Dress Well Dad Well
Stars of our AW26 campaign
What happens when you get four of the most stylish dads around in a room? Nick Howard-Lanes, Thomas Lloyd, Cy Robinson and Christian Petty – hosts of the Dress Well Dad Well podcast – on maintaining their personal style and identity through the biggest lifestyle shift there is. We chat friendship and life lessons as part of Moss’ new campaign, In Good Company.
Great to have you all here. Please introduce yourself.
Thomas
I'm Thomas, stylist and shoulder rubber.
Christian
Best shoulder rubs in the game. I'm Christian. I'm a stay-at-home dad.
Nick
My name is Nick, and I'm a stylist and a designer.
Cy
My name is Cy Robinson. I work in tech. I'm also a content creator. And I do a podcast with these three lovely gentlemen you see beside me.
What does good company mean to you?
Nick
So to me, good company is when you feel comfortable around someone. It doesn't matter how long you've known that person. It's just comfortability and someone who's got your best interests at heart.
Christian
Someone that you're able to be your complete self around.
Cy
I think good company for me doesn't always have to be a positive thing. It can be something that would make you feel uncomfortable but helps you grow. And that doesn't necessarily come in the same form of we're going to sit here and have a great time. It might be a hard time, but that's actually still good company. So it has different shapes and forms in my opinion.
Thomas
Yeah, I kind of like that. I like the fact that you can sit there in silence and not feel awkward. Yeah. That's perfect. Yeah, that's good company. I like that good company is “don't talk to me”.
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So how have you made friends in your thirties?
Nick
A way to make friends in your thirties, I've found, is through social media. We're in a privileged situation where we get to connect with other people, through events, through collaborations, campaigns, things like that. And that's what brought us guys together.
But apart from that, it’s hobbies like joining a run club. For example, if you enjoy running and you do it by yourself, if you connect with someone else, then you've just found yourself a new best friend.
Christian
When you're younger, you are forced into that situation with the kids of your parents’ mates or people at school. When you get older, you don't have the time for that. So focus on yourself.
That's how you make friends. Because like Nick said, the reason you're at the run club is because you want to start running. So you're going to go to that. For me, it'd be I want to start a chess club, and then I'll go and speak to people that like chess. And then, like I say, it's a shared interest and that's how friends are made nowadays.
Have you ever changed your mind because of one conversation, whether it's one you've had with each other or someone else?
Cy
Yeah, always. I'm quite obsessed with learning. I feel like I shouldn't really be tied down to one viewpoint ever. There's so many people from all walks of life, all different sorts of experiences that are different to mine, and I think it would just be naive of me to think I'm right.
So I'm always open. I like to listen and learn from people. And as soon as you know something changes or challenges the logic I've got in my head, I'll change my decision on that, of course, because it makes sense.
Nick
That's so funny. Because I'm the complete opposite. OK, when I heard this question the first time, I thought I rarely change my mind really. And the only thing that came to me that has changed my mind recently is sitting down doing a podcast with you guys. I've had the time to actually take in another person's opinion and then be like, ah, okay. Now I think differently.
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Any advice for the new or soon-to-be dads out there?
Thomas
Get the sleep in, man.
Cy
When you're in your first few months of having a baby, you're not yourself. And I think it's okay to not be yourself. Whereas you get really frustrated that you're not being yourself at the time. You know, you haven't slept well, you haven't eaten well. And so you're really not the best version of yourself. But that's okay. Try and communicate as much as you can with your partner.
What do you guys want to teach the next generation?
Nick
One thing I want to teach the next generation is how to live authentically. I think we're in a world where we're so easily persuaded to think differently and be something else through social media.
Even as an adult, it's very easy to watch something and be like, oh, maybe I should do this or see someone else's success, and maybe I should be in that industry. So I really, really want my children and their generation to just be authentic, be yourself, dress the way you want to dress, and do what makes you happy.
Thomas
That's really nice, man. I'm going going to lead on from that. I think what I'd love to teach the next generation is don't take it too seriously. Just have fun. The amount of times you've met people and they go, oh, what do you do as a job? You're like, I'd rather just be like, are you happy? No one ever asked me that. Like, are you happy? I just want my kids to be happy. Yeah, let's have a good time.
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