Photo by Amy TheligDJ Tim Schwab, who works days at the Laguna Art Museum, has been spinning records for three years and, in that time, has seen it all where club fashion is concerned. No, wait, actually he hasn't—and for this he blames you. Schwab, 32, spins Wednesdays at Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa—”everything from a lot of postpunk to new wave to current stuff—and a lot of current stuff that is influenced by '80s stuff.” Also, on the last Saturday of every month, “I do a thing with Sean Sloan and my brother Joe Schwab called Revolver Project at La Cave in Costa Mesa. We'll even get into, like, Prince, a lot of electroclash, a lot of the, like, indie rock stuff but more dancey.” Oh, yeah, and he also started his own clothing line a couple of years ago. So we figured he was the perfect person to ask what you should be wearing this summer—besides one of the T-shirts he makes. He was cruel—to be kind.
BesidesT-shirts,whatelsedoyouseepeoplewearingattheclubs?
Clothes that they get from Hot Topic. There's a lot of surf- and skateboard-influenced stuff because we're near the beach. There's a lot of carryover from the Black Flys era. It's the kind of spiky hair [highlighted] look. The club I do and the clubs that I usually go to aren't glitter or glam. You don't get the kind of stripper girl in the crazy pink platforms. It's more like hipsters and indie rock kids. Orange County doesn't seem to be that diverse.
Actually,nowitofficiallyis...
Yeah, well, there's that whole trend of girls right now with dyed-black hair. There's a lot of them, where they cut the hair into different shapes [asymmetrical]. The leather-cuff watch, although I've started to see a trend toward smaller, thinner watches. And of course there's jelly bracelets.
Ofcourse.SowecanblametheReaganera—still?'CauseIhearthe'90sarecomingback.
There's a lot of influence from the '80s both in fashion and music. I was walking around the mall the other day, and I saw a $72 Izod polo shirt—and it was bright yellow—and I remembered when you couldn't even give that stuff away. And the Penguin shirts are back. Members Only jackets kind of came back, but I think they're starting to die.
Youdoyourownclothingline—what'sitlike?
I just started printing my own T-shirts 'cause I was fed up with what was available. And I'd wear them out and people kept asking where they were available, so now I have a few with me. I also do hoodies and [turntable] slipmats. Wallet designs as well.
Theindierockthingissohotnowthatyoumustseepeopletryingtofakeit.
Well, yeah, there's all variations. There's the kind of hipster guy who's kind of buff and kind of like a jock, but you can tell he wants to go for the more emotional approach with girls.
Thehipsterminator,thebro-bot,thebro-in-disguise...Youmustbereallyangryhavingtoseeallthisagain.
I went through that at its worst period. That was all really big in junior high school, that whole preppy look. But it has a new spin on it now—it's more ironic nerd—so I guess that's okay.
Sowhat'syourprognosisonceeveryonehasatleastonepiecebyLeTigreorIzod?Issomethingbigjustaroundthefashionbend?
It doesn't feel like there's anything that new coming out. It's like we're kind of entering this void where people don't know what is going to happen. There's an uncertainty, and people don't know what's going on.
Find Tim Schwab online at www.willisland.com, his site, which he swears on a stack of Madras button-downs will be up soon, or at WWW.REVOLVERPROJECT.COM.
