Where does your interest in clothes come from?

When I was a teenager I didn’t care what I wore, and as a child fashion certainly wasn’t a high priority. My mother of course used to dress well, but it wasn’t an important part of our culture. The only one that I can think of that really took pride in her appearance was my grandmother from Anglesey. I remember thinking to myself, how does the daughter of a farm hand from the middle of nowhere on Anglesey find such stylish clothes? Nain’s brothers were a lot older than her and all of them at sea, and when they were abroad they would buy clothes as gifts for their younger sister, and that’s how she had all of these wonderful clothes. It’s possible that style has been in the family jeans over the years just bursting to get out!

Do you dress to stand out in a crowd?

When I was a teenager I dressed a bit like a ‘young fogey’. And when I got to university I bought this jacket from Oxfam in Rhyl over twenty five years ago for fifty pence. Then, twenty years ago I was at the National Eisteddfod in Llanbed where they had an auction to raise money for charity. One of the items for sale was an old bow tie that belonged to the bard, Gwenallt, and I just put my hand up and started to bid. After I bought it and wore it, people would notice me. I then thought that there were a few advantages to dressing differently, a little more eccentric. And the more I’ve done it the more I’ve enjoyed it. Anyway, I then had this label and was known as, bow tie Karl.

Where did this flashy jacket come from?

I’m quite an organized person, even though I’m sure a few co-workers would disagree! Because I’m organized I have a daily routine and watching myself tie on my bow tie is an important part of my day. Then I’ll hop on my bike and cycle to work.

When I started to ride my bike again after twenty years I was cycling to a friend’s house when I was knocked off my bike. Fortunately I only had a few scrapes and bruises, but when I arrived at my friends’ house he left the room only to return with this flashy jacket and told me, “wear this, nobody will miss you if you wear this”! At the time he worked for the city’s council’s sewerage department and this is what he would wear to work! When people see me on my bike in the morning wearing this, they’re not quite sure if they can see a classical musician or a sewerage worker coming to fix their drain peddling along!

All your clothes are in perfect order!

I like routine and order. I feel that I can cope better when there’s order in my life. My old headmaster, Desmond Healy, at Glan Clwyd school would always tell us that we should keep some order in our lives. So I hope that if Mr Healy’s watching today that he can see, that I do indeed have order in my life!

Are these your informal shirts?

These are two of my favourite shirts; My friends refer to them as my deck-chair shirts! They tease me that if I sat or lay down wearing these shirts that someone would come and sit on my lap! I feel that I can bring a little sunshine to the world when I wear these shirts.

Will your style ever change?

At night I’ll lay out my suit, shirt, socks, tie or bow tie for the next day because I’m only half awake in the mornings so it’s important to be prepared. Then I’ll have more time in the morning to do other, more important things, that is if there is anything more important than clothes! But because I started as a young fogey about twenty five years ago, my style will suit me up until I’m an old fogey , so I guess there’s no need for me to change my style.