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A Finite Commodity with David Lochner
105 Plays2 days ago
This week, we have a show long in the making, with stalwart of the vintage clothing community and proud Philadelphian, David Lochner. He’s been in the game a long time and has some of the most eclectic taste out there. He gives us a brief history of his business, @briarvintage, we talk about a bunch of Philadelphia things, the UK's "Right to Ramble," false scarcity, clothing that transcends current trends, working magic with a sewing needle, rare finds, and a butt load more!
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Transcript
Introduction to Apocalypse Duds
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Apocalypse Duds. I'm Connor Flower. And I'm Matt Smith. And today is a momentous occasion, truly. And really, like, I don't know, I'm not going to soak this in irony or whatever as I normally would.
00:00:18
Speaker
This is our 80th show. oh Which is kind of a lot, oh weirdly, that we have yeah been doing this for so long i thought haven't quit or been killed by the US government.
00:00:30
Speaker
I thought about it today and like, and I know it's August, but July was three years that we've been doing this. Yeah, so it's pretty
Meet the Guest: David Lochner
00:00:40
Speaker
so it's pretty cool. So we're happy to have here in the studio ah David Lochner, and we are excited to talk Briar Vintage and other sundry tangents, likely. Yeah, a couple. Hey, guys, how's it going?
00:00:59
Speaker
How are you, David? How's a how's Philly today? um I'm okay. Philly is... Not unbearably humid like it normally is.
00:01:11
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, same. Nice, yeah. Yeah, so um other than that, it's Philadelphia, you know. Yeah. um Somebody's telling you to go fuck yourselves every five seconds. I mean, and that's part of the Philly charm, though.
00:01:24
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I mean, if you live through this humidity, it it's the reason why we are the way we are. Yeah, totally, and totally. Oh, yeah, it's it's like we've had – one of the hottest summers I can remember lately. Yeah. Not going to make the sentence joke.
00:01:40
Speaker
um And it's been like pouring fucking rain every day. But the past two days, it's been like in the seventies. Like I put on a flannel shirt last night and I feel great. I'm wearing a chore jacket right now. It's awesome. I'm so happy about it. When we were walking around Longwood gardens, it was like temperate. It was like kind of gray. It was a very nice environment to look at plants.
00:02:02
Speaker
Yeah. I love it. Yeah. You've been. A few times. I love it there. It's a nice nice time. Yeah. I think it's so, like, Longwood Gardens is so, like, placid. It's unbelievable.
00:02:16
Speaker
It used to be one DuPont's garden. Yeah. And now it's, like, publicly accessible. It has multiple outdoor theaters. Yeah. all land should be publicly accessible. But anyway...
00:02:31
Speaker
Right, right. oh what It's like they don't. And at a lot of these places, they don't make that exactly ah priority. Like this arboretum in Baltimore is it just used to be one person.
00:02:45
Speaker
One person lived there. And it's this huge tract of land. Obviously, there are tons of trees, but it's like a mansion. And they had a private rail. Oh, God.
00:02:57
Speaker
It went straight from their house to downtown Baltimore. And it's like, we don't talk about how fucking insane that is. I think it's because, you know, the myth of American individualism, yada yada, yada. But, you know, it's always, oh, he did great things and you're punishing success if you tax them and not, oh, he exploited a whole bunch motherfuckers and didn't pay them on their own.
00:03:26
Speaker
She was a widower. Her husband just left all the money. so it's like, I don't know. I mean, I think it's amazing. I think that it's, of course, like we should move for all land to be
David's Philadelphia Connection
00:03:38
Speaker
accessible to everybody. Right. Yeah. But it's amazing.
00:03:42
Speaker
the things that were once theirs that are now ours. Yeah. Oh yeah, definitely. Definitely. I'm with you. I like the English right to ramble, like where they can just like walk through it giant country estates.
00:03:59
Speaker
Yeah, that's what you should do. You should be able to go enjoy nature. That sounds fucking amazing. Yeah, so don't know, but we're never going to see that here, ever. Right, right.
00:04:12
Speaker
So to get started, ah David, are you born and raised Philly? um just outside okay i'm playing philly because i paid enough for the fucking taxes here right but i am from the suburbs originally born in havington hospital right outside the city limits um But, you know, I've lived in town and out of town on and off my whole life.
00:04:38
Speaker
yeah Yeah. So, you know, but I didn't go to a certain school and I didn't live in a certain neighborhood at a certain age. So, Philadelphians will say, I'm not from Philly. Right, right. Yeah. I can i can see that.
00:04:52
Speaker
Yeah. So, you know, it is. but I mean, but if you've been like... If you've been somewhere... like you've lived somewhere as an adult for like five years, I feel like it's fine. Yeah. yeah like i I moved to Atlanta when I when i was like 18, just after high school. and like i I will say I'm from Atlanta because if I've been somewhere for fucking 20 years, or almost 20 years, like that's that's fine. yeah yeah like i guess
00:05:23
Speaker
I'll claim Philly when I'm traveling. like i was like, yeah, I'm from Philadelphia. Yeah. But if I'm in the city and somebody asks me where I'm from, I'll just say I'm from like Willow Grove. It was right outside the city.
00:05:33
Speaker
Because there's nothing worse than fighting with another Philadelphian over some bullshit ass dramatic thing. Yeah, it's truell it's true. as As we've established earlier, Philly is it's a particular kind of place.
00:05:48
Speaker
In the best way possible.
History of Briar Vintage
00:05:50
Speaker
the So, what's ah what's a brief history of Briar Vintage? I know I've been following you for probably over a decade at this point. I think I like...
00:06:01
Speaker
I want to say I found something of yours, like, maybe right before I left New York. Like, Instagram or Etsy. it Probably Etsy and Facebook originally. We weren't... yeah I wasn't quick to adapt Instagram because... I think it was Etsy, actually, because I used to stalk Etsy for, like, random shit.
00:06:20
Speaker
Oh, back when you could actually find shit on there? Yeah, back when the search engine worked. You know. But, yeah, we opened... Oh, God, I want to say... 2010 or 11, something like that.
00:06:36
Speaker
Um, yeah, I, well, anyway, i was working doing landscaping and, ah delivering parts for Napa of all places. Okay. Just because, you know, it's a hustle.
00:06:50
Speaker
and I drove for interstate batteries for years. So, so it was a hustle and it was like, you know, whatever you need to make ends meet, you make them. um so i was working there and i had been a customer of amanda's who owns sas vintage um for since she opened like i think i went the day after her grand opening and was in shopping with a buddy of mine And so I used to go in there every Saturday.
00:07:17
Speaker
i would drag like my boy would drag me to his spot and I would drag to my spot. And we run were we're best friends, but like we're opposite in that like what we our idea of fashion should be.
00:07:29
Speaker
um So I drag him in there. And then eventually I was like, you know, 2008 they like two thousand and eight came Um, everything shit the bed and I needed some work and she offered me some hours. So I was like, yeah, cool.
00:07:44
Speaker
Um, so I started working for her and then like, you know, a little bit in, she was like, Hey, do you want to open a men's store? Because that's what SAS originally was. it was like older high end men stuff. And, uh, was like, not, no, I just lost a really good paying job.
00:08:01
Speaker
right Right. What were you doing 2008? landscaping. Oh, okay. Gotcha. And you're like that is hard to work as it is dude. Like that's good money for yeah really rich people in the suburbs, you know, a hundred percent.
00:08:16
Speaker
And, um, so, you know, but I was like, dude, I just lost a decent paying job. Like I'm not playing in this economy. She's like, well, how about you manage it? And I was like, yeah, bet. I'll play with your money all day.
