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News
Locals Talk fashion gripes, style hype
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
By Robyn Vincent
Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Jackson’s fashion scene is often easily dismissed and frequently stereotyped. When asked to define valley style, “function” and “comfort” are commonly heard from the mouths of locals and visitors. Outdoor brands like Patagonia, The North Face, Marmot and locally grown Cloudveil are mentioned often around town. Although half put to rest with the last of Clint Eastwood’s Western flicks, the other familiar Jackson get-up – a good ole cowboy hat, denim and cowboy boots –– is still spotted on two different sets of folks: the real-deal cowboys who work area ranches and out-of-town imitators.
However, in an attempt to escape city life – as well as the confines of the suit-and-tie mainstream – new residents bring bits and pieces of their old lives and the styles to which they’ve become accustomed. These expats of American cubicle culture create an eclectic mélange of Jackson fashion, not unlike cosmopolitan cities, though harder to find.
On a brisk autumn night, rain dampened the pavement outside the Center for the Arts as a collection of models huddled beneath the theater entrance for a Planet JH photo shoot. As curious passersby paused to investigate, John Goggin, a JHMR terrain park staffer posed in a blue beanie and an oversized hoodie that mimicked a youth’s puzzle with bright hues of orange, blue, yellow and purple.
Matt Grabowski – a.k.a. KMTN’s Terminator Matt and a Boardroom employee – took his skateboard to a neighboring rock and busted a tail stall, decked in a nouveau Western button-up, baseball hat and jeans.
As the final group photo swelled to 14 locals, each person’s style reflected a personality, a lifestyle and an outlook.
Fashion in a town composed of transplants is a fusion of culture and geography, and sometimes, a rejection of popular style. There is no one style; no one underlying theme.
Jess Farr Age: 23 Occupation: Manager of tennis pro-shop/tennis pro My style: Functional and cute but still a little different. Jackson fashion in one word: Confusing Favorite place to shop: It’s been so long since I went shopping… I guess Nordstrom’s when I lived by one. Clothing store that Jackson needs most: Target Clothing store that needs to go: Kmart Best trend sighted in Jackson: Jewelry coming out of the art galleries Worst trend sighted in Jackson: Sweaters on dogs
Travis McAlpine Age: 30 Occupation: Chef My style: What style? Jackson fashion in one word: To-cool-for-school (We allowed this 4-word hyphenate simply because of Travis’ last name and level of badassness.) Favorite place to shop: Thrift store Clothing store that Jackson needs most: More snowboard shops Store that needs to go: Tourist traps – I don’t know any of the names. Best trend sighted in Jackson: Hip-hop Worst trend sighted in Jackson: Road bikers
Ben Westenburg Age: 29 Occupation: Music producer/DJ My style: Mmm…I dunno… dark recycled vintage. Jackson fashion in one word: Eclectic Favorite place to shop: Anywhere in Portland or San Fran vintage stores Clothing store that Jackson needs most: A men’s clothing store Clothing store that needs to go: Women’s Western wear in general – there’s how many leather and fur stores in this town? Best trend sighted in Jackson: The high school kids are down with good style; the kinda punk-rock-emo-neon stuff. Worst trend sighted in Jackson: The Patagoochi trend
John Goggin Age: 30 Occupation: Terrain park soldier My style: Umm, I dunno it’s probably hip-hop for sure; b-boy. Jackson fashion in one word: Boring (except for the high school kids) Favorite place to shop: Internet Clothing store that Jackson needs most: F*ck…more snowboard shops. Clothing store that needs to go: The stupid pawn shop that doesn’t pawn sh*t – it just sells guns and knives. Best trend sighted in Jackson: All the young kids Worst trend sighted in Jackson: “I don’t jib.”
Paige Jackson Age: 27 and 1/2 Occupation: Barista/fashionista/board expert/professional My style: I change my clothes three times a day. Jackson fashion in one word: Outerwear Favorite place to shop: Boardroom Clothing store that Jackson needs most: It’s a tossup between Target, Old Navy and American Apparel. Clothing store that needs to go: There might be, maybe, one too many fur stores. Best trend sighted in Jackson: Tourists who wear matching outfits and couples that match. Worst trend sighted in Jackson: I think some people have bad manners and - I’m guilty of this too - the oversized beanies with reservoir tips. This winter you might find yourself wearing one and you’ll have to remember, you look kinda silly.
