Lifestyle
Black Style, Made to Measure
Once all the spilled champagne has been mopped up from this year’s Met Gala, the exhibition that it’s toasting, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” will examine Black dandies, bespoke suiting and the Black men who so often set the standard of what it means to be stylish.
Black fashion lovers may feel the celebration is long overdue, but the show provides an opportunity to consider all that “tailoring” can mean — especially to Black people in the United States.
Ahead of the Costume Institute show, Black craftspeople across the country — a milliner in South Carolina, men’s tailors in Chicago, a jeweler in Los Angeles — reflected on the power and joy that can be found in tailoring.
Custom Clothiers
Christopher Brackenridge and Milton Latrell
Two sons of seamstresses help men look their best at Agriculture, a boutique in Chicago.
Photographs and video by Nolis Anderson for The New York Times
“We’d both seen how confident the clients of our moms became when they wore custom clothing. They had confidence. They walked a certain way. Their posture changed. And we was like, ‘If that makes a Black man feel good, why not be a part of that?’” — Milton Latrell
The boutique’s clients include famous Black actors, pastors and musicians, as well as local students getting outfitted for prom.
Mr. Brackenridge said he especially loved working on pieces that clients have had in their families for generations and finding new ways of updating them so they feel modern. A 60-year-old jacket that once belonged to a client’s grandfather was a particular highlight.
“I love when a client is able to come in and bring a piece that their grandfather may have worn and we are able to update that style to now.” — Christopher Brackenridge
“We like to put things like hidden watch pockets and coin pockets” for a little surprise, Mr. Latrell said.
“When you’re wearing something custom or just customized to you, you feel debonair — extraordinary, even — like you can accomplish anything,” said Milton Latrell, co-founder of Agriculture, a Chicago boutique specializing in custom suiting and styling for men.
For many Black people, having a tailor is not an extravagance, but a necessity. The right tailor can take an ill-fitting pair of pants and make them flatter every contour of the body. The right tailor can transform scraps of fabric into a treasured dress, skirt or jacket — all while leaving customers looking and feeling their best. And when customers feel their best, they exude a swagger and confidence that feels like a natural part of being Black.
Tailor
Cheryl A. Lofton
A third-generation tailor in Washington initially wanted nothing to do with the family business.
“My niche in the business was alterations. I wanted to make sure that women knew that they could come in and have the same treatment that the men got in a tailoring business.”
Scissors originally belonging to JC Lofton, Ms. Lofton’s grandfather who started the business in 1939. Black Tailors
J.C. Lofton, left, in Washington D.C. in the 1940s, who founded Lofton Custom Tailoring in 1939.
“My mom dressed up to go to the grocery store. She did not go out of this house without a nice, well-fitted dress, her makeup done, and her high-heeled shoes. Never, ever did my mom go out without being dressed up, as did all of the grown-ups in our family. They were always well dressed.”
Cheryl A. Lofton and her grandfather, Joe Cephus (J.C.) in the 1970’s.
Like Ms. Lofton, I have family in the business. For most of my own childhood my mother was a tailor, making wedding gowns, bridesmaid dresses and suits in a room in the back of our house in Harare, Zimbabwe. Her customers, a mix of friends, family and strangers, always seemed to leave her de facto studio feeling joyful. It was in that back room that I found an affinity for tulle and feathers, and learned just how special clothes made just for you could make you feel.
When my family arrived in the United States, my mother stopped sewing professionally, but she always made time to ensure that my clothes — most of which were thrifted or hand-me-downs donated by our new community — felt one of a kind. She would swap out a plain black button for a fun mismatched pink one, extend a hem on pants that were a tad too short, use extra fabric on a skirt that was too big to create pleats and ruching. Even when my clothes weren’t new, they felt special.
Costumer
Laron Nelson
The owner of Opulent Designs in New Orleans says his goal is to make outfits that are “more costume than fashion.”
Photographs and video by Camille Lenain for The New York Times
“I use a lot of sequined fabrics — a lot of velvet, satins, lamés, lace, brocade, rhinestone fabrics — because for Mardi Gras, everything is all about the glitter and the shine. The glitz.”
Locally, Mr. Nelson is best known for his custom wire working and feather collars, worn by participants in New Orleans’s famed second lines and pageants.
