Shop the Look Dolly Cohen Accessories Look

One thing i love about hip hop accessories has to be the grillz a lot of people in the hip hop industry and subculture are wearing them as its in trend dolly cohen has a pop up store in London which i went to and i was very lucky enough to see her finest collections of teeths caps but the price was insane but worth it if you have money i think that you can go for different types of grillz when wearing teeth jewellery its best not to stick to the typical gold and white diamonds you can try gem grillz or oxy colours which are different in a nice way the only thing about grillz is that people that are still part of the hip hop subculture wear them but only a few can afford them .My favourite grillz were the gold guns and dollar signs as a part of the hip hop culture surrounds itself with money and gang violence which tells people history about grillz and hip hop culture.

The overall shop experience at dolly cohen's pop up store launch in london was amazing champagne if your lucky but not to worry it wouldn't stain your teeth. i also like how you can get customised pieces which are a good thing to offer as it shows she doesn't stick to her own particular design she caters for different people and also grillz don't mean covering the whole of your teeth you can get grillz that cover just a little tooth or a tooth cap which was much cheaper but the staff were nice and the collection was amazing.

Shop the look Reason Sports wear

I decided to do a sportswear look as sportswear is big in the subculture hip hop and big industry in the music industry and a lot of people ask why when famous celebrity is part of a hip hop culture they get endorsements to wear trainers an example would be run dmc they wore Adidas and then the majority of the hip hop subculture wanted to be apart and got the shoes. this look is very sportswear as i decided to style the look with homies joggers hats and crew t-shirts that are XL most people that in the hip hop subculture wore XL clothing this is a look you can wear to the gym to break a sweat or just a walk in the park

As i walked into the shop i could tell the shop was nicely laid out clear for people to see different ranges of clothing the colour coordination was immaculate with the beanie hats as they were nicely presented on the shelf the shop owner had his mac out and was listening to loads of hip hop songs from mc hammer to much more but the shop could have maybe had more of a variety in clothing rather than the typical beanies and homies t-shirts

Shop the look Farah Vintage Casual Look

For this look i tried to create an ordinary look that can be styled differently many times i paired up some levis along side a vintage american varsity top which is probably more than 10 years old varsity t-shirts and jackets are also on trend within my sub culture from the past to the present its always been a favourite of mine and a lot of hip hop artist from the past and today wear varsity jackets and jerseys

The shop was quite small but had fabulous vintage pieces my heart melted away at the balmain trousers and versace jeans but the store assistant was very friendly after chatting to him for about 15mins i found out we went to the same uni it was all bubbly jubbly until he told me to stop taking photos as i wasn't allowed to anymore which was quite awkward but as usual i still got my cheeky snaps that i can show

Shop the look Bitching and junk Food Evening look

This store had the most amazing fur for this outfit i picked out two different fur coats a leather skirt and an inspired Brian litchenburg gucci top the reason why i chose the fur coats was because fur during the hip hop subculture movement meant that you had money and wealth and also made you receive more attention this was mainly a male thing as men wanted to show that they can grab a woman's attention also wearing fur sometimes made you look like a pimp which wasn't a good thing if you did but i wanted to flip roles as a lot of females now in the hip hop subculture do wear fur at it shows class and wealth rather than pimp and attention seeker i also picked a leather skirt as leather is current in the hip hop subculture .i picked the gucci top because most hip hop people like to wear branded stuff that has a name on it and if you couldn't afford the real version people would buy a knock off or inspired cheap this outfit is an outfit you can wear out in the evening with a bunch of friends to go to a fancy cocktail bar.

The overall store experience was really plain and just a bunch of clothes hanged on a rail the store assistants were helpful and nice but i felt the store could be a bit more brighter with a lick of paint. also arranging clothes is important no buyer wants to buy something just off a rail that was pushed to the wall maybe the owners could get a some photography photos that might make the place look nice and bright and well thought of.

Shop the Look Polo Ralph Lauren - Lo Life Day look

If you don't know anything about the lo lifes i can give you a quick insight i really enjoyed making this look because i watched a hip hop documentary called the lo lifes and it was more of a movement than a group of people that took part and literally dressed head to toe in Ralph Lauren so i decided that i was going to make an outfit that was head to calf's because the nike trainers dont count as ralph lauren in this lol i picked out iconic Ralph Lauren symbols because it during the movement everyone tried to show the were a polo freak so i decided to use badges and teddy bears and horses because a lot of lo lifes decided to wear things like that this look can be worn with a nice pair of nike air maxs to give the look a versatile look anything bright or dark can work with the outfit i also added leather jeans as leather is a current trend in hip hop today this look is yet another day look which is casual this is the store of look that you can wear to a small social gathering .

since this shop was online the overall experience using the website was alright i didn't face any difficulties finding the right looks but the have a create your own polo and it doesn't give you much colour choice when making an outfit this is important because lo lifes during the hip hop era liked to show that they were wearing Ralph Lauren so a colour that stood out on a horse was vital so that everyone can see your part of the crew and movement.

