Hip hopers are now some of the most influential celebritiesin the world today; having influenced almost every area of entertainment suchas music, movie, celebrities, including the world of fashion and style.
HIP HOP: A HISTORY
Before you start your quest on becoming one of the hip hopculture, you should first learn on the history of Hip Hop.
One of the hottest cultures of the 20th centuryis the Hip Hop culture. It is the largest and the most popular culture thathave spread throughout every country all over the world. It was firstintroduced by rap music in the late 1970s. As the rap music grew, so too waship hop fashion.
Hip Hop fashions are comprised by several elements, fromfootwear to accessories such as jewelries and hair styles. In the late 80s, itwas white sneakers and big gold chains, gold nameplates-inspired belts, goldearrings, and black bomber jackets with fur-trimmed hoods that made the stylesof hip hop in this generation. And some of those are still popular today.
In the 90s, it was baggy pants, black ink tattoos,bandanas, and shirt tails outside one's pants. Dark denim prison gears werealso popular. The style of sagging one's pants, or wearing them baggy and lowwithout a belt, was also the style that originated in prisons. It was in alsoin this era that sportswear such as sweat shirts and throwback jerseys are verypopular.
But when SeanJohn Combs, or also known as Diddy, came into the picture, the wholeof hip hop fashion has revolutionized to what we know now forever. It was SeanJohn Combs that introduced elements such as loud, flashy PVC aviator inspired suitsand platinum jewelry to the forefront of hip hop in an effort to add a newvivid dimension of color and flash to the videos produced as a marketing tool.
It is also in this era that hip hop artists and executivesstarted their own hip hop fashion labels and clothing lines. These includespersonalities such as the Wu-Tang Clan with their Wu-Wear, Russell Simmons andhis Phat Farm, Kimora Lee Simmons and her Baby Phat, Sean John Combs and his SeanJohn, Nelly and his Apple Bottoms Jeans, Damon Dash and Jay-Z and their Rocawear,50 Cent and his G-Unit Clothing, Eminem and his Shady Limited, 2Pac andMakaveli and OutKast and their OutKast Clothing.
Today, hip hop fashion clothes are now manufactured bydifferent popular and successful entrepreneurs, designers, celebrities, andentertainers, who charge significant amounts for their products.
HOW TO BECOME A HIPHOPER
From the above information, one can easily become a hiphoper. But here are some short tips on how should one dress like a hip hoper.
Hip Hop fashion is also categorized by the gender of itsuser. For the men, the fashion has changed because of what Sean John did thathas revolutionized the hip hop culture. As stated above, he was the oneintroduced lashy white suit with a cap and rich silver jewellery, items which havebeen previously regarded as being unacceptable for males to wear. But Sean Johnset a new fashion trend, making the white suits with white sneakers and capsrenewed as the newest hip hop clothes in the world.
When it comes to the women, nothing much has changed. But itwas relaxed a bit by the influence of a hip hop artist by the name of MissyElliot. She was one of the first hip hop artist that adopted a more relaxed orloose, and manly style. This is by baggy pants, T-shirts, durags or bandanas,and sneakers. But by the recent release of Beyonces House of Dereon, things got a littleslimmer, especially around the waist area. Hoodies for women are alsointroduced by the House of Dereon.
Here is a breakdown of what elements to become a hip hoper.
Footwear
Anything goes when choosing the right sneakersto wear. But bright white colored sneakers can give you the most authenticstyle.
For the men, this can be paired with a set ofbaggy pants, such as Evisu, Akademiks, and Rocawear.
For the women, cute denim skirts in the summerand baggy, gym-inspired sweats in the winter are more appropriate for asneaker. Or slim jeans such as the jeans from House of Dereon and AppleBottoms.
Upper Wear
For the upper wear, it is important that youchoose the right kind of style that will go perfectly with the rest of thelook.
There are a variety of upper wear for a hip hoplook such as hoodies, t-shirts, polos, polo t-shirts, sweatshirts, and jerseys
It is more preferable to wear branded upper wearsuch as from the clothing collection of Sean John, House of Dereon, Akademiks, Rocawear, Meezan, Miskeen,Makaveli, and many more.
Accessories
Accessories can be a bandana, durag, big goldearrings, the bling-bling, or sunglasses.
For the big gold earrings or sometimes calledDoorknockers
oThis is for the girls: the bigger they are thebetter.
oThe earrings can be thin or thick, it usuallydepends on what the other elements are.
oTo really accentuate the earrings, pull longhair into a high, tight ponytail.
oIf your hair is short, no problem, the length ofyour neck will naturally accentuate the size of the earrings.
For the bling-bling
oYou dont have to worry about sacrificing a lotof cash on this.
oThis is a more ethnic look for more fab.
oIt is recommended to wear 3 to 4 sets ofbling-blings with a variety of sizes and shapes.
oIt is also recommended to include a big goldpendant that has your name on it and with 3 to 4 bracelets also.
oTake note: keep your earrings small, or it mayruin the whole look.
For the sunglasses
oThe flashier, the better.
oChoose a more cutting edge sunglasses that wouldgo perfectly with the rest of the elements.
oMost preferred sunglasses can be found with SeanJohn collections.
In conclusion, how does one become a hip hoper? Clothes andaccessories are the key elements to becoming a hip hoper; it all rests upon theattitude of a person. Clothes and accessories are just tools on how to expressit, but the real element that makes a person a hip hopper is the attitude.Without attitude, these tools would be useless.
More information about hip hop clothing collections can befound with Streetzwear. Visit Streetzwear at www.streetzwear.com for moredetails.
