a conversation with dodo.

One of the things about being a regular at any establishment is that you typically become familiar with the other regulars. Between our various outings at the Urban Food Brood and seeing his fit checks online, we became familiar with Dodo. We’d see him and his girlfriend enjoying meals, while online he was building a world for his character to explore. Sometimes that meant a cute coffee shop, other times somewhere more rugged and overgrown, like Gasoline Alley. His classic sense of style, mixed with that world-building and sense of adventure, made me think he’d be a great person to photograph.

Luckily for us, he was kind enough to let us take some photos and gracious enough to answer a few questions about fashion, style, and self-expression.

Lightly edited for clarity.

Dodo shot by The 413 Joint

The 413 Joint: I know you’ve said your fashion journey is still relatively new. Can you talk to me a little bit about how you got into it and how your style has evolved?

Dodo: Yeah. I’ve always kind of been into fashion since I was in high school, but it looked a lot different back then. It was very streetwear vibe because, at the time, the biggest kind of style was the Yeezy streetwear vibe. And so I was like, “Oh, I gotta fit that vibe.” So I would dress like that and stuff.

But then after high school, I just worked all the time. It was work, work, work, and I just kind of became a robot. I never did anything outside of work. I was always wearing scrubs, and I was like, “I don’t need to wear cool outfits and stuff. I don’t do anything.”

And then COVID hit too. So I was like, “I really don’t need to worry about how I look,” in terms of what I wear.

Then I started to realize I can’t just work my life away. At the time, I just felt like I was living to work instead of working to live. And I realized I really didn’t like that.

If I just spent my whole life preparing for the future, I would never live in the now.

So I started to care about some things more and more, like my appearance. Even if I wasn’t going to do anything, I was like, “I need to feel comfortable in what I’m wearing and how I feel about myself.”

Fashion kind of became a way for me to express that and feel like I’m more so living in the now rather than worrying about the future.

There was a time where a switch really flipped and I started caring even more. I remember I had just started dating my girlfriend Ellie, and I was looking at a guy on . He was wearing loafers and white pants, and I was like, “This looks cool. I would love to have this style.”

Then I remember thinking for a second, “What’s stopping me from doing that?”

That was the real, real start of my fashion journey.

From there, it became a lot of trial and error where I was looking at what people were wearing and then putting it on. Slowly, over time, I’ve started to feel more like myself in the clothes I’m wearing rather than being like, “I’m copying this person, and now I feel like I’m wearing a costume.”

I took bits and pieces of the things I would put on, and eventually it stopped feeling like a costume and started feeling like me.

So yeah, that’s pretty much been my fashion journey since high school. But over the past year is when I had that switch flip.

The 413 Joint: What are some of your favorite ways to find clothes? And when you pick something up, what does it mean when it feels like you?

Dodo: So, my favorite way to find clothes — I’m really big on secondhand.

When I first got into it, I unfortunately fell into the easily influenced market where I would see someone pushing something that they were clearly sponsored by. And I was like, “That looks super cool. I’m gonna get it,” and not even realize what the company is built on. And on top of that, how poorly the pieces were made as well.

So I’ve really been trying to shop more secondhand, if not entirely secondhand. And it’s actually a whole lot easier than I ever thought it would be.

One of the reasons I never did it is because I was like, “Oh, it’ll be so hard to find things that fit me,” when most of the time you can find just about any size secondhand. People change, people grow, people fall out of love with certain clothes and stuff.

There’s something for everybody if you’re looking to shop secondhand. It’ll be better for you, it’ll be better for the environment, it’ll be better for the world if you just try to get something that someone’s already worn, you know?

And I think the second part of your question was—

The 413 Joint: When you pick something, when you’re searching around, like if you’re looking through a rack, what makes you pick something up and say, “That’s me”?

Dodo: Mhm. So, the fashion nerd part is, first, the material.

If something is — especially if something is 100 percent polyester — it’s just an instant no. Yeah, it’ll survive a lot of washes and stuff, but overall it’s just gonna, A, feel weird on the skin. And then B, it might survive a lot of washes, but it’s not going to look good.