“I started creating it so I wouldn’t have to spend the type of money it cost to buy from other people,” Mr. Nelson said.
Mr. Nelson’s mother and sister help with the business, whose studio is in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans.
“A lot of men are deterred from wearing what they want to wear because they may feel like something is not masculine. But my thing is, if you’re masculine, it doesn’t matter who you are, what you are and what you wear.”
For Mr. Nelson, more is more.
At 18, I moved to Rome for school, and within days of arriving, found myself wandering through the Termini neighborhood in search of a barber and a tailor. I was tight on cash, but I wouldn’t be caught in clothes that were too tight or too loose. I found a student tailor who shared a studio space with other young designers.
Years later, as a graduate student in New York, I often hauled a bag of thrifted clothes to a Harlem dry cleaner for alterations. The store was next to my barbershop and a few blocks away from the market where I bought fabric for scarves and head wraps — which, of course, was walking distance from my cobbler. In my late 20s in Atlanta, I made sure to find a tailor, a barber and a jeweler to repair my most beloved pieces before I signed an apartment lease.
Jewelry Designer
Maggi Simpkins
A Los Angeles artist who doesn’t want to make earrings or bracelets “just for the sake of making pretty things.”
Photographs and video by Bethany Mollenkof for The New York Times
“We’re creating these pieces with the intention that they’ll be passed down throughout generations and continue to tell the stories of the people that once wore these pieces.”
“I used to have a locket growing up and I loved it and I thought it was magic because you would open up and there’d be a little photo inside of it,” Ms. Simpkins said, “but I never understood why the photos were hidden.”
“My earliest memory of jewelry is my mom going through her jewelry box and taking out pieces and telling me stories about ‘Your grandfather gave this to your grandmother on their 25th wedding anniversary,’ or ‘Your grandfather got this when he was 16 years old during communion.’ So I grew up hearing stories about family members that were no longer alive.”
Ms. Simpkins in her Los Angeles studio.
Although Ms. Simpkins makes all kinds of jewelry, she’s best known for her nontraditional engagement rings.
“From an early age, jewelry was just magic to me because it had the ability to hold these stories from past loved ones.”
You can find Black artisans almost anywhere: on main streets in the bustling part of town, or tucked away in studios in basements, attics, spare bedrooms or even garages. In these spaces, they are constantly experimenting and creating.
I first met Natalie Simmons, a hat maker born and raised in Charleston, S.C., at her store in the West Ashley district of the city in 2019. I explained to her that I was in town for a wedding that called for a hat, but I didn’t know what to get. Days later, she handed me a fascinator with a long black and white feather.
Milliner
Natalie Simmons
A hat maker in Charleston, S.C., who sources materials from Italy and parts of Africa.
Photographs and video by Donaven Doughty for The New York Times
Molds and a measuring tool that Ms. Simmons uses to make all types of hats: fedoras, cloches, boaters, bowlers, sun hats and more.
“My grandmother had hats in every color. If you walked into her closet, her closet was just lined with hat boxes. There were hat boxes up on the shelves. There were hat boxes on the floor. They were just her coveted thing. She had a hat that matched every outfit. She had gloves and handbags, but the hats were something to be cherished.”
“We don’t just take a hat off the rack and just plop it down on our heads,” Ms. Simmons said. “We add a curious little tilt or a feather, or add a pin, or a special detail that just makes it stand out.”
“A hat that perfectly fits your face and fits the structure of your body can bring something to life. It’s the one thing that can really make an outfit stand out and really tell a story.”
In her Charleston studio, Ms. Simmons makes custom hats in addition to restoring older ones.
Designers shared similar early memories of falling in love with their craft at home, where they were surrounded by moms, aunts and grandmothers. Their work allows them to continue to tell their family’s stories.
Western Wear Designer
Dymond Taylor
Dating a cowboy opened her eyes to an opportunity in Houston.
Photographs by Arturo Olmos for The New York Times
“It’s really easy to design for our people because they don’t want to look like anybody else.”
Ms. Taylor loves to design with leather, denim and — of course — fringe.
“When I started this brand, I wasn’t seeing what I wanted in stores. We always set the trends. We always create uniqueness. It’s just deeply rooted in us to do that.”
