Tim Latterner – SPY https://spy.com Men's Style, Health, Grooming, Tech, Sports Mon, 14 Aug 2023 17:40:54 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.2 https://spy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/cropped-spy_favicon.png?w=32 Tim Latterner – SPY https://spy.com 32 32 178930292 Field Report: Style on the Half-Shell https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/oyster-shirts-1202971812/ https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/oyster-shirts-1202971812/#respond Mon, 14 Aug 2023 17:15:33 +0000 https://spy.com/?p=1202971812 Our editors independently select the products we recommend. We may earn a commission on items bought through our links.

Oysters are a treat at any time, in any season. In recent years, restaurants have embraced oyster culture wholeheartedly, dressing them every which way — with grapefruit, olives, champagne — to entice diners. Lately, though, oysters are popping up far beyond the plate: in style and home décor. A number of designers and brands from Billy Reid to Katie Kime have capitalized on oysters as an ongoing food trend and repurposed the little bivalves to create patterns and crests on new collections. 

If you’re the kind of person who starts a meal with a few briny picks from the Northeast, anyway, wearing one is a sure way to channel the same level of luxury once you leave the restaurant. 

Tuscumbia Oyster Shirt against white background

BILLY REID

Tuscumbia Oyster Shirt

 For a darker hue of bivalve prints, this shirt from Billy Reid layers in the same motif without screaming summer-only. With the pattern, the shirt reads as navy and can work for your wardrobe well into the fall.


Aw Shucks Shirt against white background

TOMBOLO

Aw Shucks Shirt

Inevitably, Tombolo, the Lords of the Summer Shirt, would have to pick up on the oysters-as-fashion trend. The toweling fabric and zip-front of this polo make it easy to forget you’re in the East Village and not Positano.


Oyster Camp Collar Shirt against white background

TODD SNYDER

Oyster Camp Collar Shirt

Todd Snyder’s take taps into the half-shell motif while keeping the underlying color rooted in fall hues. This shirt works in summer with the open camp collar but is versatile enough to extend wear long into the autumn.


The World is Your Oyster Napkins against white background

CHEFANIE

The World is Your Oyster Napkins

Are you going to your low-key fancy friend’s new housewarming and need a summery housewarming present? Here you go. (You’re welcome.) These napkins from Chefanie are so chic and immediately elevate “having friends over” to “throwing an intimate cocktail party.”


Oyster Coaster Set against white background

KATIE KIME

Oyster Coaster Set

These scream Hamptons House. Katie Kime’s interior design styles are an easy way to punch up your end-of-summer party and keep things light with these wipe-clean coasters. 


Oyster Print in Rex by Palm Orleans Throw Pillow

WHEATON WHALEY HOME

Oyster Print in Rex by Palm Orleans Throw Pillow

An easy way to keep the beach house vibe in your own den is to bring something light and airy to the room like this oyster-printed pillow sham. The pattern comes in a variety of sizes to fit any insert. 


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The Canvas Underground: Darryl Westly Brings the Social Scene to His Studio https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/darryl-westly-artist-profile-1202971421/ https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/darryl-westly-artist-profile-1202971421/#respond Mon, 07 Aug 2023 16:03:54 +0000 https://spy.com/?p=1202971421 Our editors independently select the products we recommend. We may earn a commission on items bought through our links.

Before the likes of Marcel Duchamp or Frida Khalo were icons, they were just people trying to make art. In the spirit of celebrating emerging artists and would-be patrons, SPY regularly bar hops with future luminaries for The Canvas Underground, a look at the next next-big-thing.

This time, SPY met with Darryl Westly, a New York City–based painter and artist who has shown in galleries and exhibitions all over the city. Westly has a background in nightlife, which has deeply informed his work—the people and places he experiences often informing the subjects rendered in his paintings. During the conversation at the Grand Central Oyster Bar, he also doodled away on a napkin.

A photo of Darryl Westly in his studio.

SPY: The pandemic seems to be somewhat squarely in the rearview now, with art galleries and restaurants like this one open again. How did you, as an artist, manage your creativity during those years? Creatively stifling or giving you the time to work more?

