By Taryn Hartman
Legal News
It’s hard not to notice Wayne County Circuit Judge Craig Strong as he takes his daily lunchtime walks around the blocks surrounding the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice.
Especially when he’s wearing a lemon-yellow suit shot through with blue pinstripes, a rhinestone-encrusted yellow tie, and yellow and cobalt alligator loafers.
“I felt like we needed some sunshine today,” Strong says on a cloudy afternoon, coming down the stairs of his nearly century-old home in Detroit’s historic Indian Village.
“When you see me dressing like this going to court, I’m dressing for stress,” he says of the day’s ensemble. “Normally I dress for respect, for success and to impress, but sometimes I dress for stress, because when I pass that mirror in my bedroom, I’ve got to smile. I’ve got to feel good about me.”
Strong’s collection of suits (he’s never counted them all), well known in local legal circles and as far west as Vegas and Los Angeles, is a trip across the color spectrum. There are paisleys, pinstripes and plaids, seersuckers and solids, and floral patterns in almost every hue imaginable. He opens the doors of his “formal closet” to reveal tuxedos made of red and black velvet, featuring gold pinstripes or diamante detailing; a rich violet hanging near a jacket decorated with multicolored satin flowers. Some feature more subtle details like rhinestone buttons and the embellished ties Strong favors, which are specially made for him in L.A.
“I call my clothes happy clothes because they make me happy and they make others happy,” he continues. “No one’s ever come up to me saying, ‘Sir, you sure do look boring.’”
Around the corner is another closet filled with more jackets and part of Strong’s shoe collection: lace-ups and loafers, many of them two-toned but some even more spectacular, like the Oxfords that fade, heel to toe, from orange to persimmon to a light coral pink.
Although frequently flashy, the judge is constantly conscious of dressing appropriately (“If I’m going to be with other judges, I’m going to be in gray,” he says), an ethic that comes from his childhood neighborhood on Detroit’s west side. The overwhelming attitude there was, “If something is important, you act your best, you look your best, and you do your best,” he says. “My mother used to say the quickest way to get where you’re going is to look like you’ve already arrived.”
Fashion inspiration also came from Strong’s father, the son of a woman born into slavery, who worked as a red cap at the Michigan Central Depot.
“He lifted bags for a living, but when he went to work, he was in a suit, white shirt, tie, overcoat, hat,” Strong says.
“You wouldn’t know him from the owner of the railroad station.”
Strong procures a photo of himself with Denzel Washington from a large Ziploc stuffed with photos of his numerous encounters with celebrities at events like February’s NAACP Image Awards and Oscar after-parties. On that trip, at least three new suits came back with him from the MAGIC clothing convention in Las Vegas.
“I said, ‘Denzel, you look mighty good,’” Strong says. “But standing next to me? Nobody’s going to come up to you and say, ‘Denzel, that sure is a bad black tuxedo.’ But watch what they say to me, with my red!”
Strong doesn’t have to be among the entertainment elite for his wardrobe to garner attention. While the judge is out on his walks, occasionally window shopping for his next sartorial inspiration, young men will frequently tell him,
“When I’m your age, I’m going to dress like you,” Strong says. “And I tell them, ‘You better not wait.’”
This feature first appeared in the Spring 2010 issue of MOTION Magazine.
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