
Um,
Thrifting Preferences and Challenges
00:39:33
eli
yeah
00:39:34
matt
so we just, just turn the corner on 2024.
00:39:37
matt
Um, how, how was your, uh, clothing shopping in the past year?
00:39:44
eli
Yeah, it was good. um I didn't buy anything new in 2024.
00:39:47
matt
Sick.
00:39:49
eli
i
00:39:51
eli
largely for financial reasons but also like I'm like the way i I don't like I don't like doing online shopping I don't like going on essence or eBay even I kind of just like going to stores and digging through and finding stuff and I think that adds more meaning to clothes for me and it makes things the things that I have cooler um uh I think let me let me think of my top my top purchase
00:39:54
Conor Fowler
Still good.
00:40:04
matt
Totally.
00:40:10
matt
Definitely.
00:40:14
matt
Yeah, I was gonna say, you got a top you got a top three or five or something.
00:40:18
eli
Yeah, I got this, it's like this 1990s polo button-up shirt that has like this crazy like outdoors fisherman print on it.
00:40:29
matt
Oh, is it on the back?
00:40:31
eli
It's on, it's ah it's like the whole shirt is...
00:40:33
matt
Oh, okay, cool, cool.
00:40:34
eli
Yeah, it's a super cool piece. And like I picked it up at Crossroads with the store credit I had. It was like $15. Then I looked it up and it like on Grailed, it's going for $400 or $500.
00:40:43
matt
Yeah, yeah.
00:40:44
eli
That was cool, but it's just a really cool, like unique shirt. And I think that for how I dress, like I really like um dressing Ivy, but with like one weird thing.
00:40:55
eli
And vin good this is like a really good one weird thing for a lot of my outfits.
00:40:55
Conor Fowler
Oh, yes.
00:41:00
Conor Fowler
Oh, yes. I mean, it's good. It's like you your and your style is like you got it going on, man. You really do.
00:41:07
eli
Thank you. Thank you.
00:41:08
Conor Fowler
And it's true that it's getting to the stuff in the thrift store is it makes it better.
00:41:11
eli
It's just fun.
00:41:12
Conor Fowler
It's like all my shit is from the thrift store and that makes it better.
00:41:13
eli
It's like, yeah. Yeah. And like, I think that's, that's why it's just so heartbreaking that like stores like Goodwill and Valley Vision are like jacking up their prices.
00:41:23
eli
Like in Bellevue, the Goodwill, every single pair of jeans is $20.
00:41:27
matt
Dude, yeah.
00:41:28
Conor Fowler
yeah It's just going here like.
00:41:30
matt
I've pretty much just stopped going to Goodwill unless it's in, like, some just rural-ass town, because, like, it's always, A, inflated prices, and i don't know I don't know if this is something they did nationwide, but a couple of years back, they started, like, instead of color-sorting everything, they size it now.
00:41:36
eli
Yeah. Yeah.
00:41:50
matt
and like but the But they also took away the signs on the racks that tell you what that rack is, so, like,
00:41:54
eli
Oh, we still have that out here.
00:41:59
matt
Oh god damn, I'm so jealous.
00:42:00
eli
Everything's like, it's like, uh, everything's still pretty organized out here and it's like easy to find stuff. But like when I go to Goodwill, I feel like I'm competing against Goodwill to see how much more I know they do.
00:42:10
matt
Right, right.
00:42:10
eli
i Like I found.
00:42:11
matt
Well, chances are you're probably going to win that battle most of the time.
00:42:15
eli
Yeah, but it's like, it's just it's interesting, like the markups they have, like i like they mark ASOS designs stuff.
00:42:22
matt
yeah
00:42:22
eli
Like I found an ASOS designs jacket that Goodwill wanted $40 for.
00:42:27
Conor Fowler
good fellow that kind of thing like they love to.
00:42:29
eli
Yeah, but then again, but like just last week I went in and got like this vintage Woolrich made in England sweater for $7.
00:42:36
matt
Nice, yeah.
00:42:36
Conor Fowler
Yeah, no, because they really it's really it is really random and that's like the beauty of it.
00:42:37
eli
like
00:42:40
eli
yeah Yeah, it's like they know like big brand names, but there's still like a lot of stuff. like They don't know how to tag vintage military stuff.
00:42:52
eli
you don' and exactly They don't know that there's a market for that.
00:42:52
matt
Oh, yeah.
00:42:54
eli
They don't know if there's a market for vintage knitwear made in USA, i made in England kind of stuff.
00:43:00
matt
Right, right.
00:43:01
eli
So there's still stuff to be found, at least in my area.
