STREETWEAR, BUT MAKE IT CHIC: HOW TO DRESS UP YOUR EVERYDAY FITS
BY SUSIE IANNONE ILLUSTRATION BY KENDALL WIFF
Choosing an outfit is a fundamental part of everyone’s day. Whether it’s putting on a uniform or putting together a new outfit, every part of someone’s outfit reflects something about their story. The definition of streetwear is “tactfully putting together something that feels like you and connects you to those around you.” Even with its unique style, street wear has its roots in deeper meanings. Beginning in the late 1980s, urban style trends took over the streets of big cities, specifically New York, London, and Tokyo. With the rise of oppositional cultures among the youth, such as the skateboarding, the hip-hop, and punk rock scenes, streetwear spread across the world and into the closets of young adults.
Along the West Coast of the United States, the use of street style bloomed to include athleisure wear, a trendy outfit that was practical for activities that required some wear and tear. Brands like Vans, Stussy, and Nike were popular, especially in skate culture. One of the major moguls of Tokyo street fashion, Hiroshi Fujiwara — the “godfather” behind Ura-Harajuku, a niche trend in Tokyo — credited skate style to inspiring brands in Tokyo.
Over the next decade, streetwear would take its rightful spot on the world stage of fashion and into pop culture. Celebrities walked the streets wearing their signature brand of fashion. Beyoncé opened a line of clothing called House of Deón, and Gwen Stefani also opened her own brand called L.A.M.B., after her iconic “Love, Angel, Music, Baby” album. With the rebranding of street culture into everyday clothing, mostly made popular by celebrities and large corporations of the time, our modern idea of street wear blossomed into the 2010s.
Even with the development of corporate-backed style, the youth welcomed this change, and a whole new level of consumerism was born with casual brands like Aeropostale, American Apparel, and Hollister. Combined with the rise of social media like Facebook and Instagram, casual street wear began to rule the fashion industry. This was a big change from the oppositional cultural movements like skateboarding and punk rock that dominated street style in the beginning.
Today, still in the age of rampant consumerism and corporation-backed fashion, the younger generations are turning to recycled trends and second-hand style from thrift stores, early 2000s trends, and even the complete recreation of materials into something new. This is what street style needs to return to: the unfiltered version of everyone’s individuality and the active refusal of fast fashion trends that rule our feed. Tapping into these underground cultures that ruled pop culture not so long ago may bring that unique style and statement back into everyday fashion.
