Urban wear is very popular these days. However, many people are still confused and misguided about the real definition of this fashion trend. The phrase ‘urban wear’ could be associated to its root, the word ‘urban,’ which pertains to a city. Thus, urban clothing is usually defining particular wear in a location or inner city. Modern urban clothing has grown to be a culture rather than a specific fashion in a particular inner city.
Urban wear could be literally translated into culture clothing that pertains to trends and fashions symbolizing urban culture. This usually grows from music or sport into a full cultural brand that could spread to any country. Urban fashion is not anymore associated or identified with only one nation. It is worn by men and women, from anywhere in the world, who are very much into fashion individuality and influence from music and sports icons who are into urban clothing.
Who is wearing urban clothing? Technically, urban wear could be categorized or linked with hip hop, alternative, or skate clothing. Thus, it is usually worn or followed by men and women aged 14 years to 36 years. What is most notable about such clothes is that they do not discriminate creed, age, or color. The clothes just strive to logically and obviously express personality and individuality chosen and preferred by people who follow the urban wear trends.
How could anyone distinguish hip hop, skating, and surfing clothing? Apparels in such activities are almost alike that they are easily categorized into urban fashion. However, anyone could define specific clothing through the activity it symbolizes. For instance, skate clothing is preferred by skaters; hip hop clothes illustrate the trendy music; while surfing clothes could be worn while enjoying the beaches.
However, urban fashion is unique because it spurs creativity. For example, a hip hop shirt could be worn on top of a surfing short to come up with a unique getup. People could easily, fashionably, and creatively mix and match clothes and accessories to express their own individualities.
Where could you find and buy urban wear? There are many brands for urban fashion that are operating actively in the current fashion market. The brand and vendor that you would pick should define the culture that you aim to express. For example, a unique brand Chilly-O could feature a mixture of hip hop, skate, surf, and street clothing that could be worn by a diverse mix of people. Many brands in the market could blend in any culture and stand out as clear definition of the phrase ‘urban culture clothing.’
Urban wear today is not just about clothing. Many brands are also offering fashion accessories like action sports apparel, hats, and wristbands. Thus, urban fashion lines are on the bandwagon of fashion but they are usually not providing customers with only clothes. Instead, urban fashion brands are striving to sell an entire different culture for people in different nations. This is the reason urban wear in New York could be similar to urban wear in Tokyo or in other cities in the world.
The Japan fashion scene is always interesting. The array of styles and genres has always found itself influencing the fashion scene of the rest of the Pacific. Urban wear in Japan or the way the Japanese are doing it is not without influences. As most of the world, the fashion industry in Japan has at one point influenced by Westerners. It was in the 1950s when Japanese began imitating what were hip and new in America and Europe. But decades later, Japan fashion has grown into something different and has defined urban wear as “street wear/street fashion” often combining current and traditional trends to come out with something elegant, outrageous or simply unexpected.
Some American and European designers have even come to observe closely the Japanese fashion scene before releasing their clothing line. Some trends have indeed started in Japan first like the camouflage pants and the unmistaken cosplay looks or wearing costumes, makeup and accessories to imitate popular Anime or Manga characters. Japan urban fashion is known to be quite unusual often combining clothes that are worn independently. For example, Tokyo urban fashion scene is characterized by women wearing mini skirts over tight denim jeans with high heels. There are different kinds of Japanese street fashion among them are Ganguro, Lolita, Kogal, Kawaii, Decora and Cosplay.
Lolita has a lot of subculture style. First is the Classic Lolita which is a mature fashion style which uses light colors and much of blue, red and green combinations. There’s the Gothic Lolita which is known to implement dark colors, knee length socks, boots, brooches, parasols, bats, spiders and crosses along with other established gothic icons. There’s the Sweet Lolita which focuses on childlike attires including fantasy or fair tale themes.
The Ganguro is a street fashion style that uses outfits with bright colors, mini-skirts, bleached hair, dark tan, earrings, rings, necklaces and platform shoes. It is not uncommon to see fake eyelashes and black and white eyeliners for women sporting the Ganguro street style. This became popular in the beginning of 2000. Kogal or kogyaru was popular in 90s and uses the typical high school uniform modified with shorter skirt and loose socks. Kawaii, on the other hand, it the use of plush toy costumes and Decora uses heavy accessories as decoration.
