AI Summary
5 min readMake It Fashion | EP 19 | Weird Kids
When Jim Henson died, Taliesin Jaffe decided he was going to wear all black. "I was like, I'm gonna wear black and, then I was like, this is fun, and kept doing it for a while." That moment—a personal, emotional pivot expressed through clothing—is the kind of story that runs through this entire conversation between Taliesin and Ashley Johnson about fashion, self-expression, and why what you wear matters more than people give it credit for.
The episode opens with a listener question: "When did you find and feel comfortable in your style?" For Taliesin, comfort came early. As a child, he wore mismatched shoes and asymmetrical lines, refused to leave home without Superman underwear, and told strangers his name was Clark. He was surrounded by adults who had a strong sense of style—his bohemian mother, his Sinatra-era grandparents, and older queer men in Los Angeles who "really had a sense of themselves." Then he met real kids and "chilled out for a while" to avoid getting punched. In high school, he had a nervous breakdown and decided caring about what people thought was stupid. Then Jim Henson died, and the goth phase stuck.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:55) **Setting the Table: Fashion as Self-Expression** - Ashley and Talison introduce the day's topic, framing fashion as a vital form of personal identity and communication.
- 2 (03:56) **Mailbag Question: Finding Comfort in Your Style** - A listener asks when the hosts felt comfortable making bold fashion choices.
- 3 (09:58) **Childhood Style & Dopamine Dressing** - Talison shares photos of his early fashion experiments, including a jacket that foreshadowed the modern "dopamine style" trend.
- 4 (14:27) **The "Dress Like Taliesin" Party** - The hosts discuss a themed birthday party where guests dressed as versions of Taliesin, highlighting how his style is distinct enough to be parodied.
- 5 (15:48) **Gene Wilder's Letter on Willy Wonka's Costume** - Taliesin reads a letter from Gene Wilder to the costume designer, demonstrating how an actor uses clothing to build character.
- 6 (20:42) **Finding Style Through Hand-Me-Downs & Catalogs** - Ashley shares her journey from hand-me-downs to discovering her own aesthetic through vintage and 90s fashion catalogs.
- 7 (24:46) **The Anxious Interval: How Fashion Trends Cycle** - Taliesin explains a theory of how fashion trends move through time, from the "historical past" to the "battlefront" and "gold mine."
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
New Epsiodes of Weird Kids are now releasing on Beacon every Tuesday! Watch all available episode on Beacon now: https://Beacon.tv/WeirdKids
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Strike a pose, dahlings. Your fave fashion friends, Taliesin Jaffe and Ashley Johnson, talk all things stylin’ in this episode of Weird Kids. From the designers and media that inspire them, to breaking down fashion trends, your local iconoclasts dish out the goods on why to look your best. So put on your best smize and sashay away beautifuls!
Also in this episode:
• The Anxious Interval
• Male fashion as plumage too
• What Bounding is
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Ashley Johnson and Taliesin Jaffe deep dive into their lives as the Weird Kids! This is a formal invitation to all the misfits, outcasts, and weirdos to take a seat at our table and join these former child actors as they embrace their unique upbringings and celebrate all things weird and wonderful.
Learn more at https://critrole.com/weirdkids/
Produced by Maxwell James and Will Lamborn
Theme Song by Dave Heatwave
Animation by Max Schapiro
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