You don't have to become a "loafer guy"
But you should conduct meetings with the boys, and more V.I.P. recommendations from comedian Kareem Rahma
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If you’ve seen an episode of Kareem Rahma’s hit IG series Subway Takes — where the Brooklyn-based comedian rides the train in cities around the world, riffing with different guests about social mores — you know he’s got a gift for rummaging through, and passing judgment upon, all kinds of minutiae of The Way We Live Now, both inane and profound.
So I (Jonah) thought he’d make a great guest himself on the recurring Spyplane series we call V.I.P. R.A.D.A.R., which we devote to Vibey Illustrious People’s Rare And Dope A-- Recommendations…
As always, we asked him to share 3 recommendations off-the-beaten-path, across any category. He did not disappoint.
We also let the riffs flow & got into provocative territory as relates to going in on a garment to super-turbo levels vs. casually and occasionally integrating it into your gestalt; how if you wear shorts and a short-sleeve shirts you look like you are on your way to daycare; and more…
• RECOMMENDATION #1 - Weekend Trips to Africa
“We go to London, Paris, Amsterdam, etc., but why not go the extra 3 hours and spend a weekend in like Cairo???”
Blackbird Spyplane: You make a great point with this one: We’re leaving a lot on the table, travel-wise, when we focus as heavily as we do on Western Europe… but a weekend trip?
Kareem: “I’ve spent multiple weekends in Cairo — literally 72-hour trips. I have so many friends who say, ‘I wanna go to Egypt,’ and I tell them, ‘Just go, it’s not far, it’s 10 hours from NYC, direct flight on Egypt Air.’ I don’t know if people are afraid of Africa, or just think it’s farther than it is, but you can do a weekend in Cairo, easy. Especially for all you New Yorkers out there.”
Blackbird Spyplane: If you and I could teleport to one place in Cairo right now — where are we and what are we doing?
Kareem: “We’re in Zamalek, a beautiful little island in the Nile, like a mini-mini Manhattan in the center of Cairo. I’d say it’s the coolest neighborhood in the city, there’s a lot of embassies and diplomats and expats, record stores, the cooler, artistic Egyptian crowd. So we’re hanging out, taking a walk, probably smoking cigs — I don’t even smoke cigs, but I do when I’m in Egypt. Downtown Cairo is going through a little bit of a renaissance, too. You can feel it in the streets. I was born there, and now a lot of my friends are opening shops and putting on shows.”
Blackbird Spyplane: Have you pushed further into the continent?
Kareem: “I’ve only done it to Cairo, but I wanna do it for other places. Ghana is close. Ghana would be lit. They have a really cool independent film scene there, people making movies with super low budgets, and the visual art there has a very distinct vibe. And Accra is 9 hours and 25 minutes from New York. That is not far, dude. Why are people not going to Ghana? Why are people not going to Morocco? They’re going to Berlin!”
Blackbird Spyplane: It’s worth going to Marrakech for the couscous alone.
Kareem: “Hot take, I don’t think their couscous is that good.”
Blackbird Spyplane: Where do you get good couscous in New York? When I was growing up there were some fantastic Moroccan restaurants on Atlantic Ave where Sahadi’s still is, and there was one out toward Bay Ridge, but those are all long gone.
Kareem: “That Arab pocket on Atlantic is still popping, but for couscous, a good place is Little Morocco in Astoria. On that note, I’ll say, the hospitality in Egypt, everyone’s so warm and nice and kind and happy to have you — and I think you get that same vibe in Astoria.”
Blackbird Spyplane: You know, there might be some people reading this who need to hit up Queens first, before they do the African weekend idea. Get familiar with the outer reaches of the W and the 7 before you zip off to Accra, friends.
• RECOMMENDATION #2 — Brightly Colored Beanies
“In particular, this orange H--TTECH one from U--qlo”
Blackbird Spyplane: I’m sorry dude, but there’s a flag on the play, because the idea here is recommendations off the beaten path. Everyone wears beanies, and everyone knows U--qlo. So I gotta 90% disagree with the text here, but I 100% agree with your subtext, because I think I can see where you’re going…
Kareem: “I’m just sick of seeing black in New York City. I went through a black phase: I came here plaid-shirted, heritage jeans, Pendleton tweed jacket, some Redwing boots, and that’s who I was. Then I think what happens is you have this transition period, when you’re figuring yourself out as a New Yorker, and that’s when you go to all-black, because you’re not sure what to commit to. It’s easy, it looks good. But too many people lean on it as a crutch, as an identity and an aesthetic, and it gets boring. And even when people move on, I find that the hat remains black. And there’s nothing I love more than a brightly colored beanie on a dreary day.”
