HubThreads: Celebrating Boston Street Style

Photo by Diana Levine

Critics say this city has no style. We’re here to prove them wrong. Welcome to HubThreads, where we chat with the most stylish people we find out and about in Boston. Think you or someone you know has the best street style? Let us know.

EVAN

Can we talk about what this outfit is giving us? I feel a martial arts vibe, but I know you feel it’s more mechanical workwear uniform.

I’m getting from the top like a retro pilot mechanic and the bottom half could be in a Renaissance painting of a young Dutch boy. So bougie.

No, royalty. Royalty?! I have not one stick of jewelry on.

Still, I feel like there would be a sir or a lord in your name.  Ok so there is a properness to this. Well maybe that’s my overall charm. I have an overall luxury feel. I guess a gay Dutch boy from the future. So eclectic and ageless.

How would you describe your style? Elevated sport. But if I don’t feel sexy, I don’t wear it. That eliminates a lot of cool things because there are pieces that I think are fashionable, but I don’t feel sexy wearing them.

Do you feel like your style has evolved as you’ve gotten older? Yes, now it’s more about interesting pieces. I’ll build a look off of one interesting piece, either it’s the jumpsuit or the shoes, its not a bunch of crazy things put together. A bunch of crazy things does not make me feel sexy.

Where did the shoes come from? Maharishi in Soho, London. I walked in and was like, “What are these??” Then I tried them on and they’re a little bit like a mystical animal.

When you were younger, did you try to fit in? Or did you always take chances with your clothes? I feel like I have never fit in. I say no to things that make me feel like I won’t fit in.

Still? Still. But my individualism can’t help but come out. As casual and streamline as I try to keep it, it still comes out. I’ll wear a sneaker or a t-shirt that I chose to fit in and not be noticed and it always gets attention.

But I also don’t see you as someone who wants to blend in and disappear into the background. I don’t want to disappear, but in gay culture I like to be part of the group.

So you don’t really care what straight thinking people are thinking. Nope, not at all. I’ve got notes for them.

You’re an art director now at Gilt.com, were you always interested in fashion? I don’t think I had a specific love of fashion growing up, but I’ve always been very sensitive to colors, to looks, to environments. I can remember wearing t-shirts when I was a kid and if the color didn’t feel right, it would bother me.

I remember being in your apartment one week after you had moved in and it was already set up and perfectly decorated. And I’ve been with you to restaurants, or even in my own apartment, where you’ve been bothered by the light being too bright. It’s just how I’m wired, there’s no right or wrong, but some people need the light on and so they just flip the switch. That makes logical sense, but to me, it’s not helpful because it opens up a whole bunch of other things for me; it doesn’t feel pretty, it doesn’t feel nice, it makes me see other things in ways that aren’t as lovely. I would need to thoughtfully turn on a specific lamp.

So why fashion? I think being a creative person, my vision moves to different medias. Before, my creative focus was on myself and performing and then it moved to being a model booker, so I focused on models and movement, and then the focus went to fashion and clothes.

Do you think you’ve found the best focus or will it shift again? I hope it shifts. I like to feel that things keep growing. To say that this is it, is not enough for me. I hope that there is more and different.

There totally will be! I think that I’m very aesthetically driven, in a very casual way. I hate dressing up, I hate it.

A lot of people would consider this dressing up. Well, I put on my Sunday best for you. This romper is still a causal piece though, it’s not fussy. I hate fussy. The idea of a dress shirt tucked into dress pants is the fussiest, most unsexual feeling for me, I hate it and it doesn’t feel interesting. I always want there to be some kind of interest, whether it’s in the cuff or the sock.

Working in the fashion industry, you’re often running around and on your knees dressing someone, so you can’t be precious, but you still need to have style. Do you have a go-to work outfit? Something that I can move in and not feel disgusting. Sometimes on the job, I just do not feel cute, but then I can throw on a fanny pack on and have style. Sometimes, it’s the one thing you add. Even if it’s just my shoelace bracelets. Also, a t-shirt that’s long enough so when I’m bending over, not everyone is seeing my crack. I feel like everyone in Boston has seen it.

If they’re lucky.