Myles is a reader living in Dubai - we actually met years ago, when he used to work at a PR agency in London, but he has since taken himself off to the Middle East and now works part-time while taking care of his two-year-old daughter.
Myles came by the showroom for the shoot, and spent a while hanging out and chatting to Alex, Lucas and myself. He’s a lovely guy, and it was great hearing about what Dubai’s like for fashion, as well as his personal and family history.
I liked a lot of the things we shot, but Myles is also a little more experimental and wears a little more fashion, alongside vintage and classic menswear, which I enjoyed talking about.
Outfit 1
Shorts: Vintage US Army PT
Shirt: Vintage OG107 Steen
Glasses: Jacques Marie Mage
Shoes: Bally
Bag: LL Bean
Tell us about yourself Myles - where you’re from, what you do.
My family’s from Goa in India, but I grew up in the UK - my parents still live in Cheam and my fiancée, daughter and I are staying with them while we’re over. We have a wedding this weekend which was the spur for the London visit.
But we’re also going to Portugal afterwards; my fiancée is Portuguese and we’re going to get married there, in the Algarve. We were actually about to move to Porto, into this amazing house, but that fell through. Still, I think that will be the next move after Dubai.
How long have you been in Dubai?
Three years now, it’s crazy it’s gone so fast. My fiancée works at an auction house there, as well as running her own kind of private shopping service - which is fun, it can mean travelling around Europe picking up pieces for clients.
I’ve taken a bit of a step back from my brand work in order to look after our daughter, though I still do a little helping to connect brands with local culture here.
What is the culture like in Dubai?
Well the music isn’t great - I think saxophonists and bongo players playing over a DJ will be the death of me. But some bands do come through, and there are some great local pockets. Obviously the place is built off immigrants who come here to work and so there great Pakistani and Filipino communities - I’ve had some of the best food in my life here. The ‘Dubai stone’ is real by the way, Not sure if you’ve heard of that?
No, not really.
Well they say when you move here you put on at least a stone in weight, because you basically never walk, and you order all your food. It’s true, and the food is rich - everywhere tries to be the most luxurious, the most indulgent, so there’s lots of butter, lots of sauces.
That must be a struggle for someone who likes clothes.
It is! I like quite roomy fits so it’s not too bad, but still a lot of things don’t fit any more.
What’s the local fashion scene like?
It’s very big brand-dominated, as you’d expect, but some a lot of brands also struggle to make it work here. You see some come in and then a few years later they disappear. Carmina was here for a while. I got these loafers from Bally because they were on sale - £350 down from £800 - I think because people just didn’t know the brand here.
So you need a certain amount of awareness internationally before you can really make it stick there?
Exactly.
And what’s the standard of dress like?
Quite relaxed, and geared for hot weather even if you spend the vast majority of your time indoors, in air conditioning. There are some very well-dressed guys among the finance community though, nice suits and shoes - conservative and traditional, but good quality.
This time of year you need to find a way to escape though - it’s just too hot. It’s mid-forties all the time, which means you just can’t spend any time outside.
Outfit 2
Trousers: Levi's 501 bedford cords
Shirt: LL Bean
Belt: Kamakura
Boots: Lucchese
Glasses: Jacques Marie Mage
You wear quite a lot of vintage - that previous outfit was a vintage US Army shirt and shorts right, and this shirt is vintage too?
Yes, and the jeans actually. I find I spend money on shoes, bags and accessories, but everything is pretty much vintage. This shirt is an old LL Bean one and it’s a great, roomy fit - I can’t stand narrow sleeves. The material is a poly mix but that does make it basically non-iron!
Menswear hasn’t changed that much in the past 40 years, so you often end up looking like everyone else no matter what you buy. Vintage is nice because it’s always going to be different, and throw up interesting things.
How do you tend to shop for vintage - readers always ask for tips.
I tend to have brands and categories that I know work for me, and then stay within those. So I know these old shirts from LL Bean or Eddie Bauer are great, and what sizes work. With jeans I pretty much just wear 501s because I know those work for me, and I’ll just check the hem width is around eight inches or so.
What would you say your success rate is with vintage buys? Because from the outside I think people often think that if you know what you’re doing, it’s close to 100%.