Blackbird Spyplane: Getting spicy with the headwear, embracing color, I’m back on board. In fact, the last time I saw you, back in the fall, you were wearing one of those Russian ear-flap Ushanka caps, I think?
• REVISED RECOMMENDATION #2: “SPICY HEADWEAR”
Kareem: “That was just a trapper hat, but I also have a Russian fur thing with no flaps. I kind of went on a hat spree, got that trapper one in Paris at a vintage store, then the Russian one might actually be from Uzbekistan, and then I got another one that has leather and a shearling thing around it.
“I think men are lazy with the headwear, and I think it looks chic as f--k and it keeps your head warm as hell. A lot of people think they can’t pull it off. But I think they can. I saw a quirked-up white boy wearing a shearling hat the other day and and it looked sick.”
Blackbird Spyplane: We just published a whole Spyplane about how the range of “Acceptable Headwear” has gotten so narrow. It’s basically just baseball caps and beanies, with bucket hats making slight inroads. But take a hat like a Ushanka, or a beret: These are time-tested styles that have looked great on all kinds of people for centuries. So our advice is what we call The Anchovy Principle. Anchovies aren’t for everyone, and when you first toss them into a pan they sit there unabsorbed. But keep going, give it time, give it heat, chef it up, and they’ll melt, and add flavor, and now you’ve got yourself some sauce.
Kareem: “And the other thing is, you don’t have to become a beret guy. You can just wear it. You don’t have to become Curtis Sliwa. There are hat guys and beanie guys, then there are just guys who wear hats some times. That’s part of the complex you. Same with loafers — you don’t have to become a ‘Loafer Guy.’”
Blackbird Spyplane: As it happens we’re a highly loafer-skeptical newsletter, and Erin and I both observe zero-loafer-tolerance policies for ourselves, but you’re right, the point holds true beyond just hats.
Kareem: “That reminds me, I wanna talk about hard shoes. Very recently, I pivoted from sneakers-only, no hard shoes ever, to 3 hard shoes in my rotation, and very limited sneakers. At the moment, I’m a hard-shoe-wearing motherf--ker. I actually need some recs, though, because I keep just going to Doc Martens.”
Blackbird Spyplane: Docs are a great transition from sneakers, but yeah we can get you some more advanced options. You’re talking to Hard Sole Spyplane, I made this transition myself a few years back. For me, somewhere in the mix, was this notion of maturity: ‘I’m not a kid, why am I only wearing sneakers?’ Was that part of it for you?
Kareem: “That was part of it, but not the first thought. I think it just looks really nice. But I don’t wear shorts because of what you’re saying. I think shorts are for boys. Here’s my summer rule: If you’re going to wear shorts, you have to wear a long sleeve shirt — shorts with a long-sleeve linen button-up, okay, that’s a nice vibe. If you’re wearing a short-sleeve shirt, you have to wear long pants. I don’t think you can wear two short items. Short-sleeve shirt and short pants, you look like you’re on your way to daycare.”
And finally —
• RECOMMENDATION #3: MEETINGS FOR MEN
Blackbird Spyplane: I love few things more than being out somewhere and seeing a table full of fellas getting loose with the damn boys. You’re talking about bringing some structure to the hang… formalizing it… preparing agenda items.
Kareem: “I have a group with two guys, my best friends, where somebody will send a text and say, ‘I need a meeting,’ and we’ll figure out ASAP how we can meet. We put together an itinerary and go around the table, saying, ‘Here’s what’s on my list,’ and we advise each other on the issues we’re facing. It could be about moving in with someone, it could be work problems, it could be hitting the gym, it could be stocks. To me, it seems like a really good use of time, it’s productive, you bond with the fellas, open up — I think a lot of dudes would be healthier for it.”
Blackbird Spyplane: I like this. My mind does go to the 2026-male-brain thing where it’s not enough to just eat right and hit the gym, you’ve got to calculate your macros and measure your bicromial width or whatever. Showing up to the hang with an agenda, instead of just shooting the breeze willy-nilly, feels related to that optimization mindset.
Kareem: “I don’t think we’re optimizing, though. It’s more of a great excuse to catch up. It gives some urgency to the hang, because it’s hard to get friends together. But it’s definitely about giving and receiving great advice, and insider tips — if you were in the mafia, you’d have a consigliere or like a group of people saying here’s what you should do. But we’re not in the mafia, so it’s, ‘I need a meeting.’”
You can find Subway Takes here. Kareem’s on IG here.
P🚇E🚇A🚇C🚇E til next time.
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Our Cool Mom Style Guide is here.
The Blackbird Spyplane Profound Essay Archive is here.