Darryl Westly: Early on, I was at a very rapid rate. I was able to work, I was able to focus, and I also had a community of artists that I was interacting with online, like using Zoom and things like that. I was able to create this community. I’d say it was really kind of raw. The focus on what it was mainly, going and talking to other African American artists in New York, some of them were classmates of mine, and others were just peers. I could say something about how I spent more time in the studio and less time in public, but I realized in the pandemic how important it is to have a balance between different things. The work is informed by life and by engaging with people and things. Having the mindset of having to go, go, go, gotta work on this thing, it’s not giving each thing its due time. So now, I keep a kind of equilibrium. I think I’m kind of returning to that equilibrium of going out and spending time in the studio. 

SPY: A lot of artists wait tables early in their careers to have the hours to work on their art. You went into nightlife. How did those hours and that field influence the things you were doing in the studio?

DW: There’s the lack of a hierarchy that’s nice. There’s something for me intrinsically in nightlife, where I see the divisions between people start to fall apart. Whether that’s race or class or whatever. There’s something about the dark, and having these curated experiences for your senses, where there are libations, and that’s where you find commonality. I found that really interesting. I had all these conversations with people I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to.

There’s something about nightlife, particularly nightlife in New York, that allows for people to reach across barriers. That was attractive, because even within an art environment, you might expect to be open, there are still a number of delineations and different ideas going on that don’t exist in nightlife.

a painting by Darryl Westly

SPY: Being a working artist, what are some things you experienced in the process of your come-up that you didn’t necessarily expert to happen that people just starting out might be better aware of?

DW: There are things like exhibition planning, mapping out finances, or taking on work managing a schedule of output for your work that’s reasonable. I was recently talking with a friend of mine about preparing for an exhibition, and the amount of time that it takes to make that world. Then, there’s a stint of time between executing that, and receiving the payment for the work, which can vary depending on the client. That can be a big issue with, say, an artist creating a large body of work for a large space versus a smaller piece. Which one is going to require more time? Potentially an artist isn’t making any sales during the process of making the one larger piece for that show.

It’s important to be able to create a certain amount of balance in between how you’re putting work out there both on and off the online auction platforms too. I’ve had experiences where work can be priced at its primary market value, but because it’s on a platform or in a sale, that work may not sell. That can be very disheartening, either for the auctioneer or the artist. We’re pros, but I think creating the kind of situation or playing field in which you’re able to take as many swings as you possibly can with your work, is really one of the most important things. 

SPY: How did you develop your style? What is the “Darry Westly” look of a painting? There’s plenty of figures and people in them, are they people from your life?

DW: At first, it’s throwing things against the wall and seeing what I’m attracted to, or thinking about a certain kind of group or conversation. Again and again, the importance of being out there and socializing stands out. Having these conversations about things or observing people and culture, it informs you. My work starts with people or memories, and then it’s trying to infuse my own history and experiences from childhood. I’m trying to edify experience — the parts of my life where there have been struggles or issues or things that are pillars in my memory. 

To a certain extent, each painting is a self portrait, because it means my view of the world and the way I see something is on display. Now, I’m able to go on and build upon it, and kind of reach out. I do see painting, and art, ultimately, as a process of starting small to germinate an idea from a pinpoint to reach outward. Different artists kind of have different approaches. Some artists start broad and go smaller, you know? It’s a bit like creating a narrative.

A painting by Darryl Westly

SPY: How technical is the work when you’re starting on a new painting? If we peeled back all the layers here, would we see the little pencil marks of a sketch or do you find it on the fly?

DW: I’m definitely more on the technical side of things. I start with maybe a written word or an image that’s floating around in my head and then it’s working through the piece like photography. There’s elements of graphic design and drawing in my work that I’m implementing. There’s a sense of composition and the scene that I’m setting up. For instance, I’ll look at the word “seder,” in the Haggadah. I spent a number of weeks researching a number of illustrated examples of the book and different iconic books, and then seeing the different ways in which people approach the Seder. And then I’ll try to conceive a work from that research. I find that process of research very cool and rewarding. 

SPY: Was there an early note or piece of constructive criticism you got that helped your work going forward?

