Looking for new writers and graphic designers!

Come to our meetings every Sunday night at 8:30pm 5th floor of Lerner (near the student government office).
All are welcome.

Buy a T-Shirt

Do you love animals? Or sodomy? Then buy a Fed T-shirt!

About Us

We have a long and storied history. Learn more about us...

Porno for the New Millenium
Issue 17.8: Glam
Posted: May 5, 2005

Gerald Jackson is Simply Fabulous

Ethan Heitner

Gerald shows the tools of his trade, almost like Batman giving a tour of the cave.

You've seen Gerald Jackson on campus, you probably just don't know it. He's black, he's smiling, and he's a flashier dresser than your mom when she worked in Vegas. We at the Fed sat down to talk to him recently about the vagaries of fashion and why thrift stores in New York suck more than the ones of Jacksonville, Florida.

Fed: Well this issue is about glamour, and they told me to talk to you--

Gerald: Me?!

Fed: Well, I've seen you around campus...

G: Oh brother, what was I doing? What crazy thing was I doing?

Fed: Well, even just filming for CTV or something, you stand out, trust me.

G: Really? Well, I've been told....really?

Fed: When you get up in the morning, do you spend a lot of time thinking about how you'll dress?

G: It's silly that you ask that-- I have the brain of an ant. Ever since I was in high school, I lay my clothes out--I have the brain equivalency of a box of grits, so I lay out what I'm going to wear in the morning the night before. And I'll be honest, I believe, I whole-heartedly believe, that life's a party. We need to celebrate our existence. Some people drink; some people do drugs, but I like fashion. There's nothing wrong with it. It’s legal. It’s just fun! And back to your question, before I get out in the wrong track, I say, the night before, well, I have to wear something. I can't go to school naked, so I just sort of pull a shirt here, a pair of pants there, throw it in the pile, put it on hangers, put it in the wardrobe...

Fed: Where do you get all your clothes from? How do you assemble your look?

G: You may find it hard to believe. I'm not into designer clothes. Basically, thrift stores. Sometimes I go to the mall, hit the sale rack. Oh! Sometimes I make my own!

Fed: You sew? How do you make your own?

G: I love making my own t-shirts. I'm a big fan of funky, fresh t-shirts. When you buy a t-shirt, compared to when you make your own, there's two million other t-shirts in the store. When you make your own, there's only ONE in the world. So I like to enhance particular clothes. I like doodads. Like, cheap, emphasis CHEAP, necklaces. I wear Mardi Gras beads. Rings.

Fed: What thrift stores to you endorse around Columbia?

G: It's funny; I don't go to thrift stores in New York City. When I came to New York a year and a half ago, I tried to look for New York thrift stores because, supposedly, New York thrift stores are the best in the country. Well, it was really disappointing, Ethan. I think the thrift stores in New York are a trick! They go under the guise of thrift store, but they are pretty, more or less, expensive. They're extremely more expensive than what I'm accustomed to . . .

Fed: Here I was thinking New York was the center of fashion.

G: You'd be surprised. I'm a big fan of Hawaiian shirts, but of course New Yorkers think Hawaiian shirts are the bane of their existence. I'm a big fan of colors, and one thing New Yorkers loathe is bright colors. Everything is black, brown, grey. And don't get me wrong--black is beautiful; brown is beautiful; grey is beautiful, but I come from a tropical environment, and we don't WEAR black or brown or grey unless we're going to a funeral or to church. A couple of years ago I was really into plaid pants--unfortunately, they sort of caught on, and I was like, "Oh, fudge."

Fed: You feel that it's important to be different from the crowd?

G: I mean, that's such a nappy thing to say: "I want to look different." Everyone wants to look different, but yeah . . . As I said before, you just have to do something clever and ingenuitive . . . I didn't say this, but fashion is something creative, something fresh, something ingenuitive, something personal, and I think a big thing is never criticizing anybody on the way anybody dresses. And of course, in the fashion industry that's a big thing, totally ripping to shreds the way other people dress. And that's not a kosher thing with me--I think the way you dress is your own personal art. . . . .

Fed: Fashion is this huge industry, there's a lot of effort going into it, into being glamorous, yet . . .

G: I think the best way is to create your own look! I mean, I'm not going to criticize anyone for doing this. I mean, I flip through Teen People for ideas, but I'm not like, "Ooh, I'm going to dress like Justin Timberlake."

Fed: Because that wouldn't be as individual?

G: Nooo! I mean, sometimes I'll take some ideas from them and try to regurgitate what I might like. I don't like being a sheep. Not that there's anything wrong with being a sheep. Sheep are cool creatures. This world can't function without them. Sometimes I get compliments; sometimes I get criticized heavily, but y'know, who cares? . . . I've worn knee high socks. I'm in the process of creating something that has a kilt involved, so we'll see what happens!

Fed: A kilt? Daring...

G: Yeah, I'll wear it when it gets a little warmer . . .

 

Fashion tips from Gerald!

G: Here some things about accentuating your wardrobe, not that I'm a guru of fashion, but here are some little things. Like paint! . . . I'm a big fan of nail painting. I started when I was eighteen. I stumbled upon the world of black nail polish, then I stumbled upon the world of colored nail polish, I've been hooked ever since. I'm a big fan of eyeliner! I stumbled across black eyeliner, oops. I found the girls section, the blues, the golds, the greens. Then one day I came across the sticker section of Wal-Mart, and I got stars, and stuck stars on my face.

Fed: Do you ever worry, you know, when you go home? Florida is a pretty southern state, pretty conservative--

G: . . . I did the same thing at the University of Florida that I do here, and I got the same reactions. Maybe a little more shocking . . . I came to New York to escape that sort of thing, but I still get it here, surprisingly!

Fed: People here aren't more open--

G: Surprisingly, surprisingly! People here call it "open." I call it "fake." Maybe to your face they're open to it, and then they laugh behind your back, where back home they laugh to your face. Am I talking too much?

Fed: One more question: What if you wake up one morning and just run out of ideas?

G: I can't see that happening. Life's an open door. No, wait, life's a closed door, and you have to open it and see what's behind it! And who knows what you'll find...

Fed: Well, thanks, that's about it,

G: Well, thank you, Ethan, and thank you little tape recorder, and thank you Fed, for having me, little insignificant me, just a speck on the scope in Columbia. Oh, wait, I've got another thing to say--for dressing up like this, I've been called shallow, vapid–fake . . . I know people who dress a particular way to make themselves feel better than others with that.

Fed: But you're not doing it to fit in; you're doing for the opposite reason--

G: I do it for fun! There's nothing wrong with dressing up, its legal. You could wear t-shirt and jeans and still be shallow and rude. Oh, wait, I have something else to say.

Fed: As long as you've got something--

G: About fashion: It's not what you wear; it's how you wear it . . . If you’re comfortable with yourself, if you say, "I like this; I want to wear it," then wear it. Be proud of yourself, but don't criticize others, because that's not cool. Be proud of who you are, but don't put down others to make you feel better about yourself. Cheesy like pizza! Don't hate, hurt, perpetrate, or discriminate, and read the Fed! . . . I rambled, didn't I?

Fed: That's quite okay.

G: I'm gonna look like a big black freak on campus . . .