I had my first verbal interaction with Max Piersol merely days before I took his picture for this post. I'd been admiring his style from afar for a while (you'll see why in a minute--this kid is a straight up boss), but put yourself in my shoes. Would you honestly go up to a kid with a pink skateboard and attempt to engage him in conversation? No, he's definitely too cool for you. He wears knee-high socks, guys. Socks up to the knee. I don't remember how it happened exactly, but all I know is that a week and a half ago, I was in the basement of my school (this is not nearly as shady as it sounds) and I was asking Max if he would mind if I took photos of him and interviewed him for this blog. His response was as follows: "Yes please." I knew from that moment on that this was going to be a great experience.
Since I really just met Max, I don't know much about him. He's an actor and a skater, and as I learned from doing this segment on him he has the potential to model. Max is an adorable human being. Just putting that out there. Even though I'd barely spoken to him before he stepped in front of the camera, he was completely at ease during the interview; before I knew it he was throwing profanities around and making me giggle like the little girl that I am. The thing that I really appreciated about Max is that he was so unapologetic with his answers. Here's a great example: how many teenage boys do you know that would openly admit, knowing full well that his answer was going on the internet, that his mommy buys most of his clothes? I'm going to go ahead and guess not many. I suppose you have to be pretty shameless about that sort of stuff if you can rock a neon pink skateboard, bow tie, flannel shirt, brightly colored socks and a sideways hat...all at once. I know you must be really pumped to read about/see this kid, so without further ado, I give you Max Piersol.
Note: I don't sensor any of the interviews because I feel that limits the interviewee's freedom of expression. If profanity makes you uncomfortable or something, I understand if you don't want to read this post. It comes up very minimally here but I figured it would be considerate just to let you know.
Odelia: How would you describe your style?
Max: Okay, a lot of the stuff I wear is like—I don't wear skinny jeans 'cause I have to skate. I wear baggy clothing 'cause it's easier to skate in, but then also, I wear like, my big flannel—my big flah-nell—and also I wear baggy pants, not these ones, but sometimes I do, that's usually my style. It makes me feel like a
samurai, and that's really cool. Like, I dig the whole samurai style.
Odelia: That's awesome. Who are your fashion icons and who do you admire aesthetically?
Max: My fashion icons are... [long pause] shit! [Laughter from interviewer]
Nora, my friend Chris [Rivera], I'm in a gang with him. Hold on, let me think, I can come up with a good one. Oh, right, yeah,
the Doctor,
Rory, like everyone from “
Doctor Who,”
Chris from “
Skins,”
Alo from the third generation of “Skins...” Yeah.
Odelia: Where are your favorite places to shop?
Max: [Laughs] Okay. I buy my shoes from skate shops, but I always wear
Vans, so that doesn't really matter. And then my mommy buys a lot of my clothes.
Odelia: [Laughs] Do you know where she goes?
Max: No. [Laughs] I order my pants online, 'cause they're cooler that way. And then, yeah, skate shops and my mom.
Odelia: Nice. If you could own one item right now that you don't have, what would it be?
Max: Okay, there's like this—
Push Culture, this clothing line called Push Culture, and it's like longboard clothing and they have these sick-ass pants that are kind of like my style, except they cost like a hundred bucks, but they're still really cool, and I want them.
Odelia: Awesome. This is the last one: would you say that fashion is a big focus in your life?
Max: Yeah. Maybe I don't think about it like other people that dig the whole fashion scene and everything, but I do like to look at myself in the mirror sometimes and be like, “Today I look pretty cool.”
Photos by me.
Max Piersol: part model, part skater, part actor, part student, part kewl kat.
This kid has a freaking neon pink skateboard and coral socks. It doesn't get much better than this.
Flah-nell: present. Decked out helmet: check. Shoestring (otherwise known as a shoelace, but that word is for n00bs) functioning as a belt: you know it. Makeshift Frankenstein-esque stitches: of course. [Edit: I was informed by several people that these are in fact silence marks, which is in reference to Doctor Who. I apologize for my ignorance.]
I'm not usually a fan of caps, but this one is sick. Max goes hardcore with his skating, and I totally dig it.
Peep the underside of his hat.
Werk.
This was in reference to something that he has to do in drama class, but I totally did not get it. I appreciate the pose, though.
Yeah. I'll just let all of that sink in.
On another note, I wanted to apologize for being absent from this blog for nearly a week. As they say, duty calls, duty here meaning school. Specifically English class. Specifically The Odyssey. Only 38 pages left. I read approximately 200 over the weekend and still managed to go on an adventure in Prospect Park and eat Indian food in Jackson Heights and do yoga in Chelsea. You see now how my choice was between either blogging or sleep--my mind said blogging but my body was like, "Shut up you ho," and in the end my corporeal being had more control over me than my noggin. I hope that not writing often in May doesn't become a tradition (I only wrote eight posts last May, but I had an excuse. I was kind of starring in my school's musical. That sort of thing is a little time consuming.).
I'm still bummed about missing the Supermoon. Damn you, visible masses of condensed water vapor floating in the atmosphere!
Jolly Monday and a wonderful week to you!
P.S. This may be the last one of this for a few weeks until I find new subjects. Don't fret, I shall have a few more in the near future. I already know who they are, they just don't know yet.
