Spotlight Series: Fashion in the Family

With it being the holiday season, I wanted to share some special moments of my time home with you. I’d like to take a moment to spotlight the men of my family, and have them share their experiences with fashion. Although The Fashion Cookbook tends to focus on women’s fashion, we want to expand to showcasing fashion is for everyone. To start, I looked to the help of my brother and father to share about their personal style and what they think about when they get dressed.

Name: Camden Martin

School: Unity College

Occupation: Student ambassador for Unity College Admissions & Customer Service Representative for Argo Marketing

Interests: World culture, languages, politics, wildlife, and history

Favorite stores: H&M, Jules, Zara, and Goodwill

Camden’s Outfit Ingredients 

Vest- Forever 21

Sweater- thrifted

 Jeans-American Eagle

 Collared t-shirt-H&M

 Sneakers-Lacoste

What has contributed to your sense of personal style?

In high school I studied abroad in France and I would say my time in Europe was the most influential in developing my personal style. In general people like to dress well in France. Europeans as a rule of thumb like to put their body “en valeur” therefore they find accommodating clothes. Everyone also has their personal tastes. I like to apply this ideology to my clothes.

Two people have been very influential in shaping my style: my sister Hannah and my girlfriend Mirabelle Barbier. Hannah of course as my sister overtime helped me make some positive changes in my wardrobe, such as how to dress with more confidence. Mirabelle being French of course showed me which kinds of clothes looked best on me. I always like to check in with them when shopping, but now I overall have more confidence in my choices.

How would you define your personal style?

I would define my style as southern European.

Any tips for dressing in winter?

I would say dressing warm, but simple is always good.

Name: Paul Martin

Occupation: Child Welfare social worker professional for the State of Maine

Interests: 

-Listening to Jazz, funk, and soul music. Simply love and am addicted to Jeff Lorber from his very beginning to now.

-Learning to play bass (used to play woodwinds before I suffered from a couple of brain tumors that ruined ability to play due to facial paralysis).

-Dressing classic salmon flies, collecting the materials to dress them from around the world

-Bible study, meeting with friends to share a love of Christ and to get and share support to live more successful daily lives

-Watching movies with family

-Sitting by a warm wood stove fire counting my many blessings, enjoying great and fun times with family and friends

 Favorite Quote:

Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God.”

 Paul’s Outfit Ingredients

Thick cotton shirt- Eddie Bauer (Note: from the “90’s” with purposefully frayed color to balance old and new “dress” -rather than “fashion”)

Cargo pants- Duluth cotton

Leather chukka boots- LL Bean

Rings- vintage Native American Bisbee Mine turquoise sky blue, modern (Chick Aldridge, Albuquerque N. Mexico, and Number Eight Mine turquoise

Bow tie- made by Leianarei via Goodwill

Where do you like to shop in general?

T J Maxx, obviously Goodwill, occasionally at LL Bean and Territory Ahead

How has your style developed, as you’ve gotten older?

More and more, I find what I like to wear absolutely has to feel good on my body…thick cotton and only cotton, leather, with ties and bow ties that can be made of artificial materials.  At this stage of my life, I will only wear what I think I like wearing, whether anyone else likes it or not.  If I feel good in the clothes I’m wearing, then I am the only one that I need to please.  For some reason, baggy, loose fitting are important to me.  There are certain colors I look for too…. mostly plain one color pieces of clothes.  I love boots and heavy leather shoes too.

Can you attribute your change in style to anything?  

Many, many years ago, when I was working a laborer job while waiting for one that suited my college degree, I was having to wear work clothes for a specific job I had working on building a new City music and dance facility.  Each day, the engineer would come on the job to check on our progress.  Each time he wore such nice, clean, crisp clothing, bow tie or regular ties, clean and stand out shoes, clean and stand out shirts, etc.  Each day he passed me wearing stained, sometimes ripped clothing.  Right then and there I promised myself that when I was successful at getting a career I would dress in ways I preferred, and in ways that would remind me of the opportunity I had been given to get an education and to even have a career.  Even now, the turquoise I wear reminds me of the open blue skies I spend so many hard working hours waiting to return home from work.  Those blue skies were what reminded me of having “a greater purpose,” to have faith that things would turn around for me.

What are your winter essentials? 

Warm, yet comfortable clothing, sturdy shoes and boots, several beanies of different colors and style (that all remind me of the great joy I had listening to Joe Zawinul and Weather Report)

I want to thank Camden and my dad (Papa bear) for helping me with this post. Your words resonate with me as I realize how much our clothing and style speaks about us. It is only the first layer though, once you realize the significance of the pieces (whether it be to remind yourself of your travels or to prove to yourself status and hard work) it is hard to think of fashion in terms of designers or price, but what clothing can say about your life story.

LOVE,