We Like Your Look: Thomas Griffin
Top model, expert interviewer and all round good guy, Thomas Griffin is a man who has his finger firmly placed on the pulse of British style. Host and founder of the totally brilliant fashion podcast My Own Garms, he has quizzed some fascinating people about their style inspirations and me. As well as being incredibly knowledgeable about the broad church of style and fashion his fits are always reliably fire too. Making Thomas an obvious contender for being awarded ‘We Like Your Look’ status by British Attire.
First up mate, what are you wearing today?
I’ve just got back from taking the dog out for a walk so I’m in a pair of Hoka Bodega Tor Low. I’ve got a pair of South2West8 black kecks on. A South2West8 long-sleeve T and Peak Performance helium hooded jacket which I bought off my mate Tang, and a green wool drakes beanie. I’ve got my LL Bean Field Watch on and a whoop band like a total health wanker.
When do you first remember becoming aware of style?
I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently and I think it’s through drawing when I was little. I always used to draw very stereotypically masculine dressed men, either in a red and blue plaid shirt or a green and black plaid shirt. I remember getting really good at drawing the different types of fabrics although I couldn’t draw the curves round the arms and that. When I think about what I wear today, I can see the influence from the stuff I used to draw to illustrate my dictation work in primary school. I think that’s my very first memory of style.
What different looks have you adopted over the years and which were the best or worst?
I think I’ve done more than most. Most people stop when they’re about 23. I’m 40 now and still managing to find new fashion epochs. For ridiculous looks, I’d say my mid-teen forays into TK Maxx hip-hop wear in the late 90s, bad FUBU print shirts and super heavy Ecko trackies and visors. I also had a bit of a mod phase in my late 20s. I did some hair modelling and the barber did a mod haircut, I thought it was cool, and started dressing mod. I was buying a lot of Raf Simons and Fred Perry collaborations and long black or navy Aquascutum trench coats. But I didn’t have any cultural grounding in it. I didn’t like the music, never liked Paul Weller or anything like that, so the look didn’t chime with my tastes or background. I felt like a bit of a tourist. It didn’t last long. I’m not sure what my best style phase was. Everyone always thinks what they’re wearing currently is the best, otherwise they wouldn’t be wearing it. I did a shoot for Abraham Moon recently and they dressed me in proper Ivy style sack jackets, flannel trousers, and gorgeous cordovan loafers. I felt a million dollars. I’m feeling a nascent Ivy phase coming into my life and I think it suits me.
My Own Garms is an incredibly popular podcast that takes a deep dive into the tastes and styles of an eclectic bunch of people. What have you learned from interviewing all of them?
I think I’ve learned that whilst I’m interested in clothes, but I’m more interested in the stuff around them, the culture, lineage, and life stories people talk about when they think about what they’ve worn through their lives. I also really like the super niche stuff, like when Kasna Asker told me about Yemeni shepherdess outfits, or when Jake Hanrahan talked about the PKK militants’ footwear, those Mekap shoes they wore to move nimbly through the terrain they were active in. That super specific stuff really does it for me.
Listen to My Own Garms on Spotify
How do you go about choosing guests to feature on the pod? Are there any big ‘no-nos’?
I want diversity, not just in background but in story. People from different ages and walks of life make the stories more interesting for me, and hopefully that translates for the listener or viewer. Big no-nos? When someone has something very specific to push. I get it, everyone has to shout what they’re working on, but when that overtakes everything else it feels a bit weird. I can hear it when other people do it too. I prefer to talk to guests you wouldn’t expect, at times in their lives when they’ve not really got anything too specific to push
Has doing the podcast affected or changed the way in which you dress?
Oh mate, literally every episode. My mate Seb from Gone Fishing Vintage told me about Best Company and Olmes Carretti. I hadn’t heard of that before. It sent me down a total rabbit hole. Vinted didn’t know what had hit it. I was buying all their gear. As a user of the internet, you’re bombarded by images all day. But in a longer-form chat, when someone can explain why something that looks cool is actually cool. That really triggers something for me in terms of turning me on to clothes
We’re big fans of Charlie Cooper. What was he like to interview?
Absolutely class. What a lovely fella. The openness and honesty you see in his work is very apparent IRL. He’s just lovely and dead accommodating. We went down to record near where he lives in Gloucestershire and he sorted out the village hall for us. He just cares. A lovely, lovely man, just as nice as he looks on TV. I also love how much he remembers and talks about his childhood and I’m the same. I remember the names of all the kids at high school and what shoes they had in Year 8 and I think Charlie’s memory works like that. I think he really cares about the folk tales of his own youth and area and that’s a big part of what I want My Own Garms to be about.
Who would be your dream guests to interview?
Prince. One of the weirdest dressers ever. I know he was a bit of a prickly pear in interviews, so I’d probably do a bad job of getting anything out of him, but he’s endlessly fascinating to me. And then probably JME and Skepta, because of the Boy Better Know T-shirt business, all the fashion references in their music and obviously what Skepta has gone on to do in the fashion world. They really embody the concept of wearing their own garms.
Boy Better KnowWe’d like to see you being interviewed. Will that ever happen?
I’m amenable. I think people who’ve listened to more than three episodes probably have a decent sense of me already. I try not to talk about myself too much when I'm chatting to a guest, but you have to say a bit about yourself don’t ya otherwise it’s weird.
Speaking of which, where is the best dressed city in the world?
I just came back from 10 days in America, half in New York, half in rural Maine for a mate’s wedding. I saw plenty of cool people in New York, it was fashion week, but the bit that did it for me most was Maine. That worn in, sun bleached fisherman look, battered LL Bean overshirts, dead effortless and dead cool. In the UK, Liverpool. They wear what they wear with absolute authority and always have.
And what are your three favourite labels of all time?
Ralph Lauren, number one. I’ve worn it all my life, from little bits as a kid to the hip hop influenced stuff later on. It's Ivy, sartorial, stuff and it's made pretty well. There’s a great second hand market too cos it’s so successful. It wears well, it’s timeless, and I like that world building element they do so well. Then I’d say Stone Island. Particularly the marina stuff. I’ve got loads of old bits which I wear all the time. Loads of the old Breton tees and smocks. The older and more worn the better. Third, OrSlow from Japan. I’ve worn their stuff for about 10 years. Subtle improvements on heritage pieces, impeccable quality. I’ve got six pairs of their trousers and they’re in constant rotation.
Obviously My Own Garms is the number one fashion podcast, but are there any other ones out there that you’d also recommend?MicroTrending, by a woman called Salt LaCroix That’s her insta name. She talks about trends in pop culture, often fashion related, with super smart, biting analysis. It’s class. Get onto it.
What do you think defines British style?Weirdness. We do music better than anywhere else per capita. We’ve had more interesting, culturally important musical groups than anywhere. The fashion culture that grows around that is what we should be proud of, punks, drillers, mods. And subcultures like casuals and ravers. They’ve all shaped it British style. Have you seen that American kid driving the Surrons and dressing like a British scally? He’s unreal. I love that international cross pollination
Who is your number one style icon?
@Barber_J.Rose on Instagram. Unbelievable attention to detail and ability to genre hop while keeping it coherent. The number of times I’ve zoomed in on the watches and braceletshe wears to do a google image search. At the moment, it’s him. I’m not even sorry about wholesale biting his steeze.
