July 31--Tony Bryan, 37, musician, model, stylist, writer
When not traveling the world as a model (the day of our interview, he arrived at the studio after flying in from a Miami shoot), Tony Bryan channels an early-1900s, classic style. In Chicago, he has many lives, as a member of two bands (The Bama Lamas and Bailey Dee's Late Night Bait), a stylist and a writer for places like L'Officiel Hommes. This is an edited transcript of our conversation.
Q: I'm sensing a classics 1930s style happening here. What are you channeling when you get ready in the morning?
A: I have lots of vintage stuff, for sure. I have stuff from the '20s to the new, of course. I have a lot of stuff from late '50s, early '60s, which I was really into for a long time, and I still am.
Q: Where do you look for new items?
A: I've just kept everything. I've stopped getting rid of stuff. It's accumulation since I started to get into stuff as a teenager. I have suits even from when I was 16 that I still wear. A lot of thrifting, a lot of vintage stores, a lot of here and there, new stuff just through my travels.
Q: What's your favorite city to shop in?
A: Probably Milan or Tokyo. That's where my socks are from, from Tokyo. I forget the name of the store, I should have brought my little book. I think I started this in 1998: I have a ledger where I have written down every single piece of clothing I've bought, where I bought it from, how much I paid for it.
Q: Tell me about your shoes. Are those laces tucked in?
A: I always tuck my laces in. I tie it and then push the whole knot in. I like these -- they make a great sound when I'm walking.
Q: That's like an announcement shoe.
A: All my shoes have metal tips on the front -- not on the back. They're really loud, so I get the plastic (on the back). It prevents wear so you don't have to get your shoes resoled as frequently.