And it’s going to be poorly constructed.

You can almost even tell when you’re looking at a shirt that has good material versus one that is just polyester. It almost shows to the eye.

So that’s the first thing, the material.

From there, it’s really just based on a vibe. Does the color look nice? Is it faded at all? It doesn’t have to be faded, but if someone has clearly lived in this shirt and it has a nice — I think they call it like patina? I might have butchered that. Like I said, still newer to the fashion journey.

When it has that wear, that feel that someone has lived in it and they’ve cared for it, that also kind of calls to me.

Because it’s like someone else has gotten a lot out of this and clearly cared for it. And now I get to do that. It just feels like a passing of the torch, almost.

And then there are little things. If I’m buying a dress shirt, some sort of button-up, I like it to have a bigger collar because it frames your face better.

Nowadays, a lot of shirts are made with smaller collars, and it can just make your head look bigger. Everyone’s head shape is going to be different, different size, different look, but the smaller the collar, usually the bigger it makes your head look.

It can kind of make you look like a bobblehead.

That’s just a little nerd thing. So yeah, those are really the things I look for.

The 413 Joint: Is there something that you enjoy wearing even though other people might find it ugly? Or it’s just your style and you really don’t care?

Dodo: I think one thing might be — and it’s more accepted now than it definitely was in the past — but I’ve really been liking accessorizing with some sort of bag.

It just looks kind of butt ugly if you’re fitted the fuck up and then your pockets are just full of a bunch of stuff.

You know, it’s like, “Oh, you have such nice pleated pants, but why can I see your phone, wallet, and keys?”

You look super nice, and then it’s like, “But here’s all my stuff.”

So just something simple, like adding a bag, can keep the fit looking clean and nice. And it’s also just super convenient because now you don’t have to carry everything in your pockets. You can carry it in that and then some.

If you wanted to bring a book along, if you wanted to bring your laptop, there are bags plenty big enough to hold that stuff. A charger. You don’t have to be lugging that stuff around and then also have your pockets be full, or have to wear a jacket that has pockets.

Which, in the wintertime, can be good. Wearing a nice, big jacket that has pockets is super convenient. But when it’s hot as can be outside, you don’t want to have to wear a jacket to carry everything, obviously.

So I think that’s one thing I’ll always do, no matter if someone’s like, “It’s kind of feminine to have a bag.”

Okay? And you look like a dork with your pockets full of shit, bro. What are we talking about?

And then aside from that, sometimes I put on an outfit and it’s like, “I kind of look like Indiana Jones right now,” or like I’m going for a little adventure.

Someone might be like, “Why do you look like you’re going for a little adventure?”

Because I am, dude. Life’s an adventure, you know? I’m just having fun, going gallivanting.

I think that’s another thing. No one’s ever gonna stop me from wearing what I want to wear.

Even some people I’ve seen be like, “This loafer stuff is so lame. Sneakers are so much cooler.”

And it’s like, dude, style is about expressing yourself.

I’m liking loafers. I’m liking boots. Maybe at some point I’ll like sneakers again. But right now, that’s what I’m feeling.

So yeah, I’m just always gonna wear what I want to wear, whether it’s a little handbag, a little adventurer fit, or a nice little pair of loafers.

Just gonna wear what I want to wear because it makes me feel good. And that’s what it’s about.

The 413 Joint: Yeah, exactly. Just speaking of that, is there something that you would never wear? Or is there something right now — I’m a big never-say-never person — but right now, is there something you’re like, “No, I just can’t do it”?

Dodo: I mean, right now, I think I’ve leaned away from the baggy streetwear aesthetic. Not out of some, like, “I am more righteous than thou” bullshit.

Because I think when you’re trying to express yourself through your style, if you’re someone that leans more towards a quote-unquote preppy or more put-together look, you can fall into a dangerous rabbit hole because you might start to get an inflated ego about it.

And this can happen with any kind of style.

