Fashion vs Style: How it Shapes My Creativity

Welcome to an episode that stitches together personal anecdotes, fashion insights, and the magic of self-expression. As and artist born under the Sagittarius sign, I reflect on my humble beginnings, exploring thrift stores with my mother, and how those memories have influenced his unique style evolution. 

I unravel the power of the right outfit, from the southern charm of Nashville to the bustling streets of NYC, demonstrating how fashion can be a universal key, unlocking doors to opportunities and new experiences. 
I dive into the harmonious intersection of music and style, examining the influence of timeless icons like Lenny Kravitz, Andre 3000, and Pharrell on contemporary fashion.

The episode offers practical advice too, highlighting those essential pieces every man should have in his wardrobe, from footwear and eyewear to the all-important accessories and timepieces. Above all, this episode celebrates the confidence that comes with personal style. I share stories of impromptu photoshoots with NYC's top street fashion photographers and muse about how the city's unique energy feeds into the style and swagger of its inhabitants. 

This episode is your audio guide to understanding the transformative power of fashion. It's not just about what you wear, but how what you wear can shape your life. Tune in and join me on this stylish journey. You can also watch on Youtube in my link in my footer

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Transcript

So there's the whole argument of style versus fashion. So as I was growing into myself as a recording artist, I was able to open so many different doors because now my personal style and fashion has definitely evolved over the years. I'm now in New York,  fashion capital of the world.  Hey, this is Chaz and welcome to my world.

From my living room today. I'd like to talk about fashion versus style and how my style has evolved over the years. I'd also like to talk about how dressing the part can get you in any door. I also want to talk about the intersection between fashion and music and everything in between. So sit back, relax, and welcome to my world from my living room.

Hey, this is Chaz and welcome to my podcast. So today I'll be talking about, uh, the artists in pursuit and.  Actually blending that and merging the worlds of fashion and creativity. Now, me personally, I have a lot of different hats that I wear. So I'm a singer. I'm also a photographer and also a dad. So with each one of those roles, the creativity of how I dress and present myself is very important.

So I want to talk about some of those things today and hope you enjoy it. So growing up, my mom really, really made sure that I wore the best clothes and I was her baby for about four and a half years before my, my brother came along. So she babied me and made sure I wore the absolute best clothes. Now, back in those times, equivalent to today's like baby gap and stuff like that, there were animals.

Now, um, Granimals were essentially  tops and bottoms that you matched based on the animal on the logo. Kind of what we see is today like Ralph Lauren polo, um, you know, eyes odd, that sort of thing, but it was for kids. So  my mom would buy these granimals. And I think it gave me a sense of independence early because she allowed for me to create my own outfits, giving me that early independence really kind of showed up for me as I've You know, growing up as an adult now, here I am.

So, you know, it all started back then with the granimals and I feel like that was a good start.  To me, at least being cognizant of what clothes can do. And then, you know, you get all the baby compliments. Oh, I love his outfit. I love his outfit. Oh, I love those clothes. Where'd you get that from? So now I'm starting to see that there's value in this for the people outside of, you know, of myself.

So, Geranimals were definitely those type of, uh, clothes that gave me a, an early start on this whole fashion. Creativity thing.  I believe as I was growing up, style became more prevalent than the fashion because, you know, as a single mother, my mom couldn't afford retail, so  little did I know some of the clothes that she would get as I started to grow up and, you know, clothes were expensive to just grow out of, you know, weekly, monthly, yearly.

So my mom, she used to get a lot of our clothes from the thrift store.  So,  you know, and shirts will be a dollar, 2, stuff like that. And I didn't know, you know, any difference because I felt like what I put together was something that represented me and how I wanted to feel and how I wanted to present myself to the world.

So, um,  this manifests itself later in life. As I'm growing up, as I'm gaining my own independence and getting my own identity. And I can say that a pivotal moment in my style was when I used to watch the TV show A Different World. Now, there was a character I'm sure you all are familiar with named Dwayne Wayne.

Now,  for me, I don't know if it's embarrassing or exciting.  I used to want to be him so bad. Because I was somewhat of a nerd. Um, and I was always chasing the prettiest girls in school. So that whole Whitley Dwayne sort of dynamic really hit me hard. And so I really wanted to be Dwayne Wayne. I got the haircut just like him.

