In the 1990s, Pearl Jam had a style all its own.
The band members Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready and Jeff Ament went beyond the lumberjack flannels and Doc Martens typical of Seattle’s grunge scene to include a mash-up of influences.
And no one in Pearl Jam dressed quite like Ament. A former graphic design student during his stint at the University of Montana, he possessed the qualities that make someone fashion-forward: originality and a willingness to look ridiculous.
He was early to wearing baggy shorts over leggings, a look that influenced the designer Marc Jacobs at the time of his much-maligned 1992 grunge-wear collection for Perry Ellis. Ament’s hats, including a ushanka and numerous floppy caps, were so distinctive that Reddit commenters still search for them.
Along with his brother Barry, Ament recently combed through his archive of some 10,000 negatives before the= film deteriorated. The result is “Since Forever,” a book of 250 black-and-white photos capturing the time before and after Pearl Jam got on the rocket ship of fame.
Born and raised in Montana, Ament moved to Seattle in 1983. He worked at Raison d’Être cafe and played bass in Green River, Mother Love Bone and other bands. Eight years later, he began photographing his new band, Pearl Jam.
On the eve of his book’s publication, Ament, 63, spoke about his style, his hat collection and the time he confronted Marc Jacobs.
Can you talk about your approach to dressing in the ’80s and ’90s?
There was a creative gay scene in Seattle, and the Raison was the hub. It was all musicians and artists. It was like we were pushing each other to find unique styles. If I showed up with a new hairdo, everybody got excited. It was cool to be in a place that wasn’t just bluejeans and T-shirts.
You were broke before Pearl Jam. How did you look cool on a budget?
A lot of times it would be going to Goodwill. There was a store just down the street from the Raison that got the stuff that didn’t sell from International News or other small brands. The money went to the children’s orthopedic hospital. So you could get weird stuff for a couple bucks. If you didn’t like the color, you could just get some red dye.
A big part of your look was layering. The shorts over leggings was the most famous example.
It was being on a budget and being functional. I remember buying two pairs of cotton leggings at that orthopedic store. They were super comfortable. In the winter, I would wear those underneath shorts. That allowed me to ride my bike to work and I didn’t have to change.
Let’s talk about your hats. Some of them look like colorful mushrooms.
I’ve had a love-hate thing with that. People will always make comments about my hats. There was a block of stores in Cincinnati that sold zoot suits and that stuff. I bought a dark blue and light blue floppy hat. I bought a rainbow-colored one in Philadelphia. Same kind of store, a store selling ’60s and ’70s mostly African-American style. Some of my earliest loves were the Harlem Globetrotters and Fat Albert, so there’s probably some element of borrowing from what I thought was cool as a kid.
You also blended punk fashion and sports gear back when people in the scene held that sports were for jocks, not artists.
Growing up in a small town, there wasn’t anybody to tell me, ‘Hey, if you’re an art nerd, you can’t be a jock.’ I would go to football practice, come home and ride my skateboard ramp for two hours. It wasn’t until I went to college and I was trying to play basketball that some guys on the team were saying I couldn’t hang out with the freaky punks. I was like, ‘You can’t tell me who I can hang out with.’ That’s when it started.
What did you make of the commodification of the grunge look in the early ’90s?
We opened for Keith Richards at the Beacon. And somebody said, ‘Hey, that’s Marc Jacobs and Anna Sui down there.’ I was, like, ‘Marc Jacobs? The guy who just put out the grunge line?’ I started talking smack. My friends were like, ‘Go tell him that!’ So I went down in front of him. I said, ‘Hey, Marc, what do you think of this? This is your new line for next year.’ I sort of did a twirl.
In retrospect, it was kind of cool. The thing we were bummed about is they were charging $500 for a jacket or shorts. That’s the part that was offensive.
After Pearl Jam became famous, how did your style change?
Every once in a while somebody would buy something that was more true fashion. Every time I’ve been talked into buying something like that, it just sits. I try it on once a year and go, ‘Nah.’
There’s some part of how we all dress now where it’s more of a unified look. Everyone is wearing dark clothes. Dark clothes handle a 60-year old body more than a light pink T-shirt.
Now the thing I get excited about is, every summer, when I’m in Montana, I design three or four T-shirts and give them to my friends. And my buddy Sal, who works for the N.B.A., sends me a box of N.B.A. shorts every year. That’s my fashion.
This interview has been condensed and edited.
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