4 minute read
Big Boi Couture
Unlike most brothers over the age of 50, I thrive on nontraditional looks & Bright colors
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Just in case you missed the memo, Big Boi’s are getting
FLY! The days of oversized clothes and dark undertaker clothes are over! Today, the 6’ 4”, 300 lbs. and over dudes have mad Grip!
When I think back to my New York upbringing (in the 70’s), all of those ‘big cornbread eating rascals’ only wore the big Levis and prison-styled t-shirts. Most of the fashions of my day were for skinny penciled necks that weighed about a buck fifty-seven. All of my peers that were 200 plus lbs. had to have clothes tailored, assuming their parents were fortunate to make that kind of bread.
As a teen in high school, I regularly had difficulty finding size 13 ½ kicks. I also found myself ordering pants out of the Big & Tall catalogues. My shoes had to be purchased at either Nunn Bush or Florishein, and unlike most of my peers, I refused to mix dress pants with sneakers, uggggggggggh! Although some thought I was trying to be white, most realized I was just ahead of my time, at least fashion wised. They noticed that I was not only attracted to bright colors, platform shoes and the ‘Cooley High’ leisure suits, but I thrived on them!
By the time I entered the eleventh grade, I was rocking the ‘Saturday Night Fever’ Euro-styled blazers, bolero shirts and the ‘Don Cornelius’ styled bow ties at the discos. It wasn’t long before I caught the eye of some modeling agencies in and around New York City. This along with my summer league basketball tourneys became my side gig for extra coins and I continued that trend in college.
After matriculating to Benedict College in Columbia S.C. I joined an independent modeling troupe called “The Shades of Ebony”. One
of the benefits were that I was able to keep the clothes I modeled (this made me the best dressed small forward in college)! After graduating my love of vines continued during my military career. I rocked Stacy Adams in the night clubs of Guam, Korea, Hawaii and the Philippines. After my discharge from the Navy and relocating to the DMV area, I almost lost my mind when I discovered that new clothing outlets were starting to feature the ‘Big & Tall Fashions’ and size 13 and over shoe sizes! At that time, my favorite stores were Burlington Coat Factory and DSW.
In the early 90’s Burlington was the first major outlet to feature sizes 14-17 in both shoes and sneakers. The Rack Room also sold Stacy Adams in sizes 14 and over. The big and tall industry literally kicked the door open during the late 90’s
early 2000’s! They finally accepted the fact that big men were a largely overlooked consumer base.
Remember in the clothing industry (and US as a whole), it was thought the average height of the US male is only 5’ 9” (despite the increase in boys being well over
6’ 6” and girls 5’ 8”). By the mid 2000’s, I became enamored with designer suits (i.e. Steve Harvey, Tracy Kennedy and Michael Collyer) and sick eel-skinned slides. The more ‘whacked out’ the designs and colors, the more obsessed I became! I’m sure I was the first Prison Substance Abuse Program Director to come into work wearing a lime green European suit with matching ostrich and lizard gators. Today, nothing has changed, I’m still recognized for my flamboyant drip! After all, once your peers proclaim you ‘Mr. SwagNificent’, you must represent for all the Big Boi’s!
Big & Tall Men & Women aways bring out the best in clothes. They are the ones that implement trends in Fashion
