Dads truly are the original hipsters (and not just because of this TUMBLR). To celebrate June 15, we called on some of Opening Ceremony's favorite designers to interview their own fashionable fathers. This time, Marguerite Wade of Full Court.
"Dad, you're going to get this interview canned," Marguerite Wade says jokingly, as she tries to get him to be a curmudgeonly old man. But Marguerite's father, Hugh, knows how to keep his mouth shut. On Rihanna, see-through dresses, and Miley Cyrus? "I don't know what you're talking about," he says. "I have no opinion on that matter."
MARGUERITE WADE: Okay, pops. Who did you dress like when you were my age?
HUGH WADE: Nobody, really. We just dressed depending on the occasion.
Well, what was a typical first date like?
I graduated from Northwestern, and Northwestern was out in Evanston. That particular area is dry, so people would zip into Chicago to party or go out on a date. You would take them out to Pizzeria Uno or something like that. I took your mom to Pizzeria Uno, the original.
When did you meet my mom?
I met her in Hyde Park in the '60s. Hyde Park has become more famous with people your age because that’s where Obama lived, but it was a heck of a lot more famous before he got there, starting from the '20s on. The Village [in New York] got its inspiration from Hyde Park.
So, if you were walking around Hyde Park, did you notice people who dressed with flair?
My generation does not deal in flair. I think they still go to Brooks Brothers like I do, [or] Paul Stuart…
Well you don’t do flair.
None of that was called "flair." That was just called "getting dressed." I guess if you’re going to see Sly and the Family Stone, you would wear something with what you would call "flair." Which would probably be a very colorful shirt, dress pants...
Bell-bottoms?
No, no, no. That was a completely different thing.
Well, I remember this one experience. It was the '80s, and we were visiting you and you came out in hilarious tan bell-bottoms. We were aghast because they were so big at the ankles. We had never seen anything like it before. And you said, "Oh, these are my old pants."
I did do bell-bottoms in the '70s, but I don’t remember. I probably blocked it out.
You have good style, other than that. You used to wear very particular things.
When I was a young man there was such a thing called a Nehru jacket, and every fashion designer was designing things to go with the Nehru jacket. And I never got one. It didn’t look good on me. Like, I never had a major afro. Everyone had the afro, slack pants, the tie-dye (I did do tie-dye), and platform shoes.
Did you have a pair of platform shoes?
No, I did not. I thought I would fall off and break my neck.
So, you went against all of that, which I like.
I just can’t wear it. The afro, s
"Dad, you're going to get this interview canned," Marguerite Wade says jokingly, as she tries to get him to be a curmudgeonly old man. But Marguerite's father, Hugh, knows how to keep his mouth shut. On Rihanna, see-through dresses, and Miley Cyrus? "I don't know what you're talking about," he says. "I have no opinion on that matter."
He did have things to say about Marguerite's athletic line, Full Court, however. "You will not have any problem selling your line, because styles change, fashions change, but class does not," he says. "I'm glad you think I have class," Marguerite says. Here, she interviews her father about Hyde Park in the hippie days and whether or not the Brooks Brothers-loving dad wore bell-bottoms.
MARGUERITE WADE: Okay, pops. Who did you dress like when you were my age?
HUGH WADE: Nobody, really. We just dressed depending on the occasion.
Well, what was a typical first date like?
I graduated from Northwestern, and Northwestern was out in Evanston. That particular area is dry, so people would zip into Chicago to party or go out on a date. You would take them out to Pizzeria Uno or something like that. I took your mom to Pizzeria Uno, the original.
When did you meet my mom?
I met her in Hyde Park in the '60s. Hyde Park has become more famous with people your age because that’s where Obama lived, but it was a heck of a lot more famous before he got there, starting from the '20s on. The Village [in New York] got its inspiration from Hyde Park.
So, if you were walking around Hyde Park, did you notice people who dressed with flair?
My generation does not deal in flair. I think they still go to Brooks Brothers like I do, [or] Paul Stuart…
Well you don’t do flair.
None of that was called "flair." That was just called "getting dressed." I guess if you’re going to see Sly and the Family Stone, you would wear something with what you would call "flair." Which would probably be a very colorful shirt, dress pants...
Bell-bottoms?
No, no, no. That was a completely different thing.
Well, I remember this one experience. It was the '80s, and we were visiting you and you came out in hilarious tan bell-bottoms. We were aghast because they were so big at the ankles. We had never seen anything like it before. And you said, "Oh, these are my old pants."
I did do bell-bottoms in the '70s, but I don’t remember. I probably blocked it out.
You have good style, other than that. You used to wear very particular things.
When I was a young man there was such a thing called a Nehru jacket, and every fashion designer was designing things to go with the Nehru jacket. And I never got one. It didn’t look good on me. Like, I never had a major afro. Everyone had the afro, slack pants, the tie-dye (I did do tie-dye), and platform shoes.
Did you have a pair of platform shoes?
No, I did not. I thought I would fall off and break my neck.
So, you went against all of that, which I like.
I just can’t wear it. The afro, s