Tyquise: The Collector

There are many collectors in the world of millions of things like: antiques, baseball cards, comic books, purses and shoes. Thomas "Tyquise" Holbrook a 20-year-old junior and art major at Central is an avid sneaker collector with hundreds of graphic t-shirts, Levi jeans, jackets and hats to go with them. He has a very diverse style and likes the finer things in life, with a very high Pri$e limit. 

Like many guys Tyquise is a "Jordan Head" as he calls it.

"I go off of Jordan release dates and old school Jordans," said Tyquise.

 If it's any other kind of sneakers he buys one pair of each that he really likes just to say he has them, like a pair of Foam Posit(s), Air Max(s), Chuck Taylor(s) etc.

You can say he has every number Jordan in every color and they are very near and dear to him. There are many females that are the same way, and over my many years of living I've realized that Jordan fever is not gender specific. In no way shape or form do I have a problem with the "Jordan Heads," but that lifestyle can be a pocket breaker.

Tyquise doesn't stick to one style, color scheme or the norm, but whatever he chooses has to be nice and pop. He does look at a lot of celebrities' swag like Chris Brown and implicates that in his own wardrobe. He also says he caters to what he calls the "now phase."

"The "now phase," I would say is whatever the style is now for 2011; I would follow that, but put my own little taste on it, my own little spin," said Tyquise. Things like jean jackets are coming back so Tyquise would sproose it up with a different shirt, like a button up and put on some sneakers.

He doesn't really like to be as I call matchie matchie, which is your shirt matching your shoes and your hat and/or accessories, but it does make some kind of sense.

"I don't believe in the whole black hat, all black shirt and all black shoes for example. I hate it," said Tyquise. "As an artist I know colors that make other colors pop like blue and orange and red and green because they're complimentary. I wouldn't do like three different shades of brown," he added. 

When putting outfits together Tyquise starts with his outfit like many other people, but mainly the shirt. "I have so many shoes. I need to worry about how a shirt looks on me first then I kind of like to wear whatever looks creative on my feet," he explained.

You can say Tyquise would be the cool kid in class. He would be "that guy" as he put it. Mr. tall, lean, smooth and just "swaged" out; walking down the halls getting all the hugs from the ladies, dap from the fellas and a ship load of compliments, and the main one, “I love your shoes.”

Like any other intense and serious collector of something Tyquise will do what he can to get the sneakers he likes. "If I get them the day they come out, it would be retail, which would be $150. If not, if I have to find them, they're usually expensive. I don't really have a price range for sneakers because what I want I try to get, and tend to get, but my max would probably be $300," said Tyquise.

When it comes to the rest of his wardrobe he typically spends $44 on Levi's and usually doesn't wear anything else besides maybe a pair from H&M or some True Religions. The T-shirt prices definitely vary by style and store but typically the ones he buys are around $40, but don't really go much higher. His jackets are like $60 and above and his hats which he loves and "doesn't walk around without" tend to be no more than $30. "Then they go under because I have my Lids card so they're like $25," said Tyquise.

Tyquise's employer Stash House, a sneaker boutique is the enabler of his obsession providing him with the employee discount and different varieties of shoes and shirts to choose from. They bring styles from places like California and Florida to the people of Connecticut and "give it to the urban crowd," to expand their market and bring people to their store. They have a lot of clothes skateboard kids wear and brands like Stussy and Pink Dolphin. If Stash House doesn't have his size or ran out he doesn't mind taking a visit all the way to New York to get it, at streets like 125th street and places like Flight Club and the House of Hoops.

"I tend to not try to outdo anybody else, I try to outdo myself."