Aug 20, 2021 Fashion
SIAN We have similar styles, but we wear things differently. I wouldn’t say that we look the same when we go out together, but we wear similar things so we can share a lot of our wardrobe.
TINA Growing up, I remember always either asking Sian and being the ‘good sister’ or sometimes sneaking in the room and taking the clothing. And then, you know, your friend would be like, “let’s say a group photo” and I’ll be like “Oh, can I stand in the back and just have my head showing?”
Bucket hat, Sian’s coat.
TINA So one of my favourite pieces is my white terry towelling bucket hat. It was actually my poppa’s. He had come from England but the label on the hat says it’s made in New Zealand so he would have bought it here, I’m assuming because of the New Zealand sun. I wear these nearly every day. I’m a DJ (aka bbyfacekilla) so I wear that DJ-ing all the time as well. I just did a Boiler Room set, which was fully recorded and had the hat on the whole time — even when it was falling off because of my head-phones. It’s a nostalgic piece. I think when I wear it, I feel safe in it as well. It’s like a safety blanket, same with all my scarves and jewellery.
SIAN I think for me, it’s about having the staples, like having a good jacket, having good pants, having your favourite things. I have a lot of the same thing, like black jeans, Dickies. I have so many Dickies! Also a lot of camo pants. So many camo pants! I went to a shop the other day and someone was like, “you’re always wearing camo pants”. Stuff that’s just comfortable to wear around every-day. I hate being uncomfortable.
I got this coat like 10 years ago. I picked it up in a market and it stood out because it was all suede with the faux fur inside. I’m a really big fan of, like, horror as a genre and have been ever since I was young. Every time I wear this coat I always get told I look like a character from the film Blade. And that’s exactly who I feel like I am whenever I put that coat on. It makes me feel powerful.
Tiger shirt, Dr Martens
TINA I like to wear button-up shirts when I’m DJ-ing. So I wear that Tiger shirt a lot. When I go thrifting or secondhand clothing shopping, I look for the print. So obviously that one’s got an all-over print, which I love. I think print, fabric and fit are my most important things, so that one just caught my eye because of the full print, and then I put it on and then, like, the way it fell, it just kind of draped over there.
SIAN My Dr Martens were bought secondhand. Like a lot of my clothes, really. They were almost in perfect condition from a consignment store. They’ve had a lot of fun times as you can see — they’ve got a few scratches. I really love my Docs because they’re versatile, they go with anything. They’re a good alternative to dress something up as well if you don’t want to wear a high boat or a heel or something. You can always get away with wearing a pair of docs and they go anything from dresses to jeans.
Rob Zombie and Levi’s silver tabs
SIAN We were on our very first buying trip in LA for Hunting Ground and we were going through all these shirts. We see a lot of the same band shirts when we go to these places. So there’s, like, a lot of Metallica, a lot of ACDC. So we were looking through, grabbing what we like and then I found this Rob Zombie long-sleeve shirt, grabbed it and I said, “This is mine when we get home. We’re not selling this one.” I’m just such a big fan of horror movies so I was really into Rob Zombie, his movies and his music too. So when I found that I just had to have it and I haven’t really seen any other Rob Zombie merchandise. I find that the older band tees are just made differently and they fit differently.
TINA These are my favourite pair of Levi’s silver tabs. Levi’s usually have a red tab but I think they introduced these in 1988 and I think it was mostly for the baggy trend of the nineties. I really like baggy clothing so this is perfect.
SIAN I picked those jeans up from LA, from a market and this real cool guy just had a bunch of them. On that trip to LA, Tina actually stayed behind for a really big gig in New Zealand but she told me to keep an eye out for these jeans. I found this guy with a whole bunch of them and I was like, “I’ll take all those jeans!”
TINA There’s lots of wear in those jeans but for me pieces don’t have to be perfect. I like the wear because I think it tells a story, gives the pieces character. I think a lot of my pieces have like, you know, then imperfections, but not imperfections to me.
What I’ve come to realise as well is that it’s OK to just be comfortable and wear what you’re comfortable in instead of worrying about fitting into a scenario or going with clothes that you think everyone will be wearing so you need to also wear something similar. It’s important to wear clothes that make you feel empowered.
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This story was published in Metro 431 – Available here in print and pdf.
