Wow, That Man Is Smart

Jul 12, 2002

We have come a long way in the art of male fashion, even though Ugandan men have only been wearing clothes for a couple of centuries at the most.

We have come a long way in the art of male fashion, even though Ugandan men have only been wearing clothes for a couple of centuries at the most. Back then it was all about donning the old loin clothe and then out of the door for a day’s work in the jungle. Then it was not possible to stand out as the dude with the fabulous, patterned loin clothe, they were all just a bunch of half-naked savages who graduated to village elders in bark cloth to one word, gas, and then much later to civil servants in cheap rayon suits and substantial afros. Now, there are men who do more than perfunctorily cover their odd bits in appropriate clothes. For some men, it is not about any suit, any shoes and any tie. They choose with care, and their entire process of careful dressing starts with the shopping. These are the ones who stand out from the crowd!Being smart is very relative. One man’s meat is another man’s poison, but despite the endless variety we see, some fashion tenets must be upheld. There are men who can’t even keep their shirts tucked in. Others can’t keep their shoes well polished. Some it seems never own flat irons as their trousers are a crisscrossed wonder of creases. Others just put on shirts with oversize collars, suit jackets that seem to be centuries old while others do not care about their facial hair.We looked at men who are not just stylish but who care about their wardrobes. Who are both smart in formal dressing as well as casual. A man who will pass by you and you will say ‘wow, the man is smart!’ We also considered the types of fragrances, colognes they wear, the hair salons they go to and how often they visit these facilities and the clothing outlets they buy their outfits from. A survey carried out around town, reveals that perfumes with famous labels cost anything above sh150,000, cotton shirts range above sh70,000. Classy shoes can set you back by about sh300,000 . Trendy neckties cost above sh50,000 and a pair of briefs may cost sh35,000.We also looked at things, which most people do not care about such as the type of cuff links, the type of glasses, watches and socks. It was easy to come up with this list. A mini-survey yielded the names of people we thought are smart because their names appeared on every individual list of the survey. We consulted some stylish ladies for their views about a particular individual not letting them know as to why we are interested in the person. And they were approved. We also visited the archives to see how dressed these men were at particular functions in the last three years or so.Ladies and gentlemen, these are the smartest men in town: Apart from the ones who were kind enough to share their fashion secrets with you, a good number could not. Other names on the smart list included Andrew Owiny, Executive Director, MBEA Brokerage, Prince Kassim Nakibinge, bank of Uganda, John Ddumba,UTL, Albert Alipacho, DJ Ange Noir, Richard Byarugaba, General Manager Nile Bank, Daudi Mpanga, Lawyer Matovu and Mugerwa, Edwin Karugire, First son-in-law and lawyer Bob Kasango.Ends

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});