“I didn’t really have an intent when I bought them. I went to this small, weirdly curated antique and salvage store called the Agent Gallery to shop for a desk. When I found a desk, I was like ‘Oh, I don’t know if I want to pay $100 for this.’ Then I saw these cloaks for $200 and was like ‘Oh, I need those’ and just bought them. In the same week, I went out to buy a desk and bought the cloaks and a fucking totem pole.”
A director of commercials, documentaries, and music videos, Sam Macon was told that the cloaks were late-1800s/early-1900s ceremonial garb for the Odd Fellows—a fraternal organization often mentioned alongside the Freemasons. Black and ominous, they stretch from floor to hood with what Marcon calls “wildly well-embroidered skulls and crossbones on the breastplates and a monklike tie-off.”
“They look like executioner outfits,” he says. “They’re hooded and masked, almost KKK-looking without the peak.”
Though he admittedly didn’t buy them for his directing work, Macon was nonetheless able to find a spot for them in the video for “Open Your Eyes,” a psych slow jam from the underrated Bay Area band Sleepy Sun. Do yourself a quick favor and check out the video on YouTube.
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