Transcript
conorfowler: Good evening, good afternoon, or Guten Morgan, as the case may be. Ladies and gentlemen, theys and thems, we welcome you to an extraordinary clash of style and precision, where elegance meets flexibility in a test of sartorial skill. Tonight, we have the nail -biting showdown that will test our, contestants, dexterity, memory, and speed at not tying. In the Madras corner, we have the Don Draper of design, the magician of Madras, Boss Tweed himself, a man who marries German precision with laid back American elegance, Freddy Wertzel.
conorfowler: Pacing off against Freddie in the gingham corner, none other than Connor Flower, the co -host and producer of the renowned Apocalypse Duds podcast. Overseeing tonight's contest with sharp wit and keen insight is Matt Smith, the co -host and producer also of Apocalypse Duds. As referee and narrator, Matt will guide us through each twist and turn, ensuring that every knot and fold is scrutinized and celebrated.
Matt Smith: I can see.
conorfowler: Get ready for a bow tying tie raid like no other. God, why do I write this shit? Where tradition meets trend setting and only the finest tire will triumph. Freddy's is the time to beat at 12 .21 seconds. Can he do it? So we're going to do it. We're going to do it live.
Matt Smith: Yeah, that's it for an audio -only podcast.
Freddy: All right.
conorfowler: but
Matt Smith: I'm going to narrate.
conorfowler: Yeah.
Freddy: Yeah. ah Awesome.
conorfowler: So do you think we should race? That was my, ah the question about the whole thing. Should it be a race or should it be heats?
Freddy: Well, that's, that's up to you, I guess.
conorfowler: And I don't know what the answer is.
Freddy: I mean, we can, we can set a record and we can raise at the same time.
conorfowler: Damn it. I thought you, I thought you would come, I thought you would come for it. Well, listen, I think we should do a race because I think that's funnier.
Freddy: I agree. Okay.
conorfowler: So.
Freddy: Do you want to start right now, right at at the very beginning? I was already excited when you saw your untied bow tie. So.
conorfowler: Yeah, I got a little bit of a, I got a little bit of a head start. Now I'm almost positively not going to be able to do this, but we'll see. Even though the tie.
Matt Smith: Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on.
Freddy: yeah
Matt Smith: I gotta to get the timer ready.
conorfowler: murrr
Matt Smith: The timer, stopwatch, all right.
Freddy: Ah, there you go.
conorfowler: Very funny.
Freddy: Wait, wait, wait. Where do we start with our hands? Like, are we already allowed to touch the bow tie or do we have to have the hands square on the table?
Matt Smith: I say to, yeah, go ahead and...
Freddy: I'm a journalist. I follow the rule.
conorfowler: Let's say hands on waste. Yeah, this is a German ah thing, I think.
Matt Smith: All right, gentlemen.
conorfowler: My hands are on my waist.
Freddy: Okay.
Matt Smith: gentlemen start your engine that doesn't really work sorry uh all right three two one go oh Frederick comes out with an amazing lead but it's still neck and neck still neck and neck and and boom Frederick wins
conorfowler: have
conorfowler: Then.
Freddy: All right, so here's the knot for all the listeners. and
conorfowler: Oh, Matt has been waiting for a long time to say negative. and Oh, and see, and then mine, of course, looks like a ball.
Freddy: Oh man, that's real.
Matt Smith: Frederick wins handily at around 16 seconds. So not not quite the world record, but you know but to to spring it on him last minute, because we didn't know.
conorfowler: Not Guinness Book, but it'll do for the Apocalypse Dutch podcast, certainly.
Freddy: I forgot to warm up at the very beginning.
conorfowler: Yeah, he didn't know this was happening. He had no idea this was happening.
Matt Smith: wait
conorfowler: Because it would have been unfair to our audience if he had known. so
Freddy: That's true.
Matt Smith: That's true.
Freddy: That's true. I would have practiced the whole day, but that didn't do a thing, so.
Matt Smith: That's true. Right?
conorfowler: Right. yeah
Matt Smith: Well, thank you for coming on and putting up with our shenanigans.
Freddy: Thanks for
Matt Smith: um Good to meet you.
Freddy: having me.
Matt Smith: um So just to gi us get us off and rolling, where are you from and where do you live now?
Freddy: Yeah, I'm from Hamburg, Germany. So Hamburg is the second biggest city that we have here. And I was born and raised here, so I didn't move an inch basically.
Matt Smith: Oh, wow. That's awesome.
conorfowler: Interesting. Is that really,
Freddy: Yeah, I actually lived like probably 200 meters from the home where I grew up.
Matt Smith: Wow!
Freddy: I now live with my wife. We moved to the same neighborhood once again. And now I'm here again. Yeah.
Matt Smith: That's awesome! That's awesome!
conorfowler: is that a common thing? Like, is, is that like, are people staying where they are for the most part?
Freddy: No, I don't think so.
conorfowler: I guess it's a mix.
Freddy: I i think they they move around quite a bit. But at least in a city, they they move neighborhoods and so on. But yeah, I've always liked it here.
conorfowler: Sure.
Freddy: We tried out moving a little bit closer to the city center at some point. ah Yeah, it wasn't the right thing for us. And yeah, it's quite nice neighborhood around here.
Matt Smith: ah
Freddy: We have lots of lots of greens and trees. And with a little kid at home now, it was the right thing to do and to come back here.
Matt Smith: That's great. how like Just out of curiosity, how big it like is Hamburg?
Freddy: Yeah.
conorfowler: Oh yeah.
Matt Smith: like How many people live in in this city?
Freddy: ah It's 1 .8 million, I think. yeah which is yeah I mean, compared to US as cities, it's probably not not that much, but it's the second biggest burden in Germany.
Matt Smith: Holy shit, okay.
Matt Smith: Right, right. That's cool. and yeah but my
Freddy: yeah
Matt Smith: i As much as we have done this with people that live in areas I have no idea about, I have not learned much about German geography.
conorfowler: So Munich, I guess, is smaller than Hamburg.
Matt Smith: so
Freddy: Yes, it is.
conorfowler: I would have figured it would be like Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, but.
Freddy: No, it's actually Berlin, Hamburg, Munich. I think i'm I'm really not sure I'm so bad with numbers and geography, but I think Munich might have 1 .4 something like that.
conorfowler: I bet you're correct. We're not going to check it, but I bet you're correct anyway.
Matt Smith: yeah Yeah, probably, probably.
Freddy: I hope so.
Matt Smith: And yeah, cool. um are your Do your folks still live um in that same house that or a place that you grew up?
Freddy: and No, they don't actually, they don't. So my my parents moved out when my brother and I were both out of the house because they figured they they don't need it anymore. And they moved to the apartment where my grandmother originally lived, which is a little bit closer to the city center. But my mother -in -law is still living close by. And ah funnily enough, my my wife also, she also grew up around here.
Matt Smith: Oh, that's cool.
Freddy: So we grew up like a few hundred meters apart and yeah.
Matt Smith: have you got Have you guys been together since you were like younger?
conorfowler: That's it.
Freddy: No, we were we were friends. like we we We met in primary school, ah actually. And we haven't been friends back then. But our paths always crossed. And we became friends in in high school at some point. And we're together since we were students.
Matt Smith: Oh, it's cool.
Freddy: So in our 20s, yeah.
conorfowler: So I guess is there a distinct Hamburg style now? I mean, because we are going to get into something like this question, but I'm curious if there is like a.
Freddy: let
Freddy: i'm I'm not sure there is because there are so many different neighborhoods around here like we have this this very alternative scene in a way where you find like the back in the days to where all the the punks and whatnot and now right now it's it's baggies and hoodies and stuff like that um so very casual very relaxed but on the other hand uh Hamburg also has these like richer neighborhoods or wealthier neighborhoods and there you find like the something that could almost be called like preppy uh in a way so people with with polo shirts and button downs and chinos and bow shoes and and and and the likes so
conorfowler: Mm hmm.
conorfowler: Sure.
conorfowler: Sure.
