22

Growing up our fashion sense was derived from scouring fashion magazines for the next big thing and then flipping the script to make it ours. More than anything, our style was created from peer influences on the street and the growing influence of hip hop culture. As Gen Xers, sure, we wore preppy, but not in that conservative country club sort of way. There was a special way you had to roll your jeans or pop your collar to be considered cool. And there was always a unique twist to make it more street, more urban. For us, it was about being original, being cool, being different.

What we didn’t do was document any of it.

But now thanks to 22-year old dapper dandies Joshua Kissi and Travis Gumbs of the well-edited fashion blog STREET ETIQUETTE there’s a resurgence in what the New York Times calls “black dandyism”. We’ve always known that true fashion originates on the street and Joshua and Travis take their twist on historic style to the streets every day in New York City. And while their style is a complete throwback to a time when men dressed to the nines, the presentation on Street Etiquette is forward thinking and very cool.

Look at him.

Don’t you want to be him?

Don’t you wonder where he’s going?

That’s what makes fashion so addicting…the fantasy and the ability to be whomever you choose to be each and every day. Street Etiquette receives 20,000 hits per day, so clearly ALOT of people want to inhabit the cool that comes naturally to Joshua and Travis. I’m officially a fan.

Photos: F.E. Castleberry/StreetEtiquette