And of course, there’s the Cosplay style which has become popular and well known not only in the Pacific but as well as in the US and Europe. This is understandable due to the popularity of Japan’s Anime and Manga series which has quite a following in American teens.
Probably the best place you can see these variety of fashion styles is by going to Harajuku on a weekend. Harajuku is the area around Harajuku Station on the Yamanote Line in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo. During the weekend, you can see teens dressed up in different styles socializing with each other. This has become a popular place not only for Tokyo’s teens but for tourists as well. Urban wear, the way the Japanese are dong it is definitely unique, no one can argue with that.
Urban wear is more than just fashion and clothes, over time it has become personal statement. The person who is wearing it is stating their individuality. Before urban wear was only associated to hip hop artists. Now, not only hip hop artists are donning on the colourful style, it has become a worldwide fashion trend.
As mentioned, urban wear signifies the individuality of the person wearing it since they could individualized their style and make it stand out. With urban wear undergoing changes, it has become a hit not only to teens or young adults. It is also garnering appeal from higher age groups. It is also starting to transcend socio-economic classes. Hip hop artists, influential and public people can be seen wearing this style from time to time.
What makes it appealing is the variety. There are different clothing styles to choose from like t-shirts, jeans, shorts, Capri and cargo pants, and hoodies. These styles could stand out it the crowd weather it is because of their contradicting styles, colors, graphics, or messages. An evidence of the growing market would be the many and different urban clothing brands in stores and in people’s cabinets.
It has developed so much that these people already have their own sub-culture. Clothing designs and style reflect the mannerisms, way of talking and even walking of those people who wear urban clothing. But this sub-culture has been accepted and became part of American society, and even the world.
However, the biggest critic on urban clothing is how pricey it could be. There are several hip hop artists who are insistent on wearing inexpensive urban clothing and accessories as their statement against materialism. Urban clothing and hip hop is not about the clothes and jewelries you wear, but the attitude that you wear.
With the popularization and mainstreaming of urban clothing and hip hop, there are numerous stores, whether on-ground or online that are offering various options for urban styles. There are some urban clothing followers who may not be into bright colors, baggy pants or loud accessories. But these people are able to mix urban clothing with their traditional styles, creating another genre of fashion.
Urban clothing followers have developed great sense of style since they were able to mix traditional and urban wear together. They are becoming adventurous is exploring fashion and breaking rules to express themselves. It can be a miss or hit for different people, but the fact that they were able to assert their individuality is truly courageous.
Fashion designers are already paying attention to this sub-culture and starting to capitalize on it. Urban clothing designers would build a close relationship to street consciousness, identifying what urban wearers want. After all, fashion trends would always pick up what is hip and in demand on the street.
Currently, urban clothing designers are addressing or shifting their attention to young and street savvy generation or urban fashion customers. Some would refer to urban wear as “contemporary” or “metropolitan” style. But whatever name it would be, the style, the person’s individuality and the statement that they would like to make would still stand out. Colors can change but the soul could not.
In pretty much all fashion styles accessorizing is as important a feat as choosing the clothes themselves. The heavy influences of hip-hop culture in urban fashion are also transferred to how men and women accessorize. Urban wear is to accessorize is not an understatement. Urban fashion accessories are as edgy or hip as the clothes they are matched with. They show innovative, unique and brilliant designs that are rooted in individuality, cultural and ethnic influences.
However, one must differentiate urban fashion from street wear. Although, street wear has some degree of influences on urban fashion, the main genre that constitutes urban wear is the hip-hop culture that began in the late 70s. It was the hip-hop music that gave birth to the urban wear that we know today. This is why urban wear accessories are pretty much rooted on hip-hop as well. The accessories actually evolved from the simplistic colorful bracelets and earrings to the shiny, metallic bling blings.
The 80s hip-hop culture developed accessories the leaned towards the bold, gold and silver, attention-grabbing accessories showing influences of African and Latino cultures. But further evolution of the style brought a more sophisticated and mature evolution of accessories as well. Accessories for the urban dwellers can now perfectly fit academic and professional environments unlike the loud bling blings before.
