Okay, I get it.The kids are just trying to be cool.
Like leather jackets and jeans in the 50's,
Hippies in the 60's,
Afros and Dashiki's in the 70's,
the Punk Rock look of the 80's,
the Grunge look of the 90's - today's kids are just just making the statement that they are not of their parent's generation.
But why emulate a "poor" ghetto culture?
Because "cool" comes from the poor.
When has an established dominant culture created a new trend?
Slabbin' Pants
We used to pull our pants down low to enable us to prevent the detection of our pants being too short by school year's end. We didn't get new clothes because we outgrew them - we had to play it off the best way we knew how. No one wanted to be called out for "flooding".
Over Sized Shirts
Again, the product of necessity.
We often wore hand-me-downs.
When an older brother outgrew his clothes, they might still be a little big for his younger sibling.
But these big shirts also covered the fact that one had his pants pulled down past his hips.
Corn Rows and Short Hair
Back in the day, one wore a Shag (a Black version of the Mullet), or a curl.
But these styles require money to maintain.
To save money - we would just cut off almost all of our hair and place small lines and parts in strategic places to imitate a hairstyle.
If this was not an option - one's sister (or a girl down the block) could always be called on to plat ones naps.
White T's and Wife Beaters
Because they were cheap.
Any Swap Meet (Flea Market) sells three to five shirts for ten dollars.
And they match any jeans or Dickies.
Dickies
They were cheap and held a crease.
With a white dress shirt they could pass for a nice pair of Khakis.
Cons (or Chucks)
These shoes offered no support but they often acted as ghetto cross-trainers.
After a few hours at the local sandlots, open fields or basketball courts - one understands why they invented today's modern designs.
But these too were cheap.
I only lived in the hood until I was eight (and again for two years after my mom divorced my step-dad from the ages of 14-16.). The other half of my childhood was spent in the suburban hillsides of a small California desert town.
But those years spent in the hood enabled me to handle most situations.
Those years in the hood enabled me to interact with people who others might fear.
Today I laugh at the kids who feign poverty with ghetto styles with pants that cost more than my old wardrobe.
But I get it - they're just trying to be cool.
One thing my wife still struggles to understand is that just because something isn't flashy, it can still be a style.
ReplyDeleteYou talk about immitating the poor, I grew up with a western suburban sister to that idea... the "I spent a lot on this outfit, but really want to look like I don't care."
We clowned people who ironed jeans. Wearing something nicer than a t-ahirt made you prissy, but at the same time, it had to be a polo or Banana Republic T.
Sandals were cool, but even this casual look had to be name brand..Teva or Birks only.
It cost a lot and looked real sloppy. yup, we were a bunch of oxymorons (oxymormons maybe?)
@ brohammas - "Oxymormons"? Classic.
ReplyDeleteThat's what makes me laugh but it could be because people didn't live it. I bought all my socks and t's and underwear from the Koreans at the swapmeet. They were cheap and got holes in them but you couldn't beat the price. My shoes were probably counterfeit and we knew it but we bought them anyway because they were cheap. Everyone had a Cutlass or Regal or Grand Prix because YES they were cheap. So many things that people thought was a gangster facade was really just cheap clothes.
ReplyDeleteI remember my mother would save for us to go to JCPenney so we wouldn't wear the cheap clothes for school. The kids today don't know what they are in for acting like something they are not. I often have to talk to my nephews friends and bring them into Compton to show them what it really is and that some of their colors might get them killed.