Dress up or down, that is your business. Dress well, that’s my business.
These were words that Doug Paris lived by. He used them as the tagline for his custom clothing business and, one might guess, when he reported for duty as an infantryman in the Army and found that his standard-issue uniform wasn’t a perfect fit.
So he sent it out to be tailored.
“Imagine, for a second, custom-tailored fatigues,” recalls longtime friend Andy Boian. “Only Doug could pull off something like that.”
Boian met Paris in 1997 when both were members of a networking group that met monthly at the Denver Athletic Club.
At the time, Boian, who went on to found , was a “newly minted business development manager for ICG Communications,” and Paris had just launched Doug Paris Wardrobe Management and Design. (The business was later renamed Paris Custom Clothier Group, with an office in Larimer Square.)
“I loved him like a father, even though we disagreed on politics, Major League Baseball and whether the stubble that men — including him — tend to wear on their faces looked professional,” Boian said. “He clearly knew how to dress, how to speak well and, most importantly, how to treat people with great respect. He was the epitome of the sophisticated gentleman, through and through.”
Paris, 66, died May 20, approximately four months after being diagnosed with kidney cancer. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at , 1350 Washington St.
He accepted his fate with his trademark grace and style, never complaining or asking “why me?” adds Susan Cashman Mathews, at whose home Paris spent his final days in hospice care. “Doug and I dated on and off for 10 years before deciding we’d just be each other’s cherished friend,” Mathews said.
“He experienced many unfathomable events during his life,” says another longtime friend, Beth Galoob Green, “yet he was always positive, eager to make the most of every day.”
Paris’ daughter, Deb, died from breast cancer in her early 30s; his son, Jason, who had become quadriplegic as the result of a diving accident when he was 22, died in July 2014.
Born Sept. 22, 1948, in Clare more, Okla., and raised in Tulsa, Paris earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Okla., and an MBA from Oklahoma City University.
Prior to starting his own custom clothing business in Denver, Paris worked as a buyer and merchandiser for specialty stores in the Southwest and as a wholesale representative who traveled the world on behalf of fabric vendors and manufacturers.
He also developed a for-credit curriculum on management and marketing for third-year law students, wrote two books to Colorado’s two care centers for severely injured patients such as his son.
He was a member of the United Way’s Tocqueville Society, served on the board of and volunteered as a ski instructor with National Sports Center for the Disabled.
Survivors include his mother, Ardith; his sister, Kay Lowe; grandchildren Alexandria Byrne and Andrew Shaw and great-grandson Samuel Byrne.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to , where his son had been a patient; Cancer League of Colorado, P.O. Box 5373, Englewood, 80155; or 1741 Gaylord St., Denver, 80206.
“Doug Paris was a man of style, a man of distinction, a true gentleman,” said Linda Bowen Scott, who worked with Paris on events hosted by Fashion Group International. “The classic Robert Redford movie, ‘The Great Gatsby,’ started his journey to help others find their own style. He will be missed by his many friends and loved ones.”
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314, jdavidson@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joannedavidson
