Mr. Thorn in his element (and a very nice suit). Photo: Noe Montes
Jesse Thorn is a style blogger, a public radio host, and a gentleman. He is the man you wish you were. And he was kind enough to take the time out to answer our questions.
Tell us a bit about your career and what inspired you to create Put This On in addition to being a public radio host.
I’ve been hosting my public radio show, The Sound of Young America, for almost 12 years. I started as a sophomore in college. It’s been distributed by Public Radio International for about five years, and it’s on stations around the country. It’s also the flagship of a podcasting network at maximumfun.org, which is mostly comedy shows.
I’ve always been interested in menswear, and I’d long been disappointed by the sources of information about it. There’s a few books, but almost nothing in the big magazines, and no video. I’d wanted to do that for a while, and when I first worked with Adam Lisagor on another project, I realized he’d be the perfect man to be behind the camera. I talked him into it, and here we are now.
For your second season of PTO, you’re taking us to three of the world’s most fashionable cities. What are you hoping to highlight? What makes these places so exciting?
We chose the cities with a bracket. We had over a thousand votes in every round, just a huge “turnout.” We loved the idea of adding a travel element to the show – we shot some episodes of season two in New York, and it really added kick to the content. If season two gets funding*, we’ll visit New York, London and Milan. I’ve never been to Italy, and haven’t been to London since I was a little kid, so I’m really excited about it.
Your finished product has, thus far, been entertaining, enlightening, and elegant. The next season promises even more. What does it take to put together such an ambitious series? How does such a delicious sausage get made?
Adam and our friend Ben Harrison handle the video production side, and I handle the rest. I produced my radio show for most of its run, so I know how to book interviews and so on. We just look for interesting themes and interesting people. We shoot on the Canon 7D, which is actually a still camera that shoots amazing video. I think Adam established a tone in the first episode that we’re still following now – we just try to stick to that and find people worth talking to.
What advice would you give to someone trying to start their own website, web series, or who’s otherwise young, hungry and trying to make something of their own?
Make deadlines, do the work, and work hard to get better with each new project. Make something you love to make, and make it for the audience, not for you. Find the money once you’ve got an audience who cares.
What do the major men’s fashion magazines get wrong? Can (or should) they complete with the much-debated men’s style bloggers?
I think there are great fashion people at the major men’s magazines. I wouldn’t really call them fashion magazines, that’s not really their focus. I think Esquire’s Big Black Book is usually very interesting, and so is Glenn O’Brien’s column in GQ.
We’ve been told people on the Internet like lists. Can you give us three essential style tips every young man should know?
These are the real basics, but: the bottom button of your jacket or vest should never be buttoned, cut the tags off of your jacket sleeve, and take your jackets, suits and trousers to a real tailor for alteration before you wear them. — AR
*Editor’s note: Lucky for us, season two of Put This On is fully funded, and coming soon to an Internet-connected device near you.
