Dalyn Montgomery [00:00:00]: When you're thinking about things or if you're observing the world, what people are wearing, and what that communicates or the influence that has in your environment around you is part of the story. Whether it's with race or really with anything, it it's part of the story. And I as an artist, I have an eye towards design and aesthetics and just how the environment looks and how that creates a feel. And so that that's kind of a little bit of my trajectory, my big picture. So when you're talking with Marcel and when you've talked with some others, you weren't shy about talking about race. You acknowledged it. It's not doesn't have to be the point of everything, but it's there and really doing cool stuff with clothing. And so you kind of hit both of those, and I don't find a lot of places that hit both of those. Reginald Ferguson [00:00:51]: I'm Reg Ferguson, and I'm a fashion consultant from New York City, born and raised. I've been helping men look fly for years. And now, I want to help you learn more about menswear, the entrepreneurs, the brands, and top fashion tips on the Fashion Geek podcast. I've never really been into blogs, especially ones about men's fashion. It's not that I don't think they're not valuable, but I think because of my life rearing, training, experience, and expertise, they don't hold overwhelming value to me. And it's not because I don't value an opinion. Heck, doing a podcast certainly means I have an opinion. What's funny is I'm getting ready to finally start a YouTube channel. Reginald Ferguson [00:01:44]: Look for it. And I'm this close to start doing show notes and transcripts for the episodes about time. And those things are close to a blog, but they're not a blog. So what is it like to do a menswear blog? Yo. This is Reg Ferguson, fashion geek number 1. How are you? Welcome to the ride. Thank you so much for listening. I'm a men's fashion consultant here in New York City, and I help fashion challenge men go from confused to confident. Reginald Ferguson [00:02:19]: If you ever found yourself staring at the closet, not knowing what to wear, or the idea of shopping for clothes makes you feel physically ill, then this is a show for you. My goal with every episode is to help make looking good feel easy. If you ever want my help, email me at reg atnyfashiongeek.com for a consultation. If you have a friend who's looking to level up his fashion style wardrobe game, please share an episode with them. While you're at it, if you dig the show and haven't already left us a rating and review, please consider doing so now. Your shares, ratings, and reviews help us grow the show and help us get the the best possible guest and help more men dress their best. Today, we're gonna talk with Dallin Montgomery of BroHamas, who's in Los Angeles, Orange County, the OC. Remember that back in the day on Fox? And we're gonna talk about something that the everyday man should have an interest in. Reginald Ferguson [00:03:24]: We're gonna talk about blogs, especially ones that are about men and men's fashion. Mister Montgomery in the building. How are you? Dalyn Montgomery [00:03:34]: I'm doing good, Reg. How are you? Reginald Ferguson [00:03:37]: I'm well. I'm hanging in there. You keeping safe out there? Dalyn Montgomery [00:03:42]: I'm working on it. I don't think that's any impending doom outside my window, but I feel good. Reginald Ferguson [00:03:48]: Well, that's good. So before we get into our topic, please tell us. So what do you do? Dalyn Montgomery [00:04:10]: What do I do? That's a harder question for me to answer than it should be. I am a art an artist, a writer, and a researcher who makes his living as a university administrator. How about that? Reginald Ferguson [00:04:28]: Right now, you sound like Bruce Wayne. Dalyn Montgomery [00:04:30]: Well, I I wouldn't if only I had that kind of budget. I I would so I would say, essentially, I'm I'm a curious person who likes to find answers to questions, aspiring renaissance man, but a little bit more like if I could by the time I have a fully gray beard, be the most interesting man in the world or at least in that same sort of category, I would be a happy guy. That's all. I don't need fame and fortune. I just need some good stories. Reginald Ferguson [00:04:58]: Okay. Well, it seems like you have a potpourri of them because you have this blog, as I mentioned. It's called Brohamas. I like that flow. You've told me that it means nothing. Dalyn Montgomery [00:05:13]: It it it essentially means nothing. If you've ever seen, it's been around longer than that commercial, but if you see I think they're all GEICO commercials with those bros talking about potato chip and Brohamenstein. It was it was just that kind of thing. Back in the day, I had a friend that called me Brohamus once just as part of a a bro, and, it didn't really stick. But when I decided to come up with a moniker, threw it on there. Something that nobody else had and would make people what the heck is that? And if they're asking me a question about it, that means we're talking, and that's that's the goal. That's the start. Reginald Ferguson [00:05:49]: Right. You've made the connection. I don't even remember those GEICO commercials. Dalyn Montgomery [00:05:53]: Oh, you're missing out. They were kinda funny. Reginald Ferguson [00:05:56]: No. I'm sure. It's very faint. Dalyn Montgomery [00:05:59]: Very faint. And somewhat unimportant. Reginald Ferguson [00:06:04]: Well, it became important to you because this is the name of Dalyn Montgomery [00:06:07]: Well, I didn't get it from there, but when I saw that, I'm all, oh, hey. These, these marketing people are apparently my people. Reginald Ferguson [00:06:14]: Did a riff. Dalyn Montgomery [00:06:15]: They did a riff. Yep. Reginald Ferguson [00:06:18]: So it's funny that we're talking about this because, fingers crossed, rumor has it that I am going to be interviewed on said blog. Dalyn Montgomery [00:06:31]: You you will be featured shortly. Like, we've we've had some good conversations. As part of what I do over there is I generally say I do whatever I want, which is, pursue things that I'm curious about. And I've been listening to you for a while, and I was curious. So I reached out and we we chatted. I found some interesting things to say, and so I'll be sharing that shortly. Reginald Ferguson [00:06:53]: Well, I'm really flattered that you sought me out. It's great that the podcast brought us together, and you were very kind. I wanna share with the audience. You let me see a rough draft of what you plan to post, and it really touched me. You're very observant. We talked at length. I like that because I felt like, okay. This is prepping me for when GQ reaches out to me. Reginald Ferguson [00:07:20]: Yeah. That's true. Dalyn Montgomery [00:07:20]: We we I I because I'm absolutely that level. That's true. Well It's all gonna be downhill from here. I mean, GQ is gonna be there. You're gonna be like, oh, I've already done this. This is all that. Reginald Ferguson [00:07:29]: You are in the men's wear space. So to be interviewed, I don't