Courtney Roberts Age: 19 Occupation: Salesperson at Accentuate My style: It’s urban but fun at the same time and comfy. Jackson fashion in one word: Insulated Favorite place to shop: Urban Outfitters Clothing store that Jackson needs most: Target Clothing store that needs to leave: Coral West Best trend sighted in Jackson: It’s not a very trendy place but I would say long sweaters. Worst trend sighted in Jackson: The damn moon boots. They have multiple colors of them at the Bootlegger and they are heinous.
Matt Grabowski Age: 29 Occupation: Professional talker My style: Dude, What the f*ck do I say? I guess I would say it is 1995 Glen Burnie Jackson fashion in one word: Humble Favorite place to shop: Boardroom Clothing store that Jackson needs most: A general store on Town Square – hey, they would sell Carhartt pants. Clothing store that needs to go: Kmart Best trend sighted in Jackson: People rolling OG style – when I say OG I’m speaking about people kicking it ‘originale.’ Worst trend sighted in Jackson: All the bright colors; bringing back the 80s style; although I am wearing a purple hat right now.
Kristen Todd Age: 24 Occupation: Student/cocktail waitress/caregiver My style: I’m business casual meets snowboarding/climbing wear Jackson fashion in one word: Hot Favorite place to shop: Teton Mountaineering Clothing store that Jackson needs most: Artsy, affordable boutiques and a Ross (discount clothing store). Clothing store that needs to go: Where do I begin? Wyoming Outfitters, Kmart – it destroys local businesses, Sports Authority … Buy local! Best trend sighted in Jackson: Climbing outerwear. I think it’s really hot. Worst trend sighted in Jackson: Messy, dirty, ripped up, bad-fitting and countryish clothes.
Jeff Moran Age: 32 Occupation: Free ride program director and head snowboard coach at Jackson Hole Ski and Snowboard Club My style: It’s hand-me-outs from my younger brother and whatever I can find at gas stations Jackson fashion in one word: Diverse Favorite place to shop: Rock Springs gas stations Clothing store that Jackson needs most: I don’t know because I never even go shopping for clothes so I don’t know what I’m missing. Clothing store that needs to go: I don’t pay attention to that because I only buy clothes at gas stations when I’m on a road trip. Best trend sighted in Jackson: Definitely it would have to be ponytails on dudes. Worst trend sighted in Jackson: Ponytails on dudes
Chelsey Lewis Age: 25 Occupation: Freelance video editor My style: Snowboarder chic Jackson fashion in one word: Wack Favorite place to shop: A shop in Portland, EXITREALWORLD. It’s a skate and snowboard shop out of Oregon. Clothing store that Jackson needs most: Women’s snowboard/trendy shop that’s affordable. No more skier clothes. Clothing store that needs to go: Coldwater Creek Best trend sighted in Jackson: Charlie Hawk’s punk-meets-snowboard-meets thrift store style Worst trend sighted in Jackson: Cloudveil/ Patagonia/ Crockeys/ anything with duct tape/ pants worn at the belly button
Charlie Hawks Age: 16 Occupation: student and skier My style: Probably colorful, odd clothing that no one else wears. Jackson fashion in one word: Eclectic Favorite place to shop: Internet Clothing store that Jackson needs most: Urban Outfitters Clothing store that needs to go: Wyoming Outfitters Best trend sighted in Jackson: Gas station t-shirts Worst trend sighted in Jackson: Too G-ed out from the feet up-gangsta style
Soldiers of Valley style Mike Parillo paints what he sees. And eventually, he sees people wearing what he paints. Here in the valley, his Volcom featured artist line is currently sold at the Boardroom and Jackson Treehouse.
“It’s constantly changing,” Parillo said of his art that has also spanned the height of Lib Tech and Burton snowboards, including the signature Travis Rice boards, which Parillo can be spotted creating in That’s It, That’s All. Parillo’s paintings have been dispatched onto Volcom threads since the company’s beginnings in 1991 when Parillo was building some of the country’s first snowboard parks. His love for powder slashing sparked a lasting kinship with the skate and snowboard company.
The freshman Volcom movie The Garden used a Parillo painting - a sweeping purple swell set against a tribal sun - for the cover. Now, Parillo has plans to take the new body of work he will complete in the next two months and turn it into his own line of clothing. While a gig with Volcom helped Parillo realize his vocation, a friend aided in his relocation.
In 1995, the soft-spoken L.A. native was designing outerwear for the Volcom team when he paid a visit to his longtime buddy, pro-snowboarder Brian Iguchi, who had recently moved to Jackson. “I went back to L.A. and my head was in the clouds,” Parillo said. Shortly after his visit, Parillo was shredding in the Tetons as a bona fide valley resident.
