Ask a thousand people for a dress-to-impress look, and you’ll be served with a thousand different styles. And these fits represent each self-expression, primarily aspiring to look their best. You’d find hippie, sassy, chic, punk, formal, loungy, and a lot of different styles they’re going for; their common denominator is it was all street-worthy. Streetwear has evolved from being the punk-ish look decades ago, to the surf-and-skate wardrobe, to casual meets comfort pieces. Now, it has been everywhere. From universities and colleges, every street of New York, Tokyo, and Paris, business city districts, clubs & pubs — name any area and there will be at least one person slaying a streetwear look.
Since the early ’90s, street style rose significantly from the New York hip-hop culture. As fashion is naturally dynamic, it was combined with the Asian Street Fashion (firstly, Japanese Street Fashion) eventually, associating sportswear and punk. Combining the Surf Culture of LA, California, and the Hip-hop culture of New York, Stüssy is one of the original brands to introduce streetwear fashion worldwide. It grew and grew, hundreds to thousands of brands ventured to the culture too — including the houses of Haute Couture. Later on, streetwear was defined as a style that centers from casual and comfort, surf and skate, by various urban subcultures.
The urban subculture and skater kids once led the trend, and now there is no denying that luxury fashion has taken over. Brands such as Supreme, Off-White, Stussy, Nike & Adidas are a few of the top-notch famous names in streetwear. Streetwear has never been this expensive when these designer brands took over — even the quality is hundred percent revamped. Haute Couture — or expensive fashionable clothes led by the famous fashion houses, also influences this street-style culture. Brands like Chanel, Dior, Dolce & Gabanna, Versace, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and many more, has brought the famous sneakers, jeans & outerwears in the fashion runways.
But people who aren’t fashion enthusiasts are questioning how and why Streetwear is the new fashion culture to watch out for? How is it different from just labeling fashion trends every decade? How can they rock a streetwear piece? Well, if you’ve combined casual, comfort, and cool — that definitely can be streetwear. Test it out on the streets of New York, Paris, and Tokyo.
Here are a few lists to help you fix your streetwear wardrobe:
- Combine the Basics
Streetstyle is all about comfort — and unquestionably, the ‘basics’ are in charge. The main elements of streetwear are shirts, jeans & joggers, and sneakers. Fill your wardrobe with monochromatic, pastel, or whichever Pantone you desire of basic tees, polo shirts, tops & bottoms, socks, etc. Every OOTD starts with the basics — unless it’s Avant-Garde, right?
Nothing could go wrong with plain black or white tees. They could be easily paired with any color and texture of outerwear, bottoms, and shoes.
2. Invest in Sneakers
When people say “streetwear is comfort” — that includes your sneakers. Investing in sneakers and other shoe types allow you to create different styles with every piece on your wardrobe. Select good, fashionable and comfy shoes! You could try pairing ten different sneakers in one shirt and jeans, and it will be like you’re doing ten different looks. Basic tops and bottoms will already look exquisite if you could pair them with perfect sneaker/shoes. You could go for sporty and athleisure, commuter’s casual, night-out comfy, or whatever thematic vibe you’re channeling, and surely your sneakers will carry out the deal.
Another tip: white sneakers go with everything! Make sure to have some good white sneakers on your rack too.
3. Out your Outerwears
Outerwear doesn’t necessarily mean trench coats, knee-length topcoats, or winter essentials. Outerwears are great pieces to help you feel warm and protects you from the weather, but it also brings sophistication and style. Outerwear will add more flavor and layer to your basic look. There is a number of types of outerwear such as protective, athleisure, fashion, summer, and formal. Season and Purpose may vary on what outerwear to choose — but this will surely be fuel to add to your fiery look. Bomber Jackets, Windbreakers, Denim Jacket, Packable & Puffers, Leather Jackets, Parkas, Plaid Flannels, Cardigans, or even heavyweight button jackets to name a few, and all these will create a huge difference in your look.
Nowadays, The silhouette of the shirt and jacket hybrid has been popular in the streetwear circle. Ever Tiktoker or Instagram Streetwear Enthusiast did the shirt or jacket over-the-hoodie fashion trend. Might sound weird, but it actually looked street-style worthy.
4. Thrift Shopping
When Macklemore said “I’m gonna pop some tag, only got $20 in my pocket…”, it’s a manifest of getting your twenty dollars a sickening OOTD. Streetwear isn’t always about what brand are you wearing, but, thrift shopping will land you in the sea of great branded tops, bottoms, shoes, and outerwear for a very affordable price — mostly 70% to 90% lower than the actual price. It will literally take you time, effort, and perseverance to hoard good finds in one sitting. Rummage every pile, rack, and aisles of your target categories — you must master the art of eye-scanning because it will take you all day to take your time in shopping.
But, do not expect to get a newly launched collection to land in your arms in a thrift store — mostly, pieces there is so last season. And wearing a last-season piece shouldn’t be a problem, right? If you could pull it off, seasons don’t matter.
5. Don’t Overdo Logos
Wearing designer brands for Streetwear is the thing! Especially, luxury brands are now focusing on fashion trend movement and expansion on the street comfort. But, do not overdo the logos in wearing a streetwear OOTD. Displaying many brand logos on your fit won’t make it look cool. In fact, it will overkill it — like wearing Adidas Shoes on Nike high socks, oddly no. Some pieces don’t have the logo being vividly displayed, so you can select those pairing your favorite fits in different logo garments.
6. Loungewear is In!
Loungewear actually made it to the list of ‘what can I wear for streetwear.” As hoodie is one of them, its comfort made it to the list of streetwear must-haves. Pairing hoodies and sweater or sweatshirts with jeans, oversized shirts, and flannels has become one of the fashion trends lately. Comfy cottony coords, crop tops, and work shirts for ladies too! And who wouldn’t want to pair the very comfy gray sweatpants on an oversized shirt, hoodie, crop tops, and such?
7. Accessorize!
Not a mandatory listicle entry, but accessories change the mood too. Hats such as baseball caps, beanies, and bucket hats set a different mood on a fit. Baseball Cap looks takes on athleisure, Beanie takes on skater boy vibes, and bucket hats for hip-hop. Bags like fanny packs, crossbody bags, tote bags, and other bags set have different styles too. Chains & Necklaces add up swag and cool vibes too. Glasses or Sunnies, earrings, piercings, watches, bracelets & anklets made it to the list too. Just a tip, few accessories may do because over-accessorizing can kill the look.
8. Graphics, Graphics, Graphics.
Last but not the least, graphic shirts also define streetwear. Its skater-urban counterculture aesthetic is what modern-day streetwear subsist. A flashback from the 90s’ surely brought nostalgia as pop culture arose, with the current generation, embodying homage to this era with band shirts. It’s also not just about images and clipart — graphic shirts can be about the screaming statements. Catchphrases that show your personality or mood-for-the-day.
Note that Graphic Shirts are 100% different from prints and patterns. Don’t be confused.
Streetwear Fashion isn’t just becoming a simple fashion trend to follow. Time flies so fast, but streetwear is just continuously evolving. Fashion is a revolving cycle, and streetwear will always be present, regardless of how it looks and feel since fashion is dynamic — one thing’s for sure: Streetwear is a statement. Whichever style you channel, it is your statement. Your style, your statement, your status.