care who interviews me is flattering. You you sought you sought me out. The podcast brought us together. If I recall correctly, the 10 of pentacles episode Yep. Was kind of how we made the connection, Marcel Ames down in Richmond. Dalyn Montgomery [00:07:49]: Does great stuff. Reginald Ferguson [00:07:51]: He does. That's why, that's why he was on the pod. So I usually never do this, but I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna put you on the spot. Dalyn Montgomery [00:08:00]: Alright. What Reginald Ferguson [00:08:01]: was it what was it about that episode or the podcast overall which led you to search for me and reach me and reach out to me? Dalyn Montgomery [00:08:12]: So so I'll be super frank and open because I I try to be that as a general rule, and I'm gonna give you a longer answer than you might be bargaining for. Reginald Ferguson [00:08:21]: That's fine. You got it. Dalyn Montgomery [00:08:23]: What what I actually started with the blog and it drifted into to menswear, but it was dealing with race and racial issues in the United States. So I had a period in my life where I I'm grew up in Sandy, Utah, which is the suburbs of Salt Lake, a super white place, super homogeneous. And then I went and lived for 2 years in Southwest Atlanta in the mid nineties, which is not just Atlanta, but that was a super Afrocentric time. And I just learned some stuff. I learned that the world didn't work the way that I was taught that it was for everyone, and I observed some things. And so since that time, I really start to question what my understanding of racial dynamics and how, like I said, the world operates. And the blog started because I started writing about the things that I was observing, thinking, and learning, and researching, and I needed some way to complete those ideas and to communicate those ideas for feedback and to try and do something. Now it's part how that drifts into men's wear is when you're thinking about things or if you're observing the world, what people are wearing, and what that communicates or the influence that has in your environment around you is part of the story. Dalyn Montgomery [00:09:48]: Whether it's with race or really with anything, it it's part of the story. And I as an artist, I have an eye towards design and aesthetics and just how the environment looks and how that creates a feel. And so that that's kind of a little bit of my trajectory, my big picture. So when you're talking with Marcel and when you've talked with some others, you weren't shy about talking about race. You acknowledged it. It's not doesn't have to be the point of everything, but it's there and really doing cool stuff with clothing. And so you kind of hit both of those, and I don't find a lot of places that hit both of those. Reginald Ferguson [00:10:30]: Wow. Cool. Thank you. Dalyn Montgomery [00:10:32]: Yeah. Reginald Ferguson [00:10:33]: I I've never given it any thought. So it's great to have an outside perspective, and that's why reading the rough draft, which you were so kind to show me because I didn't even ask. I figured it's kinda like for me, like, with the pod. Hey. It is what it is. You'll, you'll hear about it when we, release it. Dalyn Montgomery [00:10:53]: Well, I mean, that's that's standard for any kind of interviewer for press is you don't get right of review, but, I'm not looking to make money off of this. I'm also not looking to to to ping anybody. Right? If there there's no value in me saying negative things unless it's gonna make things better, and I don't think I'm influential enough to make things better. So let's just stick with things that help, right, that are good, that are positive. Reginald Ferguson [00:11:21]: Sure. I also don't think I had anything worth pinging. Dalyn Montgomery [00:11:26]: No. No. No. That I I was looking for some mud to sling, and it was just too clean. Reginald Ferguson [00:11:32]: I Top lawn, baby. Dalyn Montgomery [00:11:33]: I found none. Nothing to do. Reginald Ferguson [00:11:35]: Yeah. I live a clean life. Dalyn Montgomery [00:11:38]: There's nothing wrong with that. Reginald Ferguson [00:11:40]: Oh, no. I'm proud of it. Dalyn Montgomery [00:11:42]: Right on. Reginald Ferguson [00:11:44]: So you mentioned that you're a artist. Rumor has it that you often do portraiture of your interview subjects if Dalyn Montgomery [00:11:53]: you're not No. That's part of what I do. Like, as I I've always drawn, started painting and doing a lot of digital work now. So and I I just like with my writing and my researching, I just generally stick with things that I like or I find interesting. And usually, that's that's part of my story. If I'm gonna do a story on somebody or looking into it, I'm gonna also do a little bit of a sketch. It's part of my exploration. So well, we we we got something in the can, something ready for you. Reginald Ferguson [00:12:23]: I hope you got my good side. Dalyn Montgomery [00:12:25]: Is there another one? Reginald Ferguson [00:12:26]: No. Actually not. Dalyn Montgomery [00:12:29]: I I set you up for that one. You're welcome. Reginald Ferguson [00:12:31]: No. Absolutely. I appreciate it. I probably would have gotten it out anyway. Dalyn Montgomery [00:12:34]: Yeah. Well, Yeah. Well, we're aligned. Reginald Ferguson [00:12:40]: Speaking about your artwork, when I was looking at your blog site, I noticed, and you you've actually led this. I mean, this is the beauty of America. So someone who doesn't look like me started the conversation about race, and now I'm following. Dalyn Montgomery [00:12:54]: Sure. Reginald Ferguson [00:12:56]: You have very interesting drawings of African American men representing classic white brands, whether they're American or in the case of the one I'm about to mention, Harris Tweed, European. What led you to do that? Dalyn Montgomery [00:13:16]: So funny funny you you brought up that Harris Tweed one, which you can find at the Bahamas blog on the painting section. Do you know who that is in the Harris Tweed picture? Reginald Ferguson [00:13:27]: No. I don't. I thought it was just a nice looking guy. Dalyn Montgomery [00:13:30]: So, that's Peter Tosh. Reginald Ferguson [00:13:33]: Get out. Dalyn Montgomery [00:13:34]: Yep. So I I was using a reference of Peter Tosh. There's plenty of photographic evidence of him doing all sorts of things. So I was kind of playing with, what you see and people's impression of what you see, something to look cool, something in the men's wear world. But then if you learn a little bit more about it, see if the if the meaning changes and if you look at it the same way. So part of the reason why I chose Peter Tosh is, 1, I mean, he looks good. He's a cool looking guy. Harris Tweed is probably the most English stuffy, and I I say this with some appreciation. Dalyn Montgomery [00:14:15]: It is a classic brand, but it also probably represents, colonial power more than many other brands would. Right? So it's not just English or it is kind of the, the stuffy version of it. And so to put Peter Tosh in there, we we could have a discussion on which direction we might be well, I'm not selling