Small Town Swag
I wrote and re-wrote for hours trying to
come up with a witty introduction and I got nowhere so I decided rather than
beat around the bush I’d try a more direct approach and lay all of my cards on
the table. I am a self-proclaimed fashionista, in my own right, from a city
that couldn’t be further from stylistic innovation or any innovation for that
matter.
In Youngstown, Ohio (or the “YO” as we
natives like to call it) one is guaranteed to see a few things, which include
the remnants of a fallen steel industry, pot holes in just about every crack or
crevice, troublesome youth and many more context clues indicating a
poverty-stricken community, but if you tilt your head a little and squint your
eyes you may be surprised to see something fascinating emerge. That is, a world
of endless creativity.
Sometimes finding fashion pioneers with
creative minds in Yongstown is as easy a task as trying to locate Waldo on a page
full of chaos. However, creative thinkers, though far and in between, do exist
and just like Waldo are usually found in the most unlikely places, and are
arguably just as detail-oriented when it comes to clothes, shoes and
accessories as the editors of any Vogue magazine.
Take for instance, Willie Gregory, born
and bred on the city’s southside, who managed to use geometric shapes, bright
colors and his imagination to turn two simple words, slap and life (Spread Love
And Peace Life Is Free Education) into a city-wide sensation. While utilizing
the help of Twitter and Facebook, Gregory had launched a city-wide fashion
trend that not only has gotten the attention of his community, but also
provides a sense of pride and fashion redemption.
“I try and make it easy to understand and
for everyone. It isn’t just for hood
n****s and back-packers, It’s for everyone, and SLAP LIFE isn’t just about
fashion. I , oneday, plan on using the profits from it to use to aide
impoverished communities like Youngstown and other places that are in need,”
Gregory said.
Gregory and other lovers of everything
fashion, like myself, are not always at the forefront of the conversation when
it comes to fashion, but are hoping to become relavant. I’ve heard so many
argue that fashionable instincts are as likely to occur on a large scale in
this town as fish walking upright in the Sahara desert and honestly I can’t say
that their doubts are without merit, but what I can say is the lack of access
to chic and sophisticated influence from larger cities is what forced me to
fend for myself in a jungle of patterns, prints and colors. I found that the
same poor socio-economic conditions that
disqualified me from purchasing merchandise from top designers like Christian
Louibitan and Vercase is what catapulted
my inner diva. I learned early that the closest I was ever going to get to a
SoHo boutique was a visit to my mother and grandmother’s closets or the local
Goodwill and I was OK with that. Instead of feeling unequipped to compete with
the likes of New York or Paris
I decided that I’d bring my own sense of
eccentricity to the table and ,for me, that’s enough. My definition of
fashion and style cannot be found in the latest pages of magazines or a
Hollywood red carpet. I find inspiration from the cracked crevaces in the streets
of my neighborhood, from the attics of my aunts and uncles and the experiences
of my hometown.
