How long have you been with Barneys New York in Seattle? For two and a half years; I moved back to Seattle from San Fran where I worked for Yves Saint Laurent under the reign of Tom Ford.

What effect does your job have on your personal style? I’m not afraid to be very fashionable. Sometimes on my way to work I get funny looks, but when I get to the store it all makes sense.

I get the idea you came out of the womb looking fabulous. When I was in high school, going thrifting was my passion. I’ve always been fascinated with ’50s midcentury design and the sharp-edged, clean, no-fuss look: sharkskin suits and tailored drainpipe trousers, vintage Levi’s, and that high pompadour look. But I remember in the ’80s looking at this spread in i-D magazine… and that’s it! I booked my first trip to London and I was never the same again.

“Even in exile, the Windsors looked immaculate wherever they went.”

Any style icons? Chet Baker—before the drugs. Everything was so pressed and perfect, never a wrinkle. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Edward and Wallis Simpson. Even in exile, they looked immaculate wherever they went. Isabella Blow, the muse of hat designer Philip Treacy and the fashion editor of Tatler magazine. Imelda Marcos and the Japanese pop group Pizzicata 5.

How many pairs of shoes do you own? They have their own room at my house.

And what about those red shoes you have on today? And everything else? The shoes are Lanvin. If they were just plain black they’d be your local banker’s shoes, but with the color and patent shine? These are a statement shoe. Classic Dior Homme white fitted plissé tux shirt—a must-have—with a purple silk and cashmere Prada cardigan. Every gentleman should own a cardigan. A black silk Prada cummerbund—a substitute for your belt and an excuse to wear an obi sash at work—with black wool tuxedo trousers by Marc Jacobs and a black silk ribbon bow tie. I also have my Cartier Santos 100 watch, Bulgari and Gucci gold rings, Gucci sunglasses—I’m channeling Swifty Lazar—and vintage Yves Saint Laurent hand-stitched boar-skin gloves.

What’s the big news for men this fall? This is Hedi Slimane’s last collection for Dior Homme, so all the pieces are going to be very collectible. And this is the first season we’ve had Thom Browne in Seattle Barneys. The suits are shrunken. Whether you’re looking at Prada or Thom Browne, the suits are cropped and very fitted.

Do you think the average Seattle guy will pull off the I-raided-my-little-brother’s-closet look? Yes and no. Some men may not go for the shrunken jacket and the short trouser but they can do the really fitted shirt.

READ MORE CONVERSATIONS WITH THE PEOPLE SHAPING SEATTLE STYLE.