it, so not really exploiting anything in there, but to show representation of an anti colonialist, either owning that and making it look good or thinking, can you look at this knowing who he is in the same way you did before? So it's just something that when you first see it, hey. It looks cool, but there's more going on than meets the eye. And I find that's generally true with most of life in reality. Right? There's more going on than what we look at. And I think it's alright for things to just look good on the surface. Like, it can be shallow. Dalyn Montgomery [00:15:10]: Alright. That looks good. But you always gotta know that there is another layer no matter who or what it is. Reginald Ferguson [00:15:18]: Well, this leads to a wonderful segue because you have a blog post in which you did some research, correct me if I'm wrong, at the University of Pennsylvania for a football piece, and you stumbled on a whole bunch of football programs, and you had highlighted advertisement. And the advertisement of that era, not that it's any different now, was very aspirational. But the characters in said ads looked like you, and they didn't look like me. Dalyn Montgomery [00:16:00]: Absolutely. So oh, we can go all kinds of place on this. So you're I I've done a little bit of research. So I I love football. It's one of the things that I just dive into. And, what you're the first one you're looking at was visiting Princeton. Reginald Ferguson [00:16:15]: Oh, it's Princeton. I'm sorry. Dalyn Montgomery [00:16:16]: Yeah. No. That's okay. And I I was taking the tour, and as the tour left one of the buildings, actually, Nassau Hall, their main building, I kinda lingered because it was mostly a student tour and I wasn't there because I had a kid. I was there because I, it's Princeton. Let's check it out. There's all these institutions that predate the American government that are still thriving. And I I I find that fascinating. Dalyn Montgomery [00:16:39]: And there was somebody that worked there that kinda saw me lingering. He's like, so what you doing? I'm all, I'm just checking stuff out. He's like, what you interested in? I'm all like, I don't old stuff. And he gave me his card. He goes, alright. So 2 buildings over is the, archives. So let them know that I sent you and ask them for whatever you want. I'm like, frills? Like, you can do that? He's all, yeah. Dalyn Montgomery [00:17:02]: You can do that. Here. Just go. So as I'm walking over there, I'm gonna like, oh, what do I want? What do I ask the Princeton archives for? And in true Brohamma's fashion, when I walk in, I just said, like, hey. Give me every pro foot or every not pro. Every football program you have from the beginning until 1930. And I I I I went with football at Princeton mostly because Princeton Princeton versus Rutgers was the first American football game ever played. So this this is history. Dalyn Montgomery [00:17:33]: This is a place. Let's go. So when you when they wheel out these boxes of programs and let me touch them and look at them, they they really represented this era and this transition and not just football and college, but but illustration. So you're moving from just paint illustrations to, engraved plates, right over into photography and watching how that transitions. And the Ivy not just Ivy League, but college as a university at this time period were purely aspirational. Like, so college was never really initially conceptualized to really just educate people or, like, teach you engineering and math. They were to socialize the land of gentry. So it's a place for the sons of rich white people to go meet each other and hang out. Dalyn Montgomery [00:18:28]: I mean, that that's the that's what American cause is built on. And so but that's where you get all these, like, Landecker illustrations, the arrow collar ads. You put the these are the people that have money. These are the people that are setting the trends for the masses. Right? This is who you're looking up to. These are those families. These are those people at that time and era, the 19 twenties. So they're just beautiful illustrations, great style looking good, but this is also a time where this is all white people. Dalyn Montgomery [00:18:56]: This isn't just segregation. This is the the nadir. Right? So this is post reconstruction, pre what we think of as a civil rights movement, although those this long era. But college was still white and college was still male. So we when you bring what that looks like, one of my favorite of my own illustrations, if you move forward, I also have you're familiar with the book Take Ivy? Reginald Ferguson [00:19:23]: Yes. Vaguely. I mean, I don't own it, but I've seen it. Dalyn Montgomery [00:19:26]: Okay. So, in in the men's wear world when blogging first take off, like, kinda men's wear blogging first really became a thing, Take Ivy was this book that the guys in Japan came over to the Ivy League Schools and took a bunch of photographs and did a little bit of write ups, but it was mostly about the style and the imagery and took it back to Japan. So there's a time period in the early 2000 when sort of classic menswear was making a little bit of a comeback. This book was kind of an underground image board, inspiration board for all these New York fashion people. And this guy, John Tinsett, at the blog, The Trad am I speaking there? He had a copy of this and he knew it. So he scanned the book and posted it all for free. And it kind of upset a bunch of people in the fashion world, but it exploded. It exploded to the point where it's translated to English, reprinted. Dalyn Montgomery [00:20:29]: You could got to the point where you could buy the Urban Outfitters. Right? So it's all of these, preppy slash ivy kids from the sixties on these campuses and looking at wearing the same stuff now. Now as you flip through those pages, a bunch of these schools had actually integrated by that point, but you can only see one black person in there. So I did an illustration where I went through archives in the same time period and found a picture of 2 male Yale cheerleaders at a Dartmouth football game in the same time period where they're taking pictures that take Ivy. And at the national anthem, they were doing a a black power salute. Right? The both of them, if you'll think back to the Olympics. Right? So it says so the illustration says take Ivy, and then it has 2 Yale cheerleaders. And when we say Yale cheerleaders, like, we're talking a classic Yale pullover, crewneck sweater with a white collared shirt underneath, cream or white pants. Dalyn Montgomery [00:21:36]: Right? So it's this clean Ivy look, but a a black power salute. So I call it on, like, take Ivy by any means necessary. So it's just showing, like, look. There were people here. They're at the same time period that are rocking the same look that just aren't getting represented. And so I represented them. Reginald Ferguson [00:21:55]: Well, that's that's slick and that's smooth. And you're absolutely correct. I remember the episode I did with caustic man when we were talking about what we are talking about now. Ivy