Today's urban women can use accessories like leather boots and bags which come in different colors and designs. Combining designer scarves, wide belts, clutches and tote bags with jeans, skirts, blazers and heels pretty much adds into glamorous urban attire. Wearing large and dangling earrings and multiple necklaces are considered acceptable accessories for urban wear as well. These accessories add hip and style to an otherwise boring wardrobe.
Moreover, recent trends have also seen the accessories from the 70s ad 80s making a come-back. It is perfectly okay to get your influences from that era. The hippie look is an acceptable subculture style of urban fashion. The loud colors and the use of tie dyes are present in the urban hippie accessories.
Urban fashion prides itself from having no rules to follow. It is not constricted by mainstream fashion and bases its style on the individuality and creativity of the designers and their cultural and ethnic influences. Nonetheless, when choosing accessories for urban wear it is necessary that you do follow some basic guides such as using dark tones like copper or gold colored accessories for people who have light complexions.
And just as urban wear reflects the personality of the wearer, one can go with less “loud” accessories if his/her personality is more subdued. This is in contrast with people who have bold characters which connote some daring outfits and more defined urban accessories.
Urban wear is to accessorize also means following the needs of the wearer. This concept revolves around the idea that everything in urban fashion should be functional and comfortable. Accessories for urban wear is highly dependent on personal styles and although do not follow any rules should adhere to some basic guides on aesthetics. It's just having a good fashion sense.
The city is the melting pot of all the is new, old, trendy, unique and even weird. So it is not surprising that urban fashion originated in one of the biggest, busiest and the most urban placed in the world, New York. This is where all the urban fads began. But urban wear developed differently as it went around the world. Each city incorporated their cultural and individual influences into this free flowing fashion style. And this characterizes the overall urban fashion scene: unique, trendy and practical. And it follows that urban wear for the ladies need to be hip and in style very functional and can adapt to the ever changing environment of the urban scene.
Urban lifestyle is different. It is dynamic and one needs to be ready with every eventuality. This is the reason why mainstream fashion or the clothes paraded down the catwalk in Paris are not very well suited for the urban ladies. The stiff designs and the materials used is going to be a hassle in the fast paced city environment. An urban woman should therefore should wear something chic and edgy, something bold yet functional and with some hints of ethnic influences. These are just some general guidelines of urban fashion for the ladies.
Becoming edgy is not as hard as it seems. If you have a set of comfortable clothes but overall looks boring, you just need to spice it up a little by pairing them with hip shoes like high-heeled boots or some great accessories like belts. You need to make your clothes stand out a little to make it urban-looking. Other accessories that are considered urban fashion includes large earring, necklaces (wearing a couple with varying lengths can give you that urban look), cardigans and large belts. Some clothes show hints of ethnic elements whether the colors, prints or patterns. Combining these kinds of clothes with the right accessories will accomplish you that urban fashion style.
Now it is not enough to be an eye-catcher. You can wear all the clothes and accessories you like to make you stand out but if everything you wore hinders your movement or day to day activity they it defeats the purpose of the urban wear. Urban fashion needs to be functional and practical as well. Some accessories like the tote bags are very handy and quite fashionable at the same time. Other basic urban clothes for the ladies can also include skinny jeans, pencil-thin skirts, tweed blazers, pumps or stilettos and, of course, boots.
Urban wear for the ladies offers a wide array of choices. The urban woman can tap into the classic more light, prim and proper fashion style or go with the urban hip-hop, funky or rock style which are characterized by bold accents, unconventional colors and funky styles. Or they could go with the very casual (golfer clothes type) look or the quirky and eclectic clothing styles. Or they could combine the elements of each fashion style to create their own unique wardrobe which adapts to the present urban landscape.
Urban wear can be defined as a fashion style that combines culture, lifestyles and ideas. Urban fashion sprung up from the hip hop culture of recent years. In the late 80s and until the 90s, hip hop clothing lines came out designed by no less than the music artists themselves. They tried to add their own personal creativity and style into a fashion that is already unique in itself. Urban fashion breaks away from the mainstream by embracing exactly that individuality and by not conforming to the trends. Even though it is said that urban fashion originated in New York, it quickly spread and developed integrating influences from Europe, Asian, Caribbean and African cultures as well as a variety of music genre like hip hop, punk, rock, and even indie music along the way.
