Category Archives: fashion

interview series! corbin chamberlin!

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“You can never be overdressed or over educated.”

-Oscar Wilde

I met Corbin sometime in the past few years in my time at Liberty Market. He’s a regular customer whenever he’s in town. You can often catch him on his laptop or having a meeting over coffee. He makes me laugh, and he challenges me as a friend. Also, he has fabulous hair.

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Jamie: Tell us a little about yourself.
Corbin: Arizona native. Can’t get enough coffee, carbs and expensive silk scarves. I’m a fashion writer (The New York Times, Newsweek/The Daily Beast and an editor at the New York Observer’s SCENE Magazine). In addition, I’m working on two books at the moment. I’m an advocate for long dinner parties, pricey perfume and late-in-the-hour consumption of ice cream. Overall nice guy with a soft-spot for outcasts, misfits and troublemakers.

Jamie: I’m curious about your fashion history. Were you a toddler born with all the right tastes who demanded to dress yourself or was this something that more slowly developed?
Corbin: I’m really fortunate to have a ultra-stylish mother and grandmother. I was always concerned about what I was wearing, but I wouldn’t consider it fashionable or stylish. I had a uniform; oxford shirt, bow-tie and vest.

Jamie: What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever worn?
Corbin: I’ve worn a lot of outrageous items (long fur coats, capes and caftans) to suburban-spots outside of the anything-goes-streets of New York City and haven’t felt embarrassed, rather a tad overdressed. Perhaps I blushed a bit when I ran into a very important editor-in-chief in the hallway of a hotel in L.A while wearing gym clothes.

Jamie: Gym clothes are one of those necessary evils, aren’t they? What advice do you have for the average suburban American? What to wear? What not to wear?
Corbin: I suppose gym clothes are a necessary evil– after all the gym is hell. The best advice I can give is that once you’re done with your spin class, go home and change. No one wants to see you in sweaty-spandex at the market, really there are no good excuses. I’m in LOVE with the fitness gear from Nike. It’s the gym, not a the Oscars– just keep it basic, modest and clean.

Jamie: Have you ever met Stacy and Clinton?
Corbin: I’m sorry, who? Doesn’t ring a bell.

Jamie: Would you like to share some internet links?
Corbin: Well, you should read the following everyday…
www.sceneinny.com
www.elle.com
www.thedailybeast.com

And follow these divine individuals on Twitter. .
@PeterDavisNYC
@DrrrAmina
@BryanBoy
@NicoletteMason

Also find me at @Corbin_C and corbinchamberlin.tumblr.com for my constant mischief making.

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(photo provided by Corbin)

Thanks again Corbin for participating in my interview series! If you have any questions for him, please ask away in the comments!

 

earring solution

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for years, i’ve kept my earrings in a jumble in a small unattractive “jewelry” box.

i suppose i’m a creature of habit…anyone?

bueller?

i finally decided enough was enough! especially with the big, dangly, tangly, earring craze that’s going on right now.

so my solution was to buy an inexpensive piece of felt from the local giant craft store.

i used my fancy new sewing scissors to cut diamond shaped holes in it,

i swiped a wooden skirt hangar from my closet, et voila!

my new earring holder!

galoshes

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i’ve found that the fashion industry now refers to rubber boots as “rain boots” instead of galoshes.

either way, i’ve finally found my pair.

you may wonder why i’d need them in arizona, but i do garden a significant amount.

and it gets pretty muddy out there.

the best part about this pair is that they were on sale, then there was a store wide 40% off sale as well.

and they are even lined on the inside.

perfect.

another lesson in patience for me.

the fascinating people

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Welcome to my first interview post! I’m really excited to introduce you to all the fascinating people I know!

So…I thought I’d start with Andrew. I first met Drew when we both worked at Starbucks in Chandler. He was probably sixteen years old, but he had a really old soul even then. He’d come over to my house, I think his parents considered the mister and I good influences on him. David and I still wonder aloud what our “adopted son Drew” is doing. And let me tell you, “adopting” an older child is the only way to go. Drew moved to Korea (although he’s back in the states again), and when he says he was in the fashion industry, he is not exaggerating. I have a copy of a Korean GQ with a multi-spread section featuring only Drew! I can’t wait to see what he does over the next several decades-he’s intelligent and creative! Thanks, Andrew, for being brave and willing!

JM: Tell me about yourself.

AG:

my name is andrew gordon.

personality type: INFP

blood type: B-

age: 21 years young (?)

year:1989

i was raised predominately on the sunlight of chandler, arizona.

i moved to south korea 4 years ago, was ‘discovered’ (i know i know) in tokyo japan and began my life as a baby prostitute for the international fashion industry.

i must say it was the best and worst thing that has happened to me thus far.


JM: How old were you when you learned Korean? How did you learn it, and what made you interested in it?

