Epaulet New York

Epaulet Outfits Dylan Boelte

6. The first song that you ever learned how to play?

Money Talks by AC/DC. My brother Damon and I learned how to play it together when we were ten years old. The second song I learned was Stairway to Heaven…kidding.

7. What’s the most embarrassing thing to happen to you while playing music on stage?

I don’t get embarrassed easily and usually forget everything that happened during a performance once it’s over, which actually makes me feel more comfortable on stage. And that’s kind of weird, I guess. It’s the dumb stuff that I do off stage that embarrasses me.

8. Your hair. How do you do it?

Hah. I’ve always preferred shaggy hair, but have never had mine quite this long before. I was inspired by my buddy Tyler at Black Mountain. He grew his hair out to donate it to his mother, who lost hers during cancer treatment. I was very moved by the gesture and thought I could do something similar.

9. Tell us one secret about yourself that NO ONE else knows.

I’ll need to get back to you on this one.

10. Which version of China Girl? Iggy Pop’s or David Bowie’s? And why?

They’re both great, but I’m going with Bowie on this one. His baritone is much smoother. This song is in my natural register, so it’s a great break from all the ridiculously high-pitched songs in my karaoke repertoire. Plus, it’s more seductive, which is important in Karaoke.

Epaulet Outfits Dylan Boelte

Dylan Boelte is a friend of Epaulet, base player of the band BROTHERS, karaoke king, tastemaker and all around extra-ordinary dude.

1. What’s been the most consistent element of your style over the past few years?

My black tortoiseshell Oliver Goldsmith sunglasses. I sought out a design like this for almost 10 years until I discovered that Oliver Goldsmith had resurrected the frame from their archive. It’s called Mistinguett (circa 1967), and they’ve since been taken out of regular production, but you can have them custom made.

2. What article of clothing of yours has the most sentimental value?

My BROTHERS jacket and my uncle’s letter sweater from Lone Wolf high school, which is also my alma mater. It’s black with three orange stripes around the left sleeve and it’s beat up in all the right ways.

3. What’s the most inspiring film that you’ve seen recently?

On Any Sunday. My buddies Dan and Chris from The Shop turned me onto it, and I can’t believe that I hadn’t seen it before. It’s a documentary on the Baja 1000 rally race down the peninsula. I ride motorcycles and this movie revived my dream of embarking on a long ride through the desert. I’m heading out to New Mexico in October—not quite the same, but it’ll do for now.

4. What recent technology do you wish had never been invented?

Facebook. It’s obviously great for certain things and there’s no escaping it, but, ironically, it has crushed my social life. A lot of my friends living elsewhere in the world have given up on personal forms of communication and instead expect others to keep up with their lives through their FB timelines. I can’t, and the relationships have lost their personal connection. It’s quite sad, actually.

5. The two most crucial things that guys can do to be more stylish are…

FIRST: Make sure that your clothes fit. A $4000 suit will look like rubbish if it doesn’t fit well, while a tailored $300 suit can make you look like a million bucks. SECOND: Find or create a constant iconic element, something that really reflects your personality. A hairstyle or an accessory like a hat, glasses, bandana, lapel pin, switchblade, keychain, gold medal, leather jacket or anything that stands out as your thing. Think of the icons, like George Burns’s glasses and cigar, Keith’s hair and skull ring, Karl Lagerfeld’s everything. So many guys default to the J. Crew uniform these days, which is safe and better than having no direction, but also totally forgettable. If you ask a child to sketch a picture of you, and you have no defining characteristics, then what will that child draw? They’ll just draw a plain smiley face. :) Which is just crazy, because no one smiles like that.

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