Streetwear is a characteristic fashion style that emerged out of New York hip hop culture and California skate culture in the 1990s. It has, however, become progressively more mainstream over the years. Baggy pants, baseball caps, sneakers, and hoodies are all items of clothing that are typically associated with streetwear.
The style is most popular among young people in urban areas, but you can find people of all ages and in all locations wearing streetwear. Streetwear does not have many fashion rules, which is why it is such an easy style to pick up. Still, there are certain notable limits as to what you can do with streetwear.
Here are some effective tips for dressing stylishly in streetwear.
Wear Neutral Colours to Play It Safe
Streetwear has been getting increasingly colourful in recent years, but neutral colours such as navy, white, grey, and blue are the most commonly worn. The colours have an inherently urban feel and can be worn in just about any combination without clashing. The ability to easily mix and match those colours is what makes neutral items an excellent starting point when starting to build a streetwear wardrobe.
Wear Neon Colors to Go Bold
Streetwear is getting more colourful, as previously stated. In fact, people really started to push this to the extremes in 2019 by embracing neon colours. This includes neon orange sweatpants and neon green hoodies. Such items are ideally paired with neutral items of clothing since two different neon colours should never be worn together. This is one fashion trend that looks like it’s here to stay. So, if you feel daring, you should definitely consider adding several neon pieces to your wardrobe.
Try Wearing Oversized Clothes
Comfort is always the focus with regard to streetwear. That’s why oversized and baggy clothes are usually highly favoured when it comes to streetwear. This includes baggy sweatpants and oversized hoodies.
Such items can be contrasted with tighter fitting and skimpier clothing to achieve an urban athleisure look (this may include crop top and baggy sweatpants or cropped leggings with an oversized hoodie).
You may even consider wearing an oversized t-shirt as a dress as long as it is long enough to look like one and not that you have simply forgotten to dress your bottom half. Shopping for oversized clothing can pose quite a challenge since it can mean being forced to shop for clothes either 1 or 2 sizes up.
Try Denim, Leather, and Camo
Urban textures such as denim, leather, and camo can be stylishly incorporated into a streetwear look thus helping to add dimension to a person’s outfit.
If camo is the preferred texture, consider wearing a camo jacket with black jeans and a black hoodie or a white hoodie and camo pants. If leather is the preferred texture, consider dressing in all black and a leather bomber jacket. If denim is the preferred texture, consider pairing a white hoodie with denim jeans or a white t-shirt, a denim jacket, and black sweatpants.
Try International Brands
You aren’t obligated to always choose American brands when you shop for streetwear. Countries such as Japan have a massive streetwear market that includes brands like Neighbourhood clothing. It can also be a good idea to look into streetwear brands from various other countries such as South Korea, the Netherlands, or even South Africa. Such brands can help you stand out on the street.
Stick to A Specific Brand Label
If you wish to pull off streetwear in a way that seems as though you aren’t trying, you should try avoiding wearing too many brand labels at the same time. As a rule, try sticking to wearing just one brand label at a time.
Many streetwear items don’t make branding obvious, in which case such items can be mixed more effectively. Still, there are others that take the opposite approach and opt for massive prominent logos. If you choose the latter, you should avoid wearing multiple conflicting massive logos.
Splash Out on Sneakers
Sneakers are essentially any streetwear outfit’s statement piece. If you have to splash out on any item in your streetwear wardrobe, it definitely should be the sneakers like these Nike basketball shoes. You can sometimes grab deals online if you get lucky and shop at the right time.
Air Jordan 1 Shattered Backboard
You should approach physical stores with caution since you will be paying the highest prices in these stores unless there is currently an ongoing sale. Collectable sneakers usually cost much more. Unless you are incredibly serious about streetwear, it is simply advisable to avoid these rarer sneakers.