DW: A criticism that I got early on was to speed up the process of making work. I was dealing with a collector that was very critical about processes and things like that, or just like what amount of time was spent on work. I realized that each step and each part of the way that I go and do what I do is a part of who I am, it’s part of where I am. It was a really eye-opening experience in terms of how it allowed me to be able to go and evaluate for myself exactly how my work functions. What’s intrinsically important to me in terms of what gets communicated through my work and the integrity of the work. Some things obviously can take longer, some things obviously can take shorter amounts. But there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to making the types of work that you do as an artist. It’s the difference between writing an essay and writing a novel.

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Field Report: Gardening Style Is All Over the City Streets https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/gardening-style-nyc-1202971389/ https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/gardening-style-nyc-1202971389/#respond Sat, 05 Aug 2023 18:07:00 +0000 https://spy.com/?p=1202971389 Our editors independently select the products we recommend. We may earn a commission on items bought through our links.

Everyone has a favorite comfort show. For some, it’s reruns of Chopped. Others love Sex and the City (and love to hate And Just Like That) or worship at the alter of Real Housewives. For American Anglophiles uninterested in baking or horrific murders in economically depressed villages, Monty Don documentaries are must-half-watch laundry TV. Don is a gardener and TV presenter who digs, repots, and irrigates while cultivating an audience equally interested in patches of shrubbery and ornate displays of floral wealth. His fans – legion, but polite – obsess over his fashion. Don’s wears wide-set trousers (though, specifically, never jeans), a popover shirt, suspenders, and a slightly oversized chore coat. (His big floppy hat is optional, but excellent.)

Don’s style was never meant to be the centerpiece of the show. That spot is reserved for Montaserras and hedges. But lately, it feels like he’s a fashion statement. Monty Don style – gardencore, but not to be confused with “Plant Daddy” tees – is suddenly everywhere. Guys all over New York and Los Angeles (and, to a far lesser degree, D.C.) are slippy into baggy Dickies and Chef Pants. They look like topiarists in search of one of NYC’s 2000 community gardens. 

“Overall, I feel like it’s the male version of the coastal grandma trend. Like Ina Garten, for guys,” says stylist and SPY Network member Nolan Meader. “I think of denim first before thinking of cotton or chinos.

The look connotes a certain type of guy who is searching for the balance between looking good and trying too hard. Society blinked, and all of a sudden fashion was comfortable. Roomy pants and breathable jackets started replacing “slim fit” and cropped looks, making it more attractive to a wider base of people wanting to be stylish. It’s bringing a new player into the fashion fold. For a style-minded world that only included those willing to pour themselves into tapered pants, the new movement expanded fashion’s reach to guys open to style, but prioritizing comfort in what was previously only offering baggy tee shirts from college and sweatpants. Even brands have been expanding their options. J. Crew has been expanding its chino cuts to include the new extra-extra-wide literally called “Giant.” New brands and companies have also come to the forefront, like Gardenheir, selling the complete look from sunhats to rubbery shoes.

“I love the soft denim jacket,” says fashion collector and SPY Network member Eden Pritikin. “It’s honestly giving an effortless vibe. It says that whoever wears it doesn’t put a lot of thought into what they’re wearing, which inherently makes it even cooler and more effortless.” 

For those looking to recreate the style, putting the pieces together doesn’t take much work. 

man wearing Dickies Original 874 Work Pant

PANTS

Dickies Original 874 Work Pant

Dickies pants are the real thing. With products typically  seen on people doing actual manual labor, the company is perfectly willing to sell them to people who just want to walk around in them and drink iced coffee. Resist the temptation to get them in a lighter color. A true gardener is going to be on their hands and knees in the dirt. Put some wear into these by toiling at the local community garden or in the local park and then incorporate them into this wardrobe choice. 


several hanes white tees against white background

UNDERSHIRT

Hanes White Tee

Never was there ever such a perfect plain white tee. This Hanes pack comes with five to circulate between, and all for just $30. That’s $6 a shirt. Find me a better deal. For this gardening ensemble, it works as a simple base layer for the summer months, and an insular one once the windy days of fall start sweeping through the city. 