00:08:27
Speaker
um um Hell yes. Um, so yeah, that's how it started. And just like a little 400 square foot shop. Uh, And back when you could go to like any flea and thrift store, like, I mean, you know, thrifting back then was it easy, but you could always turn up something slightly older, like 50s or 40s.
00:08:47
Speaker
Yeah, totally. It was go different. Yeah. And in Philadelphia, like actually most of the country that I'm aware of, like I knew about Bobby from Boston. Everybody knew about Bobby. Bobby was that guy.
00:09:03
Speaker
And, but there was nothing in Philadelphia that was like men centric. Right. Right. So we had started with that and like, I had always liked to dress, um, you know, I didn't necessarily know what was what, but I knew like this worked with that and this looked okay. And sure.
00:09:24
Speaker
You know? And so, was like, whether old or new, I didn't care as long as it was well-made and it was just affordable. Because that's what vintage was supposed to be. Your way of being poor and being able to attain very nice, well-made things.
00:09:41
Speaker
Right. Yeah, exactly. yeah but you know but So yeah, we did that. and We did the store for a couple of years. Then she brought me on as a partner.
00:09:52
Speaker
and We went through a couple you know, a couple different brick and mortar spots. And then eventually, i was like, I can't fucking do this public shit anymore. Like the public tracing thing every day. Right, right. Plus sourcing and all the other crap and promoting and everything else. And so we moved into a studio space and kind of like in the back of a warehouse and just started selling out of there and online.
00:10:20
Speaker
And like had some stuff in a brick and mortar with like her other shops as like we split the space. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and now it's like we're just strictly in a warehouse, and it's easy. Yeah.
00:10:32
Speaker
And I don't have to wear a suit anymore every day. It's true. It's true. And your're ah your physical shop or space now, ah you share that with Bulk Vintage? Well, yeah.
00:10:45
Speaker
Bulk owns the building. It's three floors. Each floor is like 9,700 square feet because it's an old warehouse. God damn. ah Yeah, so it's it's fucking big. Yeah.
00:10:57
Speaker
So we're on the top floor. We share like she's Amanda still has remnants of Saz online. Yeah. So so and it's mostly like men's disco stuff. like There are some women's pieces, but it's a lot of 70s menswear.
00:11:13
Speaker
Because for a while, like every boomer was renewing their bowels andm here and she made good money off of that. Like, I'm not going to lie. And plus, like here in Philly, Wharton had like a 70s party every year for a long time.
00:11:32
Speaker
Oh, whoa. So she did a lot of with them just like selling college kids fucking seventy stuff. Yeah. So they can get coked up and, you know, spend money on other bullshit.
00:11:45
Speaker
Right. I feel like 70s is also always like, I mean, I've been I've been into vintage clothes since I was like ah a child, you know, or yeah early teenage years. And like, it's always been one of those things like kind of like Pearl Snap shirts. It's a good introduction and kind continues to be even to this day.
00:12:05
Speaker
yeah i think these days you see a lot of more of it because like when i got into it like 30s and 20s was hard to find right and now it's like 70s is hard to thrift you know totally totally like so yeah like i kids are getting i see more and more kids like looking for bell bottoms looking for like photo print or like the old like joan namath ah Like all over like the arrow collar. Oh yeah. shirt a nice deal Like I see kids doing that like a little bit more like kind of like in between like that rocker and disco kind of stuff. Totally.
00:12:42
Speaker
Especially the like more psychedelics looking stuff too. Especially for women like all my friends. yeah Oh definitely. That sell like dresses and shit. They i mean it could be like the worst feeling polyester dress you've ever seen. and so it's like over the moon for it.
00:12:58
Speaker
Yep. I can't do poly personally. Dude, I am not a fan of polyester, especially like double knit suits that came out. Yeah, they're too. The baby blue tuxedos or like the stupid beige with brown velveteen tuxedos. Like...
00:13:19
Speaker
But it sells, man. Yeah, it does. It does.
Early Thrifting and Fashion Influences
00:13:22
Speaker
if if you you know like If you style it right, like it still looks good. It's just not my thing. I'd rather have anything I can just throw in the washer or dry clean once a year and that's it.
00:13:32
Speaker
Right, right. Yeah, it's one of those things like I i personally wouldn't wear it, but i think if I think it's cool enough, I'll buy it to sell. Because if I think it's cool, someone else eventually is going to think it's cool too.
00:13:46
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. hundred percent. Yeah. do Do you remember kind of what your first, like, uh, we, we have a question we've asked a lot, like no first clothing memory that you have, but like, what was the first kind of things that really like caught your eye to get you into clothes?
00:14:04
Speaker
Um, I mean, my first memory in clothing is me being forced into a suit for somebody's wedding. So I. ruter right um Other than that, like my first thing, is thing that turned me on into like vintage and like really getting into that was watching Swing Kids.
00:14:21
Speaker
Oh, yeah. you Horrible movie. Really? I mean, it's not amazing, but like it it's also been a long time since I've seen it. Yeah, go watch as an adult, and you'll be like, why is Christian Bale freaking out on people now? Because he's always been kind of an idiot. Oh, true, true.
00:14:40
Speaker
But it's like him and the guy who was, always forget his name. He was in, he was House's best friend in the show. He was the oncologist. Oh, yeah. And also in Dead Poets Society. Neil Patrick Harris.
00:14:53
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. So he was... That kid, that dude was like real nice. Like he was in it and they just dressed like it was like British drape shape. Even though the if you look at it as an adult with any like understanding of vintage, you're like, oh no, that's not actually British.
00:15:09
Speaker
Right. You know, but it's still, it was cool to see. And like, I watched it with my grandparents and I told my grandfather I wanted to dress that way. he kind of laughed at me. Right.
00:15:20
Speaker
And by kind of, I mean, he laughed hard. Right. But he took me to the Bryn Mawr Hospital charity shop and like that's where I got my first pieces. Around what age was this? Like 13, 14. Okay.
00:15:33
Speaker
and you know around what age was this like thirteen fourteen okay So was there stuff you were looking for then? I mean, you had your eye out for like jackets or like, you were just looking for whatever.
00:15:50
Speaker
Yeah. It was just kind of whatever. Like, I don't know, man. I grew up on like that remake of the untouchables TV show. Oh yeah. Yeah. It was on like in the, late 80s, early 90s. And like, so like double breasted suits were cool to me. And like, because that was the the like the swing revival with all the Gen Xers like the old Gen Xers.
00:16:11
Speaker
So like, that's what was kind of in media that I remember. So like just stuff like that was cool. And like I'd go to these thrift shops or whatever when I could because I wasn't driving, you know, and if I could ride my bike to one, it was cool. But like there wasn't a lot around for me.
00:16:30
Speaker
So I like my parents take me here, my grandparents would take me and like it was just I'd find something that wouldn't fit. but it was like a dollar. right Sure.
00:16:41
Speaker
You know, and I go to the neighborhood. Yeah. And that's exactly it. So it's like it it. And I think that that's not uncommon, right? Like people are, their parents take them to the thrift store. Their grandparents don't move to the thrift store. yeah That's like your,
00:16:57
Speaker
yeah that's That's how you get there as a kid, right? Yeah. mean, I still shop at the first store I remember going to when I was like 14 years old. And i I found a pair of like 70s plaid pants because I was, you know, little little small town punk rock douchebag. Yeah. um You know, and like I thrifted like a Stuart Tartan sport coat when I was in high school, you know. Oh, yeah.
00:17:21
Speaker
Yeah. The fact that your first one is still around is amazing. Yeah. Yeah. It's a, it's like a small Christian chain. Um, I think they have like six stores now, but o yeah, yeah. Like they're, I mean, they're fine, but, uh, you know, they're kind of the, they're the best in the like Northwest Georgia area.