Urban clothing line also embraces the practicality of things. The design and concept of urban fashion makes it possible to wear them on a normal day. It is often referred to as the fashion of the streets. But urban fashion is not street wear. The latter is often associated with vintage sneakers and school dresses which in some places have developed into the punks, gothic and hippies subcultures. Urban fashion is more edgy and often incorporates the words “practical”, “functional” and “comfortable”. Urban clothes are light and yet they should be durable and look good as well.
The idea is create a clothing line that can work well in normal urban environment. The sophisticated and extravagant mainstream fashion produces stiff, formal and even constricting clothes not very suitable in an environment where you need to move and adapt quickly to changing situations. And because each urban environment is a little different, urban styles are different from city to city. Take the urban fashion of Japan for example. Innovative designs, the use of the most practical of materials and the unique mixing of personal and commercial styles characterize their urban clothes. You can find in Japan fashion subcultures like Lolita, gothic and the now popular cosplay fashion style.
Speaking of culture, the differences of urban fashion around the world is highly distinct. Because urban fashion is rooted on culture, the type of urban clothes in one country embraces the influences of their specific culture. For example, at one point in the American urban fashion scene hip hop artists which more often than not are African-Americans dove into their African cultural heritage and borrowed a lot of elements and integrated them in their clothes. The very loose and baggy pants, the use of African bright color combinations, the use of African patterns were at that time became a trend among artists and trickled down to the consumers.
In summary, urban wear and how does it differ lies mainly on the cultural heritage of the place and on their own uniqueness. Compared to the mainstream and traditional fashion style, urban wear is more practical with emphasis on comfort, individuality and aesthetics. The designs also focus on the needs of the average urban dweller and follow no fixed rules that we know of.
Urban fashion began from the hip hop artists with their baggy pants, sneakers, bling bling and African cultural influences. But today, urban wear has gone up from its rather “shabby” and limiting beginnings to a more mature and sophisticated style today. There are a number of urban wear styles that people can choose from. There's no wrong and right style here. Everything depends on personality and individual preferences. But urban fashion for men always boils down to having clothes are are hip or stylish, durable and very comfortable.
Unless the event is a black tie one, men urban wear more often than not includes “denims”. The word denims in urban vernacular do not mean jeans alone but already includes a wide array of clothing like jackets and even the more casual pants. The important element of urban wear lifestyle is to imbibe your personality in the clothes you wear. Maintain a nice hairstyle and always keep a good pair of shoes handy.
It is also fashionable for en to have the right accessories for their clothes. Belts, wallets, bags, briefcase, cufflinks, hats, handkerchief, scarf and even the right perfume are some of the most basic accessories that men should care about. However, do not be swayed by celebrity wardrobes but stick to the things that you want and feel comfortable wearing. Nonetheless, you have the luxury to choose from men bracelets, earrings, pendants and chains in today's men's accessory area of shopping malls.
Urban fashion also means incorporating ethnic influences like sherwanis and kurtas. Cultural heritage influences are part of the uniqueness of urban fashion style. In the 1990s, African cultural influences were so strong that hip-hop artists began wearing customized clothes that shows obvious design similarities from African clothes like baggy pants and the use of bright African colors in their clothes.
Latest urban wear fashion news, however, indicates that leather jacket will continue to be the trend among the urban men. Similarly, tracksuits are seen to make a comeback and winter will bring the multi-colored thermal clothing. Not only colors but shirts with funny messages are becoming popular again for the urban dwellers. Vintage fashion is also making a comeback as an urban fashion style. And for the office, men clothing includes the usual formal office attire, casual clothing like cargo pants, jeans and comfortable shorts for the spring and summer season and stylish sweaters, pullovers during winter.
But just as when urban fashion began, the hip-hop clothing line will never disappear from the urban fashion landscape. Men who wish to make a fashion statement can do so by wearing hip-hop influenced wardrobes. The typical urban men will have a choice of a variety of scarves, blazers and slacks in a wide range of colors, patterns and designs.
Urban fashion for men is not a simple product line but rather a sophisticated clothing setup that fits every urban situation like street wear, office environment or casual events and every imaginable season. The clothes, of course, vary from city to city but all the same include the urban fashion elements of functionality, aesthetics and individuality.