APC Pierre Brodee Denim Jacket against white background

BUTTON DOWN

APC Pierre Brodee Denim Jacket

The game here is layers. The key is to be able to remove and add things as the day goes on and the sun beats down. Then, the layers get moved from body to tote bag. This shirt jacket from A.P.C. is giving “Brooklyn, mid-30s, and has a hanging plant in his home,” says Pritikin. The lighter shade of blue also breaks up the denim-on-denim look, while still looking nice with a little soil in it. That said, Pritikin suggests scratching the suspenders.


man wearing Le Mont St. Michel jacket

CHORE COAT

Le Mont St. Michel Jacket

Le Mont St. Michel has been the go-to original player in the chore coat game since 1913. The french workwear brand recently got a style bump a few years ago when they started making their way across the Atlantic in bigger numbers, but the craftsmanship still makes this a jacket you buy once and never need to replace.


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The Informant: These Cheap White Sneakers Are Staples of the Downtown Set https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/cheap-white-sneakers-nyc-boom-1202970926/ https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/cheap-white-sneakers-nyc-boom-1202970926/#respond Fri, 04 Aug 2023 16:46:13 +0000 https://spy.com/?p=1202970926 Our editors independently select the products we recommend. We may earn a commission on items bought through our links.

White sneakers are a staple, but different pairs communicate different allegiances. Stan Smiths align their wearers with a retro look and green highlights. Golden Gooses (Geese?) align their wearers with Lululemon and East Hampton. Common Projects are largely worn by 30-something creative directors open to the idea of working in tech. On and on. But there’s one white sneaker that defies cultural trigonometry.

I’ve worn white sneakers by Feiyu for years. They’re cheap, white (with a red and white stripe) and breathable with a low ankle. Whenever I see someone else in “the sneakers,” we exchange a nod or a smile or some form of social signaling. It doesn’t happen all that often, but it happens. Stan Smiths are too big to have that level of cool cache. 

Feiyu doesn’t have a huge marketing team or prominent billboards. I get mine at a karate dojo supply store in Chinatown. (Not a dojo, mind you. The place where the dojo owner goes to get dojo equipment for his dojo-ing.) I do this because James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, the high priest of indie dance punk music, does the same thing and I love LCD Soundsystem. Feiyu’s are a word of mouth thing and James Murphy’s word is law in this regard. 

Feiyu, which means “Flying Forward,” is a roughly century-old Chinese outfit most often associated with Communist Party members and the Chinese National Football Team, which is deeply terrible. They are not just made in China, they are conceived in China. They came to America largely through Paris, where a sneaker collector named Patrice Bastian made them a thing and parkourist embraced them. (Apparently they are really good for jumping off stuff. I wouldn’t know. I can prove they also work quite well to walk to the supermarket and back.)

They are also dirt cheap. I buy mine six at a time for $72, still less than most people pay for Stan Smiths. I get about four months of use out of each pair, wearing them daily. They get to a perfect level of dirty fairly quickly, and then stay there. The rubber soles just wear out. 

Pairs are available at a markup on Stock X and directly through Feiyue, but, self-defeating as it may be, I think that’s against the spirit of the shoes. It’s about the journey to finding them. Do the work. Stop a stranger on the street and ask where they got their pair. You could make a friend in the process. 

FE LO 1920 White Sneakers against white background

FE LO 1920 White Sneakers

These simple white sneakers give anyone downtown instant indie cred. Don’t buy them here though, buy them from word of mouth sources. 


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The Informant: This Giant Magnifying Glass Makes Reading In Bed Better https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/best-magnifying-glass-for-reading-1202970933/ https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/best-magnifying-glass-for-reading-1202970933/#respond Fri, 04 Aug 2023 16:34:22 +0000 https://spy.com/?p=1202970933 Our editors independently select the products we recommend. We may earn a commission on items bought through our links.

It’s really easy for bedrooms to get boring. The problem is twofold. Fold one: Some bedrooms are all function: bed, dresser, maybe lamp, and that’s it. No zest. No joie de vivre. Fold two: Some bedrooms are all atmosphere:  throw pillows, blustery curtains, and that’s just the start. Both types of bedrooms are ultimately boring because they are less than the sum of their parts. Design and function don’t interact.

That’s why I bought  my opposable dentist magnifying glass. As one does.

