Hip Hop Clothing

History of Hip Hop Clothing

It is impossible to talk about hip hop clothing without tracing it back to its roots; namely hip hop music. Born in 1975 in New York’s Bronx, hip hop music began when Jamaican immigrants began living on the Bronx’s Westside. Many became disc-jockeys (DJ’s) who literally, with two turntables and a microphone, gave birth to the phenomena we now call hip hop.

The most famous of these DJ’s, Clive “Hercules” Campbell, or “Kool Herc”, began making music out of break beats, while another young black man from the Bronx, Theodore “Grand Wizard” Livingstone, was accidentally discovering the “scratching” sound on a turntable. Break beets is the instrumental breaks of a song that focus on the rhythm section, which is the favorite parts of the song for most dancers. Together, these two legendary figures laid the technical foundations of rap, which evolved into what we consider hip hop today.

As the first rap groups were founded, so too was hip hop fashion. Hip hop clothing fashion is comprised of many elements, from sneakers to jewelry and hair. In the eighties, it was the white sneakers, the big gold earrings and the fade out hair style for men. Most of these trends are still with us today. In the nineties, the trend leaned towards bright, almost neon-colored pieces (as showcased by the group TLC), paired with baggy clothes. Inspired by the prison culture and perhaps one the most famous, or infamous, fashion trends is the baggy pants worn sans belt. In prison, new inmates have their belts taken away from them, and since prison clothing rarely fits properly, young men were reduced to hiking their pants up with their hands in the prison yard.

Each segment of the country puts its own unique stamp on the hip hop culture. New Yorkers prefers hooded sweat shirts and Timberland boots, while the West Coasters likes big flannel shirts and Converse sneakers. The South brought in gold teeth fashion.

How to Wear

No need for stress when expressing your hip hop style. First, keep in mind where the trend was born (the poorest sections of New York: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan’s Greenwich Village). Second, the music is born out of a sense of feeling disenfranchised and alienated. The following chart contains a few key pieces to incorporate into your wardrobe and how to wear them.

Hip Hop Fashion Celebrities

• Gwen Stefani shows us that originality is always cool. Gwen is constantly mixing up her look by incorporating key fashion pieces and then making it her distinctive own.
• Jay Z is Brooklyn personified. If you want to see how New York boys do hip hop, take a look at Jay Z, especially in his early days.
• Missy Elliot is so cool and again so original. Taking the oversized look to new fashion heights, Missy has left her imprint on the hip hop world.
• Eve. The only question here is does ghetto fabulous get any better looking? Birth place of the first remnants of graffiti, Philadelphia is proud of this native daughter.

Where to Buy

Looking for hip hop wear? Check out these websites:

• Rocawear
• Nice Kicks
• Urban Mall
• Karma Loop
• NexTag

Putting It All Together

Remember when wearing hip hop fashions that the key is not to look like you’re trying to hard. As Snoop Doggy Dog so aptly put it, "laid back is the way to go." If you feel nervous about embracing the trend, try one key piece to start you off, and see how you feel. If you like it, gradually add more pieces to your wardrobe, and you’ll be looking ghetto fabulous in no time.