Freddy: um And I think also Hamburg is is a little bit British I would say in a way, so when the rain comes out, which happens quite often around here, ah you find all these barber jackets and and stuff like that, so it's somewhere there, but you you can find a lot of different styles around here actually.
Matt Smith: Oh, that's cool. Yeah, what a what kind of stuff did you see like growing up that people were wearing?
Freddy: Well, it was it was the 90s, so it was mostly bad.
Matt Smith: right
Freddy: um
conorfowler: Well kind of, kind of.
Freddy: Yeah, yeah it's I mean, it's coming back.
Matt Smith: I mean, yeah, I could hate on a lot of 90s being a 90s kid myself, so...
Freddy: It's all coming back right now, right? so
Freddy: yeah yeah but i i guess that was that was the same like everywhere that people were like in in jeans and sweaters for most of the time and it wasn't at all that special but it always depended on where it was when i when i grew up like when i was younger i was also very much into hip -hop clothing and stuff like that like the the little white boy and the baggy jeans and stuff
Matt Smith: ah
conorfowler: Yeah.
Freddy: um
conorfowler: yeah
Freddy: That was quite strange in a way looking back now. um But lots of my friends were dressing like that too, so yeah.
Matt Smith: did you Did you own a pair of jinkos?
Freddy: No, I did not. I did not.
Matt Smith: Okay, that's that's a that's a star on your report card, my friend.
Freddy: Yeah.
Freddy: Yeah, and true.
Matt Smith: I've said it before, I'm glad there's no photographic evidence of me. Well, there may be some in like a deep buried photo album of my mom's, but yeah, not not a whole lot of ah photographic evidence.
Freddy: you You should uncover these. You should uncover these.
Matt Smith: No.
Freddy: That's actually what It's actually what my dad did when he when he retired. um like my My mom, she has all these these photos collected somewhere and he took all of them when he retired and and he scanned them picture by picture and and digitalized them.
conorfowler: Yeah, that's awesome.
Matt Smith: Oh that's cool.
Freddy: So there is digital evidence of my yeah my youth style, let's say.
conorfowler: Your youthful indiscretions.
Freddy: um yeah I'm not always happy that it's there, but it's there.
conorfowler: Yeah, that's funny, though. I mean, I think that that style was very transformative for huge numbers of people. And we've talked about it here before. um
conorfowler: It's because I guess it's American, like it's distinctly American. um But I just wonder about the.
conorfowler: I guess I wonder about like the mix of the the two scenes, you know, like because eventually they meet.
Freddy: Right.
Freddy: Yeah, I think it was it was very heavily influenced by by the US style and there were a lot of German brands like borrowing from that and they were producing their own stuff. like I'm not even sure if they were German brands, but they were just like German departments.
conorfowler: But like Adidas, right?
Freddy: Yeah, exactly. but
conorfowler: Hugely influential.
Freddy: I mean, there there it was the other way around. i Of course I had the um the the superstars. I needed to have them at some point, but that was, I mean, everybody had them. um But like these these small brands, they were all copy copying, I don't know, Dickies and stuff like that. and And you could find it then from this German brand that nobody knew, but yeah, the the the style was very US influenced, I feel.
conorfowler: Yeah. Because I was thinking about it, I was thinking about Adidas, like, I don't know, I think they're like one of the they're like one of the biggest brands in the world.
Freddy: Absolutely. Yeah, they are.
conorfowler: A hugely influential, like, kind I mean, whatever Kanye's whole thing.
Freddy: and
conorfowler: ah Big, big, big influence, right?
Freddy: Yeah, yeah, definitely.
conorfowler: So I just
Freddy: Definitely. it's and It's a super interesting brand. Also the the way they went and with with Adidas Originals, which is is a much more interesting take on this whole sportswear thing, I think.
conorfowler: Mm -hmm.
Freddy: um But yeah, of course, I mean, I'm i'm not so much into sports right now, except for doing sports, obviously.
Matt Smith: Right.
conorfowler: Yeah.
Freddy: But ah yeah, back in the days, like, I love their stuff. I love what they were doing. Absolutely. Yeah.
Matt Smith: we get Yeah, we we saw in an interview um that you played field hockey.
conorfowler: but you do What you do sports, right?
Freddy: I do. I do. Yeah.
Freddy: Yeah, and I so i still do. i I mean, I moved on to the let's say to the to the senior team, like 35 plus.
Matt Smith: Right, right.
Freddy: But yeah, I'm i'm still playing. i'm I'm still doing that.
Matt Smith: That's cool.
Freddy: ah
Matt Smith: Yeah, it's always seemed like a really fun game and I love hockey. um I played street hockey and shit growing up.
Freddy: ah Oh, nice.
Matt Smith: um But it it kind of seems like somewhere between like, you know, soccer and actual hockey to me, which has always been interesting.
Freddy: Yeah, yeah.
conorfowler: lacrosse.
Freddy: Yeah, exactly. And I think in the US, s it's more like a, i would I would say probably girls or women's sport mainly.
conorfowler: Yeah, I don't think that there I don't know that there are any and I always thought that was odd, because like, to me, it seems like you could beat the shit out of each other with a wooden stick.
Freddy: um
Freddy: You could, but you're not allowed to technically speaking.
conorfowler: And
Matt Smith: Oh, gotcha, gotcha.
conorfowler: It's against the rules because they gendered lacrosse, right?
Freddy: Yeah. Uh -huh.
conorfowler: And so in girls lacrosse, you're not allowed to check ah very seriously anyway.
Freddy: Right.
conorfowler: So just bizarre.
Freddy: yeah ah huh
conorfowler: I don't know. I think you should, everybody should be allowed to hit each other, I guess, if they're doing it.
Freddy: Absolutely, absolutely.
conorfowler: yeah
Freddy: It definitely helps. It should be, it should be genderless. Be allowed to hit your opponents.
conorfowler: Exactly.
Freddy: Absolutely. Yeah.
Matt Smith: Oh, yeah.
Freddy: Yeah. No, I'm, so I'm still playing as long as my knees, uh, let me, I will probably, but, uh,
Matt Smith: Right. Right. I imagine after how many years has it been now? I think you said 30.
Freddy: Uh, probably 30 years. Yeah. I started when, when I started with school, so around seven.
Matt Smith: Yeah.
Matt Smith: That's cool.
Freddy: And, uh, yeah, I got it.
Matt Smith: Did you play in university also?
Freddy: Uh, I did, but, but not in university itself because it's, it's a little bit different here in Germany. So you don't have these dedicated university teams.
Matt Smith: Oh, gotcha.
Freddy: I mean, you do have them for some sports, but, but I was always in, in my club, which is coincidentally also in the same neighborhood that I'm living in now.
Matt Smith: Okay.
Freddy: So yeah.
Matt Smith: ah that' that's really fucking cool yeah I guess I assume like I don't know how much you know about American College but I would assume that it it was kind of like the intramural um section that we have where it's like yeah okay yeah
conorfowler: Yeah.
Freddy: Yeah. Yeah.
Freddy: yeah Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. And, and I mean, Hamburg actually is quite, quite big when it comes to field hockey. Like there are lots and lots of teams just here in the city. There was a time when the, the, the Bundesliga, so the first league of hockey was just consisted just of of teams from Hamburg, which was nice because nobody had to travel.
Matt Smith: Right.
Freddy: Um, but yeah, it's, it's, it's a, it's a huge thing here and it's, it's probably the same clientele like lacrosse in the US. So the same people are playing as let's say.
conorfowler: Yeah, that's what I would have figured.