I’m a bit of a maximalist, but not everything can be a period piece. I don’t want to fall asleep in a novel and wake up with typhoid. Also, I like to read. This adjustable magnifying glass looks cool and also helps me bring letters into focus.

I wear glasses—plural in this case because I wear about 13 different pairs that are scattered all around the apartment. When it’s time for bed, my magnifying light gets pulled down and I can read my book before bed without the trouble of having to get up and find the nearest pair of glasses. It also makes for a nice little bedside light when I’m getting up to get a glass of water or something that I can find my way back to the bedroom without tripping over anything. 

This magnifying glass from HITTI is for sale on Amazon for just over $40, and works on a number of levels. My wonky eyesight made it perfect to repurpose as a reading tool mounted on my bedframe, but it can also be detached from the clamp on my bedpost and reattached to the base to use for crafting or close-up work. Others may find it useful for close-up things like painting, sewing, or fixing things (like eyeglasses that get sat on, in my case). The 10x view through the glass is perfect for all that, and a 4.2” lens is really all you need when you can look across the page on your own or reset the glass.

Then, when I’m done reading, I can just push it up out of the way and it settles in place. During the day, it adds a little more dimension to the room, or can be stowed by adjusting it so it sits against the wall. 

two 10X Magnifying Glasses on a table

10X Magnifying Glass with Light, HITTI 1,800 Lumens

This opposable mirror makes reading in bed easier, and gives your bedroom some added dimension.


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The Informant: July AC Saved My Summer https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/july-ac-bluetooth-control-1202969337/ https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/july-ac-bluetooth-control-1202969337/#respond Thu, 27 Jul 2023 17:20:00 +0000 https://spy.com/?p=1202969337 Our editors independently select the products we recommend. We may earn a commission on items bought through our links.

In February of 2021, I moved to my current apartment, which meant I got a good deal on an apartment being in the middle of the pandemic, and it also meant I didn’t know what the summer would be like in the unit. I live on the 7th floor of a walk up. (No, this is not a typo.) What that means come summer though is that three sides of the unit and the roof above are in direct sunlight essentially baking me throughout the day. Thus, an air conditioner became a critical purchase. Again though, to my demise, I didn’t understand how BTU strength worked, and made the stupid choice of buying a $150 unit on Amazon. It puttered away, never making anything all that cooler, and then would freeze from the condensated water and not let any air pass through. 

This week, I junked it, and invested in something new. I went with a July AC unit. Honestly, it’s great. For only $300 more for this unit than I paid for what was really just a molded oscillating fan, you’d think this thing was built by NASA. I had to put on a sweater last night. That is the kind of chill I’ve been craving in late June. The “medium” size, 8,000 BTUs power this thing, and while July says it covers 350 square feet of space, in a railroad-style apartment like mine that creates a channel for the air to flow through the whole unit. 

Installing the July is definitely a two person job. The packaging makes it easy to set up the frame that goes in the window, but you really need someone else to brace the thing while you fit it through the opening in the frame. Nobody wants anything tipping out of the window into the alley below. It’s worth noting though, of course, this is true of almost all other AC units. 

The thing is, I don’t usually go in for the whole smart device thing. I think, at least in many cases, it’s an upcharge for smart things that I don’t really end up using anyway. For July, this means I can toggle it on or off remotely from an app on my phone. It becomes a remote for the unit, which isn’t that necessary when I’m also at home and can walk over and turn it off. The thing that makes it worth its weight in gold is when I’m coming home. (Reminder: 7th floor walkup baking in the summer sun while I’m at work.) I’ll turn the unit on when I’m about a couple blocks away. That way, when I get back, it’s already chilled out enough to be a livable condition. Now, my apartment can be as cold as a meat locker and I don’t wake up sweating from the heat. That means the 7th floor apartment has no downsides, just great views. 

July AC unit against white background

July AC Unit

This smart AC from July is programmed by an app to turn on and off and adjust speed from your phone, so you can keep your place cool without having to wait.


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Field Report: Petanque is This Summer’s Pickleball https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/trend-petanque-is-summers-pickleball-1202969329/ https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/trend-petanque-is-summers-pickleball-1202969329/#respond Wed, 26 Jul 2023 16:21:25 +0000 https://spy.com/?p=1202969329 This summer, the ultimate leisure game should be on-hand for every picnic.]]> Our editors independently select the products we recommend. We may earn a commission on items bought through our links.

