Properly Suited

Stylin’ Merlin Galle III was all smiles as he proudly showed off two new suits, the latest additions to a closet he is rebuilding.

Galle is somewhat of a fashion savant, with styles leaning toward cashmere and silk. The most recent additions, however, are much more  than expanding his wardrobe. 

Rather, they represent a crossroad in his life, another step forward on in his newfound freedom. For the past two decades, Galle’s sartorial statement was that of prison garb, having served 18 years at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola and the past two at B.B. Sixty Rayburn Correction Facility in Angie. 

In March, a judge ordered Galle’s immediate release after it was discovered that he had served 20 years of what the judge determined should have been a 10-year sentence. 

“(The suits) mean everything,” said Galle, a New Orleans native. “When I put that suit on I feel good. I feel like I’m styling it.”

“It’s not what you wear but how you wear it,” he added.

The suits were courtesy of Suiting 101, a Baton Rouge non-profit that was formed in December with the mission of working with at-risk high school students. Denise Brown, one of the founders of Suiting 101, said the nonprofit conducts workshops, preps students for ACT tests and provides financial literacy and mentoring.

As part of the mission, the students are taught business etiquette, such as the proper way to shake hands, tie a tie and how to dress. In their senior year, the goal is to present the students with suits, including shirts, a tie and even shoes.

“We had anticipated starting that program in August. We submitted a grant but did not get funded,” said Brown. 

She explained the organization had launched a suit donation campaign in April that proved to be wildly successful. Brown’s was hoping to have 75 to 100 “slightly worn” suits donated but approximately 500 slightly worn suits were donated. 

“I have two storage units full,” she gushed.

Brown’s daughter suggested contacting area agencies who serve the needy about their need for suits. Brown said donating the clothes to those in need is tribute to her late husband, Eugene Brown, who owned Brown and Brown Custom Clothiers.

“We wanted to do something to honor his legacy,” said Brown, whose husband passed away two years ago. “We felt it was our way of doing something in his honor and giving back to the community.”

Linda Fjeldsjo, who is coordinator of Joseph Homes, an agency of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge that provides housing for ex-inmates recently released from prison and have no place to live, said 40 suits were donated, assuring that each man received at least two suits.

“(Brown) told me the measurements, so I had to go and get a tape measure and measure 14 guys,” Fjeldsjo said with a laugh. 

The suits, as well as shirts and shoes were distributed at a warehouse.

“When the suits came along, I thought ‘nobody gives suits,’ ” Galle said. “We are getting tailored for a suit. Who does this?”

“I mean this shows you how God is good,” he added.

“We know clothes don’t make the man but it does make a difference,” Fjeldsjo said. “And I witnessed that.”

She recalled how Brown could sense the excitement among the men as she was fitting them, taking great care to match shirts with suits and ties.

“It’s like they were her sons,” Fjeldsjo said.

“What you are doing is remarkable,” Galle told Brown. “All of the men, it’s a feeling of pride and just to know someone wants to see you look better and feel better.”

Galle, whose scars as well as steel plates and metal rods in his body are witness to a previous life that included surviving multiple gunshot wounds and prison altercations, said for the better part of two decades, alone with his thoughts in a cramped cell, all he ever hoped for was a second chance. Given that opportunity, he hopes to carve out a bright future, free of the violence and drug use of his past.

He also hopes that future might include spending time behind a stove. Already he is cooking three days a week at his nephew’s West Baton Rouge Civil Parish restaurant. 

“My mother told me my cooking is blessed,” said Galle, whose aunt owns a praline shop in New Orleans.

Determination is evident in his voice as he vows not to return to life on the streets. He understands the price of that life, admitting he let his grandfather’s French Quarter business, a $1 million enterprise, “slip through my hands.”

“I was addicted to drugs and that is what caused all of that,” he said. “If it were not for drugs, a lot of people would not have been in my world.

“You think money is everything for all of the wrong things. Money is just to take care of your family, to do what needs to be done.”

Today, Galle’s violence is replaced by words of the Bible, which is always within arm’s length. There, he said, are solutions to anything that might arise in his life. 

“I just want to do the right thing and that comes from reading the Bible,” he said. “I detest violence; I can’t even believe I lived that way.”

“I got it right and I thank God I did,” he added, as he discussed plans for his upcoming birthday, one that will see him sporting fancy new threads.