Freddy: Yeah.
Matt Smith: Right, right.
conorfowler: um We would like to do the fit check. ah Looks like you're prepared.
Freddy: I came prepared.
conorfowler: So I guess we'll go feet up today.
Freddy: Yeah, exactly.
Freddy: Okay, okay, I wanted to ask where should I start, but feet up is, is ah yeah, I start with nothing because i'm I'm not wearing any shoes, I'm at home.
conorfowler: Hell yeah.
Freddy: ah and nothing Nothing there, but that but I was wearing the, yeah, let's say that the men's wear uniform shoes, the hashtag men's wear shoes, Alden Cordovan 986 shell, color eight loafers, ah the penny loafers.
conorfowler: Of course.
Freddy: Yeah, of of course.
conorfowler: Yeah, of course. Beautiful.
Freddy: No, I wore them earlier this day. I'm wearing, ah and it it matches actually matches your introduction, I'm wearing ah Madras pants, like patchwork pants.
conorfowler: See, we know everything here.
Freddy: Yeah, you do, you do.
conorfowler: Our so our eyes are everywhere.
Freddy: um They are apparently under the table.
conorfowler: Mm hmm.
Freddy: So um yeah, im we I'm wearing these. They are they're actually Old Navy, which surprised me when I found them. I was like, I didn't know Old Navy is doing stuff like that.
conorfowler: They make some kind of nice stuff like you just pick whatever.
Freddy: Yeah, they do, apparently so. yeah Yeah, and I found them on eBay for like, I think, 20 bucks or something, so I had to have them.
conorfowler: Yeah, of course.
Freddy: um Yeah, um'm I'm wearing a University Stripe ah Oxford shirt. I was trying not to say OCBD because I know that Sean Crowley hates people who say this and I know he wasn't. ah Yeah, I'm wearing this one from a brand called Tokyo Wednesday Club, which is as weird as it sounds.
conorfowler: Hmm.
Matt Smith: Okay.
Freddy: I i found them through Instagram and and they make these super baggy, like basically like an old Brooks shirt, ah Oxford shirts, and a ah linen jacket, Ralph Lauren ivory white from the from the Cold War made in Italy days.
conorfowler: Hmm.
conorfowler: Yeah, that's sick. That looks great.
conorfowler: Yeah.
Freddy: And the bow tie that won the race is rugby, rugby ruffler.
conorfowler: Yeah.
Freddy: Yeah.
conorfowler: I was going to ask you what your opinion is. What color belt are you wearing?
Freddy: It's brown. It's brown. It's ah it's a braided belt from Uniqlo.
conorfowler: I'm like, I like, I don't know why I follow this rule that I like have invented in my mind apparently, but I always thought that the rule was black and cordovan on the same team, brown with brown shoes.
Matt Smith: No. No.
Freddy: Yeah.
Matt Smith: Yeah, yeah.
Freddy: Yeah, that's that's honestly, that's an that's an interesting question. I mean, I'm always wearing bra.
Matt Smith: yeah
Freddy: I actually tried to find a ah cordovan belt because I thought it must be out there somewhere, right? So so somebody must have done this.
conorfowler: My grandfather gave me an inherited one, I guess.
Matt Smith: um Alden made them at one point.
conorfowler: I've never seen one.
Freddy: Oh, wow. Nice.
Matt Smith: I don't, I doubt they still do. um I can't think of anywhere else off the top of my head that makes a cordovan belt.
Freddy: hu
Matt Smith: I've always, like, colorate, yes, it did it is, like, burgundy -ish, but there's enough brown undertones of the leather itself that brown belt, not black belt, or a burgundy belt.
Freddy: Right.
Matt Smith: Like, I've seen, yeah.
Freddy: Yeah. Yeah. That could also work.
Matt Smith: I personally have never owned a pair of cordovan shoes.
Freddy: by
Matt Smith: That might be heresy to some people, but that's just not my shit.
Freddy: And you're hosting a man's word podcast.
Matt Smith: I mean, to be fair, I have worked with Alden and sold a fuckload of Alden Quarterman shoes.
Freddy: Oh my God.
Matt Smith: They're just like, they're not my thing.
Freddy: right oh
conorfowler: matt sold Matt sold some to me.
Matt Smith: But...
conorfowler: Matt sold me on the idea and then I found them in the thrift store and they were too big so I had to sell them.
Freddy: nice and okay that's too bad yeah i have i have to say they they are not my best fitting shoes uh i i bought them yeah it is it is ah i feel like
Matt Smith: Yeah.
Matt Smith: The fam last is so weird. it It somehow gives every single person foot what I like to call foot cleavage. and it just like I don't know how that works. like even Even the most narrow of feet in a narrow size, it still gives them foot cleavage.
Freddy: Mhm. Right. Yeah.
conorfowler: What does this mean, Matt? Foot cleavage.
Matt Smith: like like Some loafers, where the vamp ends,
conorfowler: Mm hmm.
Matt Smith: um some you know seem to like stretch and move with you that's fine like however however that shoe is designed i don't know if it's a last problem or if it's the actual shape but like everyone that i've ever seen wearing a pair their feet spill over that those like two sides on the vamp just a hair yeah all right yeah maybe foot side boob whatever yeah yeah some
conorfowler: Hmm isn't that like foot side boob?
Freddy: okay it's the push -up effect of Alden that's uh yeah interesting absolutely i mean i mean they're they're expertly made absolutely but but i have heard so many people saying oh they don't fit quite right but you know it's a is it yeah yeah
Matt Smith: Yeah, but, but like people love them. Um, and yeah, they're, they're fantastic shoes. I'm not shit talking to them just, yeah.
Matt Smith: Yeah. The sizing can be, can be difficult, especially on, you know, especially on a shoe that doesn't have laces. It's a, it's a little, you know, a little more of a headache.
Freddy: Exactly, exactly. Yeah.
conorfowler: Yeah, there's no there's no whatever. Give something, whatever the opposite of that is.
Freddy: Uh -huh.
Matt Smith: Yeah, yeah.
Matt Smith: um So I guess this is a good question to go after the fit check. How do you put together your fits, like conceptually or procedurally, um from lack of better words, but what's your what's your process?
Freddy: ah Well, usually when I'm at home, I get out of the bath and I sit on my bed and I stare at my closet and I wonder what I feel like this day. I mean, sometimes I'm planning in advance. for instance, when I have a and don't know a client meeting and on the next day or something like that, then then I already want to think about what to wear to this and and you know what blazer I feel comfortable in and whatnot. But usually it's like I'm i'm sitting there, i'm I'm opening the doors of of where where my pants are behind and then looking at the shirts and then I'm i'm just choosing
Freddy: usually I'm choosing one item that I want to wear that day and then I'm i'm trying to build off that and yeah then it's more like how formal do I feel how not formal do I feel how much does my daughter who's sleeping right next to me at that moment is does she wake up and do I need to be quick or whatever and how much time do I have to decide and yeah then it's then it's going from there but it's it's usually day by day and yeah only when I'm when I'm traveling then I'm i'm
conorfowler: Sure.
Matt Smith: Okay.
Freddy: packing in advance and I'm trying to to put together as many pieces that go with everything else you know to to have to to make the most out of it.
Matt Smith: Right.
conorfowler: That's the worst part.
Matt Smith: Well.
conorfowler: that's the most That's the most taxing part.
Freddy: Yeah.
Matt Smith: Well. but so So let's let's piggyback on this.
conorfowler: That's like the hardest part of being alive.
Freddy: yeah i
Matt Smith: um Do you travel pretty regular? I would assume because of what you do somewhat.
Freddy: Yeah, I did before COVID.
Matt Smith: OK, gotcha.