Years before, when he was 16 and “living in a tent in the woods” Parillo met The Guch, who was not in the woods, but living the dream shacked up in a mail truck.
“It was the beginning of everything,” Parillo said from his garage-turned-art-studio, adjacent to the home he now shares with Iguchi. The Guch, somewhat accidentally, bought Parillo his first set of acrylic paints when he was 21 because he “probably didn’t know what to get me for Christmas,” Parillo laughed.
In the last five years, Parillo has created new pieces, specifically designed for his Volcom featured artist line. His bright abstract designs gloss the surface of jackets, hoodies, t-shirts, pants, board bags and accessories. “It was during a drawing session for Volcom,” Parillo recalled, “I sketched a bunch of stuff and it sat in the archives until one outerwear designer saw a sketch, and it was turned into a whole line.”
Parillo has been living in Prague for the past 10 years where he “painted and just lived a different life.” In May, he had his homecoming in Jackson. The surroundings are what inspire Parillo along with his crew – he also paints portraits. Recently, Parillo painted the late snowboarder Jeff Anderson which will morph into an outerwear line for Volcom, winter of 2009. Parillo said whatever is transpiring in his life at the time is translated into his work.
“When I was in L.A. I was doing a completely different thing. A lot of people didn’t like it, it was a lot darker,” he said. “The people here are way more inspiring than anywhere I’ve been.”
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If Jackson needs a little dressing up, Calla Grimes will expedite the makeover. Daughter of a seamstress and self-proclaimed “fabric snob,” Grimes responded to a lack of clothing choices with the boutique line, Calla. “I started making clothing for myself, not necessarily thinking I would make clothes for other people,” the 30-something fashionista admitted. “At the time, it was more because I couldn’t find anything I liked and I didn’t have a lot of money.”
From conception to production, Grimes does it all. Once she settles on an idea, she threads a sewing machine, set upon a wooden desk inside Grimes’ East Jackson home, and begins the laborious process of transferring blueprints into wearable designs.
A Spokane, Wash. native, Grimes ended a 10-year stint in Seattle for Jackson in February. Back in the birthplace of grunge (a nickname the city might never shake, as flannel shirts start creeping their way back into style), Grimes managed a fabric store and designed custom clothing for clients and boutiques.
Although it was her husband Matt’s new graphic design gig at the Art Association and some Jackson-based relatives that instigated the couple’s relocation, Grimes said city life was losing its appeal. “For years, we had been feeling like Seattle was changing,” Grimes recalled. “Matt and I were both in this place where we weren’t really committed to the city anymore.”
And so, like many valley transplants, one city’s loss became Jackson’s gain. Although her heart may not rest in a hectic metropolis now, Grimes’ clothing style is centered on chic, urban-birthed fashion. Her designs – suitable for a 1940s femme fatale – are coupled with an air of urban sensibility, comfort and versatility.
From tops and sweaters to skirts and dresses, Grimes’ wears are designed with a woman’s shapely figure in mind.
“I love the woman’s body; I love big hips. I love a curvy, beautiful woman and I love dressing that.”
One of her flattering, vintage-style, knee-length skirts sells in the boutique she manages – Luca V – which opened its doors in June.
Nestled on South Glenwood between the D.O.G.’s tiny burrito haven and Trio, Luca V’s racks are adorned with diverse clothing choices that are typically affordable and mainly chic and trendy. It’s the kind of shop where you’ll spot a bright emerald green Nikita snowboard jacket facing a beautiful charcoal cowl-neck tunic; a short cocktail dress staring down a knit, big-buttoned sweater.
The back wall of the store is lined with shelves, housing mammoth wool hats, arm warmers, scarves and shoes that beckon to curious customers with the promise of style and warmth.
With boutique owner Michele Esperti based out of Bozeman, Mont., Grimes is frequently stationed inside the store’s clothing oasis, trusted to oversee the majority of its operations. Esperti checks in about once a month and together, they carefully sift through a gamut of styles and trends to select clothing for the shop, jet setting to Ney York and then L.A.
Esperti - a former manager of the now-defunct Jackson shop, The Root, and former owner of a few Bozeman boutiques - bases her buying on what she thinks will be a hit, while Grimes relies on her style prerogative to decide. “I tend to buy what I like,” Grimes admitted.
