Week 4: As Seen on TV

Tanner is truly unique to anyone I’ve ever met. I know that’s a really bold statement and you’re probably sitting there thinking everyone is unique, Katie but shhh. Tanner is a freshman here at USC who wants to go into costume design for TV and film. Yes, he literally goes to class everyday learning about how to create the outfits for the people that you see in those Netflix Original series with gazillion dollar budgets just for clothes.

While I was whining to my friend about how nobody that I see on campus wants to talk to me, she brought up Tanner, who did a program with her friend’s sister this past summer. She put us in touch, and after the usual schedule-maneuvering, Tanner and I found ourselves at a table in the USC village just before sunset on Friday.

When you first see Tanner, you instantly get the impression that he’s someone with a loud personality. I mean, he pulled up wearing a graffiti-printed silk scarf and a beret for crying out loud. But this isn’t the case at all. Tanner is very articulate and poised; he speaks slowly and with caution as he explains his background as an actor-turned-designer at his performing arts high school in Dallas.

“I tried to force style on myself,” he said. “Until high school, it was like, wear whatever the rest of the boys were wearing…Nike everything.” He auditioned for a performing arts high school in pursuit of his childhood dream of becoming an actor, and once he got in, he felt pressure to be artsy and different like everyone else. In retrospect, he realizes the irony in this statement.

Over the course of his high school career, his sense of style evolved with inspirations ranging from Victorian beauty to Avant-garde aesthetics to Western flare. When I asked him how he would describe his style, a word instantly came to his mind: bold.

Instead of summarizing his own style, he threw out a few phrases at me, and they kind of did the trick. Wide-leg pants, color clashing, bolo ties, silk scarves, gold. From these assorted puzzle pieces, I feel like I can assemble some image of who Tanner is stylistically.

He loves the idea that smaller, supporting elements can come together to make one beautiful whole. Some of his favorite outfits are just plain turtlenecks or t-shirts with a good pair of pants, as long as its accessorized properly. Adding a front-tuck of the shirt or an eye-catching hat are some of the weapons he keeps in his accessory arsenal. zhuzh-ing up an outfit with these little things is an imperative lesson in good fashion.

Now knowing what I know about Tanner, it’s only logical that his biggest pet peeve is blandness. “I’ll walk into Zara now and all the men’s clothing looks the same,” he tells me. Finding fun and flattering men’s clothing has become difficult for him in popular stores that he once frequented. “I feel like we’re at a spot in society where men are willing to care more about their fashion and leave that heteronormative look.”

It would be a dream of his to see those beautiful patterns pieces in the women’s section adapted to fit the male form. He tells me that one day this will be a side project of his, on top of his costume design brand and dressing celebrities for the Met Gala, of course.

quick questions

who is your style inspiration?
can i name a brand? gucci.

what’s one article of clothing you can’t live without?
silk scarves.

heels or flats?
heels; a kitten heel.

if you could only shop at one store for the rest of your life, where would it be?
gucci.