00:17:43
Speaker
So yeah. Yeah. And I think like also, uh, you know, coming, coming from punk, or underground music, uh, you know, background, I think you're kind of predisposed to, to being like into looks and things like that too.
00:18:02
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. Like, um, You know, it's always that, like, I hate it, but the SLC punk line, you like, you dress like a punk. You're wearing a uniform. Right. one Like, when we came up, like, you had uniforms, depending on what social clique, where you were fitting in. yeah totally.
00:18:21
Speaker
You know, like, and that's what life was back then. So I remember a lot of us, like you kind of fallen in with a crew when you dress like that crew. And that's just what it was.
00:18:32
Speaker
Right. Right. I'm endlessly thankful that my ah my parents did not let me have the massive JNCOs that I wanted when I was in like seventh grade. Yeah. Yeah. I had them at like ninth grade, but it's only because I think I stole my first pair. Nice. Yeah.
00:18:48
Speaker
So yeah. Yeah. We, we also shot to JC Penney. So Lee pipes were the thing, you know, and like, like looking back on it, they're basically the same kind of fit that I still wear and like prefer today. Like just basically, you know, not huge, but enough room, like a stovepipe kind of.
00:19:06
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I remember like back when I started getting into that kind of look, like, you know, I got into drugs. So I started going to raise because that day they had fun drugs.
00:19:20
Speaker
one So we we'd we'd go and like, I remember going thrifting. There dude, Sean, that was in high school. And like, we went the thrift store and bought all these Ralph Lauren, Oxford cotton button downs and like all the plaids and all the stripes.
00:19:37
Speaker
And they're all USA made because they're all thrifted back then. But we just buy the biggest ones we can find. Yeah, totally. Totally. And we'd buy like M65s because everybody had JNCOs on, but we'd buy M65s like six sizes too big.
00:19:53
Speaker
Right. Just belt the shit out of them. And that's what we wore. you know and Unless you were like selling drugs or came from a good family. or were constantly stealing, like that's how you got clothes to fit in when I remember that as a kid.
00:20:09
Speaker
Yeah, totally. totally i so like I played paintball in high school and you know would go to surplus store that was 20 minutes away buy woodland camouflage. like yeah if i could If I could take a time machine back, I would go buy every single piece of fucking olive drab that they had in stock because it was floor to ceiling.
00:20:31
Speaker
Yeah. And it was 50 cents a pair. Yeah. Yeah. and It was cheap as shit. Nobody cared. I can only like, I didn't know what tiger stripe or fucking frog skin was back then, but like, I can only imagine that there was probably some of that in there too.
00:20:45
Speaker
Dude. Back when we were kids, like nobody cared about fucking CCC denim and like army denim, like nobody cared. Yup. Like the Japanese market from what I've read and talking to old heads have understood like they only cared about Levi's.
00:20:59
Speaker
They've only ever cared about Levi's. And it's only within like the last 10 years or so that they started just finding like whatever they could to like fill that gap.
00:21:11
Speaker
So, yeah, one of my biggest regrets, I left a CCC A1 at this like spot that used to be like an unclaimed baggage spot. ah It was 20 bucks.
00:21:23
Speaker
I just moved back from New York. I was broke as shit. And it had like, you know, had some damage, obviously, to the cuffs and things. And I was like, yeah. yeah, I can't really, you know, I can't really afford this. And then, you know, I still think about it 10 years on. Yeah.
00:21:39
Speaker
Yeah. But it was like 10 plus years ago, back when you could find a decent one for 30 bucks. Right. Right. You know, like back then, $20 was a lot to pay for something that was fucked up.
00:21:51
Speaker
Yeah. Especially when I could go to a thrift store and buy a bunch of shit for a but yeah ah buck or two, you know, like the first, the first shawl collar U S Navy jacket I found was half off at Goodwill.
00:22:03
Speaker
God, I miss those days. ah Yeah, you'll be both. Now we are the old heads come yeah complaining. But I think a lot of the time it's like when they're bitching about it, they're really kind of embellishing.
00:22:21
Speaker
Or it's yeah up and down. It's uphill both ways, this kind of shit. What we're talking about is like almost provable. Right. Yeah, it's true. Oh, yeah. It's definitely like what we deal in is a finite commodity.
00:22:34
Speaker
You know, like that's vintage. um So when you deal in something that's not going to last, they only made so many of them. You know, it's not like we're even like geologists where you can go just study the land and maybe we'll find more oil. Like, no, no, no.
00:22:49
Speaker
It's a provable fact. They only made a certain amount of these. It might have been millions. Right, right. But they only made a certain amount. And how many of those millions are even still in rotation somewhere?
00:23:01
Speaker
Yeah. You know, how many, dude, I think often, like, if you could go, if there was some way to like pick up shit in a landfill, like how much just incredible stuff got thrown away and oh yeah buried in a ah mound of dirt somewhere.
00:23:18
Speaker
Definitely. Definitely. I mean, like, well, out here it'd be rotting away. There's nothing salvageable, but you can probably find some decent buttons, you know? Oh yeah, definitely. Definitely.
00:23:30
Speaker
So... But yeah, I mean, it i don't like to be like, oh, it was so much better back then. It was just, it was different. Like my focus is on what it is now. And now I know that with the passage of time, like, yeah, i should have done stuff differently or I could have afforded to pay more. But at the time with inflation, the way it is and all, you know, whether it's manufactured or actually real, it's like,
00:23:58
Speaker
You got to look at what you were spending your money on. And like, yeah totally if I can buy fucking six suits in the middle of the Mad Men era that are going to go right out the door and I don't have to dry clean them for the same price that I can get like three pairs of denim, like I'm going to pick the suits all day. And that's what we we did, you know, because the suits at the time for me and what we started at were way more valuable.
00:24:26
Speaker
Right. You know, yeah, I wish I had a million dollars back then to just stockpile everything. But like, who knew what the fuck things were going to be? yeah I mean, even even a decade ago, like who knew?
00:24:37
Speaker
You know, it's like the pandemic definitely, I think, like accelerated changes. But it did. It really did. And like, I don't know, it's I think to some extent the influx of new people.
00:24:55
Speaker
has not necessarily even it's saturated the market, but it's, um, it's created like some of but of a sense of false scarity scarcity scarcity.
00:25:06
Speaker
Yeah. Because like, you know, you'll see somebody with like an OG one Oh seven top, like just a shirt, regular old green shirt from like the seventies, not even an early one.
00:25:19
Speaker
but And they're like 100 bucks. And I'm like, for what? They're $2 all day. every Nobody wants these. What are you talking about? And it's not like it's something with like fruit salad and metals and the CIB badges and all that other stuff.
00:25:35
Speaker
The military collector the guy is going to want. It's just a plain green shirt with the US Army and a name tape. right right And so like those kids just buy anything they see until they learn like all of us.
00:25:47
Speaker
But, like, stuff is going away, but, I mean, like, OGs have seemingly become hard to find. Yeah. I don't remember the last time that I saw one in an actual thrift store. Like, I'll pick them up at yard sales or flea markets and stuff. But, like, you know, that used to be something I would find five pairs of pants or, you know, five shirts or something a week just going to thrift. Yeah.
00:26:13
Speaker
Yeah, and like, it is getting harder to find. But like, when we were coming up, I think we have this kind of rose colored tinted glass idea that like, oh, yeah, we can do the same thing with like, you know, frog skins and HPT. Right, right. And, you know, double stitch chinos from World War Two. And it's like, if I really am honest with myself, yeah, I find maybe one every other week or every two weeks, you know, like,
00:26:39
Speaker
They were there, but they were scarce. Now, I think OGs are a little bit more scarce just because the amount of people doing it. Yeah. yeah But I do follow a lot of these kids on you know on the socials, and they are finding the stuff in thrift stores.