Trad Prep. This was an American uniform. It was highlighted by people who look like you, but that's what Americans wore. So regardless of social status. Dalyn Montgomery [00:22:30]: No. No. Absolutely. And it it was a look, and you can't tell an Americans the American story Reginald Ferguson [00:22:37]: that has Dalyn Montgomery [00:22:37]: been mainstreamed, if you wanna call it mainstream, is that WASPy Eurocentric thing when my family, families have been or people have been coming from Africa as long as mine came from Scotland and Ireland, but the journey hasn't been the same. So over that time period of proximity, of being in the same time and place, in the same sort of merchandising, the same sort of manufacturers living in each other's space. There's all these really rich parallels and diversions in those same worlds that can be explored and shared. And, I mean, we should we should pay more attention to. Reginald Ferguson [00:23:18]: So yourself, from looking at your blog, it seems like you have a constant path of struggle satorily. Would that be correct? Dalyn Montgomery [00:23:32]: I I'm gonna say yes. Well, I'm I'm curious how much of a a dig the struggle is, but yes. Reginald Ferguson [00:23:38]: No. No. No dig. Just just a just a mere observation. I mean Dalyn Montgomery [00:23:42]: You see me walking down the street going, that guy's struggling a little bit. Reginald Ferguson [00:23:45]: I re hey. I I I'm a patch consultant, number 1. Number 2 I Dalyn Montgomery [00:23:49]: see what you're trying to do there, but Reginald Ferguson [00:23:51]: I re I research. Hey. You this blog is for public consumption. I I have no archives outside of what I what you I Dalyn Montgomery [00:24:01]: I am what I am, and I'm not afraid of it. And that's fine. Reginald Ferguson [00:24:05]: You and me Dalyn Montgomery [00:24:06]: Sometimes I'm ashamed of it, but I'm not afraid of it. Reginald Ferguson [00:24:10]: So my point is, as we talk about the triumvirate ivy ivy trad prep, you had two opportunities going into one of the hallowed clothing cathedrals of that arena, J. Press. Absolutely. And your experiences were Alpha and Omega. Would you care to elaborate? Dalyn Montgomery [00:24:38]: Yeah. Well, I've had more than more than those 2 because I go everywhere. But I wrote about those. So so as an outsider, like, I consider myself an outsider, meaning I I I come from the west, not from the northeast, if we're talking about those that triumvirate. I don't come from a money class. I did not attend prep school. All of these sorts of things. And then as an adult Reginald Ferguson [00:25:04]: like a dig. Dalyn Montgomery [00:25:05]: What's that? Reginald Ferguson [00:25:06]: So that sounded like a dig. You know I went to prep school. Dalyn Montgomery [00:25:09]: No. No. No. I'm just saying I'm an outsider. Right? So my my understanding what Preppy was was Saved by the Bell because that's what, Oh, wow. Right? When they when they called him when they called out Zach, is that his name? Yeah? Reginald Ferguson [00:25:25]: Yeah. Zach. Dalyn Montgomery [00:25:25]: Called him prep. Like, called him preppy. Like, they weren't at a prep school, but, like, he wore button downs as opposed to the tank tops of AC Slater. Well, it's kinda like, I guess I guess I'm more preppy. Right? But it wasn't connected to prep schools. We didn't really have those. You go back to you and go, oh, there's a thing. Right? You find out, oh, this thing comes from a thing. Dalyn Montgomery [00:25:45]: I get it now. But you don't get it when you're younger all the time. Sure. But, anyway, so as an outsider, but somebody who I I care about design, I care about look, and I'm curious. I had one where I walked into, I believe it was the Jay Press, in Cambridge. And, man, I tell you what, it just felt so gatekeepery. What do you call that? Where where the people that work there, they weren't serving as much or servicing, as much as, like, sizing me up and deciding if I was worth their time. Now granted, they just might be good at their job and saw me and thought, that guy's not buying anything because I I did not intend to buy anything. Dalyn Montgomery [00:26:24]: I just wanted to look and learn and see, and they were doing their job, and they weren't really concerned with what I was looking at or concerned with my learning. Reginald Ferguson [00:26:34]: Clothing sweaters. We're just folding sweaters here. Dalyn Montgomery [00:26:38]: Not even folding sweaters. It's like, I'm gonna sit in the corner, and I'm gonna look at you. And it's gonna be awkward. I'm a lot older than you, and I definitely am not smiling. And, you know, when you walk into a space and those people that run the space are looking at you as suspicion or just not welcoming, I mean, you're on the back foot right away. So, like, I I got a lot less curious real fast. Like, I'm looking at this wall of stuff, like, all these tweeds. I'm I'm looking at regimental stripe, scarves and tights. Dalyn Montgomery [00:27:14]: And I'm fascinated with regimental stripes because the idea that you can have design with meaning, and and I and that does mean something to me. Like, I I don't like to wear a club tie. I have a club I don't have any connection with or something that has representation. If you're gonna put that on, you you should know what you're putting on. Right? I wanted to ask questions, but I it just didn't feel cool in the moment, so so so I bounced. And I just left there feeling less curious and a lot more of an outsider. Right? So the the gate was kept safe from the likes of me. Compared to Arian. Dalyn Montgomery [00:27:55]: Alright. Right. I I was unsuccessful at storming those gates. No infiltration. Then went to the j press in DC. It wasn't the same trip. And I don't know if it's DC as a geography or just the individual that was there at the time. And it was such a different story when I walked in. Dalyn Montgomery [00:28:12]: It was like, hey. Can I help you? And, oh, well, I'm not really buying stuff. I'm just kind of curious to look. And the guy was like, I love it. What what what did you wanna look at? What what makes you curious about Jay Press? Right? This was a different rather than and I I don't know these people's trajectory. So it could be somebody, like, maybe the Cambridge guy was a little bit more legit, came from that place. It's just who he is. It's not his interest. Dalyn Montgomery [00:28:38]: The the man in DC, it was his interest. Like, he wanted to talk about Cloth. He wanted to talk about J. Press. He wanted to talk about this. He's willing to share. He was willing to give me answers and have conversations if not entree. Right? So it it just went to show me that there there can be things that we're interested in, but whoever is the host or whoever it is that possesses any kind of power or knowledge, the the the burden is kind of on that person if they want to share or if they want to give access. Dalyn Montgomery [00:29:13]: It's really hard for people who really wanna know and people who might appreciate, to have to force their way into that sort of knowledge. That's that's that's a