DBQ DAVID BRIDGEFORTH QUARTERLY
BE YOUR
OWN
LABEL
FASHION GODS
25
CREATIVE POWERS Deondray Gossett's
11
BOOKS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE
+
CONFESSIONS
OF A
HUMBLE LABEL WHORE
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DBQ DAVID BRIDGEFORTH QUARTERLY
BE YOUR
OWN
LABEL
FASHION GODS
25
CREATIVE POWERS Deondray Gossett's
11
BOOKS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE
+
CONFESSIONS OF A
HUMBLE LABEL WHORE
WELCOME
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HERE WE GO!
Fall is my favorite season not only because October is my birthday month, but because of the fashion. The majority of our community loves labels and fashion trends, as well as enjoys seeing our favorite pop culture celebrities transform themselves in photographs for the love of fashion.
In this issue it was important to me to salute the creative forces in fashion, many who are a part of our community. They are the men and women who bring fashion and style alive for us. Fashion Gods, Pg 11.
On page 8 contributing writer Langston John Blaze shares "Confessions of a Humble Label Whore," a must read that will give a different look into our obsession with labels.
Check out our front row piece with Rihanna's fashion hairstylist, Yusef Williams, as he shares what he loves most about his style.
Also, Hollywood producer Deondray Grossest shares 11 books that changed his life. Interestingly enough many of his selections are both classics and inuenced my life as well. Pg 7.
Let us not only evolve our minds and style this fall, let's cozy up and keep warm.
OCT/NOV DOUBLE COVER ISSUE
TEAM DBQ / THE CONTRIBUTORS
Photographer; Cash Carter David Bridgeforth in Popular Culture shirts @popularculture_ Langston John Blaze is a 26 year old writer/ entertainer in Atlanta, Ga. His new book, The Underwear Drawer, a guide to gay dating, debuts February 2015.
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DaShawn Usher is a Health Communicator. He has worked in the ďŹ eld of public health for over 7 years. Mr. Usher specializes in community engagement, education, and recruitment. He lives in New York.
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Deondray Gossett is one half of the award-winning creative team that brought us The DL Chronicles. He has also produced for hit reality competition shows, FaceOff, Make Your Mark/ Shake It Up Dance Off, America's Best Dance Crew, The Sing Off, and the ABC special, Family Dance Off. He lives with his husband in Los Angeles
Oct/Nov 2014
David A. Bridgeforth Jr. Editor-In-Chief / Publisher Jacqui Tanner Senior Editor/ Executive Administrator Stanley Bennett Clay Senior Contributing Editor Reggie Wells Consulting Cover Editor Dashawn Usher Managing Editor Cash Carter Photography DBQ Magazine is a nationally distributed bimonthly lifestyle publication. Published and printed in Indianapolis, Indiana. For more information on advertisement, circulation, or articles please visit us at www.DBQMAG.com Or call 317.500.4327 or 908.656.6218.
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David Bridgeforth Quarterly Magazine
DBQ CONTENTS
October November Volume 4 Issue 5
3. WELCOME 5. Behind The Scene
CULTURE FRONT ROW 6. Fashion Hairstylist USEF WILLIAMS
THE READ 9. Deondray Gossett's 11 Books that will change your life
COVER FEATURE STORY 7. Confessions of a Humble Fashion Whore COVER STORY 11. FASHION GODS 25 Creative Powers What I've Come To Know 17. Be Your Own Label
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DBQ Magazine
Oct/Nov 2014
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DBQ BEHIND THE SCENE
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PHOTOS: CASH CARTER
EVERYWHERE ABOVE THE RAINBOW 1. Derrick Briggs and Mr. Bridgeforth at former gay pornstar, HotRod's new Art opening in NYC. 2. David Bridgeforth with Legendary singer Dionne Warwick as they both receive honors from New York City Black Pride's Heritage Awards August 2014. 3. Iconic makeup artist, Mr. Byron Barns & Mr. Bridgeforth after speaking to the young people at GMAD in Brooklyn, NY. 4. New friends —Dave Bridgeforth & boyfriend Carter, Monifah and newly wed wife Terez Mychelle.
