Читать книгу Notoriously Dapper - Kelvin Davis - Страница 4

Introduction

“Every dream starts with a vision. Every vision begins with a passion. Every passion starts with love.”

– Notoriously Dapper

On September 10, 1987, a boy was born in Columbia, South Carolina. Little did he know what life held for him, how blessed he would be, and how much love he would share with the world. That little boy grew up to be me. Hey, for those who don’t know me, I’m Kelvin C. Davis II, the creator and founder of Notoriously Dapper, a body positive men’s style blog. I have always been fascinated with art and fashion – seeing pictures of really well dressed people always intrigued me. I have always felt that pictures say so much more than words. Style can do the same. So naturally, when you add them both together, they evoke an array of feelings, thoughts, and words that come to mind. The story of my 30-year journey to becoming a body positive gentleman will hopefully help you embrace your own journey and find the beauty in the struggle. There have been plenty of books written about etiquette for men; you may ask, what makes mine different? That’s a good question. My perspective is what makes this different. Let’s face it; I’m a young, black, male millennial. Although I have been blessed with parents who are amazing, loving, and supportive, simply being who I am in society has been rough for me some days.

Growing up in the white suburbs of Irmo, South Carolina, caused some confusion for me. People would often tell me that I talked “white” and dressed “white.” I didn’t really understood what that meant until my middle school years, when I moved to Orangeburg for two years (7th and 8th grade). Being constantly told that I didn’t act “black” was kind of confusing for me. I mean, I listened to rap music, I could dance, and I was clearly black. But for some, I guess I was never “black” enough. During this time, I was also shopping in the “husky” section. My mom would make it seem special, as if it was this exclusive shopping club for cool kids. She has a way of making me feel better about things. I remember in middle school, a girl told me she liked my jeans! I was excited because she was one of the “popular” girls and was super sexy. She asked where I got them from, and I told her with all the pride in my voice, “These are from the “husky” section.” She laughed and said, “You mean the fat boy section?” I was like, “Nah, the husky section.” She then notified me that “husky” was a nice way of saying “fat boy.”That was my first time being called fat, and I have to admit it hurt me. I felt shamed and didn’t want to shop in the husky section anymore. My love for clothes and fashion was still there, but it couldn’t emerge in full force due to my size at the time.

By high school, I had grown some and was able to shop in “normal” stores. My mother went to Myrtle Beach one weekend for a work conference. While she was there, she bought me a pink polo shirt from the Ralph Lauren outlet store there. It was a bright fuchsia pink, and I LOVED IT. I had never seen any guy wear that style of shirt before, and I was super excited to be one of the first at my school to rock it. I ironed it, hung it up, and waited for Monday to come so I could straight UP stunt on these students. Monday came, I got dressed for school, and I was rocking the pink polo. I got onto my bus, and everyone was like, “DAMNNNNNNNN, that’s dope. Where did you get that shirt?” I was feeling myself at that moment, and for the first time I felt CONFIDENT AF. Of course I had some haters that said stuff like, “That’s a faggot color,” or my personal favorite, “You know that’s a girl shirt, right?” But the girls LOVED me for wearing it. I got all the attention that day, and it helped boost my self-confidence. I wore the collar popped up also; I was still kind of chunky and had some rolls in my neck. So I popped the collar to hide them a little bit. Unbeknownst to me, there was a musical artist who was on the come-up wearing the same type of clothing and colors that I was wearing: Kanye West. The more I wore these bright-colored polo shirts with the collar popped, the more I got noticed for my broad and fearless sense of style. I went from being a middle school “husky” kid to being a high school fashion trendsetter. People nicknamed me “Kanye East,” ‘cause we had the same swagger at the time. When I started following Kanye and what he was doing in hip-hop, it dawned on me that I was doing the same thing, but in high school on a smaller scale.

You see, before Kanye, a lot of rappers and hip-hop artists dressed in long white tees and oversized street wear. He came out of nowhere with this college prep type swag and turned the game upside down, the same way I did when I wore that fuchsia pink polo with the color popped. That day set the tone for how I dressed in life. I had always been afraid of wearing certain things in middle school because of my size. But when I got to high school, I wore what I wanted to wear, when I wanted to wear it. This helped me develop the fearless fashion sense I have today. I’m one of the biggest Kanye West fans because of this. I feel as of we have lived parallel lives for quite some time. There wasn’t any role model for me growing up – I didn’t have any body icons or fashion icons. The only black male model I remember as a kid was Tyson Beckford. Little did I know all of this would come full circle for me.

Now that we live in a digital age, it’s a lot easier to put who you are, your journey, and your story out there. When I created Notoriously Dapper, I not only wanted to show off my style as a “bigger” guy, but also to create that role model that I didn’t have growing up. Everywhere we look, it’s about getting lighter, getting thinner, and meeting an unrealistic standard of beauty that doesn’t exist in the real world. I recall being in that “husky” section and looking at the ads for the other departments, wondering, “Why can’t I have abs?” “Why can’t I have blonde hair?” or “Why can’t I have blue eyes?” I remember not knowing that who I was and how I looked was good enough. Now, I know that. I have a responsibility to share my body struggles with you all, to share the need for more diversity in the media and fashion industry. We all need representation of some kind.

Representation is everything. We are slowly losing our young men and women to reality television and what they see on the internet. People have forgotten what it is to be nice, to be caring, to love uncondishy (you will learn what this means later), and to live their own life. In this book I will share my journey with you on how I became a modern gentleman with manners, style, and body confidence. Am I an expert? No, but these stories I share with you are 100% true, and it brings joy to my heart to share them. These past 30 years of my life have been quite the time. Time flies, but the good news is you’re the pilot. So strap yourself in, grab a beer or wine, and enjoy.

By the way, before we get started, let me tell you this…you’re beautiful. Don’t let anyone tell you different. Your body isn’t wrong, the media is. Now turn this page so we can get it started. Let’s get it started in here…and the bass keeps runnin’ runnin’ runnin’. Okay, sorry, I couldn’t resist singing those Black Eyed Peas lyrics. Now for real…let’s get started.