Welcome back to Fit Diaries, where GQ asks our favorite style lords to document a week through their outfits. Up next: GQ’s very own Fashion Director, Mobolaji Dawodu, who took notes while getting dressed for a week back in April.
While most have chosen to adopt a quarantine uniform of gray sweats and old tees, Dawodu has stayed true to his personal style, mixing bright and bold pieces he’s collected throughout extensive travels with old favorites like Missoni cardigans, Uniqlo Long Johns, and Nike Dri-Fit socks. “My sense of identity and confidence with clothing comes from Nigerian culture and my mom who has always been into style,” explains the veteran stylist and costume director. “Prints and patterned clothing are like jeans in Africa—nothing special. It’s actually just a way of life—and my mom had a clothing business growing up for the last 30 years and has only worn clothes that she comes up with. Hard core.” Quarantined in Brooklyn, the Dawodu shows us what he’s been wearing. —Nikki Ogunnaike
Monday
“I’ve been thinking about total comfort as far as quarantine outfits. I like robes, I like caftans, and I like it to be free and flowing. Here, I’m wearing a Missoni cardigan, a caftan I believe I bought in Gabon, West Africa, and slippers I had made in Senegal. I have a farm and an apartment there and when my brother went to visit recently, I just told him to make more for me in some really amazing colors. My a wool hat is from Estonia. I always wear hats, even in the house. My mom laughs at me all the time—she literally shakes her head when we’re on FaceTime, and is like, ‘Why are you changing hats all the time?’ It’s like my Linus blanket.”
Missoni “Wallace” shirt
$790.00, Missoni
Tuesday
“I’m not going anywhere in this outfit, besides outside to dump the trash. Long Johns are it for me. I like coziness, and I like free flowing, hence this outfit. I bought that robe in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and it’s so comfortable. I have so many slippers like these in the front of my house that I just like to slip them on. I mean, if I’m at home, why do my shoes have to match? They’re comfortable and they’re kind of the same thing. Little things like that, don’t matter to me at all.
I was working on a movie in South Africa and I found a ring like this for about $3 or so. I loved it so much, but the stone was fake, the metal was fake, and it started turning my finger green. Then I went to Sri Lanka and I had it made in gold and got a garnet stone. I couldn’t afford a ruby, which is why I got the garnet, but with the success of our Instagram show, ‘The Run-Through,’ I’m working towards sponsorship and an upgrade to a ruby. 😉 My sunglasses are prescription so you’ll never see me without them on. That, and also no one needs to see my eyes [laughs]. Doesn’t matter to me because I can see them and that’s what matters.”
Wednesday
“Most of the stuff I wear during the summer, I’ve had made while on trips. A lot of the caftans I wear are made in Uganda or Nigeria. I actually wore this to my father’s wake, but I haven’t worn it in a while. The outer piece is some fabric from Ethiopia and that hat I got in Morocco. Underneath I have on my trusty Uniqlo Long Johns that I love and Nike Dri-FIT socks. Generally, I just always buy stuff on my travels. I work with clothes so much, and I’m impatient when shopping, so I’m only interested in things that are just visually stimulating, like colors, patterns, textures. I make what I want to wear.”
Nike Everyday Max Cushioned sock, 3-pack
$20.00, Nike
Uniqlo Heattech Long Johns
$15.00, Uniqlo
Thursday
“I was going to the store and for a bike ride so I invited my friend Ian Reid, who is a photographer, to come along and take some photos. I’ve had this Hugo Boss coat for about a decade and if you look closely you’ll see it’s not just camel—it’s also checkered. Those are some Levi’s corduroys. Plus a hat, I got in South Africa a couple of years ago. I felt like I had to get dressed because I went out to the store. You know, quarantine or no quarantine, I’m still a peacock and going to be a peacock, for real. For me, style is about being comfortable…I’m always comfortable, so I always feel stylish.”
Hugo Boss formal coat in wool and cashmere
$645.00, Hugo Boss
Levi’s 1970s corduroy pants
$178.00, Levi’s
Friday
“I like long, regal, casual clothing. This cashmere robe—it’s my shit. When I wake up and wash dishes, I don’t know, this is just my robe. Once again, I have on my trusty Uniqlo Long Johns, yellow house slippers, and a hat from Estonia. Different sunglasses, though. These are Mykita. My dad always wore tinted glasses when I was growing up, so I think I’ve come to that phase too. My eyes are actually very sensitive to the sun, so that’s another reason I wear sunglasses all the time.”
Maison Megiela Sunglasses
$525.00, My Kita
Saturday
“Colors and prints are orgasmic to me, they make me feel very good, so I’m wearing a Missoni turtleneck, Missoni pants, a Dsquared suede jacket, and my green Wallabees. I’ve been to Jamaica like 15 times, literally, and I think I was influenced by old school rockers and Jamaican style, and that’s why I love Wallabees. I don’t wear them all the time, like I’ll have Wallabee moments, then I’ll go away from them, but then I’ll go to a store and I’ll see a different color and get inspired again.”
Dsquared2 leather jacket
$2995.00, Dsquared2
Missoni gabardine pants
$930.00, Missoni
Clarks Wallabee shoe
$140.00, Clarks
Sunday
“I don’t like to wear pants at home, so oftentimes you’ll find me wearing a wrapper. Most of them come from Sri Lanka, it’s what guys there wear traditionally. The robe thing is from Morocco and once again, it’s just another warm and cozy drapery type of look. This is literally me, this is a way of life. It’s not like, I’m having an ‘Eastern moment,’ this is how I roll. You know? I’ve dressed like this at home for a long time.”
Originally Appeared on GQ
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