Freddy: um There was traveling quite regularly and and we were also like, not just on holidays, but for business. Yeah, you're right. I was traveling for that quite a bit. um But like for basically every one of us, it it changed during that time. And right now I'm not traveling that much anymore. No, we we do smaller trips to the to the seaside here, ah but just as a family and and business trips, not that many anymore or sometimes most of them inside of Germany.
Matt Smith: ah
Matt Smith: Gotcha. Well, what's what's some of your go -tos for for a trip? Like, what are you packing?
Freddy: I picked more boring, I would say. like Back in the days, I was i was bringing this huge suitcase and and trying to get off my most extreme trousers and and whatever I had.
conorfowler: but Most extreme trousers, beautiful.
Freddy: Yeah, yeah, exactly. But right now I'm i'm going with ah almost every time I'm having a navy blazer with me because it's just like, I mean, every, you know, every menswear or classic menswear guy says that the navy blazer is really the war cross of the wardrobe. And I would agree because it it goes with almost everything.
Matt Smith: Right.
Matt Smith: Yeah.
Freddy: um And then i I came to like the the vintage Ralph Lauren Chinos like the the ones that are still 100 % cotton and not with some stretch stuff like in in the basic colors like ah khaki or stone or something like that. um Because i can I can wear them with with different shirts every day and with different ties and it's it's it's very basic but it works and it becomes
conorfowler: No, but it's so grown up because I'm packing like because i'm packing like a plaid jacket, another plaid jacket.
Freddy: yeah in the way it is, in the way it is.
Freddy: Oh, nice. Yeah.
conorfowler: like And I don't know why I do this. I mean, I know exactly why I do it.
Freddy: Mm -hmm.
conorfowler: right But I should...
Matt Smith: Yeah, yeah.
conorfowler: I have plainer stuff. right I have louder accessories. I could do that. That wouldn't be so bad.
Freddy: Yeah.
conorfowler: but
Matt Smith: we We have established that you are not a plain, non -loud person. I'm pretty positive at this point.
Freddy: Yeah, I mean when when i when I now think of the the last ah film shooting that I attended, that there I tried to to pack a little bit differently because I knew it was was happening like not just in the city but also in the woods and it needed to be a bit more versatile. So I did pack a navy blazer just for the evenings and for for client dinners and stuff like that. But then i I went all the way down with ah the the same Madras pants that I'm wearing right now actually and the jungle jacket and Madras shirts and the bucket head and all the good stuff that I'm not allowed to wear at home usually because my wife hates it.
conorfowler: Nice.
conorfowler: So the buckethead is forbidden by your wife, your partner also.
Freddy: I packed it there.
Freddy: It is a hundred percent, a hundred percent.
conorfowler: But why? Why? I don't get it. It's like I don't understand the hatred at all.
Freddy: I don't know.
Freddy: and me neither she says it makes me look like an like an old guy and i would agree but i think old guys dress nicely so what's the point yeah yeah absolutely yeah
conorfowler: Yeah, and isn't that what they want you to look like as an old guy?
Matt Smith: Yeah.
conorfowler: Like, I don't, yeah, I don't find it, it doesn't make very much sense to me. And I think that women are very sensible. And so it seems like unreasonable.
Freddy: Yeah, yeah, it is. But I mean, there are people who can pull bucket hats off. i'm I'm not sure if I'm one of them, but I love mine.
Matt Smith: Yeah.
Freddy: I have two. I have one waxed version from Barbara and one for the summer, which is a cotton thing. She hates both of them. So thank you.
conorfowler: i support everyone wearing a book and
Matt Smith: Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. Hold on. I have... Does she hate you the Jungle Jacket also?
Freddy: No, no, no, no.
Matt Smith: Okay.
Freddy: That and one is no problem. that That one is okay.
Matt Smith: Okay. Okay. Yeah.
conorfowler: who could the jungle jackgged that's like the that's like the
Freddy: Yeah.
Matt Smith: yeah If you hate the Jungle Jacket, you're gonna be my enemy. I'm sorry.
Freddy: <unk> No, no that that one is good to go, actually.
Matt Smith: Okay.
Freddy: I'm allowed to wear that around her.
Matt Smith: Good. Good. Yeah.
conorfowler: I support everyone wearing a bucket hat.
Matt Smith: So, this is this is a question out of left field, but we'll get it out of the way. Porsche pronunciation.
Freddy: Oh yeah I think there I think there's even an episode of Fresh Prince about it where they are like I think it's it's Hilary and Carlton discussing and or or with Will discussing and they're saying hey rich people have problems too and then they're coming down the stairs it's Porsche it's Porsche it's poor so it's uh it's Porsche it's Porsche you you pronounce e like an earth yeah it's not
conorfowler: Right.
Matt Smith: okay so yeah
conorfowler: Well, the my question was because I put that in the Docker, of course. So I'm like, how do you deal with a thing that is so commonly mispronounced as like a brand brain person?
Freddy: Hmm.
Freddy: It's you you tend to ignore it or I tend to ignore it because I mean usually when you when you talk to people they are either on the client side side and they should know and if they're on the agency side, they learn pretty fast, right?
Matt Smith: Okay, so, yeah.
conorfowler: Yeah.
Freddy: So they I mean they they do have other advertising people in the US as well. And of course, they they all they all
Matt Smith: right
conorfowler: yeah
Freddy: By now, they all know how to how to pronounce it, how to how to how to say it. I think there were some people from the Chinese market on the client side who actually said it wrong, um which was weird.
Matt Smith: Right.
Freddy: But yeah, most of the people I deal with, they know how to pronounce it. And then you know the others, don't don't correct them.
conorfowler: Yeah.
Freddy: The brand doesn't do that.
conorfowler: Yeah, that's, of course.
Matt Smith: Right, right.
Freddy: but then
Matt Smith: So. We were in that same interview um about where we read about field hockey. Connor remind, shout that interview out. It was a good one.
conorfowler: Yeah, that's ability, uh, which I think is defunct now.
Matt Smith: Habilitate. Yes.
Freddy: Oh, right. Yeah.
conorfowler: Sadly, I thought a great, a great blog.
Matt Smith: Uh -oh.
Freddy: Yeah, it was. Absolutely. I enjoyed the articles and also the interviews a lot. I think he's he's posting every now and then.
conorfowler: Yeah, really well done. He's like taking a break.
Freddy: Yeah.
conorfowler: He's a hiatus, something like that.
Freddy: Yeah, exactly.
conorfowler: Um, but yeah, great blog. Definitely a lot of information on there.
Freddy: Absolutely.
Matt Smith: Yeah, so we saw the mention about the vintage Jaguar that you and your dad restored.
Freddy: Mm hmm.
Matt Smith: um How did you get into cars?
Freddy: i don't I don't really know. i I think it was also through my dad probably because it started very very early like when I was probably two or three years old.
conorfowler: to climb through the window.
Freddy: I was already interested in cars and had lots and lots of model cars as a kid. um there's actually a video of me like i'm around three years old or something i'm i'm going through a through a magazine through car magazine and i'm naming all the brands in there and and it's it's all right and ah now i look at it and i think okay Maybe I had a problem back then, I yeah, I was always interested in cars and we went to car fairs.
Matt Smith: ha
conorfowler: yeah
Freddy: On the weekends, we even went to to the the places where they sell the cars and we we just looked at them and sat inside and it was was a hobby. I love cars and and my dad took me there.
Matt Smith: That's awesome.
Freddy: Uh, and, uh, yet it never went away. i'm I'm not so much into modern cars. I have to admit like these data cars are not, not that interesting anymore, but, uh, yeah, cars in general, i'm I'm a car person for sure.
Matt Smith: Yeah, agreed. I agree. Yeah.
Matt Smith: Yeah, my dad is a mechanic and I've been around i've been around cars my entire life.
