The Gooch Bros. are back again, bringing everyone back to the Arts District for a great evening of music, snacks, and great brands.

Ya’ll remember our favorite brothers right?  To quote my favorite band Staind, it’s been a while.  And what better way to bring them back than with their trademark Gooch Collective, an event that features artisanal/ethical brands and music by some of LA’s best musicians. Long time readers of the blog will remember that I’ve attended a few before, with the inaugural one at the Wellema Hat Co. and the subsequent one at the Rogue Collective.  These events were put on hiatus, as Josh (who gathered the musicians) went on tour with Shania Twain for most of 2018 and part of 2019.  I was excited to see that they were planning another one.

If you remember one of my earlier podcast episodes (back when I still did interviews), you’ll know that Garret and Josh are big fans of ethical fashion and supporting artisanal brands.  This actually culminated in Garret co-founding Ziggie, a website that brings together that type of clothing with health/beauty products, specialty foods, and partnerships with causes and charitable organizations.  This website was the focus of the latest Gooch Collective, which was entitled “Ziggie IRL” and featured a few of the brands they have on the website!

Garret put the event back on at the Rogue Collective, a similarly minded store in the Arts District.  We’ve actually been there a few times, so it felt like a nostalgic return to when I first started hanging with the Gooch Brothers last year.  While the store isn’t exactly my everyday style (it leans into minimal/streetwear), I do like coming in and seeing what they have from time to time.  Their core chorecoats are perhaps my favorite (as I always love a good chore coat/overshirt), but they’ve since supplemented their offering with a few new brands (as our friends Clutch Golf are stocked there); they even have a MTM suit company taking residence in their back lounge.  For the Ziggie Pop-up weekend, they also started carrying 2120 Handcrafted shoes, Clarke and Barba leather goods (the makers of my leather tote bag), and a few other brands from their website.

Of course, the music was a big highlight, with an accoustic first set by Shelby Gogreve and the rest as improvised rock/blues by Joshua Gooch and his friends.  Snacks were provided by the Pie Hole next door and we were also able to sample from “elixrs” from Rebbl, which were both perfect since it got pretty sweaty running around talking to people and taking pictures.  Overall, it felt like a very LA event, but one that was accessible and wholesome compared to most other vibes here.

Going all out at an event is something we’re not a stranger to.  Garret had a great summer look (its still nearly 90F in LA) that I feel was ripped out of my archives.  Under a navy chore blazer, he has a great peach/white floral motif sport shirt (with the runaway collar) and some cream canvas trousers from Clutch Golf.  If you look closely, you’ll see that the trousers have some paint stains, which look damn fantastic.

I do like his move of wearing navy suede pennys as an echo of his jacket.

In a similar vein, Josh also wore a sportshirt and a navy jacket (cotton-linen from Uniqlo), but in a decidedly toned down version.  The sportshirt is vintage and features a slight ribbed texture to offset it’s plain color.  In a baller prep move, he has pleated seersucker trousers (RL via eBay) and brown suede 2120 derbies. It’s cool, comfortable, and very Josh, especially with the newsboy cap.  I wouldn’t want to touch any of these clothes after his performance; I’m sure he was sweaty as hell.

My look is probably a bit more toned down than previous Gooch collective attire.  I was really feeling the fall palette, hence all the dark, tonal colors of red, navy, brown and black. I thought it was a great opportunity to wear my brown SJC chinos because they’re such a rich color that actually pairs well with black footwear; the black is echoed by my paper beret, which is extremely breathable.

I’m not sure what to call the vibe of the outfit. It’s not exactly vintage casual but not strictly Japanese-Americana as a whole.  It does feel like something you’d expect from me.

I’m glad Michael was able to come despite now being a fulltime law student.  Unlike most lawyers, I’m glad he has a great style outside of his corporate attire.  He’s been very inspired by Ralph Lauren lately, and this Americana outfit is no exception.  Under his grandpa’s leather jacket, he has a denim sawtooth and bandana, the latter being a style move I haven’t tried myself.  The chinos are perfect for Drake’s/ivy looks, but he pairs them here with Red Wings.

If you’re looking for an easy casual style to wear in Fall that isn’t as crazy as what I do, just take notes from Michael.

Jay has clearly been taking notes from Spencer’s love of surplus, as is evident by the use of a great olive overshirt.  However, he brings it back to an easy ivy look with a striped tee under a blue OCBD; more on that style move later.  Jay is still a fan of slim jeans, but he makes it interesting with white socks against black suede derbies.

MJ also likes to do ivy with a twist. Like Jay he has a light blue OCBD, but instead of jeans, MJ went for a more Japanese twist by wearing wide leg pleated chinos; the Drake’s inspo comes through with purple socks and chukka boots.  More subversion comes in the form of a velvet-y corduroy chore jacket by Garments for No One.  I love that rich black color since it gives the outfit some edge.

Lat

Lastly we have Spencer. Despite his mean mug, I think he’s happy that things are cooling down ever so slightly.  Regardless of the high 80s that morning, the evening went to the low 70s, which helped him decide on wearing some layers, namely a well worn Lee chore coat and half-zip military sweater over a chambray shirt.  The camo pants are reproduction M-43s, but we’ll get more on “fun pants” in a future post.

Like Josh, Spencer also sports brown suede 2120 derbies.

Snapshots

I’m not always a fan of flash pictures (namely because I like using natural light) but I definitely like how it gives everything that underground band feel.  Feels appropriate since this was in the Arts District and we all just acted silly with all our friends. Almost everyone I hang out with was there!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway it was great.  Hopefully with this and WM Brown before it, we’re going to have a few more events that I’ll be able to attend and cover (since it really was a dry summer). If only it would just get colder so we could have more fun with our outfits…

Always a pleasure,

@ethanmwong