Detroit — Whenever Kwame Kilpatrick wears a bow tie to his federal trial, it brings to the minds of some the Nation of Islam.
But
the tie and horn-rimmed glasses sometimes accompanying it have more to
do with TV character Steve Urkel than Louis Farrakhan, said friends.
Geek chic, popularized by rappers and NBA superstars, involves wearing accessories normally associated with nerds.
Not even a 38-count indictment and public corruption trial can distract Hizzoner from the latest fashion trend.
"He
is one sharp dressed man," said Rod Brown, co-owner of The Shirt Box, a
men's clothes store in Farmington Hills. "Kwame doesn't miss a beat."
The trial resumes today after a two-week break due to an attorney's illness.
Earlier
in the trial, a political supporter testified that Kilpatrick had
demanded $10,000 to buy suits during a city trip to Dubai in 2002.
He then ditched a dinner party with high-ranking government officials to buy the suits, according to testimony.
While
his snazzy outfits may play well in Los Angeles or New York, they won't
score many points inside a federal courtroom in Detroit, said jury
consultants.
The Detroit News asked jury consultants, image
experts and fashion designers about Kilpatrick's seemingly endless
supply of suits.
Showing them photos of what he wears to court,
flower girl dress - hope the paper asked how the jury might be responding to our political Beau Brummell.
First,
said the experts, the former mayor needs to lower the plumage. His
clothes shouldn't be bright enough to illuminate swaths of downtown at
night.
"It might be better to be properly attired but more
understated and humble in appearance," said Philip Anthony, chief
executive of DecisionQuest, a national jury consulting firm based in Los
Angeles.
Kilpatrick also needs to lose the bold stripes and wide lapels, said others.
They make him look like a gangster, which is problematic when one is fighting charges of corruption.
"Kwame's
suits have always come off as a little slick, and not 'slick' in a good
way," said Joe Faris, a Detroit fashion designer who was a contestant
on "Project Runway."
"His choices were once considered stylish and funky before the scandal. Now he comes off as felonious."
Several
experts liked Kilpatrick's crisp suits but said even that could hurt
him. Looking so prosperous while claiming to have little money could
make jurors suspicious, they said.
In fact, he may be feeling the
financial strain. Several of his recent suits are nearly identical to
ones he wore to court during his last tussle with the legal system in
2008, according to a review of old newspaper photos.
Kilpatrick dresses, doesn't buckle
Kilpatrick, who declined comment, may not appreciate the advice.
In
his book, "Surrendered! The Rise, Fall and Revelation of Kwame
Kilpatrick," he chafed at being told to dress more conservatively during
elections.
Campaign handlers also advised him to ditch his
diamond earring. He didn't want to because it was made from his original
wedding ring, he wrote. He wore it out of love!
He complained
that the media were too focused on his appearance while the city was
withering. But others said the same thing about him.
"A city weeps from hardship while fat cats sully a once-proud town's blue collar grit," wrote GQ magazine.
Kilpatrick
may do so grudgingly but he's capable of dressing appropriately, said
longtime Kilpatrick watchers. When it comes to clothes, they said, there
are two Kwame Kilpatricks.
There is jaunty Kwame, he of the
purple or lime green suits or the all-white ensemble — suit, tie, shirt —
that made the cover of the hip-hop magazine, Don Diva.
Then there's somber Kwame, the political candidate. His colors were more muted.
Kilpatrick prefers the jaunty version, said his longtime clothier, Larry Alebiosu, owner of Fashion International in Southfield.
Kilpatrick likes things that stand out: pinstripes, French cuffs, pocket squares, large watches, gold rings.
"He was a guy who was confident," said Alebiosu. "He's not afraid to wear clothes."
Besides being flashy, the pinstripes had the added benefit of making the once 310-pound Kilpatrick appear thinner.
Kilpatrick, who is 6 feet 4 inches tall, bragged on his Facebook page in May that his weight was down to 264 pounds.
"They called me Fat at 18 but Fine at 41. Dig that," he wrote.
His suits cost between $500 and $1,000 while his shirts were $125, said Alebiosu.
The
clothes, whose prices were discounted, were custom-made because it's
difficult to find something off the rack for someone that big, said the
haberdasher.
A prescient observation
It was one of Kilpatrick's flashy suits that caught the eye of Chris
Rock. The comedian was watching C-SPAN with a friend in 2002 when
Kilpatrick appeared on the screen.
"We were like, aaah, this guy,
what's he getting indicted for?" Rock told a magazine reporter. "And
then we see 'MAYOR OF DETROIT.' We're like, oh (expletive), it's the new
mayor of Detroit."
Who would later, as it turned out, be indicted.
With
the disgraced mayor having moved to Texas several years ago, Metro
Detroiters may have forgotten, or wished they had, about Kilpatrick's
sartorial splendor.
His appearances in court the past few weeks gave a preview — a fall fashion review, if you will — of what the ex-mayor is up to.
Gone
are the flourishes, the bold patterns and the shiny accoutrements. He
still has his beloved pinstripes, but they're much fainter, barely
visible from a distance.
The somber Kilpatrick is on full display. Other fashionistas dress by season. Kilpatrick dresses by the court calendar.
His
muted look didn't stop catcalls from two Detroit women when he left the
federal courthouse after a pretrial hearing in August.
"Ex-mayor or not, he looked damn good," said Shimika Watson, 29.
Her friend, Porscha Albritton, 25, agreed.
"My future husband," she sighed about the still-married Kilpatrick. "What a sexy man."
Of
course, all this talk about fashion and coordinated clothes becomes
moot if things go badly in court. In prison, everything matches.
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/