Freddy: Oh, nice.
Matt Smith: I am not a mechanic in the least bit. I can change oil now. That's something. But ah yeah. like the classic, um you know, the classics from I guess the pre -muscle car era have always just like blown my mind.
Freddy: Mm -hmm. That's cool. Yeah.
Matt Smith: do Do you have, what's up?
Freddy: Do you have a favorite? Do you have a favorite of these?
Matt Smith: 55 Chevy Bel Air and I'm gonna be weird, but I like the four door more than the coupe.
Freddy: Oh.
Freddy: Okay.
Matt Smith: I don't know why. um Yeah, it's just it's just one of those things like, I can see, yeah, it just looks more badass to me as a four door than a two door.
Freddy: Mm -hmm.
Matt Smith: What about yourself?
Freddy: and
conorfowler: You go right.
Matt Smith: Yeah, what about yourself?
Freddy: Ah, that's that's that's tough. I i wouldn't say I have one favorite. I mean, I love the car that I that i have. I love the Jaguar. It's an XJ6 Series 1, so from the 17th, from 1971. It's the limousine as well.
Matt Smith: Oh, that's awesome.
Freddy: And it's and a pretty pretty cool one. um I love in a Jaguar, I think it's the XK150, that's an older one, like a ah two -seat race car. The E -type of course is great. ah And I would love to have a ah Land Rover Defender at some point. but
Matt Smith: Oh yeah, wait. ah Oh, do you really?
Freddy: We have a Land Rover history in this family. and um um um all yeah Briefly, i had a I had a discovery too, and it broke down in the middle of the Autobahn.
Matt Smith: Okay. Oh, wow.
Freddy: Since then, we're driving a a Volvo that is also older, but that's a bit more yeah safety oriented.
Matt Smith: Are you team defender 90 or team defender 110?
Freddy: One 10, clearly one 10.
Matt Smith: Okay, nice, nice.
Freddy: A friend of mine used to have one and I just love it. it's Everything was broken in that car and it still drove and and he repaired out of ah all of it himself.
Matt Smith: Mm hmm.
Freddy: and But it's just such a nice car because it still feels like a car.
Matt Smith: Yeah, they're... Right, right. I saw a ah ah newer one on the highway recently and it looks so bad compared.
Freddy: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it does.
Matt Smith: Like, ah yeah, im I am not a fan of modern car design.
Freddy: does
conorfowler: No, the one that looks like the Bronco.
Matt Smith: Yeah, yeah, it's just like, you know, come the fuck on.
conorfowler: Yeah, yeah it's amusing.
Freddy: yeah
Matt Smith: ah yeah like You know how like fashion...
conorfowler: Will capitalism fucking destroy his shit in that exact way?
Matt Smith: so But my point, like so you know from the clothing standpoint, there's so many brands like you were talking about, just originals, like things that kind of throw back to things that they've done in the past.
Freddy: Right.
Matt Smith: Why the fuck don't car companies ever do that?
Freddy: Yeah.
conorfowler: I think it's a safety thing.
Matt Smith: No, no, but I mean, you can you can update the you know the materials and the safety aspects without like, you know and and taking inspiration from like a mid 70s defender.
Freddy: Yeah.
Freddy: Mm -hmm. I agree. And I don't want to turn this into ah an an automobile podcast, but I think there's ah there's a French company. They they basically copied the old Defender. It's it's called Ineos or something like that. And i I saw it on the road for the first time and I thought this is just a ah cheap Chinese copy because I was like, okay, what what the hell is this?
Matt Smith: Oh, that's sick.
Freddy: is this car. And then I looked it up and they they put a lot of effort into it and turned it into a luxury car. And I think it also comes electric, which is good in a way. i'm I'm not completely convinced by the concept, but at least they are trying, you know?
Matt Smith: Yeah, total totally, totally.
Freddy: So some are out there.
Matt Smith: I mean, that's that and the Bronco are like the most interesting things I've, you know, I haven't seen this, I won't look it up.
Freddy: huh
Matt Smith: but like Yeah, the the Bronco is like maybe the most interesting car design that I've seen in like 20 years.
Freddy: Yeah. Yeah, it's nice, actually.
Matt Smith: Anyway, sorry, to that's... I don't know if we've ever actually talked about cars on here, um but...
conorfowler: Uh, I don't think very much like, no.
Matt Smith: Yeah, yeah, at least it wasn't sports to your chagrin Connor, so...
conorfowler: And I mean, cars are fine. Like it's sad. Everyone here mostly has to drive one. Um, but I get it.
Matt Smith: Yeah, totally, totally.
conorfowler: Like, I, I mean, I understand. I'm not like, like, I don't hate cars.
Matt Smith: it's it's in me ah yeah It's in the aesthetic world too, like if you're an enthusiast.
conorfowler: I just am like, yeah. Well, it's a like, it's like a rapper thing, you know, it's like.
Freddy: Yeah, exactly.
Matt Smith: Right.
conorfowler: Which, yeah, you're going coupon going four door. I don't know if you know that song, Matt, probably not, but that's you with that car.
Matt Smith: I don't. that is That is me with that guy.
conorfowler: So I guess we can do another tangent. Like I told you, my stepfather, Eric Schuster, right, is German.
Freddy: Mm -hmm.
conorfowler: And my mom always gives him so much shit for not having a sense of humor. But I think that he actually is one of the funniest people I've ever known in my life because he is like, subtle.
Freddy: Great.
Matt Smith: I
Freddy: Mm -hmm.
conorfowler: and very dry, and I think has a great command of humor.
Matt Smith: love
conorfowler: And so I was wondering if you had, as ah as a funny German, like basically on site, I was wondering if you had any input into the stereotype of Germans as humorless, because I have found it not to be true at all.
Matt Smith: you.
Freddy: Yeah, ah well well, thank you, first of all. um It's hard to say. I know i know the stereotype, and i would I know lots of humorless Germans, I would say. I think they're definitely out there.
conorfowler: You're out there for sure.
Matt Smith: Yeah, yeah.
conorfowler: they're for sure out there
Freddy: They are definitely out there. But ah if you want to find ah a German sense of humor, then it's mostly dry. um I mean, it's not like the the British dry. it's It's a little bit different. It's more, I would say, observing in a way.
conorfowler: You're out there for sure out there.
Freddy: And then you make like a ah dry comment that is on point.
conorfowler: Quip kind of.
Matt Smith: Right, right.
Freddy: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. That's that's the way to go for for German humor. I mean, everything that's German comedy and whatever is just horrible, I have to say. with the The average people who come with a sense of humor, they the they they can certainly get to you and and they are probably like ah like Eric Schuster with a dry humor that not not everybody might understand, but yeah, if you get it, then then it's good.
conorfowler: right yeah right
Matt Smith: Yeah. It's funny you brought up the British sense of humor because that's immediately where my mind went. Like I consider them kind of two sides of the same coin.
Freddy: and In a way, yeah.
Matt Smith: Yeah.
Freddy: i think i think that British humor is a bit more, yeah, not over the top, but probably also more black.
conorfowler: Right.
Freddy: I mean, is black humor a thing? like you know
conorfowler: Yeah.
Matt Smith: Right. Right.
Freddy: and
conorfowler: and like um so I would say absurdist, I guess.
Freddy: Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly. And and it's it's even it's even more the volume turned up more that you that you think like, OK, can you actually say that? Wait, yeah, but you can. And it's funny in a way. So I think we are a little bit toned down on that.
Matt Smith: Right, right.
Freddy: But yeah.
Matt Smith: Yeah, we'll leave it at this, but I think that that is probably chalked up to a historical event in certain ways.
Freddy: There are similarities.
