Brian Hines, left, shows James McCleave how to tie a bow tie, while
Brandon Winston tries it on his own.
Photo by Michael Mcloone for the News & Observer
By KAREN GUZMAN, Staff Writer
In a darkened corner of Shaw University's student center lobby, the
good brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha are laying down the rules.
"Every man should have a suit in college," directs Raymond Moore, a
sophomore from Brooklyn, N.Y., who understands the nuances of
business attire better than many guys his age. Standing before a
slide projector and glowing screen where photographs of the "right
clothes" are depicted, Moore is direct, his dark eyes emphatic.
There's no debate, no discussion. Proper decorum is not open to
negotiation.
Moore is leading "The Playa's Seminar," an annual event his
fraternity started six years ago to teach campus "playas" -- slang
for cool, happening dudes -- how to dress for success. Too many of
them can't tell a Windsor knot from a Four-in-Hand, a straight collar
from a button down. Some think they can run off to job interviews in
mismatched outfits and shoddy shoes.
And the colors, don't get Moore started on the colors.
"Don't buy loud-color slacks," he stresses. "You don't want to wear
loud-color slacks. You'll just look like a clown, and why would you
want to do that?"
Quality clothes and the correct details are the keys to looking sharp
in the business world, he says.
Carlton Goode, Shaw's director of student activities, worked with the
Alpha brothers to launch the seminar.
"They used to come to my office, 'How do you tie a tie? Will you tie
my tie for me?' " Goode says. "Now with all the single parents, a lot
of parents don't teach their children how to tie a tie."
Well, the brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha are just the guys to help out.
All the Alphas wear a dress shirt and tie twice a week, per
fraternity rules. They take it upon themselves to learn proper
presentation. They're the self-motivated gurus of good taste.
"How many of you have a suit?" Moore asks his audience of about 14
people, mostly guys with a few women thrown in. Four sheepish male
hands creep up. "That's good," Moore says, because it's a
start. "What you want to do is stick to the basics," he advises.
His recommendation: navy blue for starters, then solid gray, followed
by navy pinstripes and gray chalk pinstripes. The fifth -- and final -
- suit every man needs should be black.
"That's if you have money left over after buying your first four
suits," Moore says. The guys laugh.
"Wear a plain white T-shirt," Moore advises. No print or slogan-
bearing tees that could show through a dress shirt.
As for cologne, Moore has one cardinal rule: avoid the "I know your
boy was here" style of application. "He wears too much cologne and if
you can smell it when he leaves the room, then you know your boy was
here."
Instead target discreet pressure points with cologne, including the
back of the knees. "It rises," Moore explains.
Remember, too, that belts and shoes should match, as should socks and
slacks. And please keep shoes in good shape. Invest in shoe trees.
Buy taps.
"Not the kind Gregory Hines uses," Moore says.
Moore's message resonates with Marcia Harris, director of University
Career Services at UNC-Chapel Hill, which sponsors interviewing
workshops and other campus events that include tips on attire. Most
of the young men Harris sees know they need a suit for a job
interview. It's the details they get lost in.
"They may be fairly clueless as to the proper color or the correct
tie," Harris says. And in a job market this tight, no one can afford
to be clueless. "They really need to pay attention to everything
about the interview, including what they're wearing."
Back at Shaw, Moore snaps off the slide projector. The lights come
on, and the hands go up.
"What about striped socks?"
"They should match the color of your slacks," Moore repeats, never
straying from the rules.
"What kind of shoe trees should I get?"
"The best shoe trees are cedar shoe trees," Moore says.
"Why is it inappropriate to wear a polyester suit?"
"A polyester suit is cheap, and it comes apart easily," Moore
explains.
There are demonstrations after the question-and-answer session.
Carlton Goode runs a shoe-shining demo table. Tins of polish and
various dress shoes line a table. A handful of young men scrub at the
shoes, using supplies donated by Hakky Instant Shoe Repair and
Johnston & Murphy shops in Crabtree Valley Mall and Man-Mur Shoe Shop
on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh.
Alpha Phi Alpha brother Jermaine Jackson, an English major from West
Palm Beach, Fla., who plans to go to law school, walks a group of
guys through the mystery of tying a tie.
"I'm going to do it one more time, and then you're going to tie it by
yourself," he tells the earnest group of classmates watching him,
ties dangling from their uncertain hands.
"Every man should know this sort of business etiquette," Jackson
says. "First impressions are everything."
Staff writer Karen Guzman can be reached at 829-4752 or
kguzman@newsobserver.com.
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