00:43:03
matt
Yeah, yeah, I ah hate seeing these like, think pieces by fashion writers that are like, thrifts are dead, like blah, blah, blah, like, but yeah, yeah, and like, right, I mean, yeah, there's ah they're like,
00:43:04
eli
and
00:43:13
eli
You're not dead. The approach is just different. And it's not.
00:43:17
Conor Fowler
unless they are all gone.
00:43:19
eli
Yeah. There's still stuff to be had.
00:43:24
Conor Fowler
Then you have to go to estate sales and like Facebook marketplace.
00:43:26
eli
Yeah. I haven't gone into estate sales yet, but i've been I've been lightly entertaining that.
00:43:27
Conor Fowler
you there
00:43:33
eli
like i saw and ah There was an estate sale listing near me where it was like the guy must have been a Vietnam veteran because he had 10 pairs of OG 107s in his closet.
00:43:33
matt
it's
00:43:38
Conor Fowler
Damn.
00:43:41
matt
It's... Yeah, I bet there was some fucking former t-shirt dork sleeping outside.
00:43:42
Conor Fowler
damn
00:43:45
eli
Yeah, but that's the thing, like you show up to those and I bet there's like, yeah, there's probably like 10 or 15 people that look just like me that are really the same reason.
00:43:50
matt
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I don't enjoy them as much as I as i did pre-2020. Yeah, 100%.
00:43:59
eli
Yeah.
00:44:00
matt
Um, yeah, the cool thing, like going back to, you know, the military and like other, you know, vintage pricing and Goodwill, like the cool thing about all that stuff is a, it was made in the fucking millions, you know, ah ah pieces and be like, it's, um, it's, it's kind of like generic in its look, so it doesn't look special.
00:44:01
eli
Yeah. this was differently
00:44:25
eli
Yeah, yeah, like you can you can see like felt like yeah, they do sort they sort by color and size so there'll be like just a rack of green pants and it's all about just like figuring out which green pants are the green pants because they do like kind of glance they all look the same.
00:44:38
matt
Right.
00:44:41
matt
Yeah, that's part of the reason I hate that fucking Target brand good fellow is because like, it, and also like, like night, like early 2000s banana Republican gap, kind of the same thing.
00:44:44
Conor Fowler
Yeah dude, it sucks.
00:44:44
eli
Yeah, um um yeah, there's so many times.
00:44:52
eli
Yeah.
00:44:52
matt
Like I'll see.
00:44:52
eli
Well, and then that company Shein, they have like this specific, they have this specific houndstooth pattern that just looks like that, like, you know, that there was like this Abercrombie coat that came out a couple of years ago that like everyone lost their minds over because it was like this beautiful like brown houndstooth pattern and Shein reproduces that.
00:44:55
matt
Oh, Jesus. and Fuck.
00:45:12
eli
on so many of their stuff. So I'll be like flipping through and I'll just see that pattern and I'll think I'll have something again. It's just fucking sheen and it gets everything out.
00:45:18
matt
Oh yeah, and and then you touch it, and I don't know, I don't know if you...
00:45:21
eli
Yeah, I'm disintegrating your hand.
00:45:23
matt
Yeah, and like, any time I touch, like, either A, like, really bad, like, Walmart-level fleece, or Chee-in, or something, like, i I almost dry-heave a little bit.
00:45:28
eli
Mm-hmm. Oh my god, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
00:45:34
matt
Like, it makes me feel disgusting.
00:45:35
eli
Yeah, that and like this stretch denim is another one.
00:45:40
matt
No.
00:45:40
Conor Fowler
Oh, yeah.
00:45:41
matt
Yeah. Yeah. Uh, another, another one is dry cleaned them.
00:45:42
eli
Yeah.
00:45:45
matt
Like dry cleaned, you know, starch to hell, anything like is kind of gross, but denim is particularly just. well
00:45:53
eli
yeah
00:45:56
Conor Fowler
Wow, guys, and we've even run through the sensory horrors of the thrift store.
00:45:57
matt
Yeah.
00:46:01
matt
Oh yeah.
00:46:02
Conor Fowler
no
00:46:02
matt
Oh yeah. I could talk about that all day.
00:46:04
Conor Fowler
Which there are many. I mean, of course, we haven't even delved into the amazing soundtrack that waits you at the thrift store.
00:46:11
matt
Yeah.
00:46:11
Conor Fowler
Matt knows every single song.
00:46:13
eli
They change them up out here. it's a different like i
00:46:15
matt
Oh, God.
