While the majority of Sierra Leoneans and foreign friends in the virtual audience last Tuesday night were concentrating on and grasping the messages being presented by the various distinguished speakers, certain individuals at the meeting admired an unlikely object. (Photo: SLAM/Global Director General Dr Veenod Fuller).

What is the strange object the secret admirers admired that historic night? It was the necktie or cravat that Dr Alfred Veenod Fuller, the Director General of the Sierra Leone Advocacy Movement SLAM/Global, was wearing that visibly matched his smart grey suit.

A close glance at the grey or gray necktie with diagonal white and grey lines laid from top to bottom is a pure fashionista style cravat. No wonder the secret admirers could not hold back their thoughts about Dr Fuller’s necktie but had to reach out to make the shocking confession.

And one of the secret admirers confessed to the Organiser newspaper that she had been observing Dr Fuller’s admirable dress sense during his historic speech. That night, during the Zoom meeting, it dawned on her that Dr Fuller is a fashionista even if he is not aware of it.

Pressed further about her knowledge of fashion and dress codes, etc., she disclosed that she is indeed a student of Fashion Design and Wear. She added that she could easily see herself as a fashionista. She believed Dr Fuller is a fashionista, knowingly or unknowingly. (Photo: The necktie and suit that Dr Fuller wore last Tuesday night).

Interestingly, most of the audience that night were more interested in what the speakers were stating about democracy and how Sierra Leone could be saved from Maada Bio’s tyrannical regime, rather than what the speakers were wearing.

Unlike the secret admirers who were partly listening to the messages and mostly watching the dress codes, especially Dr Fuller’s, it has now been proven that the SLAM/Global virtual conference produced more positive vibes than meets the eye. Bravo Dr Fuller. Keep it up. Dr Fuller would be surprised to see this cravat attraction.

This is the short history of neckties or cravats, according to Wikipedia: The modern necktie originated from the 17th-century Croatian mercenaries in France, whose neckerchiefs impressed King Louis XIII.

They adopted the style and named it “cravat” after the Croatian word for Croat. This became a high-fashion item that spread throughout Europe and evolved over centuries into the various forms of neckwear seen today. 

Grey or gray is an intermediate colour between black and white, and is considered a neutral or achromatic colour because it has no chroma. It is created by mixing black and white, and its specific shade depends on the proportion of each colour used. 

Gray or grey can also be produced by combining other colours, and is a versatile colour used in various applications, from representing modernity to creating calm, sophisticated spaces, according to the Wikipedia definition. “The colour choice in the cravat explains the calmness of Dr Fuller,” one of the secret admirers noted.