YOUR SPACE: Dude, where's your suit?

I met Pablo and Adam at a coffee shop.

They were easy to spot amid all the men slouching in ball caps and T-shirts.

These two gents sat up straight. Drinks on the table. Elbows off.

Pablo, in a crisp pin-striped shirt, vest and tie, sipped an iced chai. Adam wore a blazer, white shirt cracked open with silver chain and sunglasses stylishly dangling.

Image is key to the leaders of League of Gentlemen, a social revolution to remake young men through manners, fashion and fitness.

Act with class. Dress with style. Buff the bod.

“We start by being respectable,” Pablo says. “We achieve this by becoming gentlemen.”

“Most guys' problems come from low self-esteem. For instance, Othello in Shakespeare’s tale...” Adam begins.

These aren’t some old dudes living in the past.

Pablo Sebastián Quincy, the founder, is 19, and has a black belt in karate.

Adam Torres, 17, plays in a rock band and works at Burger King.

(Absent on this day was third gent Perdeep “Deep” Badhesha, 17, excused for student council.)

Their mission is to polish the cavemen of the Springs, one necktie at a time.

Free sessions cover how to dress, treat women and defend oneself. Opening doors for ladies. A firm handshake. And six-pack abs.

“It’s a code to live by,” Adam says.

(See the “League of Gentlemen” video at gazette.com/yourspace and at my blog.)

The club is about male bonding. No politics, race or religion.

“It’s like a gang, but in a good way,” Pablo says.

“It’s to popularize the ideals of the gentlemen and make it cool. Be those guys that people look up to.”

He was inspired by his dad, Oscar, who started a guys’ culture club when he taught at Sand Creek High.

Pablo formed a variation of the club at Doherty.

“I went to the library and read every book on men’s clothes. I started building a wardrobe at Goodwill.”

Did it work?

“I got random compliments,” he says. “More from the girls.”

So far, only Adam and Deep are committed to the brotherhood. But Pablo is standing tall. He envisions a club for older chaps. A League of Ladies. He talks of getting sponsors for a line of men’s clothing to support the cause.

These noble teens admit to still being a little rough around the edges — even leaving dirty dishes in the sink at times.

But they are trying to live like gents. And that includes being punctual.

Adam checks his watch. He’s due at Burger King.

“I can be a little late,” Adam says.

“I’d rather you not,” says Pablo.

Interview’s over.

—
Want to be a gent?
Contact: pabloquincy@yahoo.com