NPR: Why Black Men Tend To Be Fashion Kings

http://www.npr.org/2012/12/31/167720258/why-black-men-tend-to-be-fashion-kings

For many, style is much deeper than articles of clothing; it's a statement of identity. Black men have a unique relationship with fashion, one that can be traced all the way back to the 17th and 18th centuries.
Monica L. Miller, the author of Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, spoke with Tell Me More's Michel Martin about the past, present and future of black men's fashion.
Miller, an associate professor of English at Barnard College, explains that African-American men have used style as a way to challenge stereotypes about who they are. "Sometimes the well-dressed black man coming down the street is asking you to look and think."
Victor Holliday, associate producer of on-air fundraising at NPR and one of the resident kings of style, tells Martin that he learned about the importance of fashion at an early age. "When I was 5 years old, I knew exactly how I was going to look," he says. "And that was the year I got my first trench coat and my top hat."
Holliday's style icon is his father, who taught him that the main object of dressing up is winning respect. "Because as you present yourself seriously, people tend to take you seriously."
Holliday is one of the men featured in Tell Me More's Kings of Style slideshow.



OinkBoink said:

Their unique relationship with fashion can be traced back to the 17th century? I wonder how that works when 80% of them can barely trace a relationship to their father, let alone fore, fore, fore, fore, fore, fore, fore, fore fathers.

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That was an ugly post.

EDITED

I didn't mean to offend.



harvey_birdman said:

That was an ugly post.

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+1



harvey_birdman said:

That was an ugly post.

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Pawz said:

Now it all 'bout da bling and the fly Coogi, yo!

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this one too

...

i expected this to turn into a post about how most of them are not at all well dressed. i did not expect vapid racism that quickly though. bravo, sf.

Anything short of blind adulation of a Person of Color often perceived as racism. There are some people of color that dress well and there are some that don't. Does anyone remember the word Ebonics? It was an attempt to make ghetto slang be perceived as a separate language. There is a distinct lower income Person of Color dialect and even style of clothing. Sometimes it works, but usually a failure at least in the sense of relating or advancing in the larger culture. The rapper look and speech is limiting in the larger culture unless the rapper is a millionaire. Often it looks like a joke. I once interviewed a person who was wearing an entire suit of fake LV including a military type hat. The interview lasted about 5 minutes and I told him he was definitely under consideration for the job. I tossed his application.

Everything I've said about People of Color can also be said of Caucasians or any other group.

Having said the above, Black men who dress well and wear the right colors can look really well, as can people of all races. I don't see the group as having any advantage.



Godot said:

Having said the above, Black men who dress well and wear the right colors can look really well, as can people of all races. I don't see the group as having any advantage.

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I think crisp, white shirts as part of suits look great on black people. It's a great contrast between the shirt and skin tone that makes the shirt pop.

Make a thread about how white men tend to be fashion kings and you'll be labelled as a racist prick.

Listen to the story, which is about the history of the relationship between men's style and African-American culture. I thought it was an interesting piece. And that some of the above posts are just stunningly dumb. Yeesh.

And I'll also add that while a lot of the folks in the slideshow have choices that some of us might quibble with (full disclosure: I know a couple of them), in the context of public radio, they are SHINING STARS. Wear matching socks and you're Alan Flusser in most of the public radio world.

Clothes usually fit them really well and because of their athletic builds clothes all wear well on them.

That said I hardly ever copy style from a black guy, so maybe its just your perception? I think I am pretty well dressed and fashionable.

I am not into fashion and I don't think those in the pictures dressed well. But,

Blacks do have more flashy use of pattern and colors, from hip hop artists to rappers to professionals. BBC call the use of color 'tribal", but its probably not PC to use in the US.Not classic per se, but they do look polished and well dressed. Andre 3000, Ozwald Boateng, etc.

All women grow up to be like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No men do. That is theirs. -- Oscar Wilde.

This thread is really not necessary since we are all individuals and each one of us has a certain style. It's a racially motivated thread and likely to bring racist comments.

Wow...lots of dumb angry white guys out there. Way to keep it classy, fellas.

Jesse: are you sure Flusser is wearing matching socks these days.