tough thing to do. And if you want to keep it alive, if that is a desire or if you want it to grow, it would be great to share. If you don't want it to grow, then go ahead and try and watch the gates. Reginald Ferguson [00:29:37]: Every month when something important is going on, I send out my New York Fashion Geek newsletter to my fellow geeks. It drops on Fridays and it offers a quick glimpse into the world of The Fashion Geek. I offer some tips and it's a nice breezy read. To sign up, just head over to nyfashiongeek.com and fill out the welcome sheet. So just to review, how did you feel when you left Cambridge and how did you feel when you left DC? Dalyn Montgomery [00:30:11]: When I left Cambridge, I felt awkward, judged, outside, ignorant, and a little bit of frustrated. Like, I I I know that I have worth. I felt like that man didn't believe it when it was not worth his time. Like, I was not worthy of his world. So I felt is if this is the right world, but I've word I felt like an outsider and a little bit low. When I left the one in DC, I felt great. I didn't feel like any more of a like an insider, but I felt like I knew something. I felt like I had learned, and I I felt like my appreciation for what goes on in a place like JPS had grown. Reginald Ferguson [00:30:54]: Have you ever made a purchase out of any JPS store in your life? Dalyn Montgomery [00:30:59]: I have. I, I bought a hat. Trying to think if I bought a tie. No. And I bought bootleg cufflinks instead of their cufflinks. I bought a hat at J Press in, New Haven. Oh. It was great. Dalyn Montgomery [00:31:15]: Hats are hard for me to find because I have a gigantic head and I'm picky. I might struggle sartorially, but part of my struggle is I know what I like and I know what I don't like and I do know some stuff and I generally can't afford what I know I like and want. And everything came together with this hat at Jay Press. So, I did make a purchase. Reginald Ferguson [00:31:35]: What type of hat is it? Dalyn Montgomery [00:31:38]: By now, it's old and beat up. It was oh, trying to think what the name was because it's not just a straight Panama hat, because the brim turned up all the way around. So you're talking about, like, a 3 and a half inch brim straw hat. It was white with a black band. And so with me, part of the challenge is finding a crown that, caves in around your head enough that it doesn't look like a 10 gallon hat and a brim that's not big but not too small. If it's too small, my head looks even bigger, but if it's too wide, then it's a cowboy hat, and I am not a cowboy. So it's one of my early lessons in life is that you, young man, are not a cowboy. I learned that in Wyoming. Reginald Ferguson [00:32:25]: Well, that's, that's good. It's it's it's important to know it's important to know thyself. Dalyn Montgomery [00:32:29]: It yes. And the next step is to amuse thyself. Reginald Ferguson [00:32:34]: I have a feeling you do that already. Dalyn Montgomery [00:32:36]: It's I've gotta be amused by somebody. Reginald Ferguson [00:32:40]: So correct me if I'm wrong, before you moved to SoCal, you were in Philly. Is that correct? Dalyn Montgomery [00:32:47]: Yes, sir. Reginald Ferguson [00:32:48]: So I need to revisit my full path from earlier. You were in the home of UPenn, University of Pennsylvania. Dalyn Montgomery [00:33:00]: Yep. So I am now a proud Quaker alumni. Reginald Ferguson [00:33:03]: Oh, wow. Okay. You're the real deal. Dalyn Montgomery [00:33:06]: Well, I'm a deal at least. Reginald Ferguson [00:33:10]: So why don't you share with the audience your experience satorily being at UPenn and also being at Philadelphia, which way back when considered itself a fashion capital. But that was so 19th century. Dalyn Montgomery [00:33:32]: Well, so 19th century. As a New Yorker. So no. Of course. You gotta get your digs in on Philly if you Reginald Ferguson [00:33:38]: I'm just saying what it is. Dalyn Montgomery [00:33:39]: It it's one of the rules. Reginald Ferguson [00:33:41]: City. I've been there a few times. It's cute. It's okay. I like the pretzels. Dalyn Montgomery [00:33:50]: Right. Only a New Yorker would call Philly cute because you're playing. So when it Reginald Ferguson [00:33:57]: That's alright. Dalyn Montgomery [00:33:58]: So so I right now. We'll digress a little bit digress a little bit. I love Philly. Like, Philly has my heart. I've never lived anywhere, and I've lived a lot of places that felt as much at home, like, I belonged in Philly. Now whether Philly felt the same way is it really kinda doesn't matter because Philly is gonna fight everybody. Like, you can be from there or not from there. They're the city itself is still going to fight you. Dalyn Montgomery [00:34:20]: But, anyway, I give the best Rocky tour in the world. Right? All of the original all of the original filming locations, and at the time at at the time, I was boxing out of a gym that act that this is before the Creed reboot series came out, but the the gym my home gym I was boxing out of is in Creed. It's the front street boxing club. So I could get access to just the most Philly Philly places, but part of the appeal of that of that tour is the the original Rocky movie came out in 1976. You go to those same neighborhoods now, they look worse now. So when you say it used to be a fashion capital, the places that were featured in a movie in 1976 because they look rundown and beat up look even worse today. So that that's kind of the story of Philadelphia, but then you can go to Center City. You can go to Penn. Dalyn Montgomery [00:35:14]: You can go to Rittenhouse Square. You can go to Boyd's. You can go to all sorts Reginald Ferguson [00:35:18]: of other places. I've been, I've been past Boyd's. Took some photos. Didn't go in. Dalyn Montgomery [00:35:22]: Oh, but there is still the legacy of greatness. There is still new greatness coming up and happening. Right? There are, like, such a vibrant community of people doing cool stuff like Sabir, MenStyle Pro, Great guy coming out of there. Great stuff. Anyway, so so being there in the heart of Penn, I wrote about this a little bit. I had I got accepted to grad school, and I was quitting my job. Right? So it's a crazy thing to quit your job when you have 2 children and your wife is a stay at home mom, so you're the breadwinner and you're gonna go to a crazy expensive school. But there's some places that if they let you in, you go. Dalyn Montgomery [00:36:13]: That's just how it goes, and and it's something I had to do for my life. But I knew that this is I was out of my league in a bunch of different ways. So one of the things I did is I reached out to some friends. I knew the people of Bonobos, and one of the founders of Bonobos had left Bonobos and then started trunk club. And so I, talked to my friend at the trunk club, which at the time was a group where they were, like, boxes of clothing every month for men who didn't like to shop. Yeah. And these guys were out of, the the guy I was reaching out to, he went to Princeton undergrad, Stanford for business school. He knew the world. Dalyn Montgomery [00:36:57]: Right? He