As she feels out her new Cowboy State dwellings, Grimes has grown attune with the casual Jackson facade. But she vows to hold onto the foundations that define her style.
“The clothing that I make I want to be sophisticated, pretty and comfortable all at the same time … and I think that is what I do best.”
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At Anomaly Farm, youthful perspective and lightheartedness reigns. Owen Ashley (22), Alex Yoder (19), Anders Berling (20) and brothers Mark (24) and Wade Dunstan (22), founded the clothing company slash shredding crew slash production house.
“We want to make fine art more accessible,” Ashley said, adding, “We’re looking to create a friendlier paradigm of capitalism.” But they’re not too serious about the biz. “Our mission statement is to do whatever we want,” Ashley stated half-jokingly.
All of the boys are Jackson natives, except Yoder who moved to the valley when he was 11, which still awards him some type of native-status. The name Anomaly - synonymous with peculiarity, rarity and unconformity - stemmed from the title of a ski and snowboard team the boys were on a few years back.
“Mark had to make a design for the team and t-shirts,” Yoder explained. “That’s what sparked doing it ourselves.”
Mark Dunstan primarily constructs most of the designs for silk screening – in his basement art studio - onto t-shirts, hoodies, hats, scarves, wallets, tote bags and flannels.
Described by the crew as “organic and subtle,” Anomaly artwork has spawned from each of the boys, as well as artists from Bellingham, Wash., Boulder, Co., and Vancouver, B.C.
On a pluvial Sunday morning, Ashley and Yoder sat around at Mark Dunstan’s Fish Creek cabin in Wilson (his brother Wade is attending school in England, where the fam currently resides) while Mark was out “getting blueberries.” Indeed, he returned with a bag of frozen berries that were dumped and whipped into a yogurt-juice concoction. “My stuff is generally very strange,” Dunstan noted after polishing off the last of his smoothie.
Anomaly clothing is stylish and peculiar; if you snag a closer look at some of the clothing, notice “little dudes that pop up” on various pieces.
These enigmatic, tiny characters are what the boys call “anoraks.” Which are, traditionally, known as hooded pullover jackets, but have been adopted as “hooded dudes” by the Anomaly crew in much of their designs.
The crew will also shoot a snowboarding flick this winter, which will be used as a free, promotional tool. Unlike last year, the boys said this time around the movie they make will be viewable thanks to a recent tripod purchase. When asked about Jackson fashion, the crew agreed on a progressive fashion landscape looming on the horizon. They pointed to a more cultured group of valley high schoolers.
“I think it’s really cool – when I was in high school nobody cared about fashion, music or art,” Ashley remembered, adding, “I don’t think we are providing the change necessarily, but it’s something we are a part of , that we’re allowed to do and feel comfortable doing. The tides are changing.”
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“A cowgirl follows her own heart; she’s her own person,” explained designer Michelle Julene in a white bobcat-furred hat on a rainy Friday afternoon. Julene opened up shop on 185 West Broadway more than 14 years ago under the name, Cowboy Couture.
Blink and you’ll miss her small storefront, sandwiched in the middle of the Sotheby’s building. But her styles have been spotted all over the globe on famous faces. Julene has dressed celebrities from the bandmates of Lynard Skynard and Travis Tritt to Britney Spears and Mackenzie Phillips.
Her pieces - crafted for each individual client - come from deer and goat skin, lamb, coyote and suede, and they stray from traditional Western wear with vibrant colors, beadwork and precious stones that form designs, often inspired by nature. “These are my cuffs, they’re new, like Xena,” Julene said as she grasped a tanned leather cuff inlaid with bright turquoise stones. “You can feel the energy when you put them on.”
The clothing is rooted not only in the progressive attitude of the region but also Native American spirit and Americana, she noted. But it took a while before the Casper cowgirl would realize her aspirations and find a permanent home in Jackson Hole.
Growing up in Casper, Julene’s creative knack set her apart from her peers. “I’ve always been ahead of the norm and I’ve always designed my own vision,” said Julene, who won art scholarships out of school, including a theater scholarship to the University of Wyoming.
But despite her enthusiasm for the arts, Julene was pointed in a different direction. Her parents felt her interests were merely a phase, she said. “I’m from a very traditional background; my dad was a school teacher; my mother a seamstress.”
So Julene floated between subjects and eventually studied business. Not long after, she began to sell oil leases throughout the country for major oil companies.
Her success in sales, Julene said, was in part because of her jovial personality. “Sales is such a unique kind of gift; people buy from you because they like you.”