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Follow Our Trending Lists August/September 2014 The Talented Ten —Who've Made Us Proud.
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DBQ CULTURE
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FRONT ROW
YuseF. Fashion Hairstylist YUSEF WILLIAMS—the force behind Rihanna's many iconic styles talkS Front Row with us.
Fashion hairstylist that you admire : Odile Gilbert /Lisa Mitchell /Oscar James/ Chucky Amos Favorite designer at the moment: KTZ /June J /Givenchy Life philosophy: Know your craft. The deceit of faking it till you make it is not what I call art. Fashion trend You love: I create my own trends. One day I could be formal, one day I could be urban, one day I could be high-fashion, so there is no particular trend I love I just love fashion. Best fashion item You own: A long white Givenchy silk top to the floor that I wore on my 35th birthday. It was a look and a night that I will never forget.
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Words/ Baldwin Rivers Photo/ Brian Nieh
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Oct/Nov 2014
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DBQ CULTURE
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OPINION
CONFESSIONS OF A HUMBLE LABEL WHORE Words by Langston John Blaze
Dare I not wear labels associated with TJ Max and/ or Marshalls or condemn myself to Target and WalMart brands and not feel as if I was practically requesting that every gay man in the Atlanta metro area point at me in laughter. Suddenly, I started having flashbacks of Carrie White getting splattered with pig’s blood or even worse, that scene where she got smacked in the face with Tampons for not knowing what her menstrual cycle was. I guess my version would be getting read as the gays called it, also known as verbal humiliation, for wearing anything less than acceptable clothing; I.e. nothing lower than the standards of H&M and Zara. Oh God, and don’t get caught in Forever 21. The gays will never forgive you for that. Well, maybe not if you live in New York City, where the Forever 21/ 21 Men fashion is definitely a variety and on the same scale as an H&M. Nevertheless, I couldn’t fathom what made fashion and the gays so crazy. Of course I had no issue with people who chose to rock clothes from labelless stores but honestly, the fashionable gays were ruthless. However, if there’s one relationship every gay man has been able to sustain, it’s his love for clothes. Even then, some of us can hardly bear staying true to the labels we rock or admitting where we shop. Others take pleasure in committing shade, slamming anyone who wears anything less than Versace, Gucci, etc. I said to a guy I was interested in once, “We should go shopping some time.” He said, “No, I’m sure we don’t shop at the same places. I shop at Gucci,” he said bluntly as if the clothes I wore on my social media pages were worthy of me being hit with stones. Let’s just say I never called him again. Was it that serious? Had the gay’s commitment to fashion been the cause and effect to the people they chose to associate themselves with? “Bitch please! She got that from the “House of H&M”, sweetie!” I heard a friend of a friend say in reference to a guy who seemingly was confident in his garments. Personally, I had no problem admitting that I loved labels like H&M and Zara. I didn’t need to spend over a hundred dollars on one shirt to feel great about my fashion sense. Besides, if it were good enough for David Beckham, it was definitely good enough for me. H&M was a European brand with great fitted styles. They were becoming very popular. Besides Beckham, artists like Lana Del Ray and Beyonce advertised the clothing styles. I shopped there religiously. Yet lately, I’d found myself discovering new styles and shopping at new places. I could hardly afford to breath the same air as a Diesel, D&G, etc, but some times I enjoyed to window shop and possibly find similar looks for cheaper prices. I was a smart fashionable shopper. Why spend hundreds on clothes I would break up with by next season? The thing about Atlanta fashion, and I don’t just mean for gays, was that everything was trendy.