Oh no, I’d say my failure rate is still about 30% or so. I experiment with things all the time and find the fit isn’t right, or the material isn’t nice. You can never tell everything online, and you have to accept those kinds of failures.
What’s the vintage scene like in Dubai?
Not great, it’s a lot of nineties stuff, sportswear jerseys and so on. Not great quality.
Lots of Chicago Bulls vests?
Yeah exactly.
So where do you tend to shop for vintage?
eBay mostly, and Vinted. Vinted is less reliable but there’s some great stuff out there and often great prices.
The other thing I love about vintage is that because it’s not expensive, I’m not too precious about it. I can go play with my daughter in any of these things and not worry what they get on them - it helps that a lot of these things are harder wearing than modern fashion too.
Are you any good at reselling on your vintage, when it doesn’t fit or you find you haven’t worn it?
I’m not great, but partly that’s because a lot of our things are still in storage. When we moved out to Dubai we put a lot of our things in storage because we didn’t want to take it all out. I have lots of boxes in there - probably four or five boxes just of denim.
But when we do move to Portugal I’ll do a proper sort through and sell all that stuff - it’ll be a lot!
Outfit 3
Jeans: Levis 501s
Top: Vintage Stone Island
Shoes: John Lobb
Glasses: Persol Ratti
What’s this vintage piece?
It’s a Stone Island half-zip I found on Vinted, for £50. I love the colour, like it’s faded out from strong red to almost pink. And the material is lovely and soft too, like it’s been been through a hundred washes.
I go mad on sweater colours - it’s such a good place to wear colour. Once you have an easy foundation like a pair of jeans and trainers or boots, the sweater can be anything.
Can I ask what your chest tattoo is?
Sure, it says ‘This must be the place’. It’s a Talking Heads song, I got it a few years ago when I just felt everything in life was working out, I was pleased with my choices and where I was. I was listening to this song a lot at the time and it really fitted. It was definitely the most painful thing I’ve ever done.
Is that typical of the kind of music you’re into?
I listen to a lot of stuff, but maybe more metal and hardcore generally. There’s a surprisingly big hardcore base in menswear. It’s actually one reason I met my fiancée - I saw she followed me on Instagram, and when I looked at her profile it was clear she was into fashion, but she also had a Queens of the Stone Age line as her profile. I thought - music and fashion, the perfect combination!
I was listening to a podcast about Queens of the Stone Age this morning, weirdly.
Oh yeah?
Yeah it’s a podcast I’ve been listening to for a while called Discord & Rhyme. They did an episode on Rated R. Highly recommend it.
Can you tell us about your ring as well - that looks pretty chunky.
There’s a bit of a story behind this one. It’s made like a gold sovereign, which is how my family used to carry wealth when they travelled around. They were from Goa but travelled through Africa and then to Europe, and the way that generation carried wealth was in gold, gold sovereigns. They didn’t have a lot, but this was how they kept it - my grandmother always wore one around her neck.
A few years ago, my family’s home in Cheam was robbed, and all they took was the gold pieces. So I had these rings made for everyone - me, my siblings, my parents - to sort of recreate it. I gave my grandmother one on a necklace. My hope is they become heirlooms in the same way, that I pass mine onto my daughter some day.
That’s lovely. What do they have on them?
The front has the two names of our family curved around the edge, and on the back there’s a Portuguese-type cross.
OK, onto slightly less personal things - are those Lobb Delano’s?
Yes, the same model L’Etiquette brought back and now Lobb sells. Weirdly I ordered them from FarFetch when I was in Dubai and when they came they were all scuffed and worn - clearly not new. So when I came to London I went direct instead. This is their debut outing.
The jeans are an interesting wash.
Yes, they’re 501s again but the colour is unusual. Still indigo, still easy to wear, but not quite what you expect. I have a shirt in the same colour actually, which makes for quite a double denim look.
Thanks Myles, it was great chatting to you. What are you going to wear to this wedding at the weekend by the way?
I’m not sure yet, I have a few options. But my fiancée is wearing a pink-leather dress by some designer, so I can wear pretty much anything!
Below, a few of my favourite shots from Myles’s Instagram feed. He is @mylespereira