00:26:54
Speaker
Right. Still. So, you know, I know it's still out there. it's just I'm no longer hitting those stores as hard as they are. Right. Because I have other priorities and other obligations that I just I can't.
00:27:07
Speaker
Plus, like, fuck, dude, I'd rather pay you, you know, 40 bucks and sell them in my store for 80 than have to go sit in a thrift store all day. Right. Or or go to the fucking bins.
00:27:19
Speaker
Yeah. i Like, you know. yeah i i don't really find a lot of that is most offensive to me is every it's like everything is from target and coals yeah yeah which is like and they're selling it above retail so like the tags are still on this shit yeah yeah even some of my small independence price like you know basic ass levi's for 15 20 this point i'm like can Can't fucking do it, man.
00:27:50
Speaker
Yeah. Especially not, you know, they they're not even like Made in USA ones. They're like yeah modern ones. And I'm like, really, guys? Like, these, you know, if someone wants to pay a decent amount of money, you're they're going to go to fucking Colts or something.
00:28:05
Speaker
Yeah. Right. Like, I mean, as far as like a brand new pair of Levi's go, like, I don't see the attraction, but, you know, it's a brand and it's got the branding and the heritage and bla bla blah, blah, blah.
00:28:17
Speaker
But I, you know, like, why would you go to thrift store something that's abundant and but like, who's charging? Like, I don't know who their end customer is. That's my problem. I can't get an end customer. So I don't, I don't understand it.
00:28:30
Speaker
I feel that way a lot about a lot of vintage these days. Like everybody wants stuff. Like, um no I was looking at like a 60s Oshkosh jacket on eBay the other day. o And it was like $250, $350, something shit like that. And I was like, aren't these $75 jackets at best?
00:28:47
Speaker
yeah yeah Yeah, seriously. and But it's also like because I'm remembering when they were $75 jackets when they were dead stock at best. you know like yeah So I don't i don't know. um I do have a hard time getting my head around the new numbers.
00:29:04
Speaker
Sometimes because I think that things aren't necessarily as rare as people make them out to be. Totally. so And it's like kind of that that forced scarcity because everybody's got them.
00:29:16
Speaker
Like all these new kids have this stuff. right But they're all like, oh, it's rare. And I'm like, rare is something I've only ever seen in a magazine. yeah Like, that's rare. Yeah, totally. totally i like Rare is something that none of my friends have ever had.
00:29:31
Speaker
If I've had it at one point, it's not fucking rare. yeah Yeah. If I've had multiples of them, it's definitely not fucking rare. Yeah. And, like, go thrift in Japan, man. I guarantee you'll buy a bunch of it back.
00:29:43
Speaker
Right, right.
The Japanese Vintage Market: Why So Expensive?
00:29:45
Speaker
I mean, yeah honestly, the more I try to wrap my head around like how the Japanese vintage market functions, the less I understand it. Oh, I don't understand the Japanese vintage market at all. And I've i've given up trying.
00:29:58
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I've given up because I'm like, who's the end buyer? Who's buying this chore code for $25,000? Right. Who? Yeah. right and who yeah You know, so it's like, and it's like, okay, it's a 30 short coat and it's got the chin strap, but it's like 30 fucking grand. What are you talking about?
00:30:14
Speaker
Right. Right. Yeah. Like, it's, it's something that I will never understand. And then I'll like, um, I know that, but you know, the, uh, the condition is such a thing.
00:30:27
Speaker
And so if something's like, you know, i feel like, i feel like the West and America, UK, France or whatever, We, yeah we enjoy the like worn in, you know, has kind of a story to tell kind of thing.
00:30:43
Speaker
But like, yeah you know, the, the shit that I would love personally is probably way cheaper than, you know, the dead stock, $30,000 thirties jacket. Like it's, you know, it's basically bottom of the barrel.
00:30:55
Speaker
So yeah. Well, when I got into this dead stock was the best stock, right? Right. Um, And ripped and shredded shit that you would repair by yourself was the thing that you kept because nobody else would buy it.
00:31:11
Speaker
And you would wear it. And eventually i think like I've seen some bigger name Japanese, you know, vintage stores starting to like, they go to the distress best thing and they pick up shit.
00:31:24
Speaker
Like they'll pick up like super rare items, right? Like, oh, it's stifle. It's a chain strap. It's got the vent holes. It is missing the entire right arm, right? But it's because it checks all these other boxes.
00:31:38
Speaker
Yeah. You know, and like for them, it's probably a design piece or something that somebody will like frame and glass and put on their wall. And like, I get that portion of it. I don't get selling a 60s sweatshirt for 400 bucks because it's got two holes, and you know, like yeah and stains.
00:31:55
Speaker
Yeah. Like that, I don't understand. um I bet when that's the only thing left to find is the bottom of the barrel. that's what there is to find, right?
00:32:05
Speaker
You know, and so like, but with all this competition and all these kids, and I think that some of it comes from people going into the abandonment, whether it's, you know, and permitted pick or not, they're going into these places, they're getting the stuff for next to nothing, like there's their time and their labor, you know, I'm not just getting that.
00:32:27
Speaker
But if you're getting something and then selling it for fucking a couple grand, You have the ability to then buy the other pieces that you do want. Right. Yeah, it's true. You know, and you might be inflate, like you're paying somebody's asking on something that before the pandemic would have been like, you know, hundred dollars over or $200 over what they really should be getting or they would really take and you're just paying it.
00:32:52
Speaker
That automatically inflates the place the price on everything else. True. So yeah don't know, man. We can talk about this for the next 10 hours. I know. It's It's true. it's true ah Yeah. So you mentioned repairs.
00:33:08
Speaker
um yeah I know that. Yeah. Perfect. Perfect lead into the next question. um I know, you know, just from following you and knowing knew that you that you put a lot of time and effort and and do repairs on a lot of things. um I mean, did you ever like.
00:33:23
Speaker
Did you have someone that taught you how to sew or is it just kind of a like necessity type thing where you were like, fuck, I got to get on this? Well, like we used I used to have people that I would pay to do repairs.
00:33:37
Speaker
um And then like i was like, I can't afford to pay you guys that much anymore. And it's not not for nothing, you know, like, I'd like to, I'd like to not have to do them. But it ah it is a lot out of necessity, was just that I would have to just, oh, I need to fix this.
00:33:57
Speaker
And I was taught that you don't talk about your repairs. Right. And like, I kind of broke that rule for myself when I got, when I got into this is like, no, I was fucking, I wanted to document my own progress and I'd share it with people. I don't give a fuck.
00:34:13
Speaker
No, dude. it's It's a, it's a skill. It's an art. I'm sorry. Wait, what is the, what is the reasoning behind not sharing them? Okay, so you wanted them to to believe and it was original repair and you didn't do it. someones like So, yeah, it's basically like pulling the wool over somebody's eyes.
00:34:31
Speaker
That's so fucked. didn't know this, but that's wild. Wow. Yeah, I mean, it wasn't everybody. Like some people would cop to it and some people would. Some people would just never mention anything, you know, and be like, yeah, it's going to repair there.
00:34:45
Speaker
Like they wouldn't say they did it or not. It's like right it was they would let you judge on the the strength of the repair. You know, like, is it good enough? I got into it and my first repairs were fucking awful.
00:34:58
Speaker
Like they were, but like anything else, like I didn't have the muscle memory. I didn't have the training. I didn't have any understanding of what I was really doing. I didn't, nobody taught me all the best techniques to do anything. So I just was like, yeah, all I have to do is sew this to this and it's fine. Cool.
00:35:16
Speaker
And then I was like, oh no, it's not. No, this is looks awful. Yeah. Compared to him. So what do you, and I look at somebody else's repairs and be like, Hey, not for nothing, but like, I'm curious, like how what's your process? You know, like, what do you do?