I wore the blazers with the, um, you know, with the jeans and sneakers. And it was just like, I was this guy,  but through that time and seeing how people perceived me in a, you know,  in a stylist sort of capacity and that be attached to my name, that really was something that showed me what can be done if you're just appropriately in any given social situation.

So for me, it was school. And then I went to a magnet school where that really wasn't, you know, prevalent to be stylish, but then talented. So then my talents were in one place in my life at that time during my high school years, and then my fashion, you know, in school was a whole other thing and my personal style, of course. 

Um,  yeah, so my early, my early times in this whole  style thing was wrapped up in this character,  but I grew out of that and started to find my own identity. And when that happened, that really started to shift something in my mind that I felt that would carry me for a very, very long time. 

So my early adulthood, I moved to Nashville, Tennessee.  And in Nashville. It's a country music town primarily, but there's a lot of great music outside of that as well. Like R& B, pop, a little bit of soul here and there. There's live bands, there's music played live every night. So here I am trying to find my way in this whole, uh, new Nashville thing.

And, and it also becomes my training ground for what I would learn later in life. Um,  and with that, I had an open palette of anything that I wore  was interesting because it was on me. which a lot of my friends were not black and, you know, just being in those circles, I was different already. But  to add on top of that, my personal style, which kind of had like vintage sort of vibes, probably a nod to my thrift store days growing up with humble beginnings.

But I found that that was the perfect training ground for my personal style, because if I can get it for cheaper and make it my own and have the compliments and, and, you know,  people thinking that I'm A stylish guy. I'm like, well, dang, I just went all the way around because the ingenuity from my mind was the thing that carried my personal style  in Nashville.

I really felt that I was able to carve my own niche as far as my personal style because I had friends from various sectors of Nashville, whether it be You know, waiting tables, writing music, acting modeling.  I mean, I kind of covered the gamut of a lot of those different places in Nashville. And each one of those places I always had like  a dash of myself.

Around Nashville, I was known as the stylish guy. You know, yeah, there was the cool black guy, but I think  my style hopefully prevailed a little bit more as being, uh, leading that part of the conversation. Um, so I was able to open so many different doors because there wasn't anyone really doing.  you know, what I was doing as far as how I presented myself to the public.

So I think there was a sense of, you know, wanting to have that accessibility and, you know, that friendship or even that presence in any given social circle, uh, party event. Anything like that. So as I've started to learn myself and just really learn people and what moves them in addition to Performing and singing and stuff like that really getting into the core of a person and understanding What made people tick and what opened doors for me? 

So the intersection between music and personal style has always taken center stage in my life. And when you're in a place,  you know, say for example, Nashville,  uh, fashion, isn't like New York or LA or Chicago and places like that.  So I really felt like I had a,  you know, a leg up, I guess on some level  to be presented as the cool black guy, first and foremost, but then also.

the cool fashion guy or this really stylish guy. Um, that really felt good because I felt that it opened a lot of doors and it ingratiated me to a lot of people on first glance versus having to have a full conversation to grow into that. There was an instantaneous, um, acceptance of, Hey, you're cool. Come sit at our table type feel like, you know, if you were in high school and you know, you're accepted to the cool table, that's kind of how it was for the earlier part of my adulthood.

And I really embraced it. And it was something that I really leaned into and something that I felt. Um, that I was contributing, uh, in my social circles and really learned a lot from it and kind of had that marinate into my music.  So as I was growing into myself as a recording artist, I wanted my style to definitely take center stage because one of the things at the time that I felt was important was,  you know, the representation of oneself. 

Um, some of my influences, people that I hold to that standard are people like, you know, Lenny Kravitz, um, Andre 3000 from OutKast,  which probably hit me the biggest because we were just three hours north of Atlanta.  So his fashion, his style, and to see his evolution outside of music to really be a trendsetter and someone who really pushes the envelope on his outfits.

They were outlandish. They hit so many different marks where he was known as one of those guys that just was that dude,  you know, you never know what these guys are wearing because what they wear  is who they are.  Or if you see the cool, you know, vintage type flare leg pants, you'll say, Oh, that's Lenny Kravitz with the, you know, with the boots, with the Chelsea boots and you know, the rip t shirts.

You're like. Oh, that's a Lenny vibe now that shirt may be like 300, but you always knew that with his glasses, his hair,  all the things that he wore, you always knew that it was him. So  as an artist, I wanted to really emulate that from the standpoint of really having my own identity. So when people saw me, they would say, Oh, that's a Chaz vibe. 