he knew what was up. So I said, hey. What can you do? What can you put together for me as a, Ivy League starter pack? But but but not in 1965. So he's, alright. I'll hook you up. So he sent me this box of stuff. He's all like, where here here's what I should do. And I went through and, like, we picked and mixed and matched some of the stuff I didn't keep. Dalyn Montgomery [00:37:22]: Like, there was a a club shirt is what I'd call it. So it was a gray shiny patterned, button up. It's kinda like, you know what? I'm really not a, glossy textured shirt kinda guy. Reginald Ferguson [00:37:34]: I saw that shirt on your blog. Yeah. Dalyn Montgomery [00:37:35]: That was And also, I am like objects in the mirror closer than they appear. I am generally larger than I appear. It did not do good for my love handles. So, he and he agreed. He goes, alright. Don't do that one. He also sent me a black watch plaid, jacket. And plaid, in my mind, and where I was from, just registered 1975 old person. Reginald Ferguson [00:38:02]: Mhmm. Dalyn Montgomery [00:38:03]: And I'm kinda and I I know bagpipes, so I know black watch, and I am not a piper, and I'm not English military, so I'm not sure about this. And that's where, he kinda put his foot down. He's all, now you gotta keep that jacket, man. Trust me. You're gonna love that jacket. To this day, I love that jacket. Reginald Ferguson [00:38:21]: Black watch is dope. I mean, I've liked black watch since I was in junior high school. Dalyn Montgomery [00:38:26]: Oh, absolutely, man. I mean, it's a it is one of those patterns with meaning that has crossed over to it is generally accepted that anybody can wear it. Right? So you're not gonna come off as a clown. So as a rugby player, every now and then, if somebody's wearing a certain certain rugby shirt, you're like, oh, you play in there and it never played a rugby game? And a little bit like, you've you've disappointed. Reginald Ferguson [00:38:49]: Oh, that sounds like a rowing that sounds like a rowing blazers conversation. Dalyn Montgomery [00:38:53]: We we could get to rowing blade. I like a lot of stuff rowing Blazers do. They they they break down some of those. But, anyway, but but Penn Penn in Philadelphia was a great experience, especially when so much of the way I operate is a little bit of a street ethnography. Right? So it's very much in observing the world around you, observing the interactions of how people look and how they play. And spending time on an Ivy League campus is a little bit not just an outsider, but as a grad student, you're a little bit older. Right? So you can spend time on there and you you're not a focal point. Right? You can be easily ignored as an adult on a college campus. Reginald Ferguson [00:39:34]: Yep. Dalyn Montgomery [00:39:35]: And that allows you to observe a little bit differently. And it was fascinating, and I got to see and learn and understand people and classes of people and groups of people and just modes of dress and modes of operation that were that were new to me and that I have some access to, right, as an alum and as somebody who's been to those kind of schools. I can own some of that, but I'm still who I am. It was a it was a great learning time. It was really exciting. Really fun. So a lot of pictures of what people are wearing. I did in fact see Madras patchwork pants in the wild. Dalyn Montgomery [00:40:16]: I think all the like, Nantucket reds to you, I realized. Nantucket reds are a real thing even before Target did that. Like, yes, heteronormative straight men do wear pink pants on a regular basis Yes. Exactly. Without that being questioned? Do they did they do that in Salt Lake City, Utah in the mid nineties? No. No. They did not. But there are other worlds out there, and they don't operate the same as the one that you're from. Reginald Ferguson [00:40:43]: Yeah. Wow. Yeah. I mean, just listening to you, I feel like you're from another planet. Dalyn Montgomery [00:40:48]: So I I get that a lot. Reginald Ferguson [00:40:50]: Yeah. I mean but you viewed us in the same in the same lens. Stuff. So you get what you got. Dalyn Montgomery [00:40:59]: Right. I mean, that I to me, that's part of the the joy of the world or even as America as any place that's, at least theoretically has the door open to be a multiethnic, multi whatever society is the richness and the beauty that different people bring. And, I don't know. I like it. Maybe I just have adult ADD, and I have a short attention span, so I need lots of lots of interesting things in my environment to keep me humming. Reginald Ferguson [00:41:31]: Only you know that. What is Dalyn Montgomery [00:41:34]: I'm not even sure because I'm non diagnosed. Anyway Reginald Ferguson [00:41:37]: What is your best Philly slash Penn memory? Dalyn Montgomery [00:41:43]: Best Philly slash Penn memory. Man. So this Penn memory would absolutely be the the people that I met there. Right? So you you have this environment where it is somewhat exclusive. Right? So it's not the same sort of exclusive as some other places. So it's it's not Yale. It's not Princeton. It's not Harvard for several reasons and in several ways, but but but it still has history. Dalyn Montgomery [00:42:21]: It still has all sorts of tradition quality, but the the best thing about that place were the were the people I spent time with, the access to individuals that were just bright, that were energetic, that were trying to do things. I won't even say aspirational, but people that that had some skill and that I I was in education. Right? So I I got a a master's degree in higher education administration. So I studied college in college. So these, but played on Wharton's rugby team, team, so an NBA rugby team. So these these are different worlds. But, all of these people that were open and friendly and energetic and bright, Like, spending a time in that kind of environment where that many people are pushed together was just exciting and rewarding. They they were great folks. Dalyn Montgomery [00:43:12]: So so that that was how I'd describe Penn, and that might not be the clothing or a sartorial story you're looking for. No. Reginald Ferguson [00:43:17]: No. No. No. I'm not I'm not fishing. I just I just wanted to know. Dalyn Montgomery [00:43:22]: But then also the most Philly store and I say this Penn Reginald Ferguson [00:43:27]: for the listeners. Penn is right beside the hood. So when he said it's not like Harvard or Yale, that's part of the reason because those places, they're their own fiefdoms, physically. Dalyn Montgomery [00:43:39]: I mean and Yale will try and tell you that New Haven has its dark, rough side. Reginald Ferguson [00:43:44]: Well, they do have projects. Dalyn Montgomery [00:43:45]: I mean, sure, they do. But it the scale is significantly different. Reginald Ferguson [00:43:51]: The project's surreal. But your campus is right beside the hood. Dalyn Montgomery [00:43:56]: No. Phil Philadelphia itself has the highest population of poverty. So you're talking about the the largest geography and populous living in poverty in the United States. Right? So you can talk