Back In The Day: Fashions From The Past

…..Go back in the day
British Knights and gold chains
Do the prep and cabbage patch
And wear your laces all fat
Back in the dayyyyyyyy, hey hey
Hip-Hop has chaaaanged…..
-Missy Elliot ‘Back in the Day’

Hip Hop fashion has always been popular, mainly because it gave people the chance to make a statement. The Urban and Hip Hop fashion world change as different genres and artists of the decade influence it.

Let’s take it back as far as the late 70’s and early 80’s when artists like LL Cool J, Will Smith, Big Daddy Kane, Curtis Blow and Run DMC influenced the fashion scene. Let’s take it far back when the dopiest outfit was a bright neon-colored track jumpsuit, Adidas with the phat lace, and big gold earrings or a dookie rope (heavy gold chain). And thanks to Will “The Fresh Prince” Smith, people said bye to Jheri curls and hello to the hi-top fade! Also in the ‘80’s the Black Pride movement had a big impact on the hip hop culture. It was reflected through the dreadlocks, the green, black and red colors of the clothes and the African chain.

The fashion world took a turn in the late 80’s after Kris Kross started wearing his clothes backwards. That style stayed for a little while but another group took the scene by storm: N.W.A (Niggaz with Attitude). N.W.A brought the Dickies with plaid shirts and chucks. But you can’t talk about the late 90’s fashions without mentioning Michael Jordan and Nikes. Nikes took over the sneaker game in the streets by storm. Other popular brands were Timberland and Champion.

In the 90’s, Hip Hop music changed and the cstyle of Hip Hop changed along with it. The biggest fad of the late 90’s was the baggy pants and bandanas, better known as the gangsta style. Street gangs and the prison “fashion” of wearing pants with no belt influenced the gangsta style. Artists such as Snoop, Dr. Dre, Notorious B.I.G and Ice Cube made the styles popular. Even female artists, like Aaliyah and TLC, rocked the baggy pants but still kept it sexy. New York contributed to the Hip Hop fashion game with the Hoodies and Timberlands. And the South passed on the gold teeth fashion.

The alligator skin shoes and hats, better known as the Mafioso fashion came up in the mid-90’s and was worn by artists like Jay-Z and Notorious B.I.G. By the end of the 90’s, Sean “P Diddy” Combs came with his fashion of flashy suits and platinum jewelry to replace the gold ones of the ‘80s. Women fashion in the 90’s became more different too: artists like Lil Kim and Foxy Brown were known for their flashy and fitting couture clothes, while artists like Lauryn Hill kept her style more low key. Name brands were a hot commodity in the 90’s, especially Tommy Hilfiger. Most of us had at least one Tommy shirt and we probably thought we were bad in ‘em too! Other popular brands during this time were Nautica, Karl Kani, Calvin Klein, DKNY, Polo, Fubu, Boss Jeans, Mecca, Guess, Enyce and Ecko.

In the late 90’s, people started growing out the fade and replaced them with braids. As for jewelry, there were no more heavy gold or platinum chains; they were replaced by upgraded platinum chains (bling bling) with the diamonds embedded in it. And the gold teeth were replaced with platinum grills, sometimes with diamonds in those too! The Hip Hop fashion adopted Air Force 1’s after Nelly’s new hot single.

Fashion has changed and is still changing today. But if you pay attention to the direction of the change, you’ll see that styles are recycled and repeated, so who knows…save those shoes and belts because they might come back in style!

Back In The Day: Fashions From The Past
By Vicky C