00:35:30
Speaker
And I've had some like older, uh, people I used to buy off of who did repairs. They would, they gave me some tips. My friend, um, ah Jonathan and his wife Josefa she taught me a lot about like how to do stuff and stuff that she learned from her family and her grandmother and everything sick so you know they they she taught me a lot like we actually we were doing this make doing men thing before the pandemic oh yeah like yeah so she came up and like
00:36:02
Speaker
taught a little class for a couple hours and like how she would do it and like how to get your stitches so nobody sees them. How, do you know, and like how to edge things properly. so it was really informative. Her biggest ah two tricks to me were first put a board behind it.
00:36:18
Speaker
Like, and you know, between... the top of the the piece you're going to repair and the piece you're repairing with so it doesn't go all the way into the bottom of the co cloth that you're going to be repairing and you like end up with a knee all sewn together and use a fucking iron as much as you need to like as it like as you stitch if you pull too much it's going to pucker so like just put put the iron on steam and just shh and then let it cool down a second and then keep stitching.
00:36:49
Speaker
One of the tricks that I do myself because I'm horrible at judging distance with the needle when i but I'm stitching is I take a marker like a fine point sharpie and just mark two spots on my thumb so I can judge the try to get the distance even.
00:37:04
Speaker
Oh, that's a, that's a good tip. Yeah. Yeah. yeah but That's funny as shit. Cause it's all this reason. I mean, people have taught me to sew very limitedly yeah like the stuff that I was doing at the beginning by myself with no like research or anything. It's like, it was done by an alien. Like why did it happen? yeah naner There's no justification for it.
00:37:29
Speaker
but you're not so like the stupidest, ugliest things ever made. You don't know how to make it out. Like, yeah, I have the world, maybe the world's worst for a clothing person. Sewing, abilities. it, as much as I've tried over the years, like my, it, my mind just doesn't work that way. So I respect any person that can like pick up a needle and thread use a machine.
00:37:56
Speaker
And everything I've ever sewn has the most uneven stitching humanly possible. And it looks like an alien.
00:38:07
Speaker
But at the same time, that can be beneficial. yeah Because it can look more like an original repair by some farmhand guy did it just to get his jeans back together. Yeah, totally. You know?
00:38:19
Speaker
Yeah, it but it also takes me like 20 minutes to sew a button on. ah Just because that's... I don't know. That's not my how long it takes, though. I mean, in the beginning, I think that's how long it takes. Yeah. I mean, maybe if I worked at it, but I've i've just...
00:38:35
Speaker
resigned myself to thinking that I'm probably never going to learn how to actually sew. I really want to learn. I mean, I sewed that patch on my hat and it's like, it looks like it was done by a child.
00:38:46
Speaker
um to my knowledge, none of my students have commented on its childish nature, but... if you looked at it, you would see this is the work of a child. Right. Yeah. They probably be like, you know, that's a vibe.
00:39:00
Speaker
I don't know. I'm going to kids say now. Yeah. Right. Yeah. But it's like, I mean, i just, I kept wanting to get better. Like that's, sort and I watched stuff and I watched, you know, like you see like blue champions work, you know, uh,
00:39:16
Speaker
i getto um She does amazing stuff, but she doesn't tell you how she does it, right which is like kind of frustrating for me. But at the same time, like look, you're charging what you're charging because you know you keep the secret sauce secret.
00:39:30
Speaker
yeah yeah Have you seen any any like people who are like Victorian enthusiasts and the type of sewing that they do, their stitches are like one millimeter Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like pin set tailoring, like all his stuff. Like he does Regency's era stuff, him, uh, the clothing board. There's a couple other people that just do amazing hand tailoring. Like I got a buddy who's at the old barracks in Trenton and he's doing cobbling and sewing his shit together. And he's also making tables. Like he's that kind of guy. And I'm like,
00:40:08
Speaker
An artiste. Yeah, it's very, I think they, what he would have been called a mechanic back in the revolutionary period. Um, but it, it's that dude, like it's just this jack of all trades kind of stuff. Yeah. and ands That is someone we're going to have to have you connect us with. Cause yeah. Yeah. Sounds like a great guest.
00:40:28
Speaker
For sure. I definitely, his name's David too. He's a really nice. Of course. Yeah, but do you have a thing with David's? do you have a thing with other David's? Because I have known people with common names like David or Michael, for example, they have a. I don't know, it's like I don't give a shit like I it's by like the luck of the draw that I was born where I was born and got the name I got.
00:40:55
Speaker
Yeah, that was over funny. Yeah, but I was always you all referring a person named Dave. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I feel like Matt knows a million Matt. I feel like if you're, if you're a white male presenting person, uh, of a certain age, they're like David, Michael, Matthew, Brian, Brian.
00:41:16
Speaker
Yeah. Like short Sean. Yeah. Dude, I knew like six Sean's grown up, like all different spellings, but same shit, you know, but especially like you know a lot of us get super fucking uh anglo religious names yeah i mean it's just it's the nature of the beast like if you if you grow up in like any kind of old school judeo-christian environment like you get the names of saints yep you know especially like the anglo tradition of the roman tradition like you get those names and that's just what it is well like you're not ever dave right
00:41:53
Speaker
Oh, I'm Dave. The stepkids call me Davey all the time. Davey's great, actually. Davey is great, yeah. Yeah, that doesn't bring up any childhood trauma about being, you know, sung the Davey Crockett song over and over and over and over. is the Davey Crockett song?
00:42:11
Speaker
never heard that wait no is it david yeah but it's like davy davy crockett king of the wild yeah yeah that's so fucking funny yeah that that was like every bus ride to school for like all of third grade Like, it was miserable, dude.
00:42:33
Speaker
Yeah. Sorry to bring up the trauma, my friend. Nah, it's fine. But, like, i I just go by David at work. um I don't know. Like, when I was wearing suits every day when when we first opened Briar and I was wearing a tie, I felt like David was much more, you know, presentable, especially for, like, the...
00:42:53
Speaker
folks with money who came in. Right. yeah Right. Because like, so I'm this dude with a lot of tattoos, a lot of visible tattoos on my neck, my knuckles, you know? Um, so me being in a suit and tie, just that juxtaposition already is a lot. Right. Like, it could be alarming.
00:43:11
Speaker
Yeah. It's a lot for old school folks to come in and like take in for the first time. Sure. Especially if they come from a certain tax bracket, um, um But they would ah come in and be like, how's going?
00:43:23
Speaker
How do you do, sir? Welcome from the Briar Village. My name is David. yeah like I over-enunciate things that I don't. It's an ethos kind of thing. Yeah. It was very much like kind of a code switch, I guess. I don't know. like I was pretending I wasn't as fucking poor and un- educated as I am.
00:43:41
Speaker
but I know. i know about it. No. So that I just I started going by David at work. And I just that's how I just started referring to myself.
00:43:52
Speaker
And people, but people who've known me since before prior, I'm always going to be Dave. Some people still call me Irish. Irish. Yeah, I used to listen. It's a long I used to listen to like a lot of Irish rebel music.
00:44:05
Speaker
Oh, fuck. Yeah. Yeah. So it was a lot of that. Um, hell yeah. yeah So I, I, I have like, I'll see random people i haven't seen in like 20 some years and then like, yeah, why Irish? And I'm like, Hey, what's up?
00:44:19
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I have many names. have a friend, a few friends that, that call me Maddie and have for years. And like, I've tried, I've tried to make that happen, but something I've realized is like, it's not easy to get people to change what they call you. So,
00:44:36
Speaker
no not at all for you know 30 years at this point i'd you know a couple of friends calling matthew here and there but yeah oh i got a buddy uh rick uh i still call him ricky every time i talk to him oh yeah totally you know that's who he was in 10th grade of high school so that's like all right you know But he's like a professional tattoo artist, travels the world, whatever. I'm like, yeah, Ricky. All right, calm down. you lie right Very much like not letting <unk> not letting each other get above the station, you know, like yeah not forgetting where we came from.
