Two Delaware residents are helping young men ‘Dress for Success’
Suit Up Summertime
DELAWARE – “Dressing for success.” A phrase we hear often, in fact, 66% of men say they feel more confident when they wear a suit according to businesswire.com. The National Library of Medicine says that dress is a fundamental component of person’s perception, and local community members are putting these stats to the test. Fashion is one thing, but this is all about education, entrepreneurship, and excellence. Two Delaware residents have stepped up in their community to change perceptions, and men are suiting up for success.
From Buttons ups to Blazers. Troy Bailey of Seaford and his cousin Dana Sutton are hosting a Suit Up Summertime luncheon to encourage and uplift Black men of all ages. Troy says boosting the confidence of young black men is pertinent in today’s society. “When you look good, you feel good, you perform good. And that’s the message want to put out… As a Black man, I feel it’s important to be confident, because there’s a lot of things stacked up against you when you wake up in the morning. Just walking out the door you already have stereotypes… Anything you can do to build that confidence to say hey, no matter how they may see me or portray me, that’s not me.”
The event, held during Black Business Month, is meant to create a safe space for Black men to share their ideas, goals, and success stories. Men will bring their son’s and grandsons like Richard Massey, who says this can shed a positive light on the community. “You know as of right now, we have a lot of crime and stuff going on with the younger generation, and not even just the younger generation, it’s men period that can’t get along with other men, so this is the perfect opportunity to show men, it’s not competition out here, it’s just, all of us are one, we can do better when we all learn to work together.”
Troy says that perception is everything. “The young black men, it’s just a lot of violence going on, and we wanted to create a positive image you know. So, when you look at some of our young guys, and even the older ones, you connect to positivity.” Richard says historically Black men wearing suits always garners a different level of respect, “Just bringing us all together to try to help change the world ‘by any means necessary’, even if that means just getting a lot of guys together just to have lunch and get dress up.”
Massey says by planning this event and taking that step forward, both Dana and Troy are spearheading what he believes is a new wave of black Entrepreneur’s and future businessmen in the community. The Suit Up Summertime luncheon will take place on Sunday, August 25th at Abbott’s Broad Creek in Laurel from 1 pm to 5 pm. It will include guest speakers and a chance for participants to network and fellowship with one another. Organizers say this is only the first year, and they already have more plans to make this bigger and better next year so stay tuned.
