Raise your hand if you have attended a Zoom meeting. Just as I thought just about everyone has attended church service, a meeting, or even a party. Trust me my preference is to be live and in-person but this is the new normal. To date, I have attended a birthday party, church service, and most recently a book discussion hosted by the Sister to Sister Book Club at the famous Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City. This was close to amazing. I am a big fan of Andre Leon Talley and recently purchased his book “The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir. The Zoom meeting was amazing, I was sitting right in front of Talley and I felt so connected even though we were nowhere near each other. He was open and giving and shared great details of his life story. If you don’t know who Talley is perhaps you have seen pictures of him at Fashion Week or the Met Gala. He is a very tall black man who now wears beautiful caftans and frequently he will wear a hat. Many think that he is a designer, he is not. He was the creative director at Vogue during the magazines rise to dominance as the world’s fashion bible. Over the past five decades, his byline has appeared in Vanity Fair, HG, Interview, and Women’s Wear Daily. He is also the subject of the documentary “The Gospel According to Andre.” Tally is a member of Abyssinian and we learned a lot about him during this virtual “master class.” He doesn’t like the perfume of Chitterlings and when asked what advice would he give to his younger self he said to listen. “Listen to God and the people that came before you.” He also had some advice for young people embarking on a career “get your foot in the door” and don’t be beyond doing menial tasks when asked. If you like fashion pick up his book. It is available online and at Barnes and Noble.
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