00:46:16
eli
and all good ae
00:46:16
matt
I'm so jealous.
00:46:17
Conor Fowler
Wow, what the progressive, the progressive pick Pacific Northwest.
00:46:17
eli
i go off
00:46:21
eli
like I'll go to a Goodwill often enough that I'll kind of like get their rotation down of songs, but then I'll go like, yeah, they keep a good rotation at the Googles up here.
00:46:30
matt
Yeah.
00:46:31
eli
It's not the same.
00:46:31
Conor Fowler
Wow, must be fucking nice.
00:46:33
matt
Yeah, the a lot of the store chains that I go to that have like a handful of stores, there have been many, many times when I would hit you know two or three in a day, and I would catch the playlist at the same fucking point in each store.
00:46:33
eli
Yeah, it is nice.
00:46:43
eli
Yeah.
00:46:46
eli
Yeah, I would give that a lot more. I went to the South Bay because the South Bay, the South Bay good rules are all like that.
00:46:49
matt
Fuck.
00:46:51
eli
There was like three or four good rules in like a five mile radius that I could just one after the other.
00:46:56
matt
Right.
00:46:56
eli
And it's just, it's just like ingrained into your brain.
00:46:59
matt
yeah Yeah, I'm not one of those people that can tune out in music either.
00:46:59
eli
The progression. I don't know.
00:47:02
matt
like i I wish that I could.
00:47:04
eli
Mm hmm.
00:47:05
matt
Jesus, I wish I could.
00:47:08
Conor Fowler
I like my life because I can't tune out anything.
00:47:09
matt
was
00:47:13
matt
Yeah, yeah i'm not ah I'm not a thrift with headphones in person either. so um Anyway.
00:47:19
Conor Fowler
it it feels like It feels like a little, I don't know.
00:47:19
eli
i like
00:47:22
Conor Fowler
I mean, there's a thinking about people who are runners who run without headphones.
00:47:29
eli
I don't know how, I mean, I ran cross country in high school. I don't understand how you can run with headphones.
00:47:33
Conor Fowler
See, you're one of them.
00:47:33
matt
Yeah.
00:47:34
eli
I just like, I tried, I've tried doing it with like AirPods, but I just can't like, like AirPods, because they're wireless and it's like not like you don't have to hold anything, but like with
00:47:38
Conor Fowler
They fall out?
00:47:45
eli
wired earbuds, I don't understand how that wasn't just like a sensory overload.
00:47:50
Conor Fowler
If you have to hold it, that would be terrible.
00:47:52
eli
You know, because you'll see people with like, like their iPod touch area, you're just running with like, and then like the wires are bouncing around.
00:47:55
Conor Fowler
Holding their phone, like, yeah.
00:48:00
eli
I don't understand how that works. And then like, AirPods I get, but yeah, they fall out of your ears when you're running with them.
00:48:05
matt
Yeah.
00:48:07
eli
So I've never understood people that can run with headphones or anything on.
00:48:12
matt
Yeah, yeah.
00:48:12
Conor Fowler
it's ah It's a question of masochism, I think, degrees of masochism.
00:48:12
matt
and you it And you were born too late to have a Walkman with headphones that you ran with.
00:48:15
eli
yeah Yeah.
00:48:20
matt
ah
00:48:20
eli
Yeah.
Conclusion and Appreciation
00:48:22
matt
Well shit, Eli, this has been super fun, and thank you you know once more for coming on and shoot shooting the shit with us.
00:48:28
eli
Yeah. Thanks for having me.
00:48:31
matt
um Always like to give the guests a chance to shout out themselves, their account, whatever they would like to, so go for it.
00:48:39
eli
Yeah. Uh, you can find me on Instagram at idiot underscore clothes. Um, and now that Tik TOK is unbanned again, same account there. It's the exact same content I posted Instagram. Uh, but you can find me though there on Tik TOK too.
00:48:58
Conor Fowler
Wow.
00:48:59
matt
Hell yeah, everyone give a follow because definitely a lot of fucking really good fits.
00:49:04
eli
Oh, thank you.
00:49:05
matt
And a nice diversity. like It's not like you're in the same thing all the time.
00:49:10
eli
Yeah, I try not to be.
00:49:13
matt
Yeah, well, um everyone, thank you for listening. um If you would like to shoot us an email, it's apocalypseduds at gmail dot.com at apocalypseduds on Instagram. I am mattsmith at rebelsrogues.
00:49:30
Conor Fowler
And I'm Connor Flower at Connor Flower.
00:49:33
matt
And yeah, see you next week.
00:49:37
Conor Fowler
Ciao.