But a persistent voice continued to nag at her. So Julene abandoned the oil game after two years, returning to Casper where she began altering clothing. She would unearth interesting pieces from thrift stores, sewing, cutting and refreshing the fabric.
After traveling to Santa Fe – where she lived for three years - Julene linked up with a crew of designers – beaders, patternmakers and seamstresses – forming Michelle of Santa Fe and later Michelle of Wyoming, when she returned to the Cowboy State. Finally, she settled on Cowboy Couture here in the valley.
Facing price tags upward of $2,800, her client base never seems discouraged. Julene noted, however, that her company is rooted in deeper elements than simply fashion and glitz.
“Everything about my work is very spiritual,” she said, adding that she provides “a venue for artsists who would never have an opportunity to do what they do and make money from it.”
The spirit of the West as well as her horse, Prince Zam – who has recently become very ill - have been perpetual inspiration for Julene. “It’s the longest relationship I’ve ever had,” she said of the mare she’s known for 17 years. As her cowboy boots stood planted on top of animal furs lining the shop’s flooring, Julene surveyed her jackets made of suede and leather, her pants inlaid with intricate designs comprised of jewels, stones and snakeskin and a few slickly arranged outfits.
“I am an artist and this is my palette,” she said.
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Just off of High School Road, an olive army ambulance – a relic from the ‘Nam era – sits outside an industrial space. Inside, Meagan Schwartz leans over a silk screen, carefully rolling thick paint onto its flat surface.
Soaking up designs underneath the large, rectangular screen is a grey hoodie, transforming into a palette for monocycles that seem to bounce and roll around off of the sleeves.
“They used to exist back in the day,” Schwartz said of the monocycle. “You would sit inside the wheel and pedal and the wheel would rotate around you.” Schwartz drew and transferred the designs onto a transparency, later affixing it to the screen – just a few of the steps involved in the silk screening process. The ambulance truck, along with the space, belongs to Schwartz’s father – a carpenter. About a year ago, he cleared out an area in his high-ceilinged workshop for Schwartz to begin her silk screening operation - a mainly self-taught endeavor – with a little help from one of Schwartz’s friends at High Range Design.
“I was doing web and graphic design here in Jackson, but I’m not very good working with people,” said Schwartz of her independent nature. “I kinda like doing my own thing.”
Studying graphic design in school, Schwartz said she was “exposed to many diverse art forms” that lead to her design techniques now. She has begun by branding a sure staple of Jackson Hole clothing – the integral hoodie. “I love them, I don’t think you can ever have too many hoodies,” she laughed.
As her monocycle sketch gains recognition around the valley, Schwartz is busy concocting more plans.
Already screening some other botany-birthed designs, the next print will be based upon the works of a researcher who poured plaster down an ant hill. After the plaster dried, the model displayed all of the burrowed corridors, chambers and rooms that the ant colony created deep beneath the earth. Schwartz has a few intangible ideas as well. One of which, involves nature’s most transparent element. “I went paragliding for the first time last week and the guy who took me out was discussing how air boils, so I’m going to try and do something to represent that also,” Schwartz explained.
Recently registering her screen printing business as an LLC, Schwartz also sells her designs in Craft Gallery and on www.etsy.com – a Web site for independent artists to sling their creations. Her next items to add to the operation are t-shirts, hats, leg warmers, arm warmers and “skivvies.” Schwartz hopes her artsy threads will translate into images with interpretative meanings. “I like being able to picture something that’s been around for a while and then looking at it in a different way,” she said.
Photo by Derek Diluzio Locals talk fashion
Locals Talk fashion gripes, style hype | Planet JH News Article: Cover Stories
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Tuesday, January 06, 2009
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TODAY'S EVENTS
Dance
Dancers' Workshop Tuesday Classes
at the Center for the Arts.
Music
Bootleg Flyer jams rock and country
7:30 PM to 11:00 PM
at the Silver Dollar Bar in the Wort Hotel.
Music
DJ Thunder spins
10:00 PM
at 43 North.
Music
Steam Powered Airplane plays bluegrass
3:30 PM to 6:30 PM
at Nick Wilson's Cowboy Cafe in Teton Village.
Community
Habitat ReStore Remodel
10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
at the ReStore, 854 W Broadway.
Film
Winter Film Series – In the Valley of th
2:00 PM
at the National Museum of Wildlife Art.
Art
Art After Hours and Tapas Tuesdays
5:00 PM
at the National Museum of Wildlife Art.
View All Events
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