SPY agents, tasked with intercepting communications between in-the-know assets and engaging in constant, tireless cultural reconnaissance, regularly file field reports on new and meaningful trends. Some of the trends they monitor will change how we live. Field Report captures those early leads to keep you informed on what might be the next big thing.

After snooping around the habits of New Yorkers on any given sunday afternoon, our operatives found two kinds of people generally lounging around Central Park: the mellowed-out picnickers, with wine in plastic cups, some cheeses, maybe a tiny speaker, and the agro finance bros off duty playing Spikeball. Both of these are good things that can co-exist in the park, but recently our agents have spotted more and more of the chilled out enclave taking up their own park game—an import from France that’s slowly sweeping its way across Sheep’s Meadow called pétanque

While people walk off the Spikeball pitch (Court? Arena? Whatever…) dripping with sweat and needing a shower, the pétanque players remain cool as a cucumber, with the ease to hang out, chat, sip on wine, all while honing that same competitive edge. Pétanque may seem like a new foreign import, but for those unaware of its origins, another similar version of the game is probably somewhat familiar: bocce. Pétanque and bocce are largely the same, apart from a few standardizations and minor rules, and coming from France and Italy, respectively. 

In Pétanque, two to three players are each given two boules, specially weighted metal balls. The boules must be thrown underhand, palm-down, from a planted position within a small circle. (Regulation courts are made of dirt, and circles are drawn. In the park people just approximate.) In bocce, players are allowed a small run up before throwing. Players throw the boules toward the cochonnet, a small wooden ball. The player with the most balls landed closest to the cochonnet wins the round. 

The rules and simplicity of the game make it easy enough to pack a set of boules along in a tote bag for a day in the park. The sight of multiple games going on across Sheep’s Meadow, of players with a boule in one hand, plastic cup or rosé in the other, brings to mind the Georges Seurat painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

The game encourages some friendly competition, without disturbing the chilled out vibe of the afternoon meant to be relaxing for people. It also respects the nature of the other park goers. Anyone who’s ever been bonked in the head with an errant frisbee needn’t worry about the slow-rolling metal boules tumbling only a few meters from their owners. To follow this trend, all people need to do is buy a set and stick them in their tote bags.

Kikkerland Standard Boules Set against white background

Kikkerland Standard Boules Set

This standard set is perfectly affordable and is meant for friendly games in the park. The six boules each have different stripe patterns to tell them apart from your opponent’s, and allow for three players to each throw two boules per round. 


Obut Sport Range Customizable Boules against white background

Obut: Sport-Range Customizable Boules

Obut is basically the leader in pétanque products in France. To put this in American terms, Obut is to pétanque gear what Rawling’s is to baseball gear. For professional-grade equipment and boules perfectly standardized for competitive play, invest in Obut boules. These ones are also customizable with engravings. 


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The Receipts: Travis Bennett Slips Out of His Slides https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/the-receipts-travis-bennett-1202969335/ https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/the-receipts-travis-bennett-1202969335/#respond Mon, 24 Jul 2023 16:07:31 +0000 https://spy.com/?p=1202969335 Our editors independently select the products we recommend. We may earn a commission on items bought through our links.

Travis Bennett is a busy guy. Aside from performing as Yung Taco, part of the Odd Future expanded rap universe, Bennett portrays Elz opposite Lil Dicky on the hit FX series Dave and pops up to steal scenes in projects like You People and Confess, Fletch. Now, he’s dabbling in fashion by giving his style sensibility to a collaboration with Jameson Whiskey and Dickies, a brand he’s been repping since his days as a “skate rat.”

Bennett is a thoughtful, hard-working guy who looks back with bemusement on his rapid, disorienting rise alongside his childhood friends Tyler the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt. He has a lot of doors open to him and, even as he considers what to do next, it’s clear he’s developing a discerning eye and a sense of what it means to be a person people look at and a person people look to for inspiration.

Bennett spoke to SPY about his career, his style, and why he bought so many damn DVDs.