Freddy: That might also be true, yeah.
conorfowler: who
Matt Smith: Yeah, um so your Fitpicks are fucking phenomenal.
Freddy: Thank you.
Matt Smith: One, one,
conorfowler: Yeah, it's like a perfect. It's like your professional.
Matt Smith: Yeah, seriously, like, ah I am not a Fit Pick person as much these days, but like, in the past, I have i have definitely struggled, Connor has talked openly about his struggles with it.
Freddy: Uh huh.
Matt Smith: um Yeah, what's your process for that?
conorfowler: shit
Matt Smith: Like, like do you, you know, location scout? What's something you can, some info you can give to the budding Fit Pick person?
Freddy: Yeah.
conorfowler: Yeah, are you devising these scenarios? Do you have like, what do they call it? ah Storyboard?
Freddy: Yeah, um I'm um' basically I'm briefing my team on it. And then they're there days. No, it's it's also something that started during COVID, right?
conorfowler: Yeah.
Freddy: Because before that, I was also taking Fitpix and I was also back in the days I was taking them for my Tumblr. And then it was just the basic I stand somewhere. I take a quick pic with my with my camera ah before anybody sees me. And then I'm off again.
Matt Smith: Right.
Freddy: um But during COVID, I figured, okay, there There wasn't much else to do right when you're stuck at home and you can't do much and you're working from there.
conorfowler: Yeah.
Freddy: and and I just wanted to do something with that and I just didn't want to stand there and and you know photograph what I'm wearing, but I wanted to put some some stories behind it in a way. So I started going into that and I just made up my mind, okay, what would be, I guess, funny in a way?
Matt Smith: yeah
Freddy: um Because I was I think one of the first picks that I took was like me sitting in the corner with a with a butter knife and and the tie around my head and you know playing
conorfowler: if Yeah, well it's like a diary, it's...
Freddy: I keep going insane person and um yeah i was just I was just trying to tell little stories because um I thought just standing there and doing nothing is a bit boring, so I i wanted to do something about it. and Then I and tried to come up with with ideas more or less spontaneously. Sometimes they're inspired by the items around me, I guess. um Most of the pigs I take at home actually so they are in in one of our rooms here in the apartment so I don't do much location scouting and most of them I also take myself so sometimes when we're on the road I force my wife to get one um but that's more like in the moment when I when I see something and I go like okay that that would be funny like I don't know eating an ice cream or being at the beach or whatever
Freddy: um But usually, yeah, I make up my mind what what to do.
conorfowler: Yeah.
Freddy: And it doesn't have to do much with the clothes that I'm wearing at that day, but I just happen to wear them and then I try to take a funny picture.
Matt Smith: that's That's a good philosophy, I feel.
Freddy: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's...
conorfowler: It definitely works out.
Freddy: but Yeah, thank you.
conorfowler: I mean, I think it's like ah very creative. I think that things are shot pretty well. I guess you must be a photographer in a way of the word.
Freddy: No, no, not at all.
conorfowler: You have a camera, right? You like don't shoot with your phone.
Freddy: I don't. I don't.
conorfowler: You only shoot with your phone.
Freddy: It's my iPhone. It's just my iPhone. I have no camera. I was thinking about it.
conorfowler: So this is like an iPhone commercial.
Freddy: No, I think, I mean, I don't even try to get something like nice lighting and right angles and whatever. Like it's always front camera, almost like like staged. I mean, you see that they are staged and and that's fine for me. But if i'm if I'm trying too hard, I think it would feel weird. So i'm I'm definitely not a photographer. And maybe with a camera, it would be worse. So maybe it's good to to stick to the iPhone and and just not too much with it.
conorfowler: Sorry.
Matt Smith: Oh, you're good. ah Do you remember learning to tie a bow tie? Obviously, you're an incredible bow tie, Tyre.
Matt Smith: Yeah, also, piggyback question with that.
Freddy: Right.
Matt Smith: How long have bow ties been your thing?
Freddy: Ah, that that's quite a while. and and First, I have to say, I think they're not as much of a thing anymore right now. I tend to grab more a tie than a bow tie in the morning when when I go for neckwear.
Matt Smith: Right.
Freddy: At the moment, it might change again. um But then i'm I'm almost ashamed to say that ah Gossip Girl back in the days like the the original one inspired me to wear a bow tie because i I saw that and I thought it was so fucking cool and I mean looking back at it what what they wore were was horrible but I just loved bow tie
conorfowler: No, well, so what are you wearing?
Matt Smith: one
conorfowler: What are you wearing back then in the gossip real time machine if you want to go back there? I mean.
Freddy: i was I was trying to to copy what they were wearing, and but I was more going for the items and less for the fit, I would say, and that's why a lot of the things looked horrible. so um
conorfowler: Yeah.
Freddy: you know because i
Matt Smith: I have never once seen this show and I have no idea. Okay.
Freddy: Yeah, that's that's probably good.
Matt Smith: um um
Freddy: it's ah It's a bunch of rich kids from from Manhattan, and they're on a private school. And and their their school ties are actually the Brooks Brothers ah number one pattern, so the the red and gold ones.
conorfowler: Oh, wow.
Freddy: And and that was the first quote.
Matt Smith: Yeah.
conorfowler: These are sound like pseudonyms, Penn Badgley.
Freddy: Yeah, yeah it's I don't know if it is, but is is that the actor's name, or is it the role's name?
conorfowler: I can't tell. It's either Dan Humphrey or Penn Badgley.
Freddy: No, Dan Humphries the role, Dan Humphries the role.
conorfowler: I've got no idea.
conorfowler: So I guess his real name is Penn Badgley.
Freddy: Spoiler alert, he was the gossip girl. okay ah yeah that I think it may have been, I don't know actually.
conorfowler: Was that an HBO show?
conorfowler: It looks like HBO has it.
Freddy: I i think I saw that half a legal stream somewhere.
conorfowler: It looks like HBO Max has it now.
Freddy: yeah But anyway, yeah, that that's what what brought, like the the role of ah Chuck Bass brought me to wearing bow ties because he was the guy wearing bow ties on the show all the time. And I loved how different that was. So I i wanted bow ties back then and I i started wearing them and and learning how to, I learned that from ah from a YouTube video actually.
conorfowler: What year is that?
Freddy: So I i looked it up, I watched it probably 20 times or of I don't know, and and then and then I was good to go.
conorfowler: Yeah.
Freddy: and then Uh, it worked and since I wore them so often, then it's, it's yeah, I never under earned it again.
Matt Smith: Right, right. It just became second second nature.
conorfowler: Practice.
Freddy: Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
Matt Smith: Yeah, i I have tied many a bow tie for not myself as much as like, you know, styling a mannequin or a person walking into a store I worked in and be like, Hey, how can you teach me how to tie this?
Freddy: Exactly.
Freddy: well
Matt Smith: And I'm still not very good at it.
Freddy: Yeah. Yeah.
Matt Smith: I can tie a double four in hand at about 10 seconds though.
Freddy: Remember.
Matt Smith: So what's that?
Freddy: Oh, wow. That's, that's the next race coming on, right? That's the next race.
conorfowler: Yeah, yeah, coming up.
Matt Smith: Yes, yeah, yeah, that's, we're gonna have to find whoever claims to be the fastest tie, foreign hand tire to...
Freddy: on the
conorfowler: Who do you think off the top of your head would say that they're the fastest high tire, OK?
Matt Smith: You?
conorfowler: I can't think of knowing you say me. I can't tie. It's not even if it's not even that good.
Matt Smith: Yeah, i don't i don't I don't know who would say it. Let me...
conorfowler: I don't know either, but I'm sure that someone would claim that they do and we intend to find out.
Freddy: Yeah.
Matt Smith: We will, if you have any leads on someone that claims to tie a tie very fast, hit us up, please.
