Streetwear is a distinctive style of fashion that was born out of Californian skate culture and New York hip hop culture in the 90s. Over the years, it’s progressively become more mainstream. Items of clothing commonly associated with streetwear include hoodies, sneakers, baseball caps and baggy pants.
The style is most popular among young people in urban areas – although people of all ages in all locations can be found wearing streetwear. There aren’t many fashion rules to streetwear, which makes it an easy style to pick up. That said, there are certain limits as to what you can do with streetwear that are worth noting. Below are just a few tips for dressing stylishly in streetwear.
Play it safe with neutral colors
While streetwear has been getting more colorful in recent years, neutral colors such as blue, gray, white and navy are most commonly worn. Such colors have an inherently urban feel and can be worn in practically any combination without clashing. This ability to easily mix and match these colors makes neutral items a great starting point when initially building a streetwear wardrobe.
Go bold with neon colors
As stated previously, streetwear is getting more colorful. In fact, in 2019, people began really pushing this to its extremes by embracing neon colors. This includes neon green hoodies and neon orange sweatpants. Such items are best paired with neutral items of clothing (you certainly don’t want to be wearing two different neon colors together). This fashion trend looks like it’s going to be around to stay, so if you’re feeling daring, why not add a couple neon pieces to your wardrobe?
Try oversized clothing
Comfort is key when it comes to streetwear. As a result, baggy and oversized clothing tend to be favoured within streetwear. This includes oversized hoodies and baggy sweatpants. Such items can be contrasted with skimpier and tighter fitting clothing for an urban athleisure look (this could include baggy sweatpants with a crop top or an oversized hoodie with cropped leggings). You can even wear an oversized t-shirt as a dress (just make sure it’s definitely long enough to look like a dress and that you haven’t just forgotten to dress your bottom half). Shopping for oversized clothing can be difficult as it can mean shopping for clothing one or two sizes up – this guide to buying oversized clothing at Mennace could be worth a read.
Try camo, leather and denim
Urban textures such as camo, leather and denim can be incorporated stylishly into the streetwear look, helping to add an extra dimension to one’s outfit. When it comes to camo, consider a camo jacket with a black hoodie and black jeans or camo trousers with a white hoodie. When it comes to leather, consider dressing all in black with a leather bomber jacket. When it comes to denim, consider pairing jeans with a white hoodie or a denim jacket with a white t-shirt and black sweatpants.
Try international brands
You don’t have to stick to American brands when shopping for streetwear. Countries like Japan have a very big streetwear market that includes brands such as Neighbourhood clothing. You can also try looking into streetwear brands from countries such as South Africa, the Netherlands and South Korea. Such brands could help you to stand out on the street and are likely to grab the attention of hypebeasts.
Stick to one brand label
If you want to pull off streetwear in a way that seems like you’re not trying, it’s best to avoid wearing too many different brand labels at once. As a rule, try to stick to wearing one brand label at a time. A lot of streetwear items don’t make branding obvious – in which case you can mix these items more effectively. Then there are those that take the opposite approach, opting for massive prominent logos. In the case of the latter, you don’t want to be wearing multiple conflicting large logos.
Splash out on sneakers
Sneakers are the statement piece of any streetwear outfit. If you’re going to splash out on any item in your streetwear wardrobe, make it the sneakers. You can sometimes grab deals online by getting lucky and shopping at the right time. Physical outlet stores should be approached with caution – you’ll be paying the highest prices in these stores unless there’s a sale on. Collectible sneakers will cost a lot more. Unless you’re super serious about streetwear, it’s best to avoid these rarer sneakers.