00:45:15
Speaker
yeah Absolutely. That's important. Yeah, I think so. But, you know, oh, So as someone that has, has essentially been a Philadelphian your entire fucking life, does Philly have a style?
Philadelphia's Distinctive Style
00:45:30
Speaker
Like, if yeah okay. what What is the Philly style? Jerseys. jersey ok Jersey's bro. Listen, that's so funny, dude. just did not expect it. i didn't expect an answer at all. I was nervous to ask even no fucking Jersey's bro. Like, listen, we don't have much.
00:45:49
Speaker
Our greatest fictional hero is a boxer.
00:45:56
Speaker
you ah So that's just a moment. Unless I'm mistaken is not even from fucking Philadelphia. No, he's from Jersey. Yeah. um Yeah. But you know he reps out Philly hard enough. you know It's like everybody's thinking that Rizzo was a great mayor. It's just like one of those things that just sticks in the cities, collected memory, and they either believe it or they don't.
00:46:18
Speaker
But Philly is very much like it's a working class town, always has been. With the death of the Philly mob, who were like the last progenitors of like any kind of sense of style, because like in the 80s and 90s, you start seeing the two piece velours in the tracksuits, you know, yeah, and that became a real thing with like, you know, some of the later mobsters like it might have been a little bit more hip and up to date, but they were still dressed down. So like, after like, I don't know, Scarfo went away, like, and all of our grandparents stopped dressing for anything other than their doctor's appointments.
00:46:57
Speaker
Like it just didn't carry down. Right. So like, We, we have, we have great food in Philadelphia. We have a great music scene. yeahp We do have a really lovely art scene, like yeah tons of art and just awesome stuff going on.
00:47:14
Speaker
ah but we have sports, right you know, to get us out of our day to day and the poverty rate and everything else we have sports to focus on and we have some great sports teams.
00:47:25
Speaker
So people, you know, they rock and like, There's nothing like even New Yorkers can't be as New York as Philadelphians are Philadelphia. Yeah.
00:47:36
Speaker
Like, you know, we rock sports teams because we live or die by them. Right. It's not the arts and the culture that it comes along with the city. And we like the Yankees or whatever, like New York has.
00:47:48
Speaker
we have this most philadelphians have the sports teams the igles or the phils or whatever and i said igles on purpose yeah of course but that's what we got and that's what you see most people wearing it's comfortable it's easy to wash you get spill a drink on it it's fine like there are a lot of really well-dressed people here who you know they can turn an outfit out like nobody's business you know um but the majority of philadelphians dressed down dude like laid back dressed down ready for the game ready for anything to pop off at any moment yeah yeah you know like all my philly friends doesn't matter like what they're into subculture wise are yeah fucking phils and eagles fans yeah maybe a little less of the flyers but i also yeah i don't know i don't pay as much attention to hockey as i once did yeah i mean flyers fans are a special group
00:48:49
Speaker
Um, because i don't know, they haven't done shit since the bullies in like 79, 80. Right. Right. So like, well, you also had the Lindros era in the nineties. Yeah, we did, but we didn't really do a lot with it. Yeah, it's true. He was, he was hyped up as fuck, but yeah.
00:49:07
Speaker
So like I remember being into hockey around Lindros cause I was just like at that age where I could get my first real Jersey that my parents got me for Christmas. You know, um and like playing with the my like hockey pads in the street with my friends. and Right, right.
00:49:23
Speaker
Yeah. It was a very, very like ah Gen X or not Gen X, like 80s, 90s kid thing to be in. Yeah. We had the Mighty Ducks, for God's sake. Yeah, we did. And but it's also like a very suburban white boy thing to be in the. True, true.
00:49:39
Speaker
You know, um so like you could play street hockey all day long and it was just easy. So. You know, Flyers don't get as much and much of a love as I think the the rest of the sports teams do here. But, you know, but at least there like there's more Union supporters now.
00:49:57
Speaker
Yeah. Even though that's in Chester. Like, there's a lot of people who support the Philadelphia Union. And they like watching soccer now. And it's, like, acceptable and cool. And it's kind of like, you know, making a ah slow but sure, like, breakout within the population.
00:50:13
Speaker
ah hundred Every year I do see like a lot more people wearing that stuff. yeah Same with Atlanta United here. yeah you know they're Since their inception, Atlanta is pretty fair weather with our with our fans for the most part. But like United does not do that at all. it's like you know you're You're all about it all the time.
00:50:36
Speaker
They have the same name as the D.C. team.
00:50:41
Speaker
Is that odd? DC United? That's the DC soccer team? Fuck if I don't know. you I don't follow MLS. I don't follow it at all either, but it's curious that they would both have the same name.
00:50:53
Speaker
Yeah, it kind of makes it makes more sense in D.C., but... I know, I know. That's how I'm surprised to hear this. one One thing that really makes me happy about Atlanta United is that it got the city to change Confederate Avenue to fucking United Avenue.
00:51:07
Speaker
so There you go. Small win. Small win. Yeah, small victories where we can, you know? But, yeah, I mean, I don't know. I like Philly for what it is, but, like, it's never been...
00:51:20
Speaker
even for the way our garment industry used to be and like how people used to dress like from what I've seen in old photos like and it was always a working class town first more than anything else.
00:51:33
Speaker
So as much as the Philadelphia story would have you believe that there's a whole bunch of Cary Grants and you know, running around. It was more Jimmy Stewart's with like their off the rack jacket. And, you know, and that's just what it was.
00:51:46
Speaker
ah So less Carrie Grant, more Jimmy Stewart might be one of the best things that's ever been said on this program. Did you write it down? Did you write it down? Yeah, I'm about to. i'm about to. Hell yeah. ah Well, so
00:52:02
Speaker
you talked about the art scene I'm curious about your feelings about the Barnes
Barnes Foundation Relocation Impact
00:52:07
Speaker
foundation. Have you been there before? um i went to the old one and I went to the new one. there an old I don't know about the old one. Yeah. I don't know.
00:52:17
Speaker
Yeah. There used to be like the original Barnes was in like a fucking neighborhood on the main line. And you'd like go past all these rich people's houses to get to it. And you had to park on this side street um to get to it. And all the other rich people on that street did not like that so much when the poors came out to their neighborhood. Right. Right.
00:52:35
Speaker
um Cause that was his thing, right? Was that he wanted it available to everyone. He wanted the collection available to everyone. Yeah. But he also believed in like how to like stack paintings and photographs and how to put a lot in one spot.
00:52:51
Speaker
Right. And a certain way of displaying everything. Um, I don't really like, I don't know. There's always a controversy with something in Philly, like the whole mutter thing just happened, Mooter, whatever you want to call it, a museum thing just happened. They had a, ah you know, chief operating officer or whatever the hell she was, of directors person.
00:53:13
Speaker
And she apparently pissed everybody off and was like giving stuff away to somebody. I feel like the Barnes is the same thing. Like they took it out of the main line. Like it was a prestigious thing for the fucking main line.
00:53:23
Speaker
But at the same time, nobody liked all the fucking poor people coming to see it. So like take your pick. You either want people to see it or you don't. If you don't want people to see it, then put it downtown. You know, and you put it downtown where like you don't have to see everybody parking and you don't care. People can take public transit to get to it.
00:53:40
Speaker
And there it is. You know, like I remember the original Barnes was hard to get to, I think on public transit, at least not, not, i wouldn't say hard to get through. It just wasn't, it wasn't like a straight shot and getting off the alley. You had to take a regional line and all that shit.