about comparative wealth. You can talk about all sorts of things, but there's just a swath where so many people are just not doing okay for all sorts of reasons. And that that's kind of when I say a favorite story, it's something you can kind of laugh at, but it's also tragic. But that I remember an Easter morning where I was driving to church, and I was driving a little bit earlier than my family because I had some responsibilities at church. So I'm driving at, like, 6 o'clock on a Sunday morning, and then coming up Broad Street into North Philly. Dalyn Montgomery [00:44:47]: And so North Philly is not a a fancy part of town by any means. Like, it it's legitimately rough. Yeah. But so I'm driving. If you've ever been in one of those kind of neighborhoods on a early Sunday morning, it's a lot of recovery. Right? So it's a lot of people that just don't have anywhere else to be ever or kind of recovering from whatever they're up to the night before, and it was significant enough that 6 in the morning you're still there. So just driving up the street, you know, you're just kinda checking stuff in your head. It's Easter. Dalyn Montgomery [00:45:20]: I'm going through my day. And as I'm driving by, I go, woah. I think that person was naked. Right, walking down the street. And you don't always double, like, make take a second look if you see something you're not sure you wanna see, And so I didn't, but it's weird that just in this blink of an eye, just a quick enough to realize, woah, negative person, then you just keep going. And it said in my head, oh, I think I know that person. I think I know them. And, like, how would I think I know somebody when it didn't even look? All it registered was naked. Dalyn Montgomery [00:45:52]: And then when I got to the church parking lot, there is a there's a gate. Right? So it takes a gate to get in there. And on the gate was hanging, a pair of pants. And as I opened the gate, there there's the rest of the clothing strung through the parking lot. Oh, no. I do know this person. So I turned the car around and come back down. I was able to get to the person about the same time as the police showed up. Dalyn Montgomery [00:46:15]: The person was, of course, had had a mental breakdown at the time, like, just wasn't doing okay. I was able to kinda navigate some space and try and get them a little bit of help. But that's Philadelphia. Right? So when I talk about a place I love, like, you've got within a mile of each other, within a number of blocks, you have Patrick Madras pants in the wild with no irony. And you've got wild Reginald Ferguson [00:46:43]: phrase is killing me. I just Dalyn Montgomery [00:46:44]: Right. I'm just saying. These these are not things that I anyway. Reginald Ferguson [00:46:49]: I just see you on a public access channel or on PBS with your field glasses. Dalyn Montgomery [00:46:54]: Exactly. The urban wasp of 2012. Yeah. Exactly. But but but you've got this high and low. You've got people doing better than great, and you've got people doing worse than worse. And in a town that's as small as Philadelphia, geographically, and in numbers, and just in kind of networks, you can play in both worlds in in that place, and not many places in America will give you access to both of those things. We're really isolated. Dalyn Montgomery [00:47:25]: We're really separated. Right? Most of the people that are doing great mostly only know other people that are doing great. And part of the challenge is that people who are doing really bad, mostly only have access to other people who are also doing just as bad. And I'm not sure that's a a healthy thing for society. Reginald Ferguson [00:47:45]: I'm going to throw a curveball here. Dalyn Montgomery [00:47:48]: I've been throwing them, so it's only fair. Reginald Ferguson [00:47:50]: Oh, I didn't realize you were, but I definitely am. So, it's about to come across the plate. Dalyn Montgomery [00:47:58]: Yeah. I'm I'm ready to strike out, but I'll swing. Reginald Ferguson [00:48:02]: Why does your wife consider prep, trad, old white people clothes? Dalyn Montgomery [00:48:13]: Because she's an ATLian. So I might make the argument for her without her being here. Reginald Ferguson [00:48:26]: Of course. Of course. You hear this, and you have to live there. Dalyn Montgomery [00:48:29]: No. Well but I say I'm going to go out on limb because she can argue for herself. She's more than capable of that. But I will make the argument. I'll step out on my own and say, I don't think she's wrong. So here here's the one thing. Reginald Ferguson [00:48:43]: I am Yeah? I went to prep school. Dalyn Montgomery [00:48:46]: I know you did, but here's a comma. Right? So here's I'm gonna put a comma on this so I can finish my statement. Reginald Ferguson [00:48:52]: There's a Oxford comma? Dalyn Montgomery [00:48:55]: It depends on how many other clauses I said before that comma. So I'm gonna say this one is not quite an Oxford comma yet, mister vampire weekend, who are also some out of Colombia and New York. Anyway, so you've got this Trad Prep Ivy clothing that originates, and its home space are these bastions of elitism in America, and those are white spaces historically. Now what black people have done since the beginning is take that stuff that in their environment and put some flavor on it. Right? Some some swag, some style, and do your thing. So that is not to say that any black person sporting that look is doing something inauthentic or shouldn't be doing that, but but I I will say, right, that that that preppy look, that's a white thing. Now plenty of black people do it and do it a different way, and if we're gonna talk about all sorts of people who have done things or when you get access to things, Reginald Ferguson [00:49:59]: there's there's something to be said Dalyn Montgomery [00:50:00]: for that. It's not to say you can't do it, but Reginald Ferguson [00:50:03]: It's ultimately an American thing. Dalyn Montgomery [00:50:05]: It's ultimately an American thing. Yeah. Sure. But that's America has become that hodgepodge. Right? It it really is most of America that's not native has been brought from somewhere else. We don't always give credit to where it's come from, and people try to claim ownership, and that's a whole other story of history. But, yeah, I mean, I before I knew boat shoes were called boat shoes, because I didn't know they were called boat shoes. I just knew what they looked like. Reginald Ferguson [00:50:32]: Topsideters. Yeah. Dalyn Montgomery [00:50:34]: That's when I I came home with a pair of boat shoes when I was married when I needed new shoes. And she goes, oh, I thought you were gonna buy some, like, work shoes. I didn't know you're buying white boy shoes, so I knew them as white boy shoes. She knew them as white boy shoes because she just knew them, like, that's who wore those was white boys. So so so much of what things get called and what they are in your head has to do with your where you're from. Environment. Right. From from your environment. Dalyn Montgomery [00:50:58]: And her environment growing up, that too warm. That's what