Freddy: I guess if you're listening right now.
conorfowler: Yeah, send us an email or something. So what do you think about Ralph in your life and in Germany? I mean, I think that that's like I i know you said in an interview that that was like a starting point for you.
Freddy: Yeah, yeah, it absolutely was. And I think it was also, I'm wearing it today.
Matt Smith: Nice.
conorfowler: And you're wearing it today, right?
Freddy: Exactly. I'm wearing the jacket ah and also the underwear.
conorfowler: she
Freddy: Yeah, but no, Raf was definitely a ah starting point for me because, but but I think also because the brand is positioned a little bit differently here in in Germany, but because around here it was a long time it was really like a true luxury brand right like up there with Gucci and Prada and whatnot and and the stores were in the same neighborhoods and the the price tags were also the same we we didn't have outlets back then like you couldn't get a rough shirt from the from the Ralph Lauren outlet so it it was a brand that
Matt Smith: right
conorfowler: Yeah, yeah. yeah
Freddy: When you were wearing the the polo shirt, it was also it was already like meaning something. It it showed that you know obviously had some money to to spend that much money on ah on ah on a polo shirt. um And I think it's it's a little bit differently in the in the US that it's not as high up there as it is around here. I think it's not as much as before because you know globalization changes everything and now people know that it's not it's not that.
Matt Smith: Right.
Freddy: But it's still a brand that is that is mostly seen on on on people with ah yeah with with with a bigger bank account, let's say, or people who who want to be seen like this.
Matt Smith: Right, yeah, there.
Matt Smith: Yeah.
Freddy: Yeah.
conorfowler: It's a signifier for sure. I mean, it's like that that branding, um I don't know, communicates a lot.
Freddy: Yeah.
Freddy: Absolutely. Absolutely, it is. yeah And and when i when I started getting into into preppy and more traditional clothing, I was mostly wearing Ralph Lauren, like almost exclusively. um Now um'm and there are things that that I don't like as much. And I know you had the discussion on here as well, like the the missing pocket, for instance.
Matt Smith: Yes, yes.
Freddy: and Yeah.
conorfowler: It's terrible. It's terrible.
Matt Smith: It's awful.
conorfowler: It's so bad.
Freddy: It is, it is. But back then I didn't want a pocket. I just wanted the logo on my on my chest, right?
Matt Smith: ah Right, right.
conorfowler: Well, let's see it's in because it's an insane suggestion that we that we could have a pocket and an embroidered logo, right?
Freddy: Yeah.
conorfowler: Weird.
Freddy: I have also seen that. I think there are a few versions out there that come with the pocket and the the pony.
Matt Smith: Yeah. they've They've done that in the past.
Freddy: Yeah, exactly. They should just always do it, but they don't.
Matt Smith: Yeah. Yeah, like for Brooks,
conorfowler: Well, I don't know that it really looks that good. I mean, I think if the pocket is there, then you probably shouldn't logo on top of it, but.
Freddy: yeah yeah ah yeah yeah exactly and now right now i i also i only buy shirts with with the jazz pocket i prefer it that way right now but back then i i wanted only only the pony on my on my chest and that was it and uh I was shopping heavily, but back then I wasn't so much into into vintage because I just didn't know how eBay worked and whatever.
Matt Smith: but Brooks Brothers does that too. So, you know, that's kind of been, that's been a thing for a long time. It's, it's not my favorite, but like, I carry a pen every single day in my life. I need a goddamn pocket.
Matt Smith: Right.
Freddy: But I was almost always in the Ralph Lauren boutique. and And I'm ashamed to say the people knew me there. like they They knew I was the guy coming in.
Matt Smith: No, that's great. That's great.
conorfowler: yeah
Freddy: I don't know if they said, oh, it's him again.
conorfowler: That's a awesome.
Freddy: But yeah. they
Matt Smith: Dude, well one of the best things as a human being that you can be is irregular.
Freddy: yeah
Freddy: Probably, yes.
Matt Smith: Yeah, yeah, that's it at least it's one of my personal favorite things like yeah.
Freddy: Yeah.
Freddy: ah huh
Matt Smith: Oh cool Yeah, yeah Do
conorfowler: I, yeah, I have heard people say that.
Freddy: and good but
conorfowler: I mean, I think that that's like a good, cause it means like you don't suck, right?
Freddy: Yeah.
conorfowler: Like you're not an asshole to waiters, servers, what have you.
Freddy: yeah Yeah, that's true. That's true.
Matt Smith: ah have you like Over the years, have you had um some people in your you know in your friend group that were into the same kind of IV preppy thing, or are you a little bit of an outlier?
Freddy: Uh, in a way I am, I almost am. I have, uh, one, uh, one of my best friends, he was, he started with me on that journey. I would say like, he was interested in clothing after school. I was interested too. Um, he moved to Paris and, uh, there was a Brooks brothers in Paris back in the days. I know they closed it by now because they're pulling out of the European market for whatever reason. Uh, anyways, but we we were both like,
Matt Smith: bow.
conorfowler: Yeah.
Freddy: going there and oh my god i need this shirt i need this i need that and um he he embraced it as much as i did and he went away from it a little bit i think mostly because he he needed to wear suits on a daily basis on his job while i didn't so for me it was a free choice and for him it was you know he was almost forced to do it so he's a bit more casual right now
Matt Smith: Right.
Freddy: um And then a former colleague of mine, I met him through work. He's French, um actually, but he he moved to Germany a long time ago and worked in German advertising agencies. And before I even met him, um my boss back then said, oh, you need to meet this guy. He's he's dressing just like you. And I was like, yeah, nobody's dressing like me. I doubt that. But then we met and actually it's it's true. I mean, he's he's probably putting the the French spin on it in a way.
Freddy: ah There are differences, but he he's the one person.
conorfowler: the off -disgust French Ivy.
Freddy: Yeah. Yeah, that's true, that's true, exactly. But the he's the one person that i can that doesn't look at me weird when I when i talk, you know, color points and and leather, kinds of leather and whatever, because he he he knows these things and he he's also ah he was a lot into into Ivy and traditional clothing.
Matt Smith: Right.
Matt Smith: it So what's what is kind of like your work environment these days with like with what people are wearing? you know In the States, it's oftentimes like a fleece vest and a quote unquote golf shirt, you know just very casual.
Freddy: Mm hmm.
conorfowler: Just depending on where you're working.
Matt Smith: Yeah, yeah.
Freddy: Well, if you if you call this already casual, then then don't let me tell you about German advertising agencies because here, and it's a it's it's a good and a bad thing in a way, but people can wear whatever they like. I mean, in the summer, there's there's tank tops, there's flip flops, there's shorts, there's everything, um like super, super casual.
Matt Smith: Yeah, yeah. Right.
Freddy: I mean, if if you if you're meeting a client, you probably wouldn't put something on top of the tank top, but still. um People just go with their own styles and it's lots of hoodies, sometimes even sweatpants to work. Again, especially after COVID, if you're going to the office, then you might still wear the same thing that you're wearing at home.
Matt Smith: Right.
Freddy: um But yeah, it's super, super casual and laid back and nobody bats an eye. But I think that has good and bad sides in a way.
Matt Smith: Yeah, totally, totally. I guess advertising is also a little bit more of an inherently casual thing than say, yeah, say like a, you know, white collar law firm.
Freddy: Yeah, it is. Yeah.
Freddy: right right yeah yeah yeah
Matt Smith: Yeah, do you own any, um like, have you ever been into, you know, some of the traditional German things, you know, loading cloth comes to mind.
Freddy: ah you
Freddy: Only as a kid, because um my mom, she's from she's from northern Bavaria, um and like sometimes she she forced my brother and and me into a loaded jacket and stuff like that.