00:53:56
Speaker
So, you know, yeah. More more annoying than hard. Yeah. It was just, it was just convoluted. So like now it's downtown, it's not that far from the art museum. It's fine.
00:54:09
Speaker
It's a nice building, new space. It's an amazing building. Yeah, I'm a big I thought it was like... remarkable. I've been two times, I think. Yeah.
00:54:20
Speaker
Whatever. I mean, it's like surreal. It's like impressionist paintings. So yeah, I am. I like not really my thing. I like more like futurism, modernism, modernism, like American still like thirties, twenties, forties, you know, like in that vein.
00:54:43
Speaker
like more realist stuff. That's just more my thing. But it's it's a great spot. It's a fun day out. I think experiencing the arts is like something everybody should do. I've been a couple of times myself.
00:54:54
Speaker
um I think that Philadelphia, like there's all these, like there's smaller museums around too that like, they're not huge collections, but they're just nice to go to. You know, it's not all fucking, you know, guys in court cutaway court coats and fucking, you know, stocking with breaches and all that other shit. And like, you know, quills, like we have other museums around here that are great and aren't just about the revolution.
00:55:21
Speaker
So other way the revolution is kind of a big thing for Philadelphia. and i mean Yeah, it's our fucking bread and butter, man. you know And the love sign and the Rocky statue.
00:55:34
Speaker
Yeah, in the fucking steps. Yeah. And, you know, um but it's, it's ah like, there's a lot to do here, which is why I like it. It's got, it's definitely ah
00:55:47
Speaker
a small town, big city. Yeah, I like they think of Philly. I've been there and and played there and gone to, you know, gone to shows there a ton. It, it to me is very underrated.
00:56:00
Speaker
Well, I'm not going to say that. Tell everybody it's overrated because I need the rents to stop going Yeah, for sure. for sure yeah it's Okay, I'll put it this way. It's it's how I wish Atlanta still felt.
00:56:11
Speaker
because it like Atlanta has definitely gentrified a lot and you know it's ah it's become kind of a tech hub. But like back in the day, it felt like I would go to Philly and be psyched because yeah hey it's pretty fucking walkable.
00:56:27
Speaker
ah which Atlanta isn't at all. um But me it also kind of had the old school feel still. Yeah. I mean, there's a store here and they produced, um I missed the old Philadelphia t-shirts. Oh yeah. and the And it's like, you know, everybody does not, everybody likes the gentrification. Like, yes, it's making, they're putting in proving projects. Like they have this Google river trail and they have this nice new bridge that crosses over below South street, like into like near Penn and all that. and it's like real cool.
00:57:04
Speaker
And this trail actually, if you follow on a map goes like, ah you know, hundreds of miles, but it's, um, like that stuff's cool. And like, they're making sure they take care of the art museum now, like the back, you know, waterworks and all that shit.
00:57:19
Speaker
Um, because like we used to go to like after parties at the art museum and like, it was a shit show, dude. I loved it there. It was great. Nobody bothered you. The cops never cared. It was just, you'd sit there and smoke weed all night.
00:57:31
Speaker
Um, But now it's like everything's nice, but at the same time asris stuff gets nice, it's just you lose parts of like the kind of the gritty and griminess.
00:57:43
Speaker
Like Philly will always be grimy um just because we will I don't think Philadelphians themselves will allow everybody to ignore how grimy we are. Right. And like we won't let the transplants like take that away from us.
00:58:01
Speaker
at the same time, like, you know, and we're not afraid to tell you to go home. No, no. Like, we're just like, dude, oh, you're from Scranton and it's so dangerous because you don't know how to act in any major American city by keeping your head up du and looking around.
00:58:15
Speaker
Seriously. Then, of course, you're going to get fucking mugged. Like, go home then. If you don't want to try to implement any form of common sense, then get the fuck out. Yeah, it like there there is a difference between knowing like how to interact and live in a fucking city versus the suburbs.
00:58:33
Speaker
And i've seen I've seen this here. I've seen this when I lived in New York. um You know, like I've seen it traveling around and Philly, Chicago, et cetera. Like if you've been to if you've spent time and lived in a city, you know how to fucking interact.
00:58:49
Speaker
get around. Like, you know, you know what to do, what not to do. You know, when I moved first moved to New York, a friend told me, he was like, uh, walk like you got a purpose. And I took that to heart and I was like, okay, i do this anyway.
00:59:01
Speaker
Like, yeah. Yeah, walk like you know where you're fucking going. And you don't find a nice little spot like a bodega to go pop in and look at a map. Yeah, totally. you don't fucking do that shit outside. yeah um You keep your head up. You keep your fucking mind, your business, you know your eyes to yourself and like keep walking.
00:59:19
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. It's not hard, dude. It's really not hard to go along in major American said No, not at all. No, like you just have to know how to be a human being. Like that's a pretty low fucking bar.
00:59:31
Speaker
Yeah, but like, I mean, we have a bad rap for being violent. And like, I mean, we like, it's it's always a joke. Like, yeah, we tear apart the city whether we win or lose. like or Or you know, you beat the shit out of the hitchhiking robot, which is my mind rent free.
00:59:49
Speaker
Yeah, or we throw, you know, bottles and snowballs at Santa and like batteries. That's kind of, part that's part of the charm though. Like, come on. Yeah, but it's also like, there's a reason for all that shit to happen.
01:00:02
Speaker
um And like, even the robot, like as dumb as it was, like it was just some drunk asshole. Right. But it's also just like, dude, like, if you're going to act like an idiot and send something that's unprotected to a major American city, we're going to prove to you that major American cities aren't to be trusted.
01:00:20
Speaker
You just can't. And that's, you know, and it, it's like, we have a chip on our shoulder being like New York being like, they're our big brother, you know, like,
01:00:31
Speaker
Yeah, I think Boston more so, especially with the Slapshot song, New York sucks. Ah, yes, yes. Or fuck New York, that's what it's called. I like the Slapshot reference. Yeah, but um so we, you know, we like we have a little bit of that, we're not New York. like can We get a lot of New Yorkers who come down and like, oh, you mean the city? Like New York's the only one in the world, like Paris and London and LA don't exist, and like Tokyo.
01:00:56
Speaker
But yes, the city, you know? And they're like, yeah, all right, dude. yeah So I think we we take pride in like trying to cut people down to size here. Oh, yeah, that's a that's a great quote.
01:01:09
Speaker
Yeah. So it's It's just who we are. But like we're also like begrudging assholes. Like, oh, you need to shovel. The old lady needs to shovel out her car, and she obviously can't.
01:01:21
Speaker
and so And you got somewhere to be, and just like, fuck. All right. And you go, and you tell her, get the fuck out the way. and you just start shoveling out her car out of the house. And it's just what you do.
01:01:31
Speaker
Yeah. I feel like in in certain respects, because I've spent a good bit of time in Boston, too, like yeah that's a similarity between the two. Yeah, I think it's more of a working class mentality that we help each other out.
01:01:44
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. But we, like, fuck you for making me late for having a club. You know? Like, that's kind of where we are yeah as a culture in this city. And I think Boston, I think Chicago's got some of that. Yeah, Chicago. Like, honestly, those are Philly, Chicago, and Boston are three of my favorite places that I've spent significant time in.
01:02:05
Speaker
So. Yeah. Yeah. well yeah So you've been doing vintage a while.
Unique Vintage Finds and the Pursuit of the White Whale
01:02:11
Speaker
um I'm going to this three into three questions into one.
01:02:19
Speaker
Okay. ah First off, rare find that you've had, favorite find, and if you've got a white whale.
01:02:33
Speaker
Yeah.
