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        As a product of the Cooley High days (A movie produced to depict inner-city youth growing up in an urban environment around the 60,s), I was very familiar with the garments of the country boy and inner-city adult man since I was a little boy. I felt comfortable mimicking my brothers who dawn themselves with alligator, crocodile, lizard, ostriches shoes with fine silk suits, handmade shirts, and ties with hats. I continued this look into my adult life and was always known to most of my friends and enemies as being “dapper,” a word that I disliked because it sounds like a man that wasn’t quite sure of himself.

      After serving in the military, living in other parts of the world, and going to college, I observed that many men in our community did not know how to dress. Over the years, there was an attitude of being disinterested in wearing the typical suit, tie, and leather uppers. I believe that many of our brothers had concluded that dreams of a corporate image wearing a suit, tie, and making a decent salary to afford a healthy family was not happening for the majority of so-called black men in our communities.

       In the so-called good old days, many of our brothers used to wear a suit to work and change into the clothing suited for their blue-collar job. Many of us began to realize no matter what we wore, we will still be so-called black men here in America, and folks would see the black before they saw the education, skills, profession, or talent.

Today, many black men will proudly wear their uniforms to show that they are employed and safe to be around.

       And the end of my high school senior years, I was fortunate enough to work in the Catskill mountains. Working at one of the resorts in the Catskill mountains, I saw people practice being social around the pool, dining area, and in nightclubs. While working backstage at the resort, I had a chance to meet many people in the entertainment business like Tody Fields, Hines Hines and Dad, Jack Carter, Melba Moore, and many others.

        These folks would wear various clothing, from summer to winter wear, from a short set to a tuxedo. I had the experience and observed a fantastic display of clothing and how to present myself socially.

         Many of the friends from the resort were children of manufacturers in the fashion district of New York City. For years I saw fashion garments produced through the manufacturers’ eyes. They were producing garments for many of the New York outlets like Macy’s and smaller operations.  I was always very comfortable in my suit, white shirt, tie, shine shoes, hat, and overcoat because these were the things that I grew up around.