One of my favourite stories that director John Waters tells is about his friend Mink Stole. When they met in Baltimore, Mink had a peculiar habit of waiting until the day after Halloween and then going round all the fancy dress shops and buying in bulk all the Halloween costumes that were on sale. She would then wear one of these costumes every day for the next year, one day a Princess, the next day a frog, the day after a pirate.
The idea of dress up appeals to me for several reasons. Firstly it’s always over the top, I mean that’s kind of the point, but it’s over the top in a way that other people don’t find threatening. Everyone enjoys seeing someone dressed up. I can’t imagine there are many costumes that I could fit into my everyday life without there being a whole host of practicalities and issues with it in regards to getting a seat on the tube, or not being laughed at by school kids. The point is, if you felt free enough to wear exactly what you wanted would we all be in costumes? All the time?
This love of dressing up is a lot of the reason why I love Jeremy Scott. His clothes are never serious and always full of whimsy which genuinely brings a smile to your face. Fashion should be fun, and getting dressed should never be a chore. If I got up and decided that I wanted to dress like a tiger, Jeremy is the man I would turn to. Maybe a tiger is too boring? Too plain for you? Dress like a mobile phone instead? Once again you need to speak to Jeremy.
Of course these are high end clothes and apart from prohibitive prices it’s relatively difficult to even find shops that sell Jeremy Scott’s designs. Imagine how happy I was when I came across Lazy Oaf. Taking the irreverence of Jeremy Scott’s designs and translating them to wearable and affordable high street clothes is a genius idea. I didn’t know how much I had always wanted to dress like a burger until I saw this Lazy Oaf sweatshirt. But what kind of accessories can I add to an outfit like that? Lazy Oaf have already thought of that, they do a French fries tote bag. Literally the perfect thing to go with the outfit.
There’s humour in Lazy Oaf’s clothes and that’s the important thing. A scarf with a beard printed on it? A beanie that looks like a brain? Why wouldn’t you want to wear that? So if you see a grown man dressed as a taco (and he’s not handing out leaflets for a new Mexican restaurant) don’t cross the street to avoid him, smile at him, he’s having more fun than you.
Words by Warren Beckett – Photos courtesy of Jeremy Scott and Lazy Oaf.