For this week’s Battenwear Journal, we interview Simon who draws outfits and is a “warts and all” model under the alias Deliberate Indifference. Simon also designs a lovely, small independent brand in the UK called Saccade, which he graciously claims was somewhat motivated by his interest in Battenwear (we proudly own a few of his sweatshirts and hope to collect more Saccade pieces soon) 

 

 

 

BATTENWEAR:  We've never actually met you in person, but (maybe weirdly) we feel like we have become friends over instagram, emails, and phone calls. It’s a true modern fromance! Here's what we think we know about you so far. Any corrections? 

• Dad first, professional illustrator second, clothes hound third? 
• Doesn't take self seriously but has a lot of fashion integrity. AKA willing to be silly and irreverent, but not willing to compromise on quality of style. 
• Well connected in the UK fashion scene, sought out by fellow online fashion junkies as well as labels and stores for his unique style perspective 
• Has strong DIY vibes . . . from painting own house, to building an independent fashion label to scratch a design itch, to maintaining the drive to work full-time from home despite being surrounded by a million distractions supplied by said family, house, fashion label etc. 

 

SIMON: Thank you for the insightful snapshot of me - it’s scarily accurate! You know me as well as I do.

 

 

BATTENWEAR:  We follow several people on social media who very creatively and expressively post pictures of themselves in everyday outfits. This has led us down a mental rabbit hole about how fashion selfies, at least the ones that are particularly done well, could be the newest form of artistic self-portraiture. We wonder: will future art historians catalog select fashion personalities on social media when distilling the ethos and aesthetics of our era? 

 

We like that in your case, you both photograph AND draw selfies. Can you tell us a little bit about your process for each type of self-portraiture? What inspires you in each case? What is going through your mind as you frame a shot? As you begin drawing a new piece?

 

SIMON: In truth I started posting the illustrations as a way of sharing my enthusiasm for clothing without needing to be in front of a camera. It also let me create outfits using clothes I didn’t own, so the whole internet is my wardrobe if you like. 

 

As the years have gone by, my illustration style has changed, and my skills have improved (but always room for more improvement). My illustrations take me a lot longer to create, so I sometimes mix it up with a photo of what I’m wearing, too. Photos are much quicker, and I think it’s nice to remind people - now in the age of AI more than ever - that they’re interacting with a real person, warts and all. 

 

In my photos and reels I don’t try and get the perfect backdrop, or worry too much about my poses etc. For me, it’s about the clothes and the clothes only. I’m not trying to pretend I live a perfect life in a perfect, tidy home. I just want to connect with like-minded souls who like clothes but don’t take themselves too seriously. I’ve been lucky enough to attend a few real life instagram meet-ups mostly in Yorkshire, with one local to me in Newcastle and another up in Glasgow at Orzel store, run by my friend Grant. For me it’s about the connections you make and not the numbers of likes your posts get. Though of course that helps with exposure and turns more people on to what I do, but it is not the be-all-and-end-all.

 

I do think that in future years it will be interesting for art historians to look back using content from social media as a means of identifying trends and themes over the years. Of course, this is already happening to some extent as we see the micro trends come and go and things move ever faster, but hopefully we are coming out the other side of that craziness now to some degree.

 

 

BATTENWEAR: Obviously you collect clothes and shoes . . . what else does your wife complain you spend too much money on? 

 

SIMON: Before we had kids, I used to read a lot and spent a lot of money on books (I’ve still got a load of them despite recently giving boxes to charity). I’m a bit of a geek and mainly read fantasy and some sci fi. Favourite authors are Joe Abercrombie, Raymond E Feist, and Stephen King (The Stand is my favourite book). I recently really enjoyed Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman. It would make an awesome movie in the right hands. Someone like Robert Eggers would do it well, I think. I also pick up the occasional art or design book as well, and they are often much more expensive than novels.

 

But other than books, it’s mainly clothes--definitely my financial Achilles heel! 

 

 

BATTENWEAR: Finally, and most importantly: If you had a secret door in your house that, at midnight when everyone else was asleep, could open up to anywhere in the world, where would you choose to go first?

 

SIMON: There are two answers here. The first is for my mental wellbeing, so would be to somewhere peaceful and warm, like a little log cabin up a mountain with a small lake nearby, where I could sit in the sun (or shade of the porch) and read a book, then light the fire and sink a beer after the sun went down. I’m not a big fan of beaches.

 

The second answer is for adventure and that would be Japan. I am not just saying this because you guys are based there, but it has been top of my bucket list for years and years. The cities and the countryside both appeal. I’ve had friends visit and they’ve all raved about how great it is. Also, the clothes shopping! 

 

 

Thank you so much to Simon, aka Mr. Deliberate Indifference, for taking the time to answer our questions, as well as including Battenwear in his infinite mental and finite physical wardrobe. We love the way he draws AND wears us and we hope to pepper his closet with as much Battenwear as possible.