Clothes Don’t Make The Man
Meet Jimi, a man determined to find success as a men’s clothier in the Dallas Galleria mall. Will his love for younger women block the road to riches?
Excerpt from clothes don’t make The man
Jimi never met a piece of silk with which he didn’t fall in love. Though he adored silk, his favorite, he cherished fine wool, mercerized cotton, synthetic blends, and anything with lace. Unlike most men, who wouldn’t step within two feet of lace, Jimi embraced the frizzy, shiny, and feminine quality his lace shirts exuded. The dazzle didn’t bother Jimi. He would have asked his mama for Pampers with lace if he had been able to talk.
Yewande Hussein worried about her son, Jimi, on the first occasion during his fifth year when he refused to don a pair of jeans. He pouted and cried the moment he laid eyes on the blue denim as though she had put a fork full of broccoli in front of his mouth. Something about jeans turned Jimi’s eyes into rain clouds.
First, he cried himself dry to avoid wearing jeans. If that didn’t work, Jimi sat on the edge of the bed with his arms folded and lips pursed, refusing to budge. Then, when he really felt his oats, he closed his eyes and acted statuesquely. Unless Yewande dressed him in non-denim, he clowned.
At first, she wondered what she’d done wrong. Maybe she was a bad mother. Was God punishing her for some maternal defect? Friends told Yewande that Jimi was different from the other boys. Any boy who cried under such circumstances must be unique, they insisted.
Nevertheless, Yewande stood by Jimi through the sideways glances, gossip, and second-guessing. She believed every child deserved the right to pursue their passions. Only one thing explained Jimi’s behavior: he arrived in the world passionate about clothes and everything related to making them. When she accepted that truth, mothering became much more bearable.
Buying, making, and designing clothes led Jimi into the retail business. By age 30, Jimi had worked in dozens of small clothing shops and the men’s departments in big box stores like Macy’s, Bloomingdales, and Neiman Marcus. He lived and breathed fabrics, which showed in his personal style and career moves. If clothes make the man, Jimi epitomized a made man.
Eventually, Jimi realized clothes don’t make a man. (Read the whole chapter in the flip book below.)
Go to the next chapter, Billionaire, by clicking here.
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