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People had no sense of their own fashionable direction. Atlanta fashion was about what was in, which made me go the opposite way. As an entertainer, one of my biggest desires was to search and discover my innovation for style and looks. Yes, I’d given into some trends like the pads of leather material on cotton shirts and Mohawk hairstyles , but it was about finding ways to make it my own. So I got a slight part in my Mohawk to give it a different effect from what I’d seen over and over. I worked with new clothing designer, Sydney Nechelle, my twenty-two year old fashionista sister, who’s love for fashion excited me to smithereens. She had a knack for putting styles together and designing. As kids, we’d sketch clothing ideas together. I did it for fun but slowly, I noticed my sister taking it seriously. She would gasp the first and only time I pronounced “Versace” wrong. She clinched her chest at the Oscar De La Renta clothing scenes in films like Sex and The City and The Devil Wears Prada. Her excitement got me excited and soon, I had her styling my clothes. For my August 31st Southern Male Showcase performance, Sydney styled a red and black draping plaid shirt for me inspired by the idea of what Chris Brown wore for his latest BET Awards performance and Beyonce’s look for the Flawless video. I had a new obsession with plaid which Sydney birthed into a masterpiece styling job, using an H&M fitted shirt and a draping piece attached to it. There’s nothing like the vulnerable feeling of walking into a venue filled with gay men ready to target you for any little error they can find. Even if you look flawless, there’s always that one gay man in the group ready to scrutinize and devour you. So I found myself, allowing myself to not let my clothes wear me but me wear the clothes; confidence. Confidence allowed me to feel comfortable wearing a gray snake skin printed blazer with a black crop top and fitted black pants. Confidence allowed me to wear pink shorts that came way above my knees with a near violet colored button down and shades. With fashion, confidence was key. Hell, if Rihanna could wear bed wear with a jean jacket, why couldn’t I do what I wanted and make others follow my lead. It didn’t take over 15 million followers to do that but it definitely could generate them. Nevertheless, I was coming from a gay culture who society highlighted as a sex culture. Yet when you looked at the bigger picture, more positive picture, outside of LGBT men criticizing each others’ style, gay men had a great effect on fashion. We created memorable red carpet designs and even had effected the styles of heterosexual men to the point where nowadays it was kind of difficult to stereotype a man’s sexual by the clothes on his back. In some ways, I appreciated the label whores of fashion. They taught me that I could be just as fashionable in vintage hand-me-downs as if I were Versace’ed down from head to toe and with a better attitude. Oct/Nov 2014
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Deondray Gossett Circa 1995
THE READ
—1
Deondray Gossett's 11 Books —2
—3
—4
That Will Change Your Life
1. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler - Read this book just as I was transitioning in life and questioning everything. It reaffirmed everything that I was feeling. It's science fiction, but is so prophetic and is ultimately a social commentary on "civilization" - wanted to start my own religion called "Earthseed" after reading it. 2. Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor
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Coerr - was the first book that introduced me to the horrors of the world. My eyes were eternally open after reading this book. I was only 11. 3. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglas opened my eyes to the social conditioning and the plight of Black people in America. The human cruelty, psychological brow beating, and injustices described are forever etched in my memory. I was suddenly able to
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Oct/Nov 2014
recognize the connections from the past to the present, and where Black suffrage comes from. 4. Night by Elie Wiesel - This Memoir of Elie Wiesel during the German Occupation and Jewish Holocaust chilled me to the core. Unfathomable human cruelty. It was a reminder of how evil can fester in the world if you allow it. It was the beginning of my "do-something" attitude.
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THE READ
Deondray Gossett's 11 Books That Will Change Your Life
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5. The Alchemist by Paolo Coehlo though I'm not religious by any means, the universal truths about spirituality and life choices come through loud and clear in this book 6. The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank another tale of human cruelty all against the backdrop of a young, teenage, Jewish girl trying to keep her sanity and humanness while forced to hide in an attic for fear of her life 7. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - this brought out the free thinker in me. Taught me to stop apologizing for who I am and what I think. 8. The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Dubois forced to read as a college assignment, but ended up being
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my blue print for life. 9. B-Boy Blues by James Earl Hardy was my first affirmation as a young SGL/Gay man. I no longer felt like an island. There were people out there who thought and felt the same things that I did. It made me not feel like a 'taboo".
ugliness of the townspeople that comes back to bite them in the ass - literally. The book manages to touch on racism, classism, poverty, and injustice while still scaring the hell out of you. I call it intellectual horror.
10. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou assigned reading in High School. Taught me that the human spirit is capable of surviving just about anything so long as there's breath in your body and the will to survive and the ability to identify the silver linings. 11. IT by Stephen King - on the surface, it's a terrifying tale of Pennywise the clown, but Pennywise is truly a metaphor for all the evil and
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DBQ COVER STORY
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25 GODS
FASHION
These are the powers that be this year in the fashion industry— those who set the trends we praise and create the magical stylish statement most of us wish we could make. They are designers, stylist, photographers, models, and socialites —but beyond their titles and their popularity they are all dope godly forces of creativity and they are my pick this year. Some new to their power and relevance in fashion, and some legendary who have never lost their splendor. This is the fall fashion list, this is our salute to 25 fashion forces, many LGBT and some not —all of them inspire each of us to make our lives a fabulous fashionable runway for us to cat-walk our expressions of their influence.
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DBQ COVER STORY
Q. Hudson 31 Chicago, IL Creative Director/Designer for High End Junkie Bragging Rights: Q is the brainchild behind High End Junkie (HEJ) - a trending street wear brand making noise out of Chicago. @highendjunkie
25 FASHION GODS
Marquis Lucky Engle 23 Ohio by way of NYC Designer Bragging Rights: I have the best people working with me which enables my Brand Popular Culture to operate in excellence. So Im bragging on my Team! SewGoodReapGood.com
Brucling (Bruce Franklin) 28 Atlanta GA Designer/ Stylist Bragging Rights: One of my proudest moments was when Non other than King B (BeyoncĂŠ) wore my accessories. Also designing custom pieces for one of my favs Rihanna @Brucling
Antoine Patton 23 Atlanta, GA Headwear Designer & CEO for the 'I Am Creativ' Campaign Bragging Rights: Apart of Men's Fashion Week Chicago, Customers from New Zealand to the States, CoFounder of an up and coming Campaign where we bring together creative people in the industry to give back to communities around the world. Instagram: @taedesignz
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Stonee Goodman 25 Los Angeles, CA Designer. Stylist. Artist. CEO of label brand FaireztOfThemAll CO of label brand AshyTeeShirts What's Next: SPRING COLLECTION 2k15. Instagram: @MISTACHIC
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DBQ COVER STORY 25 FASHION GODS Diandre Tristan 26 New York City Celebrity Stylist Bragging Rights: Robin Roberts, Tamar Braxton Emmy Award wining stylist — Good Morning America Show @Diandre_Tristan
Ty Hunter 42 New York City Fashion Director, Stylist Beyonce @Tytryone
Stephen Burrows 71 New York City Fashion Designer StephenBurrows.com
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Andre Leon Talley 64 Former Editor in Large at Vogue New York City
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Lloyd Boston Man of a certain Age New York City TV Show Host, Style Expert, Best Selling Author LloydBoston.Com
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DBQ COVER STORY 25 FASHION GODS
Lavion 26 Los Angeles Wardrobe stylist / Fashion Blogger Bragging Rights: My work speaks for itself. Whats next? Take over the world! Cantstyle.com Instagram: @GodMadeMeSexi
Azmarie Livingston 27 Los Angeles, CA High Fashion Model @iamaziam
Jonathan Bodrick Man of a certain age New York, New York Owner of JB b.o.r.n Vintage Boutique Bragging Rights: I have owned my business for over 10 years in the heart of Harlem. I'm blessed to star on a reality show featuring my boutique called B.O.R.N to Style What's Next: I'm going to start designing. Maybe hats, clothing,glasses,maybe write a book. Who knows. The sky is the limit. I'm living my dream. Instagram:@Jonathan Bodrick Ricky Day 50 New York, NY Artrepreneur (photographer/ visual artist/talent manager) Instagram: @RickyDay
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DBQ COVER STORY 25 FASHION GODS
Stevie Boi 25 Baltimore / Manhattan NYC Designer/Model Bragging Rights: Featured in over 400 publications including 30 Vogue spreads and 4 Vogue magazine covers. StevieBoi.com EJ Johnson 22 Beverly Hills, CA Reality TV Star The fabulous son of Magic Johnson. Google him.