AG:

unbeknown-st to me, a private school, asian foreign exchange students, a terribly boring choir class and budding interests i found myself really truly understanding the korean language.

i guess i really started to understand the language around freshman year in high school. to this day, i cant explain it- its almost as if i knew korean all along and someone just reminded me of it then.. i never traditionally studied- i just knew it. its very strange. i had been in a private baptist school and the american students there were seriously awful. so i tried to befriend the exchange students. . i was always very interested in words, numbers, and written text in general. i guess you could say i was influenced by asian calligraphy the most. really, a combination of so many complicated things formed the interest that led to the minor obsession which led to the understanding and eventually, les connaissances!!!!!!

i developed a curious interest in foreign language in high school, and really concentrated on asian calligraphy. if im being honest with myself- the curiosity stemmed from a wanting to be as secretive with my personal life as i possibly could, what better way to do so than in a foreign language?


JM: How have you changed in the past five years? Was there an “aha” moment in your life?

AG:

i really thought about this question and its hard to tell.

in fact, i would love to ask the same question about myself to those who know me, that might be more accurate.

i mean its such a dramatic change, that i dont know how to explain the way i was before.

in a general sense, im more travelled, and knowledgable about things.

“street cred” if you will…heh

um but at the same time, i really feel like the first few cycles of change are over with, and there is still much change to be done.

ive definitely become a lot more pessimistic.

ive also grown a few inches.

in a very superficial sense, ive really changed. at one point i was the epitome of the industry i was in.

and in a real sense ive become very superficial.

anyways.

as for an AHA moment. this is one of those things that probably occurred while i was looking for my AHA moment.

a dear friend and ex-lover committed suicide last year. i guess that was an AHA moment for me in a sense.

maybe i misinterpreted the question.


JM: If there was one novel/artwork/philosophy/etc that you could teach in schools, what would it be? Feel free to elaborate on this.

AG:

schools. hmm. well i really havent thought about something i would want to change in schools in a long time.

5 years ago i would have had a few more opinions.

i think college should be free. like it is everywhere else in the world.

i guess the only thing on the top of my head is that i wish there was not such a pressure to attend university or you cant find a good job, etc.

i feel like america is so quick to scare you into 15 years of student loans- because if you dont, you’ll be flipping burgers. when in the reality of the situation, you be flipping them at three different jobs trying to pay off the damn loans in the first place. with the economy the way it is, and the rabbit hole of debt this country is spiraling into, my only advice for students is: get involved with a good foreign exchange program :)

ive met so many brilliant people over the years in all sorts of occupations doing well, no college education, no debt.

that being said- this opinion is selective. obviously i would agree that, of course, wanting to better yourself and learn more about certain things- school is great. i think it can really be a great thing when used correctly.

doctors, etc. its great. its necessary.

but i always felt such an overwhelming pressure to NEED to attend college in order to survive. yadda yadda.

now that i think about it i guess i could go on and on. but for now ill just leave it at that.

novels: anything.

actually- no.

i always took IP AP english classes, and they had us reading the great gatsby and whatnot. (i know)

so..

novel: anything the slightest bit challenging. controversial!

change your curriculum please.

as far as art in schools goes. i dunno. i wish they would teach art in schools?

i always took art this and art that for electives and what not.

the most creative it got was probably finger painting in pre-k.

art in public schools is very limited- shading the apple, still life pastels, yadda yadda.

so censored and graded. i dunno. i think they teach art technique in school. art- not so muchie.


JM: What is your biggest life dream?

AG:

honestly, i dont know yet. i just really dont.

i never had a specific dream in adolescence either. that part of my brain is just not there.

i would just love to be somewhere that i love, with someone that i love, doing something that i love.

thats my biggest dream- right now :)

i know its an easy answer- but i just dont know.


JM: One last question: What internet link would you like to share?

AG:

hmm. internet link i would like to recommend right now would be:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=totAg3t6T_o

this was a teaser i had done a while back for a friends album release that just released, so it is currently airing in south korea. the monologue is written by me, entitled “the sunday paper”

very low budget, so bear with me.

also : www.ashadedviewonfashion.com

i ran into the author of this blog a lot throughout the last few years. i attended a few film festivals put on by ASVOFF as well.

very cool.

JM: *update* Andrew wanted me to add these recommendations:

AG:

film director: Christophe Honore

book: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

fashion designer: RAF Simons

artist: M/M Paris

american film: none! (surprise surprise)

french film: Ma Mere

korean film: Sympathy for Lady vengeance ??? ???

taiwanese film: eternal summer

magazine: i-D

blog: ashadedviewonfashio

youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMrvhYuEYQQ

model: kim daul, forever.

THANK YOU

! andrew.le.garcon@gmail.com

! www.cyworld.com/arcoftime

! www.twitter.com/ANDR3WMONST3R

! www.formspring.me/andr3wmonster

! http://t.sina.cn/Andrewnoir

Again, I just want to thank Andrew for participating in my new series! Please feel free to ask him questions in the comments!