INS(oev)IDE #4
Stories, insights, and analysis of the clothing and compositions of two portraits from my recent upload. Featuring a new local brand and a very functional fit.
Here is another INS(oev)IDE, with another GENES article dropping this week as well, I’m hoping this frequency doesn’t lead to reader fatigue and you’re all finding this semi-interesting. It won’t always be two a week, but I am finding a flow with the writing and am going to keep going as long as I have the material to write about, which will likely come to a slower pace as the weather takes a turn and the daylight leaves our evenings again.
That being said, it does still seem like at least 75% of my subscribers are opening the emails, which is great to see, I hope you can all stick around!
I will have my first “official” interview for GENES published later this week, so if you’re interested in checking that out as well, make sure you are subscribed to this Substack.
Now, onto this weeks stories and analyses.
The Lytchi Pants
Paying close attention to what people are producing in the neighborhood is something I have tried to do since I started soev, following as many local artists/makers I come into contact with that have that certain…newness to them, it helps me stay current and keeps me inspired by the locals.
Lately, a project called Lytchi has peaked my attention and I’ve been watching the progress its been making. I took a photo of Dom (one of the project creators) a few years ago (circa 2019, I think) and have been following their work ever since. Recently, upon my usual rounds checking in with everyone at A Living Taste, I saw Dom meticulously working on new pair of pants, and I couldn’t bring myself to break the focus of the craft to check them out at that point. I had seen story posts here and there of the progress over the past few weeks and they definitely had peaked my interest from what I saw on the the stories as well as what I got a glimpse of in the studio that day.
To “speak something into existence” is a bit of a dramatic thing to say for this story and I’m not sure I totally buy into the notion anyways, a week or so later after Dom shared some shots of his pants at the show on his story, I sent a quick message saying “I can’t wait to run into them in the wild”. A few days following that message, I conveniently got my chance, with Satchi, as Dom sighted, the inspiration for the pants, none-the-less, being the one wearing them.
Of course, it is likely less “speaking something into existence” and was more likely bound to happen with the A Living Taste being the meeting spot for the crew and me popping in there at least once on my usual route weekly, I just didn’t think I’d get that opportunity this soon. I appreciate everyone in that community entertaining my requests for photos, I try not to be too intrusive or frequent, but they are always up to something that I find fascinating and I always find opportunities when I’m in and around that area!
As for the photo itself, Satchi of course paired the pants effortlessly with the stark black leather boots and the army green jacket. The whole outfit flowing and layered to contrast the geometric and rigid fence and tile entrance of the shop and studio, which is really pleasing to my eye, colours working quite well on a day that was supposed to be gloomy and full of thundershowers. The pants themselves are unlike anything I’ve seen recently and I look forward to hopefully more people exploring ways to wear them in their own way.
The Camo Vest
Too often, I walk right by a photo opportunity and have to double back. This was one of those photos. The reason for missing an opportunity is varied, sometimes I’m distracted, busy in my own thoughts, sometimes the outfit doesn’t catch my eye until I pass the person, sometimes my nerves get the best of me and I convince myself I should just keep moving. In this case, the vest and the doggo in the basket definitely caught my attention, but the moment felt busy with lots of people passing by and I usually don’t want to bother people as they are about to “take off” on a bike, or in a car, or getting on or off the bus. As I walked by, this gentleman started to push forward looking to cross the street trying to time the traffic, so I thought, “that’s alright, maybe next time” and I proceeded keep walking, expecting him to whiz by me shortly. Luckily, I turned around to see where he ended up, and he was still standing on the corner adjusting the blankets for the dog and checking his phone one last time. It turned out he was waiting for the adjacent red anyways, so I quickly turned back and asked for a photo.
The vest in this photo was definitely what caught my eye first, the black in the camo paired very well with the black workpants, bag, and hat layered on top of a stone-grey hoodie. Comfort, utility, and style, all done quite nicely. Upon further investigation, you can see the red interior of the vest also slightly poking out to match the red bottle holder, a very nice detail. A well worn vest in the fall is something that can’t be beat, especially with this (questionable) balmier weather we’ve been having. I’ll admit I’m a later arrival to the vest game, I never really saw the need for a vest, until I owned one myself and in the past two years now, I pretty much wear one every day to school and a different one often on weekends cruising around.
Of course, this photos key unique feature is the dog in the basket. I always find it amazing the looks I get from dogs sometimes. This stout fellow looking off into the distance with a perfect pose as he’s nestled into the basket ready to feel the crisp fall air as his owner brings him to the next weekend destination. The blanket likely has a unique story to it as well as it seems to be a relic from a past life, now used as the cushioning to comfort the dogs in it’s chariot seat.
In typical fall fashion, I got lucky with the fall leaves complimenting the colour coordination of the outfit and the red accents from the streetlight, Italian flag, and Commercial drive flags in the distance.
I’ve been pretty resistant over the past few years to do any photoshop work to the photos, still stuck in a philosophy of leaving the photos the way I find them, but I’ll admit my curiosity is peaked by some of the new AI capabilities of the Adobe software, I definitely debated trying to get rid of the white car from the background. Upon second look though, I feel it adds a highlight behind the basket that draws your eye back to the bike and I think I’ll stick to keeping things as I’ve found them, as I always have until this point.
Conclusions
That’s all for now, I have a few other pieces of writing I am currently working on and will likely not have another INS(oev)IDE for a few weeks as the rains are supposed to be heavy and frequent over the next few weeks.
As mentioned in the intro, I will be posting another issue of GENES Thursday, featuring my friend and long time collaborator Matthew, the interview went really well and I think you will find the story quite engaging. I have a few GENES lined up for the next month or so and I hope the readers of this substack can stay tuned for them.
If you’ve made it this far, thanks again, please considering sharing, liking, and/or commenting on this post!
- md