Kendrell Bowman 32 New York, NY Fashion Stylist & Broadway Producer Bragging Rights: I’ve worked with many artists such as K.Michelle, Lauriana Mae, Dawn Richard & Kanye West. I created and produced the hit broadway show “Mighty Real: A Fabulous Sylvester Musical” FabulousSylvester.com Memsor Kamarake Man of a certain age. New York Fashion Stylist The Wendy William Show @Memsor
Guapo Clarke New York City Professional Dancer/ Choreograph er/ Fashionable Socialite Bragging Rights: Worked wit's Madonna, Jay Z, Pharrell ... to name a few. What's Next: On Tour with Teyana Taylor Instagram: @GuapoC
Yusef Williams 36 Brooklyn, NY Fashion Hairstylist Bragging Rights: Several Magazine Covers (Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, W, Elle, Essence); National Fashion Hair Campaigns; Celebrity Clients (Rihanna, Victoria Secret Angels and Top Models to name few) What's Next: Television Show and an Exclusive Product Line.
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DBQ COVER STORY 25 FASHION GODS
Ms. Lawrence Atlanta, GA Host of Fashion Queen Bravo TV @LawrenceATL
Jason Bolden Man of a certain age New York City Fashion Stylist LaLa Anthony LiveLaughLuxury.com
Olivier Rousteing 28 Paris France Creative Director of Balmain Google his current collection. @olivierRousteing
Derek J Man of a certain age. Atlanta, Ga Host of Fashion Queens Bravo TV @DerekJ
Octavius Terry-Sims 41 Hollywood, California Fashion Designer Bragging Rights: Grammy Wed to Jamal Terry-Sims in my own designed Moto-Tuxes What’s Next: We have our first collection together as a couple coming out in Sping/ Summer 2015 Instagram: @octaviusterry
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What I've Come To Know
The feeling was orgasmic. I felt godly as I walked down the street. My private love affair with fashion started the moment I threw some labels, textures and trends together to create my own style. I thought to myself, "I really can wear what ever I want." There was no fear or hesitation. I could see with such clarity and I knew that this body was a canvas —I was a mannequin and I had the majestic sovereignty showcase my creative genus for the world to see. Fashion, like many other subjects, at its highest and greatest is intended to affirm our creative divinity. Through it many connect to the confidence to showcase without competition, permission, approval or apology. In so many words, fashion is fabulous and so are designer labels, but they don't make us fabulous. Truth be told, for the most part the only people who know this are those names that appear on the labels many of us purchase and hide behind. In our community, fashion, amongst others things, has been our kingdom come —our salvation. We've used it as a bandage in an attempt to cover our flaws of emptiness and missing sense of security. Many of us have attached our personal value to Channel and Givenchy. The moment we have or in most cases have saved several thousand dollars to spend on a Céline bag; we somehow have told ourselves we now mean something because of it. The tragedy is that we never knew who we were to begin with. We didn't know our own value before our love affairs with fashion began. So instead of knowing the meaning of our own names, many of us took our emptiness and insecurity and in our fear and desperation wrapped ourselves in Saint Laurent and Dior, bootlegging the allusion of substance. And for millions of us we spend our last and our lives collecting names to replace the absence of our own.
We are so hungry for meaning, value and status in the world that we think wearing McQueen will give us a throne to be queens, but Alexander McQueen gained his throne from his love affair with the infinite source of creative power within himself. And every label, brand and legendary designer on earth was created from a similar love affair. What I've come to know is that within ever single life on this planet exist a flame of value—it is our responsibility in this life to not only advance the power of the flame but to define its wealth of warmth and light on this earth. Who we chose to be is the label and brand we wear and in that we are the true wonders of this world. It is only when we have had a love affair with our own pomp and grandeur that we are able to walk into any room with such wholeness, wearing Prada or Payless; because every moment of this life we are our own label.
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars But in ourselves, that we are underlings." —Shakespeare
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