“Pull up yo britches!!”  This phrase used to be heard whenever there was a person wearing their pants, slacks, or jeans below the waist (usually without a belt) out in the black community.  However, nowadays, you really don’t hear that phrase, even though, the practice of wearing pants below the waist or “sagging” as it has been termed has become more common place.  You’ve seen them.  That guy wearing the wife-beater, boxers and buttocks proudly exposed above their jeans, which are “sagged” so low they might as well be socks.  They’re everywhere, in our schools, streets, and especially on our TV.   It is unfortunate that this has become the stereotypical uniform of our black youth.  Youth, who are just mimicking the fashions seen in music videos produced by Hip Hop’s finest, such as Lil Wayne, Yung Joc, and many others.  A fashion trend, believe it or not, that has its origins in our prison systems. … [Read more]

You know the confusion and misinformation on men and our choice of hairdos will never come to an end in the black community but maybe I can shed some light on the observations I’ve made amongst my fellow “men of color”. The natural hair movement is in full effect as former perms are being replaced rapidly by ceasers, afros and natural braids. With this movement there will be those who tell you that they made “the big chop” for hair health reasons and others who say that it is only another hairstyle that they are trying out. The stigma with natural women however seems to be that they are all stuck-up, Erykah Badu types that point fingers at women who kept a perm or weave. Just Look Good in Your Tresses One of the other tired attack memes on black males (besides our inherent love for fat blondes and prison… rolls eyes) is that we… [Read more]

Over the past decade or so, tattoos have become mainstream to say the least. Our culture has finally advanced to a point where anyone can get ink, not just inmates and sailors. Your mother will still hate it, but overall you probably aren’t going to be browbeat for your body art by society. Hell it’s so acceptable now TV is flooded with tattoo reality shows: Miami Ink, Inked, Tattoo Wars, LA Ink… Pretty much anyone and everyone is getting some kind of tattoo of all sorts of things. PLEASE consider a few things before you get a tattoo of your own. First thing’s first: making the choice. I don’t mean making the choice to get one or not – either you get one or you don’t. The critical choice is subject matter. Tattoos are a very personal matter, and I would be wrong to try and tell people they’re doing it wrong, but there’s some… [Read more]

I’ve been over some aspects of presentation so far, like straightening your tie and tucking your shirt in. Now it’s time to get into a few things that people might not normally think about. Let’s start with colors. When you’re going to grab that shirt/tie/pant combo you gotta stop and make sure it goes together. There are always good standards to keep in your closet. Some fashion staples are gonna be those black pants and a long sleeve white dress shirt. This is the building block. After this you can start adding colors. Take that white shirt, grab some brown pants, brown tie and you’re lookin like a cast member of Mad Men. Basically if you can match up your tie with your pants you’re gonna be in solid shape. Now they don’t necessarily have to be the same color. Grab a light blue shirt, canary yellow tie with blue highlights and khakis. Now this… [Read more]

I’m going to start this one off with a simple reminder. The Getting Sharp series is about refining the edges to look like a fresh, sharp dude. It’s personal advice that I’ve compiled for the past few years. What makes me an authority on it? Nothing really. I’m not a fashion designer. I’m just a simple, self-conscious guy who has tried to improve my own style by looking at what other people are doing right and wrong. So let’s talk about shoes. What you wear for rims is kinda a broad range of options. I’m not gonna sit back and try to say which brands are best, or what shade of neon you should pick for your modern 80’s Velcro hightops. As with the previous lessons, I’m targeting what you should pay attention to when you’re wearing a button down shirt, in a medium formal-formal occasion. Cuz I mean, I’ll wear some leather flipflops on… [Read more]

While some people are going to just pass this lesson over, it’s important. Not everyone has a job that requires wearing a tie on a daily basis, but I’m willing to bet that you will wear a tie at some point. Whether it’s a wedding or some random special event, that tie is gonna find itself around your neck and you better be ready. Whether you consider it a noose or a flag of power, it’s the primary statement you can make about yourself. Not only should you choose carefully, but you gotta make sure you wear it right. Now there’s going to be a couple attitudes guys take towards wearing a tie. Some are going to see it as an opportunity to shine. They’re going to take full advantage of it and coordinate their gear to match up with that tie. They’re going to choose ties, and not just inherit grandpa’s old stash. These… [Read more]

Welcome to lesson 1 of getting sharp. Simply put, I’m going to cover different fashion issues that guys seem to ignore. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not all about eyeballing dudes and critiquing their outfits. These lessons come from personal experience, changing myself and noticing major fashion issues that guys break all the time. If you want to conquer the game, it’s time to sit up and take some notes. First lesson is the most obvious: the shirt. It’s basically the grill of your car, or homepage of a website. People love to avoid eye contact so the first thing they will look at is your shirt, and it can either be immediate negative or positive points. Most guys seem to have this under control, but I still see infractions. Keep your shirt appropriate to the situation: moderately formal situations call for some buttons, whether it’s polo or full button down is your call…. [Read more]

Shoes show that you understand the concept of completeness. Any clown can buy an expensive suit and a silk tie. But a man’s ability to pick the right shoes to match his suit shows he isn’t a peasant, and knows what he’s doing. – Momo Women will look at your shoes automatically because they are wired that way – we look at the rack, they look at our shoes, it’s just a fact. Having grown used to hearing the words “oooh her shoes are cute!” from the woman, I realize that women keep their eyes south when checking out our gear. It comes from the attention they pay to their own shoes, having tons of them, always looking for them and seeing who is wearing them. It’s like being a logo designer, you do it so much that you can’t eat, drink or drive by anything that has a logo without doing a mental critique… [Read more]