Comedian Chris Parker On His Boyish & Satirical Sense Of Style
For comedian Chris Parker, playing the clown isn't an excuse to dress down.
'People have paid to come see me. The least I can do is iron my shirt.'
His ensembles are front of mind, as he prepares to head out on tour across Aotearoa for Stop Being So Dramatic. The show explores the titular accusation levelled toward Chris for his whole life through what's promised to be a 'dizzyingly expressive' comedy and drama.
For this round of performances, he toyed with screenprinting a 'Surrender Dorothy' T-shirt (yes, from The Wizard Of Oz) or donning a dance-appropriate leotard. Though, he says it's more likely he'll opt for his reliable onstage uniform dressing – there's a rotating cast of cool button-ups, some white singlets and minimalist Thom Morison trousers.
He's excited to see more playfulness in the stylings of other comics too – he points to the increasingly digitised mediums of comedy (see: Instagram) and the changing face of broad comedy.
'There was a time where comedy was held by a specific type of male and the industry was blocked off to other people, whereas I think queer comics have always historically used wardrobes to endear themselves to crowd.'
Offstage, Chris cultivates slick, boyish and preppy ensembles, revelling in the promise of quality clothing and local designers (even when he's wearing sweats on tour). He's found a need to distinguish between his workwear and his off-duty wardrobe, hence his brainy interest in fashion.
'That's not @chrisparker11 on Instagram, that's mine.'
It's playful and youthful. I never really got over that big Scandie pull from like 2015, when everyone was reading Kinfolk magazine.
In recent years, I feel myself departing... I think it was the pull I found when I was on The Edge. It was a youth station but I was wanting to dress more maturely. When I go out, I like to be in a really nice shirt and pants and a jacket or a nice knit.
Weirdly, an artist who I've always loved and I feel like I've subconsciously pulled from is David Hockney. His style is so colourful and playful, and I really love the palette. I just have an affinity towards it.
I like crisp, clean lines [and colours]. I'm really kind of like trying to figure out silhouette more and as a tall guy that's quite hard. I was really scared when all the men were wearing like baby tees because I was like, 'I can't do that'.
That's why [I like] this Kowtow [one]... it's playful but it's wearable and it's comfy but it's not just a boring T-shirt. It really feels like it's reflecting who I am. I'm on a real quest for a good T-shirt.
I'm trying to kind of grow up in my sense of style while also holding on to a sense of play.
Who do you dress for and why?
I dress for how I'm feeling – so for me in a way.
If I'm feeling kind of drab, then I'll sort of elevate my look to pull myself out of that a little bit. It almost feels like my styling is medicinal in a way. It's a reaction to how I'm feeling.
In terms of the public eye... I guess that's why I dress boyish because when I dress masculine jokes start coming my way. People are like, 'oh, you look like a lad'.
I think, because of how I position myself in terms of my own gender identity – you know, he/him pronouns, but like not 'one of the boys' – I do feel a bit uncomfortable dressing hypermasculine.
This [Kowtow] rugby top, it feels almost satirical in a way, like provocative to wear that sort of stuff.
I do love a pair of stubbies, though. I think that it's quite a quintessential New Zealand style.
What first drew you into fashion?
I think it's that kind of transformative element of it, it's the idea of it all being a costume and wanting to look and feel or present a certain way, which I really like.
How do you think clothes and fashion have helped shape your identity?
They haven't necessarily helped shape it, but I feel like clothes have been a companion on my identity journey. So, it's like at any inroad, they've been reflecting what I felt at the time.
It's always just been like a companion to it all. It reflects where you were at, at any time. I actually just let go of a whole bunch of clothes that I've outgrown at a maturity level.
For a young twink somewhere. I wish him well.
Is there anything that you find particularly challenging or frustrating about clothing?
The scope of menswear.
It's actually really, really hard. There's Checks, there's Beach Brains – but again, they're like badass, whereas I'm playing little Christian boy. There was Thom Morison, and there's Porter James.
That's my biggest gripe and, obviously ethical practices and sizing.
Sizing is just crazy, isn't it? I'm a big unit and I would say the world of fashion is accessible to me, but it is still hard. Whereas I can only imagine people who feel like they're outside of those accessible ranges, it must be impossible. There's still so much work to be done there.
Is there any specific piece of style advice that has been very impactful for you?
Well, it's like Devil Wears Prada, Meryl Streep doing her cerulean monologue that everything is a reference of something. So, even if you feel like you're not involved in the conversation of fashion, you are a byproduct of it. You are a part of that wider ecosystem of fashion.
It's more fun the more you know your references and the more you learn about why you dress the way you dress. It's not trivial, fashion is such an interesting part of the economy, style, politics, gender, race, all of it.
I think the more you know about it, then the less you're sort of a victim to the toxic conversations of it. That becomes so much more healthy than 'I don't like the way my shoulders look'.
You're making an intellectual choice rather than like a self-defensive [one] because the world's made you feel bad. I love people that have personal style, because they look like them.
Chris Parker is on tour across the motu with Stop Being So Dramatic from June 28. He performs at Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland on July 26.
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