Today we’d like to introduce you to Xavier Layton
Hi Xavier, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’ve been this same way almost my entire life, even when I was a little kid. History and dressing up have always been important and consistent aspects of my personality. The content creation and deep-diving, however, didn’t come about until I was 18 or so, largely due to Covid boredom I think. It started as something just for fun, but eventually started growing larger than I had anticipated.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The biggest struggle has been the clothing itself. Yes, the research is difficult and time consuming, and the content is hard to keep up with, but finding good historical reproductions or high quality antiques has definitely been (and largely still is) one of the biggest struggles for me. This interest is so niche that most costumers make their own clothing, but I’ve tried my hand at it and I’ve found that tailoring is not at all something I’m passionate about doing myself.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I work as a commercial electrician by trade, but my true passion is music. I’ve played guitar and sang since I was only 10 years old or so, and from the start, music has always been what I truly want to do. My head is always full of music and I’m always writing songs. I’m very proud of the fact that I am interested in, and very capable of playing, many very different styles of music. Though I’m a master of none, I think my diversity of skill is an advantage, not a handicap.
What matters most to you?
Aside from the people I love, music matters most to me. As a lifelong musician, I could never give up my instrument or my voice; they are my greatest form of self expression and comfort and my most refined skill. There is no skill or achievement in my life of which I am more proud or has brought me more joy; it is my last bastion of comfort when I am sad and my greatest ecstasy when I am happy, and it is what defines most who I am.
History matters immensely to me as well, almost as much as music. I believe strongly in the importance of social history, or the study of history through the daily lives of average people. To me, things like clothing, home life, occupational practices, food, folklore, recreation, and even just the general habits and mundane interactions of regular people, are more important than the history of politics, religion, and war. What matters to me is how people lived, because that is what most of history—and what most of life—really is.
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