Who remembers when girls from Harlem, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island donned authentic Gucci bags and real gold?
We were called B-Girl, and almost all of us wore big, gold bamboo earrings, rope chains around our necks (or a name chain), and carried Louis Vuitton bags, though we were also known as Gucci Girls. B-Boys were as fly as we were—in Bally shoes, Gazelle eyewear, and anything leather.
We who are of the Hip-Hop era remember the Eric B. & Rakim “Paid in Full” album cover. Dapper Dan created that audience. He styled Harlem and the urban community at large, back when no well-known fashion designer cared about us. Daniel R. Day knew what we liked and gave us the very best quality. Before major brands began featuring us in their advertising, we were all familiar with his “Dapper Dan”‘ signature name, and the groundswell from his early efforts paved the way for the lucrative urban fashion market.
Dapper Dan was ours, whether we were from Harlem, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Long Island, the Tri-State Area, or anywhere else true Hip-Hop fans would reside. We knew he knew how to convert a garment bag into an insignia-laden jacket like none other. Dapper Dan filled his memoir, “Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem, a Memoir,” with history, truth, and nuanced detail. He shares details of his early life, his many talents beyond fashion design, his connections on the street, and the unconventional way he chose to make money quickly when in a bind. Dapper Dan doesn’t hold back. He filled his memoir cover-to-cover with truth and advice, some to keep and some to discard. More importantly, he shares his rationale for making those decisions, including mistakes he made. Dapper Dan even goes as far as to reveal his design secrets, as in the secret sauce…