I met Tanner Dean, this week’s Five Fits With subject, a couple of years ago. We’ve since stayed in touch through social media, as we all tend to do. But there’s that sort of uncanny knowing of a person that comes with following them online. Tanner and I both come from the hardcore music scene; we came up photographing shows and finding a place in a community full of weirdos and nerds. In a menswear world in which those sorts of subcultures tend to create insular pockets of personalities, it was an interesting point of connection.
Of course, he also posts outfits and garments, and I’ve been a fan of his personal style since I met him. So I was doubly happy to meet Tanner, who currently work as at Celine, in his neighborhood over coffee to chat about life and style. We discussed his roots on the West Coast—he grew up Southern California before moving to Eugene, Oregon and eventually New York—his love for niche Japanese fashion and NYC-based label Bode, how he became a figure on TikTok, and much more.
Fit One
Jacket by Bode, vintage T-shirt, vintage trousers by Dockers, belt by Maximum Henry, shoes by Blackstock & Weber, and ring by Staatballet.
When did you first become interested in Fashion?
My music taste as well as upbringing blends into personal style a bit, where I really gravitate towards Celine and Saint Laurent and Dior, and Hedi Slimane; because he was somebody who really enjoys surf rock in Malibu, but also UK alternative punk, but then also Berlin house music and New York indie-sleaze. I also took four years of Japanese in international high school. I was learning the language and then that blended itself with my like of secondhand clothes and fashion. I learned about Comme des Garçons, and then that took off into Yohji Yamamoto and Undercover. I loved Undercover because of Jun Takahashi and his love for music and rock and indie. Narrative’s a big, big thing for me in clothes and fashion. If you’re making clothes that have no assertion or vision, then why are you making them? It just doesn’t make sense to me. I tend to like smaller brands because they do the best storytelling.
I was also a part of that 2010s hipster Portland thing. That was my intro into fashion. Being from surfer Southern California, then moving to hippie Eugene, Oregon, the laid-back, bohemian, disheveled prep is always something I really like. Something that’s buttoned up and quite clean, but you tweak it a little bit and you make it a little bit frumpy or a bit beat up. Another big fashion thing for me was that I wore a lot of all black because I was going to and photographing hardcore shows. I was always in Doc Martens, Carhartt double knees, and a vintage tee.
You have a fairly big following on Instagram, and an even larger one on TikTok. What are the differences in the content you create for both?
I talk directly to an audience on TikTok, while on Instagram I feel it’s a bit more curated. I treat Instagram like the photography app that it originally was, just because, again—probably going back to the Portland curated latte art with the Pacific Northwest landscape—Portland hipsterism is still something that I hold onto a little bit. I like to curate a vision for what my feed and stories look like.
Fit Two
Shirt by Comme des Garçons Homme, shorts by Maison Margiela, shoes by Prada, and glasses by Gentle Monster.
Why’d you start doing video content on TikTok?
Initially, I started posting outfits because I wanted a catalog of all of my personal style. People just started following along. I started talking to the camera more. Because I was in Oregon, I would go to a thrift store and find a bunch of Carhartt double-knees. I would buy them because they were $10 or $20. I went on TikTok and I’m like, “Here’s what I got at the thrift store.” People were like, “This is satire, right?” Because they think that all of these things are worth a lot of money because in a resale-market mindset, all of those pants are $100-$200 on Grailed.
From there people started realizing that I was into more than just Carhartt double knees, like niche Japanese brands. I would wear Ann Demeulemeester, Undercover, Raf Simmons, Hedi Slimane. From there I got into Bode. That was definitely a big shift for me in terms of color palette.
Why did you move to New York?
Because this is the only American city with a Fashion Week.
Has it had any impact on your personal style?
I still have all of these little nods to Oregon style. But I think it’s the New York version.
Fit Three
Jacket by Craig Green, T-shirt by Whitesville, trousers by Kiko Kostadinov, sneakers by Nike x Bode, and glasses by Quality Mending.
What tips do you have for readers who want to get into more conceptual, experimental fashion brands?
All of my fashion stems from really enjoying a TV show or a book or a movie. Like, “That looks cool. I want to try to implement that.” It’s good to have interests outside of fashion, like music. The best place to find personal style is searching inward, but it should be found within oneself as well as rooted within community. If you don’t have either, then you either follow what everyone else is doing or you spiral within yourself.
Clothing is almost nonverbal communication. So it’s just a matter of what conversation you want to have each day with the things that you put on—and who you want to have a conversation with, too. What band T-shirt do you want to put on? What signaling do you want to do? How do you want to feel? Do I want to feel laid back? Do I want to feel like I have a task to do? Putting on something that is outside of your comfort zone is always tricky, but you eventually find [your community]. In New York, it’s really easy.
Fit Four
Vintage jacket, T-shirt, and trousers; belt by Maximum Henry; and boots by Drew’s.
It’s more popular than ever. There are more people, and specifically more straight dudes, interested in clothes than there ever were.
Tanner: Yeah, I was wearing tall Ann Demeulemeester boots with a Raf Simmons cropped sweater in Eugene, Oregon. I was going to a coffee shop in that, and people were probably looking at me like I was a total weirdo. But then I also really liked Thom Browne, and I like wearing Thom Browne skirts and subverting traditions. Hedi had guys in blouses with bows and skinny jeans and higher heels. Bode does ballet flats that have bows on them. I don’t necessarily like traditional masculinity within fashion. I like that are more feminine sometimes. It’s always fun to have something with a bow with a boot that a lumberjack would, to do something that’s edgy, mixed with something softer. I like that conversation.
Can you give me three of your favorite places to shop in New York?
Quality Mending is up there. I love vintage and Quality Mending is the best vintage store in New York. Oliver, the shop owner, is the kindest, sweetest guy. I will go there and just hang out. Bode’s got to be there because of my enjoyment of the brand. I like the store, I like the clothes. Tokio7 for vintage archive designer and Japanese brands.
Fit Five
Jacket, shirt, tie, and boots by Thom Browne; vintage jeans by Levi’s; and belt by Maximum Henry.
When you’re not working, what are some of your favorite things to do in the city?
Go to shows, go to a coffee shop and read. Just hang out with my friends. I like a good wine bar. I like a good restaurant that has really nice, warm, darker mood lighting. The food can be whatever.
You’re a vibe over food guy?
Yeah. If the space is good and I can just chill and sit, the food can be subpar. I’m not super picky. I’m always down to try something new when it comes to food. It’s like the one area of crazy spontaneity that I have because I’m a routine person and I usually go to the same places. I’ll try something new off the menu, or I’ll try a new drink. I really enjoy doing that.
If you had to wear one outfit for the rest of your life, what would it consist of?
It would be a black sweater, probably cashmere, with a black vintage T-shirt, a pair of black trousers—maybe pleated, probably a straight leg—and then a pair of black boots or black loafers. Then I would put on a statement jacket and it would be something that is mixing the worlds of workwear meets tailoring. It would probably be either my Bode boxing jacket or my Bode Senior Cord jacket. All black, and then the one jacket that is not a statement piece but a signature piece. Something that you wear so often that instead of it being something that makes people think, Whoa, that’s crazy, they go, Tanner’s in his Tanner jacket.
First outfit: Bode jacket, tee vintage, Maximum Henry belt, vintage Dockers, Blackstock and Weber shoes, STAATBALLET ring.