Now, my personal style and fashion has definitely evolved over the years from my years in Nashville. from my high school years, from my childhood. I'm now in New York,  fashion capital of the world.  One would think  that I would be intimidated by this, but I really,  you know, when I moved to New York, I wanted to make sure that anything I was doing  was definitely still going to represent me.

You know, I don't, I didn't know anybody in New York. I was bringing myself to New York. So anything I wore was going to be a representation of what I wanted people to see. And also something I felt comfortable in.  Once again, sticking to that ideology of, you know,  buying things that weren't very expensive.

So when I moved here,  there was a store. that I think a lot of you guys, if you're in New York, you guys would know this store called Daffy's.  Now Daffy's was a discount store that was very similar to, um, Century 21 as we know it now.  Daffy's had some amazing fashions and a very eclectic Um, you know, array of different styles and fashions from all over the world, Italy, France.

You never know what you're going to get because it was a one shot to get that one piece, which created the allure like way before the whole supreme lines around the building, that sort of thing.  It was like, what did you get from Daffy's? Did you get something cool?  So Daffy's was that place that my earlier years in New York, especially not having much money, was definitely that place that I was like,  I'm gonna get a unique piece.

It's either gonna be super unique  or it's gonna spend my whole budget. 

So there was an Instagram post recently that  I chimed in on. I think it was about the reopening of, uh, Century 21.  And so I wrote in and I was like, Oh my God, Century 21 is opening back up. It, opening back up. It reminds me of the Daffy's days  and oh my God, that comment got so many likes or responses, like over a thousand likes and like 500 comments.

It, it, it was crazy, but that just goes to show that  that really reached a lot of people and created different people's style, um, you know, on their journey, just like mine here in New York.  So something about my style that I feel is really important, and kind of some of my personal hacks, is  the use of pieces.

Some of my favorite pieces are  kind of like my staples, and the things that help create who I am. Uh, as I guess my character, I guess. Cause I believe we all have one.  Those essential pieces for me is my hats.  My jewelry. I've had this one piece right here. This is an island bracelet from the from st.

Thomas. I've had this for about 25 years. A timepiece. I feel is very very important. I've always loved watches and  as I've grown through my life. One of the most sought after pieces, uh, was a Rolex. I mean, whose isn't?  Um, I finally was able to get my first Rolex and I'm like, oh my gosh, that's it. I still have other watches,  about five to 10 watches that are there, but this is the one I wear all the time because it just works with everything. 

And it's just one of those pieces that is recognizable,  that people know it when they see it. There's a level of.  accomplishment for me, especially being in New York. Now, 16 years,  there's a level of progress  that I feel,  um,  that this watch represents. And so it's not to be gaudy. It's not to be this that are a third, but it's just a personal  piece that I feel that represents it.

Every time I look at the time,  it's a reminder that I started off with a mouse infested apartment.  and now I live here. Um,  so yeah, pieces are essential. They mean different things to different people, but those are my essential pieces. So there's the whole argument of style versus fashion.  Um,  fashion is what you buy. 

Style is who you are.  So I've worked a very long time to be myself to the best of my ability. So I'd like to think that my style  led any conversation or led any entrance in any room, um, versus  this particular season's piece,  you know, um,  don't get it twisted. I, I'm definitely down for a really nice piece.

You know, the Tom Ford's of the world, the Gucci's, the Yves Saint Laurent. Like, yes, I get it. But at the end of the day, I find more joy and more pride knowing that I can make something that didn't cost that much  look that much.  So that stems all the way back from my childhood with my mom buying me thrift clothes and dressing me in Garanimals. 

I hope you've enjoyed today's podcast. This one was really fun. I really enjoyed this because I really got to dig deep. On  my journey. Um, in another way. It was just another facet of my life as it is. And it was somewhat therapeutic.  I think I'm starting to get the hang of this whole podcasting thing. Um, I've got a lot to learn.

I'm still learning. So if you guys have any suggestions or tips, I am all ears. And eyes. Please let me know if, um, You see something that I can improve on. Um, if you like here, a topic that you'd like to hear me speak about, um, I'm here and I'm, I'm open to the possibility of where this can take me and take all of us.

So until next time, have a wonderful day.