it was. And I don't know that she's wrong. That's not to say that black people can't wear white boy shoes. And generally, when they do, they do their own thing with it. Reginald Ferguson [00:51:09]: Maybe black people are wearing topsiders. Dalyn Montgomery [00:51:13]: Perchance. No. Backsheet. Reginald Ferguson [00:51:16]: No. No. That's that's what they're doing. Dalyn Montgomery [00:51:19]: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Reginald Ferguson [00:51:19]: There you go. I just feel this Atlanta thing as a native New Yorker just confounds me. So moving on. Dalyn Montgomery [00:51:31]: Shall we proceed? Summary. Reginald Ferguson [00:51:33]: Why is fashion important? Dalyn Montgomery [00:51:36]: Oh, I've argued with people about whether it is or not, and I'm going to say that it is important. Is it the most important thing in the world? No. Absolutely not. But, and and this kinda goes with my ethos of dressing. Right? So I don't I don't have a uniform. I don't have a thing. I do have some likes and dislikes. I've made mistakes. Dalyn Montgomery [00:51:57]: I will continue to make them. But you gotta wear something. Reginald Ferguson [00:52:02]: Yes. Dalyn Montgomery [00:52:02]: You gotta wear something, and what you put on needs to work for whatever it is that you're doing, but it's also going to become part of the environment. And when I say part of an environment, it means the objects and the things that are around you, the people that are around you, the things that the people around you are thinking, what you need them to think in order to be able to collaborate or work together, all this sort of stuff. So we're talking about fashion. Fashion is important because it is one of the major aspects that goes into how you interact with and the role that you play in any environment or task at hand. So I I think there's some value in being intentional about what it is that you're saying, what it is that you're doing, or what your intentions are. Reginald Ferguson [00:52:48]: What difference has fashion made in your life? Dalyn Montgomery [00:52:52]: Huge difference in so many different ways. I can tell you once that I one time I was working a contract that involved going to the back of Walmart stores unannounced and inspecting fire doors and getting them signed off by a manager. And I was paid per job. Right? So every time it gets like, for each job, each inspection, you get paid this much money. So the amount of money I was making would be determined by how many of these visits and inspections I could do and granted you're unannounced. It was taking about a half an hour to get a manager. If you've ever gone to a Walmart and looked for a manager, it takes at least half an hour. Until I put on a blazer and carried a clipboard. Dalyn Montgomery [00:53:38]: So by putting on a blazer, I walk into the back of a Walmart and ask for a manager, and they'd show up in 3 minutes. Mhmm. So that's the utility of communicating how you look when you're showing up on a map. So fashion has made that sort of difference. Fashion has made made a difference when I was also wearing my button down shirt and khaki pants and stumbled upon a punk rock festival in Mexico City that I didn't know was happening, and I love that music that music. Like, I like, I knew all the songs, I knew everything, and I've never felt more out of place. I've been in a lot of and I've been out of place in a lot of locations, but I just was not dressed right for a punk rock festival. Like, I've never I am a pretty square, but, man, I felt square in that moment. Dalyn Montgomery [00:54:28]: And I'm like, no. I know all these songs. I don't actually speak English. You're singing in English. I know these words. Right? Do you really know Fugazi? Do you really know the Interrupters? Anyway, it it was it was great, but but that's that's the sort of difference, fashion can lead to your effectiveness, to your sense of belonging, your lack of belonging. It plays a role in all those things. Reginald Ferguson [00:54:59]: What's the top fashion tip you would give the everyday man so he could look his best? Dalyn Montgomery [00:55:04]: Wear clothes that fit. I like that. To elaborate? No. Reginald Ferguson [00:55:12]: No. I mean, you nailed it. So, mister Montgomery, what does always be fly mean to you? Dalyn Montgomery [00:55:21]: You know what you always ask that? And I can't, as me, hear that so hear you ask that without thinking of that Offspring song when they say he's pretty fly for a white guy? Yeah. Reginald Ferguson [00:55:33]: I Dalyn Montgomery [00:55:33]: remember. I've always hated that song. I don't like Offspring. Reginald Ferguson [00:55:36]: That one. I Dalyn Montgomery [00:55:38]: But, I don't consider myself fly. No. So to be fly means to not just look good, but look good with a extra something. Extra something. And just generally, my my look does not include an extra something. It's right? I like to do it right, but not an extra something. So I respect fly. I love when people are fly. Dalyn Montgomery [00:56:03]: I don't think that's part of who I am or what I choose to express, but fly is looking great with an extra something. Reginald Ferguson [00:56:13]: Well said. Alright. I think you should become a client, and that's all that's a shameless yet accurate plug. Dalyn Montgomery [00:56:21]: Shameless yet accurate plug. I am a horrible customer. Too too many opinions and not enough money. Reginald Ferguson [00:56:28]: I would love there. Dalyn Montgomery [00:56:29]: I I would love to be able to afford your services, but I appreciate the value, and I know that you're worth what you do. Reginald Ferguson [00:56:37]: Well, Christmas is coming. Dalyn Montgomery [00:56:40]: And I am getting fat. I'm trying to not be as fat, but that's something else. Reginald Ferguson [00:56:46]: So doing a blog on menswear is cool. You get to share your experiences with other people. You get to do interviews, drawings, portraiture, photos, meet interesting people, and go to cool events, at least pre COVID. You get to learn more about the culture. I am really flattered to have been invited and and interviewed for Dalen Montgomery's blog. It's called Rohamas, b r o h a m m a s. Check it out. I think you'll really enjoy it. Reginald Ferguson [00:57:27]: Well, that's a wrap. Thank you so much for listening. We hope you had fun and are down for another one. Please tell a friend who could use some fashion help about the podcast or share an episode with them directly. If you enjoy the show, please give us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. Lastly, if you constantly struggle putting an outfit together and are looking to turn that confusion into confidence, I'd love to talk about how we can improve with it. Check me out at nyfashiongink.com, and email me at reg@nyfashiongink.com for a consultation. Special shout outs for our producer search and everyone down with the Fashion Geek podcast. Reginald Ferguson [00:58:10]: If you have a story suggestion, you can email me at podcast@nyfashiongeek.com or hit me up on the insta@newyorkfashiongeek. And remember, always be fly.