But in the past, a preppy look was a sign of your class and your wealth. And if you didn’t dress preppy and stuff like that, you were looked down upon.

I never wanted to seem like I’m trying to do that, where I’m dressing like this because I’m trying to give off some sort of vibe where I’m better than someone, or I have more money — which I don’t.

There’s another reason I shop secondhand. I don’t have a ton of money.

But yeah, it can be a dangerous trap to fall into if you put too much of your personality into one specific style.

So I wouldn’t necessarily say there’s anything I wouldn’t wear right now, but I’ve definitely leaned away from the streetwear aesthetic. It’s not something I hate or I think is ugly.

When I see someone pull up in a streetwear fit, I can appreciate it. I’m like, “This is fucking sick.”

You can tell when someone’s got that shit on, no matter what style they’re into.

I guess the one thing I don’t think I’ll ever wear again — but again, it could change — is skinny jeans.

The 413 Joint: Yep.

Dodo: But I’m also not gonna rag on every person I see in skinny jeans.

I think there are certain aesthetics where wearing skinny jeans does look a little bit silly. But again, at the end of the day, if you feel comfortable and confident, then what the fuck does my opinion matter?

There are some people who fucking rock skinny jeans and make them look sick as hell, where I’m like, “They got that shit on.”

But I think with my build, it just looks a little weird to be wearing skinny jeans.

Some motherfuckers with certain pop-punk styles and stuff, I’m just like, “I respect it. That actually looks cool as hell.”

I wouldn’t wear it, but I can tell you right now, shit looks tough.

So yeah, there are some things I personally would stay away from, but I’m also a never-say-never kind of guy.

The 413 Joint: Yeah. Okay, last little question to wrap it up. Just speaking about other people’s style, is there somebody’s closet you would just love to raid?

Dodo: I mean, there are a lot of more niche guys recently that I’ve been hooked on, where I’m like, “I love this person’s style.”

But it’s always one of those things — I don’t follow a lot of people on social media. I’m more so like, I’ll intake their content a lot on my For You page or Explore page. And then I’ll do it enough that they just keep popping up in my Explore page.

And I don’t have to follow them because I hate clutter in my feed.

Even though they have a feature where it’s like, “Suggested for you,” and I’m like, save that for the Explore page. That’s what it’s for.

But anyways, this guy named Edgy Albert.

He has a really cool kind of American workwear vibe and French workwear vibe that I really like. And he’s a big proponent of secondhand shopping and stuff.

And there are some other people that are a little bit smaller, but to name some bigger people, I would love to raid Wisdom’s closet.

He’s got such cool style.

He’s another person where one day he might pull up in some workwear aesthetic, and the other day he’s gonna pull up in this insane dress with all these chains and stuff and just have that shit on in a way that you never would have pictured ever.

I just really fuck with that.

And I’m sure that if I got a chance to raid his closet, I might even discover things about my style that I never even knew I liked.

And then a more basic answer would be Jacob Elordi.

He has some cool pieces that I really like, even if I don’t like everything he wears.

Sometimes he pulls up in, like, a French chore coat, and that shit got hyped up so much to the point where — it’s vintage, it’s old, it’s something you can’t find easily. I understand the price tag, but it also got hyped, so that raised it even more.

To the point where, if you want to put on a cool chore coat, it’s like $300.

And I’m like, buddy, I want to wear it. I don’t want to wear it that bad.

So I’d raid his closet just to take something like that.

Some of his bags are really cool. And he’s been another person that’s inspired me to want to get a more large, chic bag.

Where, again, someone might look at that and be like, “It’s a woman’s bag. What are you, as a man, doing walking around with a woman’s bag?”

And I’m sitting there like, “Because it looks cool, and I feel cool walking around with it.”

And I got my whole entire house inside this bag right now. You have your whole entire house inside your pockets. You look like a dork.

So yeah, those are some people whose closets I want to raid.

Wisdom [Kaye] is definitely probably number one.

Thank you for reading!

Keep up with Dodo’s adventures at @dododoingstuff.