Sometime around her rodeo-going days, Ms. Taylor realized that the disproportionately white images of cowboys and western life that she encountered weren’t reflective of what she knew to be cowboy culture and history. B Stone was born out of that frustration.
“People might not instantly associate Western wear with suiting and tailoring, but when you go back to the root of it, Western wear has always been presented as a suit — the pant, the hat, the boot and the guitar.”
Ms. Taylor describes her brand as melding “cowboy style and urban style, mixing streetwear with country.”
In shops and studios scattered across the country, the American designers and tailors I spoke with represented exactly what this year’s Met exhibition and gala hope to honor. Each one takes some element of an outfit and elevates it, empowering their Black clients and celebrating their collective history in the process.
When actor Andy Garcia arrived in Los Angeles, seeking a career in entertainment, he had no idea that he’d end up becoming a longtime resident.
“I moved to Los Angeles in 1978, looking for work as an actor,” Garcia says. “I lived in Hollywood in a storefront apartment on Sycamore and Fountain. I lived there a couple of years, moved, and have been in Los Angeles ever since.”
In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
The early years were hard, with Garcia working various jobs including stints as “a professional waiter, mostly at the Beverly Hilton, and loading trucks for Roadway at their distribution docks in the City of Commerce,” he says.
Today, the actor is known for roles in “The Godfather Part III,” which garnered him an Academy Award nomination for supporting actor; “Ocean’s Eleven” and its sequels; and the title role in the 2022 “Father of the Bride” remake. Currently, he stars in Paramount+’s drama “Landman,” playing the dangerous cartel boss Gallino, who holds a powerful position opposite fixer Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) in the series’ oil industry and cartel feud.
Los Angeles is also the setting for “Diamond,” a movie written and directed by Garcia, that pays tribute to 1940s Los Angeles. The contemporary film noir story, which just wrapped production, stars Garcia as a private eye who operates like a 1940s Raymond Chandleresque detective in present day Los Angeles.
“Los Angeles has been our home for many years,” Garcia says. “I never thought it would be my home for this long, but it has been. I’m fortunate that I have all my family living nearby.” Ideal Sundays for the actor are built around family, watching football games on TV, eating Italian cuisine or a good steak, and finding time to play golf at Lakeside Golf Club.
7 a.m.: Coffee first, then Pilates
I’m always up by 7 a.m., regardless. After I wake up, I do Pilates at home with a Gratz reformer. But not before coffee! After that, it’s breakfast at home and football time.
10 a.m.: Golf with a stop at the drink shack
Usually on a Sunday, we get ready for football on the East Coast, like watching the Miami Dolphins, which starts at 10 a.m. If there’s not a game on, I’d squeeze in a little golf at Lakeside Golf Club in Burbank, where I’m a member. It’s a great walking course. The membership is a great hang. It’s very family oriented. There’s always a lot of kids around on Sundays and the weekends. There’s a shack in the middle of the course that serves sandwiches, beer, cocktails, soft drinks and so forth. After several holes, if you want to stop, you can get a snack or a drink there. For me, it’s to get a drink.
2 p.m.: Late lunch
It’s a four-hour round, and since breakfast was at home, lunch would be in the clubhouse. I recommend the Cobb salad, which comes as a very large serving, so you don’t need anything else with it. They also have a junior cheeseburger. It’s somewhere in between a big burger and a slider. It’s quite delicious. If I want to go a bit on the unhealthy side, that would be my go-to.
3:30 p.m.: Back home for family plans
I’d then head home for more ball games on TV. The grandkids are there. We just hang out at the house, and decide what to do for the evening. We either cook at home, or if we’re up for a road trip, we’ll pick one of the restaurants that we like.
7 p.m.: Dinner out for gnocchi or ribeye
We usually have dinner early, so if we’re going out, we head for one of our favorite restaurants. In the Beverly Hills area, we like to go to Via Alloro because our friend Tanino Drago runs the place. Tanino’s the chef and owner, and is a very old friend of ours. He actually did my daughter’s wedding here at the house. I tend to always get their spinach gnocchi bolognese, as part of the arrangement on the table. The menus change but they always have it or regular gnocchi. We’ve known the Drago family for years and it’s a place a lot of our friends frequent. We love Tanino and the way he cooks, the atmosphere. It’s like going to a place that’s like family.