01:02:36
Speaker
yeah That's hard. i' Rare finds? can also, you know, it doesn't have to be strictly like one thing. You can, you can, get you know. I mean, like, don't know if it's super rare, but to me it was kind of interesting. Like, ah once went to an auction and it was the, well, we finally, recognize under FDR, we recognized the Soviet Union as a country. Right.
01:03:01
Speaker
Finally. And so I got the first ambassador of the Soviet Union stuff. like that was cool that's um that is cool it was just kind of like to me it was like a nice piece of history you know like having stuff that he wore to state dinners in moscow and maybe like i know he met stalin wearing this formal court coat yeah you know and the juxtaposition between wearing formal morning dress with j style you know Right, right, yeah. Like the guy who dressed like he's supposed to be the everyman, you know, your brother comrade.
01:03:37
Speaker
i always thought that was funny. ah What was the other part? so there's fate Rare white whale. rare or rare and favorite favorite and white white Favorite.
01:03:51
Speaker
Um, I was out with, I was out west. I was in Seattle with a person I was dating at the time. And I walked in to another vintage store because you know, that's what we do. when we're away is we to our job.
01:04:08
Speaker
Um, so I walk into a vintage store and then she's looking at the women's section in the front room. I go into the back room where saw some hats and some other stuff. and I spent like two seconds digging and there's this green wool cap, you know, older 40s, 50s baseball cap.
01:04:24
Speaker
And it's got some yellow I can see on the... on the crown and I went and I grabbed that and it turned out to be US Navy cap that was the same ah numbers as my father's destroyer.
01:04:39
Speaker
Oh shit. So that was probably my favorite find. They charged me $22 for the moth dick fuck eaten hat. Like something I never would have paid more than a dollar for if I found it anywhere else.
01:04:53
Speaker
Right, right. You know, and but because it was my dad's destroyer, I walked in was like, yep, here, take my money. And my hand was shaking. But it's the only time I've ever like, you know, in the wild, I guess, you know, I was wasn't expecting to find it.
01:05:08
Speaker
That's cool. And I found I found that white whale.
01:05:13
Speaker
don't know, a nice three piece, four button 1890s suit in a and that's not black. It's like, yeah, An indigo check that fits my size 46 ass, like that would be great. That would be my white whale that I'd never find. Very good.
01:05:31
Speaker
you know, because like all the shoulders on that thing, no matter how big the how big the chest is, the shoulders are 16 inches. It's so weird. It's so fucking weird. And like, yeah, like I have i have pretty broad shoulders for my build.
01:05:45
Speaker
and Yeah. Yeah. you know Some the fits for vintage stuff, it's like, you know i need 42 shoulder and then like a chest. i don't get it. Yeah.
01:05:58
Speaker
Well, I mean, they tried to standardize things as much as they could, but it was like, you know, what was it like? 18 was supposed to fit a 38 to an 18 shoulder for the 38 to 40 chest. Right. Right. 19 was 42 to 44. Like they just left manufacturing stuff back then was, was mostly one off.
01:06:18
Speaker
Like, you know, it wasn't until what the like late teens, early twenties that like, uh, mass produced, you know, tailored clothing existed.
01:06:30
Speaker
Yeah. i mean Yeah, something like that. And like, you know, it was, it's just funny, like, either that or it was like one off in the fact that it was a sweatshop in some apartment in New York that was just doing sleeves. Oh, yeah. Totally. Yeah. And piecework. So, you know, but yeah, that's that's my white whale. like I don't, I don't know, man, I've
01:06:52
Speaker
I've kind of like gotten over like trying to find certain pieces that everybody likes. Like, I don't know, man, I'd love to find that you had that fucking one Nenali's jacket.
01:07:04
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. You know, years ago. And like, I'd love to find one of those in a fucking pin check. Right? Oh, you know, but like, i don't know. It's not like something I'm dying to find.
01:07:17
Speaker
Yeah. um There's very little anymore that really except like the stuff that I like these days is the more mundane. It's just hard to find. Yeah, same. so You know, like, that's the stuff that excites me like, Oh, salesman sample kind of stuff. um Like, I don't know, i so i got the All American Bandana book from somebody recently on the other day, actually.
01:07:43
Speaker
um as a gift like i was doing this buy and he the dude just brought it in um shout out to jesse really nice guy and uh gave me the book and i like the first page you see is like a photo of a u.s navy ship crew on a bandana and i like this nice indigo border. and It was like real fucking cool. And I was like, that's the kind of shit that's fucking awesome. Yeah. You know, I mean, it goes back to something you said earlier. Like I've never seen one of those, uh, in general, I've never seen this book, but that sounds incredible.
01:08:17
Speaker
Like, yeah, that's, that's something that's probably rarer than basically anything else that, that we could find and sell. Yeah. Like, you know, Brown's beaches are nice and all, but there's a lot of them. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. Probably not down south because I've literally never seen one.
01:08:32
Speaker
But, uh, yeah. I mean, you might have to come up here a little bit, but you you can find them. Yeah, it's true. It's true. I know many people that have found them at, you know, for a couple of bucks or $5 that a yard sale.
01:08:45
Speaker
So, yeah. So, yeah. But, so, yeah. those are my Those are my three. Good answers. Yeah.
01:08:58
Speaker
Well, hell, man. This has been super fucking fun and very Philly-centric, but I'm kind of um kind of into that.
Reflecting on a Philadelphia-Centric Episode
01:09:05
Speaker
so um I mean, if you're from Philadelphia, you can't help talking about Philly.
01:09:09
Speaker
Yeah. the Obviously, it and it's informed a lot of who you are. So, you know, it's important. Yeah, but don't spend enough time on the streets here. You fucking, it's just who you are. Oh, yeah.
01:09:22
Speaker
Well, yeah, dude. Thank you for coming on. I really appreciate you guys having me, man. Yeah, dude, of course. sorry couldn't get it done earlier. You know, hope you got it done. but And we hope you are recovered. Yeah, it's the 80th episode.
01:09:35
Speaker
It makes it more special, you know? no Yeah, and for real. If we'd done it last week, it would have been the 79th episode. And who wants that?
Connect with Us: Social Media and Email
01:09:44
Speaker
Anyway, um David, shout out your business and and anyone else that you you would like to shout out.
01:09:51
Speaker
I mean, you can find us at Briar vintage, uh, B R I a R vintage on socials, dude. Um, Instagram's the main one, just fucking check there. if you want to send me a message, send it there. if you want a discount, fucking send it there. It's much easier to check there than Etsy. Um, you know, I, I mean, there's so many great fucking people dude in this business. Like just super nice show people.
01:10:19
Speaker
ah agree agree ah just fucking go through our followers. Like we've got some really nice people do to be one other shops. And like we've got lot of people who don't necessarily do what we do. Because like, i don't know, I'm not one of those guys who's like, Oh, I can only fucking follow shops and sell the same thing I do or like one by level. I'm like, No, I'll follow your fucking 90s women's Y2K page. i I don't care. but It's something different. It keeps me fucking exhilarated, man. It keeps me wanting to do this more.
01:10:48
Speaker
Like, you know, so i i just say go through that like and we'll and we'll shout out people all the time dude yeah yeah if you're ever in philly just hit us up um you know we do an open house uh once a month every third saturday from 11 to 4 you can just stop by so hell yeah and yeah that's it um yeah david david i've known a long time and i can 100 ah I can 100% back everything that he does. He's ah a good dude and a good friend.
01:11:22
Speaker
Anyway. no i appreciate that. Everybody, thank you for listening. We are at ApocalypseDuds on Instagram, ApocalypseDuds at gmail.com. um If you would like to send us an email of any fucking thing at this point.
01:11:36
Speaker
I am Matt Smith at RebelsRogues. And I'm Connor Flower at Connor Flower. and we will see you next week. See ya.