On a family vacation to Florida when he was a teenager, Christopher Dalglish got his very first pair of Levi's®. At the time, the pound was strong against the dollar, so in his head it felt like everything was half price. He hit up the big outlet malls and got two pairs of baggy jeans—though he can’t be sure if they were designed to fit loose or if it was just the effect of the size 36 waist on a 13-year-old frame. A lot has changed since then. The dollar’s in a better place and Christopher now works as a PR Specialist at Levi’s®. But one thing remains the same: he still sizes up all his denim. This, in his own words, is what he’s wearing.
I grew up in the Northeast of Scotland, pretty far away from everything. Because it was so disconnected from any big cities, I looked at skate videos, skate magazines and basketball magazines for inspiration. So I was heavily influenced by hip hop, basketball and Americanized culture. In my early twenties, I moved to Glasgow, where a lot more menswear style and streetwear influences came in. My style’s a mix of all the things I did growing up. On any given day, I could be wearing Levi’s® Skate, Levi’s® Vintage Clothing and Levi’s’® Made & Crafted®. I also like incorporating tees or accessories from record labels or skate magazines that I like.
These days, I’m inspired by the city. Living in London, you only need to take a walk for loads of inspiration from cool people, amazing architecture, pop-up galleries, parties, festivals (well, pre-covid). Here, everyone’s stylish in their own way. You don’t go home after work to change for a night out, so it doesn’t matter if you’re in the pub, club or office—you wear the same thing. So it ends up being a nice balance of casual and cool that works anytime, anywhere.
I got these dungarees three or four years ago. I kept them and said that when I bought my first house with my wife that I’d wear them to paint the house. And that’s what I did. We bought this house in November of last year. And all the paint is actually authentic, from working on the house over lockdown.
Like a lot of people, in the first stage of lockdown I needed something to do that wasn’t looking at a screen. So I started doing more DIY projects at home. I’ve done some cool dip-dyed and tie-dye things, but they tend to be a bit of a mess in the bathroom… which gets me in trouble with my wife. I like stitching, because you can just sit down and plug away. It’s quite relaxing.
I have a background in music, which has helped me so much in my career in many ways. The music I got into when I was younger was hip hop, and then I got more into house. And they’re both based on sampling, turning old records into something new. I see a parallel between music sampling and how people transform their jeans through reinterpretation.
I don’t overthink getting dressed. If you buy well, outfits just come together naturally. I have pieces from my closet from five years ago, and I can wear it with something I've never paired it with before, and it feels fresh again. I’m a huge believer in hanging onto stuff. If you hold onto your clothes, you’ll get more inspiration from them as time goes on.