His mother would be proud. Rather than spending his hard-earned cash on clothes that he tires of easily, Lance Smith, from hotly-tipped Dublin band St. Julien, looks at the cost-per-wear factor. And here’s a happy coincidence: it justified buying the €450 – yes, €450! – jacket which you see to your left.
“I shop maybe twice a year and buy three or four items each time. They’ll all be stuff that I know I’ll wear – I won’t even look at the price tag,” he says. “So with the jacket, it’s the only one I’ve bought for a year and a half, and I probably won’t buy one for another year and a half.”
When pressed to explain what could have caused such a turnaround, he admits that the fault lies squarely at the hem of his blue cords, which were €15.
“I literally only bought them because they were so cheap. I never even wore them once. It wasn’t even the colour – they weren’t baby blue or anything – but they were such an awkward fit. I don’t know what I hoped would happen after I bought them. I probably planned to do really specfic leg excercises to change my shape!”
Now, his trouser situation is covered by three trusty pairs of Diesel jeans.
“I love them all. They’ll last me years,” he says. “I’ve thrown all the other bits out and I don’t plan on replacing them.”
By its very nature, this style of shopping means that he can’t be overly concerned with fashions and fads.
“I do watch trends but in the long run it’s not worth bothering with – it would last you about a year. I much prefer classic stuff. It’s corny, I know, but clothes like that will never go out of fashion.”
Yet he makes the very interesting point that there once was a time when a person of the male species couldn’t even admit they followed fashion.
“Irish guys have become better with that,” he admits. “A few years ago, you’d be laughed at if you talked about having any sort of fashion sense. But now if I walked into a pub wearing a poncey jacket…well, I would get laughed at but 10 minutes later they’d be saying: ‘It’s actually quite cool'".
Any poncey jackets you'd care to tell us about?
“I did have this pink jacket,” he shyly reveals. “But I shouldn’t tell you about it – my mates will probably disown me straight away.”
Oh go on.
“I bought it as a joke. I had a couple of big family parties and they’re always fun to wear something different to. It was actually quite nice – it was a blazer-style linen jacket from Hilfiger or somewhere like that. But sadly, after one of those parties, I had a bit too much to drink and the next day it was covered in beer and wine. I haven’t even tried to get the stains out yet, thinking of it.”
Strange that…