SPY: For a young guy, you’ve already done a lot of stuff. Music. Acting. Stuff adjacent to music and acting. When did you start working?

Travis Bennett: I started working, probably like age 17, with a TV show with my best friends (Adult Swim’s Loiter Squad). I did that until I was 20. So I got my first big check at 17. It was like $8,000, I think, or $10,000. It was supposed to be a certain amount of money. When I saw that FICA took my money, I was so confused. I thought I was getting fucked over by everybody. I was like, what the fuck is FICA and why are they taking so much money from me? I was on tour with Odd Future.

I started acting at 20. I started on “Dave” at 24. Everything kind of took off from there. 

SPY: So when you get that first big check, what’s the first thing you spend it on that’s just a luxury? Just something for you. 

TB: A 70” and Sharp TV from BestBuy and – remember, this was a different time – a bunch of DVDs. For some reason, I thought that DVDs would be the thing. I didn’t think about streaming. I was an idiot. I was like…Streaming is bullshit and Netflix doesn’t make any sense. I bought so many fucking DVDs. I was at Best Buy or at Amoeba Records every week spending money. 

I bought a beanbag chair. Like the biggest beanbag chair I could find on the internet.

SPY: What was your style like when you were growing up in LA at that time?

TB: I grew up around a lot of people older than me. Everything that I was doing was what my older brother was doing. I was the runt of the group. What I was dressing like at school versus what everybody else was dressed like was really different. I was into Supreme pretty early. 

SPY: What do you remember the first Supreme piece that you’ve picked up or?

TB: I was like working at the skate shop a little bit. I was a skate rat. I got a gray beanie. I wore that beanie until it was as thin as a t shirt. Like it was huge after I got done with it, it was so stretched.

SPY: Now you’re working with Dickies, which is big in the skate world. How do you work your old sensibility – the ratty beanie sensibility – into the collection?

TB: Right now I’m on like a pair of insanely baggy pants and a plain white t-shirt and Converse. Very simple. I wear a normal Dickies jacket to most events. I’ve been dressing the same since I was like, 13. Dickies has been with skate culture for a long time.

SPY: Working across television, music, and now fashion, are there other areas you’d want to explore creatively?

TB: Fashion is not something I want to make per se, but I love stepping into it a little bit. When I was younger, I didn’t give a fuck. I used to wear slides on stage every day. Tyler and I were on tour together and he would come out and they would be dressed to the nines, like head to toe everything. I used to wear just Adidas sweatpants, Adidas slides, socks, any t-shirt I found on tour. And then I started to like grow into myself a little bit more.

Writing. I want to write. It’s a hard thing to do, but I enjoy doing it. I want to create more stuff. 

SPY: Now that your work has been so successful, what are the indulgences like for you today?

TB: Furniture, watches, and art. 

SPY: Oh, what sort of artists are you looking at?

TB: I went to Art Basel last year and bought some things at the NADA show. I’m not really looking to invest in art to make money off it or anything. I just find things I like looking at and want to keep looking at. And I like to support Black artists or pieces representing Black people. I feel like when I go to a museum, most of the people are all white figures. I feel like in my house, if one day when I have kids, there’ll be Black art in my home. And when I moved out, I’ve gotten a bunch of things and thrown around the house. And then there were moments where I didn’t feel like somebody’s art. Now my house is all covered in Black faces. 

Dave’s Travis Bennett Talks Dickies and His First Big Check

Dickie's x Jameson Jacket

This zip jacket for the Jameson x Dickies collab is perfectly simple, and comes in a black or brown colorway to go with everything. It still has the streamlined cut to stay straight without a taper.


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Justified is Back, Which Means You Can Still Dress Like Rylan https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/justified-raylan-givens-style-1202967907/ https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/justified-raylan-givens-style-1202967907/#respond Wed, 19 Jul 2023 14:03:25 +0000 https://spy.com/?p=1202967907 Our editors independently select the products we recommend. We may earn a commission on items bought through our links.

Justified is back, and it’s leading man is looking better than ever. Eight years after the show went off the air, US Marshall Raylan Givens has been resurrected and moved from his Kentucky setting for the more urban landscape of Detroit. Expertly portrayed by Timothy Olyphant—the actor so funny and handsome that it frustrates us common folk—the show also became a beacon of style for western-inspired looks, and looks like it will continue to do so with the new series. 

