What some of the world doesn't seem to get is that urban fashion is not solely about looking good, it is also about feeling good. Feeling good in the sense of comfort, relaxation and style that is not often obtained through wearing more traditional attire. Urban gear consist of, to a large extent, T-shirts, sweatshirts, jerseys, blue jeans, sneakers and caps. These basic primary articles of clothing are the building blocks for any urban wear wardrobe. While these items are designed for style, with various design embellishments and details, they are also built for comfort. When you look at someone wearing a jersey or pair of baggy jeans and a loose fitting cap, the first thing you may think is that their outfit was put together simply to look good, but in reality the clothing that you see on that guy or girl also happen to be extremely comfortable.
Traditional attire, on the other hand, tends to be more straight laced and uncomfortable, opting to go for a certain look, rather than a feel of comfort. Traditional attire has long been looked at as a corporate tool to force employees and others to conform to a more black and white world; a world where everyone wears suit and tie to work and then goes home to a neat little house in the suburbs surrounded by a picket fence, with a wife waiting with favorite pipe in hand, and an apron around her waist. In this black and white world, every man is the so-called King of his own castle, with the wife being the submissive queen who bears 2.5 children, that attend all of the best schools before heading off to the best colleges -so they can start the cycle all over.
Alas, this perfect corporate vision of the world has seen its day come and go, giving way to more free thinking and creativity in the process. Urban wear those a huge debt of gratitude to some early trendsetters who decided to break from the norm of what was accepted in terms of wardrobe and dress. Without going back too far in time, we have to look at the ways that bikers have helped to pave the way away from tradition and into a more relaxed culture. The bikers have been famous for "going their own way," and it is that type of thinking that is helped spawn the phenomenon of urban fashion. Bikers are famous for their leather jackets, jeans and T-shirts. You'll instantly recognize these items as part of the list of staples of the urban attire.
Another group that urban fashion owes a debt to is the large group of performers that are classified under hip hop. Performers in this genre have traditionally, like the bikers "gone their own way," and worn attire that is considered flashy, but not at the sacrifice of comfort. It is from this group that we adopted the wearing of baggy jeans, colorful T-shirts, name brand sneakers, lots and lots of baseball caps and of course, lots and lots of bling. With the onset of hip-hop music, and the birth of the hip-hop music video, we gained access to a wealth of fashion knowledge and examples of what to wear ( as well as what not to wear). With hip-hop artists as our guides were several years now, we have managed to develop a very different level of urban wear. Now it is not unusual to attend a fashion show that is devoted solely to the hip-hop culture, likewise, it is not at all unusual now to visit your favorite department store and find urban wear controlling a large portion of the available floor space.
Urban fashions have managed to come into their own in recent decades, as the demand and interest in these more expressive and comfortable styles have become mainstream. Even the lowly T-shirt has taken its place front and center alongside expensive sweaters and dress slacks, but if you spend the day watching, you will see many more the T-shirts leaving the store than you will those dress pants - attesting to the now common consumer knowledge of legitimacy of urban fashion.
Author Resource:
Jermain Grenville is a fashion writer and urban culture expert with over a decade of experience in the urban fashion world. Find out more at caps or base ball caps
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