Matt Smith: Okay.
conorfowler: Yeah.
Freddy: i I know I hated it so much. and dont we We bought a lot of stuff when we were on holiday in in Austria, and and i mean they also have these loaded jackets and stuff like that.
Matt Smith: Right.
Freddy: and But I hated it so much and and maybe that that led to me not wearing any of that stuff later on later in life.
Matt Smith: Gotcha.
Freddy: um So i'm I'm not really into that, no. I was um was actually wearing Lederhosen twice um yeah because we we went we went with with our clients, who with Porsche, we went to the
Matt Smith: Okay.
Freddy: what's it called, the Vazen in Stuttgart. So it's the same thing like the Oktoberfest, but just in a different time of the year.
Matt Smith: right
Freddy: ah And I'm probably not allowed to say that people dress the same because there are certainly differences between what kind of lederhosen you're wearing, but still we we we we had to wear this kind of stuff to go there and to to have beers with with them. So yeah, I did that for work, but I wouldn't do it privately.
conorfowler: Yeah, well, I guess they're sort of generations of traditional clothing, right?
Matt Smith: yeah
Freddy: Yeah.
conorfowler: I mean, because it's certainly, to some people would say, wearing a bow tie is traditional.
Freddy: yeah
Freddy: Yeah, probably.
conorfowler: um So it's just bizarre, I guess.
Freddy: Yes, that's true. yeah Yeah. Yeah.
Matt Smith: It's thi -
Freddy: I mean, here in Hamburg, you sometimes see younger people also with these traditional ah like not coming from the from the from the navy, but but from the from the people on boat, like from sailors, like these traditional blue ah caps that that they are wearing. And you you connect them with Hamburg because the city is close to the water and you know ah boats are a thing around here.
conorfowler: he
Freddy: um But you either see them on really, really old people or on young people getting into that style, because um but it's it's super traditional.
conorfowler: Yeah, because it's like, uh, so like, I don't know, like, uh, sort of like a flat cap in a way.
Freddy: Yeah, exactly, exactly.
conorfowler: in
Freddy: It's like a flag like it's basically what a captain on a ship would wear, but not with with a widen, with ah with a gold, I don't know, embroidery on it, but it's just plain blue everywhere, but with ah ah with a visor in front and and just a flat cap basically, yes.
conorfowler: Yeah.
Freddy: Yeah.
Matt Smith: Right.
conorfowler: Yeah. Is there an Ivy League sort of equivalent in Germany? Like if we're talking about Ivy style, right? Is there like a are the are the top schools in Germany like clustered in some way?
Freddy: i don't I don't think they are really because the the system around here works a little bit differently than in the US so you you you have these cities where you know okay this city is good good if you want to go into into medicine or into law or whatever and that always depends on on where you're going for that.
conorfowler: Oh, I see.
Freddy: um There are a lot of private universities is popping up more and more where you have to pay quite a lot because usually in Germany you don't have to pay as much as in the US for studying.
Matt Smith: Yeah, I feel like the US is definitely the most expensive like secondary.
conorfowler: Second to nine for sure.
Matt Smith: Yeah, yeah.
Freddy: Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. I agree. I think so too.
conorfowler: I can't imagine. I can't imagine a worse place.
Freddy: yeah but But therefore, there's there's no real Ivy League around here.
conorfowler: and
Freddy: No, really.
conorfowler: Yeah, yeah, because it's the state.
Freddy: Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
conorfowler: Interesting, but that's we like that.
Matt Smith: Yeah.
Freddy: and
conorfowler: We like that.
Matt Smith: We do, we do like, we support that, we support that.
conorfowler: i think
Freddy: No, absolutely.
Matt Smith: so So so we're gonna we're gonna close out with this, which is ah something that us as Americans can't even fathom. Three months of parental leave.
Freddy: Yeah.
Matt Smith: Wow, that's just, that's mind blowing.
Freddy: Yeah.
Freddy: I could have taken more actually.
Matt Smith: Really?
Freddy: Yeah.
conorfowler: Wow.
Freddy: it's ah you can You can divide it here between ah the the mother and the father or between the parents, let's say.
Matt Smith: Okay.
Freddy: um and And I think it's 12 months in total that you can that you can share whatever way you want to.
Matt Smith: Holy shit!
Freddy: And also also like 14 months when you work part -time at some point or something like that.
conorfowler: Wow.
Freddy: So it's it quite good.
conorfowler: Wow. That's so funny.
Freddy: Yeah.
Matt Smith: Let's just
Freddy: Yeah.
conorfowler: I was talking with my psychiatrist today. I think we could devise a bed um so that basically someone could have birth on the bed and go to work immediately. And I think that that would be my million dollar idea.
Matt Smith: Man, don't give anyone any fucking asshole that idea.
conorfowler: Yeah.
Matt Smith: God damn it.
conorfowler: Yeah. Yeah. I'm surprised it doesn't exist already. I mean, really.
Matt Smith: Yeah, you and me both. Yeah, that's gonna be the next Elon Musk endeavor.
Freddy: Oh, yeah.
Matt Smith: Anyway, Frederick, dude, this has been fantastic. Thank you so much again for coming on. on um Yeah.
Freddy: Thanks for having me.
Matt Smith: It's been a fun discussion and we love we love the more international guests that we can but we can get. So yeah, to close out, we always give our guests a chance to shout out whatever they would like to.
Freddy: Yeah, thank you very much.
Matt Smith: So throw your Instagram handle and anything else you want to praise out there.
Freddy: Uh, yeah, thank you. So, uh, yeah, my, my Instagram handle is, uh, at happy preppy. You can, you can find me there. And if you like what you see, you can, uh, follow me, uh, and, uh, maybe, maybe a ah shout out to, to, to my wife who, who, who, who takes all of this and, and accepts the the the the way it comes and accepts the fact that.
conorfowler: and You should.
conorfowler: Except for the bucket hats.
Freddy: Yeah, except for the bucket heads. That's true, but still, uh, that my closet is way too big and, uh, she's still. Uh, not, not mad at me when it comes to this. So shout out to Lily.
Matt Smith: Yeah, we we love a supported partner on this program.
Freddy: Absolutely. Absolutely. Uh, Lily, I love you. Uh, my daughter, uh, as well, if if you listened to this in a few years, don't be embarrassed.
Matt Smith: ah
Freddy: and Yeah.
Matt Smith: Wait, yeah dude, ah just out of curiosity, how old is your daughter now?
Freddy: Thanks so much for having me.
Freddy: Uh, she's almost three, like, uh, in August she's turning three.
Matt Smith: Oh, dang. That's awesome, yeah, good times good times ahead.
Freddy: Yeah.
Matt Smith: maybe Maybe you will influence her taste in clothing at some point.
Freddy: We'll see. she She knows the difference between a tie and a bow tie, so that's a good start.
Matt Smith: Nice, nice, yes.
Freddy: Yeah. yeah
Matt Smith: All right.
conorfowler: Genius.
Matt Smith: Well, yes, Fredrick, once again, thank you. Thanks to everyone for listening. ah If you have questions, comments, concerns, at apocalypseduds on Instagram, apocalypseduds at gmail .com. if you wanna send us anything, just hi, whatever. We don't even get bought, we don't even get bought emails.
conorfowler: There's a virus, yeah.
Matt Smith: that's how That's how desperate we are to get an email. um Anyway, um yeah, I am Matt Smith at Rebels Rooks.
conorfowler: and I'm Connor Flower at Connor Flower. yeah
Matt Smith: Yeah, yeah, I'm glad you noticed that mistake. um Anyway, yeah, one more time. Thank you for listening. Please rate and subscribe on your platform of choice. And we will see you next week.
conorfowler: and give Freddie a follow.
Matt Smith: And get Freddie a follow. Yes, yes.