Another favorite is Angelini Osteria on Beverly Boulevard. Gino Angelini, the chef there, is a neighbor, so we go there a lot. When the family goes, it’s my wife and I, four kids, the kids have two husbands and a significant other, and three grandkids, so that’s 12 around the table.
We also love going to Musso & Frank Grill in Hollywood. We try to order the ribeye cap steak. It’s a limited supply, so sometimes they run out of it. For me, it’s a martini and a ribeye cap. As soon as I could afford to go out to dinner, in the early ’80s, I started to go to Musso. It’s easy to get to. Parking’s right behind the restaurant, and they’re great people. I love the history of the place, and the food is terrific. It’s a classic steakhouse.
9 p.m.: A nightcap and a little piano music
After dinner, we go home. I’d have a nightcap. Sometimes it’s a little bourbon, or an Italian digestif like Amaro Averna. Then I’d do a little piano playing. I play original material because I don’t read music. That’s how I learned the instrument, so it’s themes I’ve developed, or improvisation. I started as a percussionist when I was very young. I play all the Afro-Cuban percussion instruments that are inherent in Cuban music. I started to play piano at age 30 for a film I directed called “The Lost City,“ which I wrote the original music for. I was always interested in piano. My aunt played classical piano and it always called to me.
11 p.m.: Off to bed
I go to bed no later than 11 p.m. My ideal Sunday is always around the family. What are we doing today? Are the kids coming over? Are we cooking? Do you guys want to go out to dinner? It’s always about gathering the clan.
the biggest movies of the last few years have one thing in common.
They are all rated PG — which is
surprising because many of Hollywood’s biggest hits have been rated PG-13.
So what’s behind the current love of
PG movies, and why are kids the most influential moviegoers in the industry
right now?
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Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Kai
McNamee and Kathryn Fink. It was edited by Justine Kenin. Our executive
producer is Sami Yenigun.
Lifestyle
Clarington councillor charged with uttering threats over voicemail she says was AI | CBC News
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The audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.
A municipal councillor from Clarington, Ont., is facing criminal charges over alleged threats made in a voicemail involving a potential mayoral candidate, police say.
Coun. Corinna Traill has previously denied making any threats, saying the voicemail in question was generated using artificial intelligence.
In a news release issued Wednesday, Peterborough police said the Ward 3 councillor had been arrested and charged with two counts of uttering threats.
Traill was released on a promise to appear and is slated to be back in court in January.
In a social media post from September, former mayoral candidate and retired police officer Tom Dingwall alleged that in August, he received a voicemail from Traill telling him to stay out of next year’s mayoral race to allow a friend of hers to “run unencumbered.”
Dingwall went on to say that the message “made it clear” that if he did not, he would be killed and his wife would be sexually assaulted.
The charges came as a “relief,” Dingwall told CBC News on Wednesday.
“It has impacted our family and it has impacted my wife and it is a completely bizarre situation,” he said. “I certainly didn’t expect it, but I’m also not going to tolerate it.”
Dingwall said he is requesting that Traill step down from council.
“To be clear, no elected official, paid to represent us, should utilize intimidation or threats to dissuade anyone from pursuing elected office or engaging in public service, especially to the benefit of their friend,” he wrote on social media.
Traill declined to comment to CBC News, noting the issue is being resolved in court.
But the councillor previously issued her own statement about the situation in September, saying “unequivocally” that she did not leave the message.
“I have been advised that artificial intelligence technology was involved,” she wrote. “Portions of the voicemail were my voice, but other parts were artificially generated.”
Traill went on to say that she respects the investigative process and planned to fully cooperate so what happened could be established.
“It is important that residents have confidence in the outcome, and I share in the community’s desire for clarity and truth,” she wrote.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Clarington Mayor Adrian Foster noted the arrest and said that it is important to allow the justice system to determine the outcome of the case.
“I want to affirm to residents that Clarington Council is focused on serving our community and we will continue to do so,” he said. “As this is an ongoing matter before the courts, the Municipality of Clarington cannot make any further comments at this time.”
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