Justified: City Primeval covers Givens’s pursuit of The Oklahoma Wildman, Clement Mansell, alongside the Detroit police. From a fashion perspective, it’s a masterclass in how to make the western look work even when you’re miles from the nearest cow. 

The show is inspired by the events of City Primeval, a novel by Elmore Leonard. Leonard is no stranger to the successful adaptation of his work though, having written the novels that became films like Get Shorty and Jackie Brown. 

The show airs Tuesdays at 10:00pm on FX. For all those reinspired to start dressing like the US Marshall though, here’s a quick guide to the look. Please note: there is no Stetson recommended here. While we here at SPY encourage Olyphant’s Givens as a style inspiration, the odds of you being able to pull off a Stetson are…unlikely. Consider this omission the difference between “fashion” and “costume.”

man wearing Levi's 501 jeans

Levi's 501 Jeans


Chambray Denim Shirt from Wythe New York against patterned fabric

Wythe New York Chambray Denim Shirt


Sid Mashburn Black Tie against white background

Black Tie Sid Mashburn


man sitting down wearing J. Crew charcoal blazer

Charcoal Blazer from J. Crew


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The Best Running Walking to the Bodega Shorts Ever https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/buck-mason-best-athletic-shorts-black-1202963790/ https://spy.com/articles/gear/style/buck-mason-best-athletic-shorts-black-1202963790/#respond Wed, 19 Jul 2023 13:12:56 +0000 https://spy.com/?p=1202963790 Our editors independently select the products we recommend. We may earn a commission on items bought through our links.

It’s not easy to find good shorts. To be honest, I only own a few pairs of running shorts, one of which I’ve clung to for over a decade now. I get rid of a lot of most shorts fairly quickly because they don’t meet my minimum requirements: comfort while working out and comfort while not working out. Recently, Buck Mason’s running shorts made it into my rotation.

Let’s talk about how that rotation works. There’s an unspoken law of going out in New York that the hip, cool bar isn’t going to let you in wearing shorts. Between bars at night, my office during the day, and the fact that only a third of the year constitutes “shorts season” anyway, there’s no need to have a ton of options and, frankly, little need for anything structured. Heavier cargo shorts or even the cotton dock shorts made from thicker fabrics that require a belt, aren’t particularly convenient or comfortable and they also aren’t acceptable (to me anyway) in a work or drinking setting. Conversely, the running shorts and swim trunks that come with liners tend to be well designed for their purposes, but aren’t ideal to just throw on.

When I saw Buck Mason was making running shorts, I thought it was worth trying. The brand has been a go-to for most of my other wardrobe needs. I wear their Carry-On Suit all the time, and their slub cotton polos have been in regular rotation for the summer. The brand’s Trail Roam Shorts solve all the problems I had in the other pairs. They are separate from any liner, so I wear them with the same boxer briefs anyone can get from Uniqlo, and they work perfectly well on anything from a Citibike to jumping in the ocean on a beach trip. They have an ample pocket for a phone—a bit of a rarity in nylon-strech shorts, I’ve found—and have a hidden pocket too for it you’re actually running in them and need to store a key or credit card. Admittedly, mine are more used for the former than the latter, or, more likely, to run to the bodega with my keys and credit card to get a Gatorade after a night out rather than an early workout. 

From a fashion perspective, they don’t try for all the trappings of exercise wear, which is great. There’s no angled stripes or zig zags. They’re black shorts. With pockets. The seams are straight along the cut of the short, falling a few inches above the knee. The inner pocket even has a divider for a phone and other (sharp) things like keys. I don’t golf, but I’m told that these sorts of dividers are helpful in golf. 

In short, these are the perfect shorts for people who aren’t normally in the shorts lifestyle. 

Buck Mason Trail Roam Shorts against cream background

Buck Mason Trail Roam Shorts

Buck Mason did a brave thing: They made a pair of black athletic shorts completely unadorned with iconography or graphics. These shorts are perfectly engineered for a run… to the grocery. And there’s a lot to be said for that.


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