Shop the Look Run DMC inspiration

This outfit is inspired by Run DMC who were a very big band and contributed to the swag of his from Adidas to curb chains and wearing all black to keep the hip hop look and feel of what they were wearing so i decided to create my own feel by picking out black outfits from the store i chose the huge varsity jacket as it demonstrates a bold statement it reminds me of hip hop clothing because people wore baggy clothes and people wore clothes that made them look protective with a hood swag this is an outfit that most hip hop people would wear on a casual day out in the streets to meet friends.

The overall store experience was quite chilled i was quite scared when i walked in but i faced my fears and asked if i could get some cheeky snaps and they were nice and said yeah but when i asked the sales assistant more about the brand it being a bit hip hop she almost snapped and said dope chef is trying to move away from being a hip hop brand and into their own brand and their own identity maybe their creating their own subculture or hip hop is too mainstream for them but it was quite dark inside like gilly hicks or hollister with blue LED lighting and hip hop music playing in the back ground they sound like hypocrites but i do like the store and the people were nice.

Hip Hop Music and the four core elements

Hip Hop is also known as rap music or hip hop music which is also a music genre that consisted of four key elements Mcing , Break dancing , DJing ,rapping and beat boxing

keith cowboy is one person that is said to coin the term hip hop as he teased a friend in the army who when walking would hip hop as they march which created a rhythm

Hip hop is also about rhythm because when you hear a beat you just cant literally stop dancing especially when your in your own zone and the beat of the music just makes you dance lol .
Rapping is basically a rhyme that is spoken lyrically to a beat which may consist of 8 bars-16bars and so on
rapping is a way of communicating poetry to a vocal style
DJ kool herc is an Mc that introduced rap first as he would rap a simple poetry to funk music


Break dancing is style of dancing that consists of movement to a beat Dj herc coined this term and recognised that people would wait for a beat in a section of a song or rap and would start to break out into a dance infront of an audience and bust some moves. break dancing today has become very entertaining in the tv industry as hip hop dancing keeps people thrilled and entertained to see the latest break dance moves

DJing also known as scratching is a way of mixing two or more beats into a song to create a new style of music

Beat boxing is making vocal sounds through the use of mouth to make beats which is very creative

here are a few of my fav hip hop artist and there music

video below

RIP Left Eye AKA lisa Lopes When i was young i looked up to you and tlc and i always wanted to be left eye in the group i loved how you were so creative and a free spirit in your own way you did you and played a big part in the hip hop culture you and tlc showed people that dreams can be achieved and to never give up i'm studying fashion design and i wont give up love and peace God's looking after you xxx

R.I.P Aaliyah

2pac

Hip Hop Fashion

Yes Yes Yes my favourite bit about this subculture oh my gosh when i grew up i couldn't stop looking at what artist wore in hip hop videos and how they wore the 90s style was so amazing people just knew how to dress. but i guess when dressing it was about style and image. my favs would have to be the bright colour bomber jackets to the baggy mom Levi jeans to the high top timberland's or a classic pair of Nike trainers i just loved the whole 90s fashion galore. if i go on and on and on tomorrow wont come but moving on swiftly i'm going to be talking about my favourite part in this section.

hip hop fashion was also known as urban street wear and started in america and spread to places like New York ,  Los Angeles, Chicago,Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area,  Detroit,  Memphis,  Virginia, Atlanta, and St. Louis i guess you can say that each state stated has contributed to america's style as one whole city which is known around the world today

In the 1970s-1980s big sports brands like Nike, Adidas and puma were known well in the hip hop scene
Airforces by Nike , superstar black and white 3 stripe Adidas and Puma trainers were worn by hip hop icons

Hairstyles became really popluar in the 1980s-1990s such as jherri curls and the high top fade which was rocked by will smith and Christopher "kid" Reid.



Luxury Fashion houses such as Louis vuitton , Gucci and Fendi were also popular as hip hop icons , artist , rappers wore their tracksuits , bomber jackets , and baggy pants were among the favs




Heavy Gold jewellery was also a big trend in this subculture and still is a big trend today men always wore long and heavy chains and rings and bracelets whilst women wore big gold earrings and rings as well wearing heavy jewllery or gold represented wealth and symbolised that your were prestige.

Hiphop Artist that contributed to the scene were left eye , Aaliyah , Mc Hammer and Will smith these people have to be my favs well i will start off with left eye she introduced the whole layering of baggy clothes and she introduced a big movement to the youth about practicing safe sex by wearing condoms in her music video she also wore baseball hats aswell. 

Aaliyah started dressing in a way to show her femininity as a singer by wearing sports bras and showing her boy boxers.

Mc Hammer dressed in baggy trousers and made the hareem trousers popular.

Will smith brought out the bright colours , baggy bomber jackets , disco cycling shorts and oversized tees

Luxury Fashion houses in the 1990s such as isaac mizrahi and chanel were influenced by the whole black on black movement for their runway shows they would send down models in slim fitted catsuits to tight camisole dresses with heavy gold chains and black leather jackets

Unfortunately "the hip hop trend didn't last for designers as designers moved onto new influences and ideas"
i would have to disagree and agree to some extent for this as designers do move onto ideas and develop new ideas and influences but at the same time they look back at inspiration which comes from the 90s most of the time and about 25% is original ideas

when musician jodeci came onto the scene in the 90s he had more of a edgy and sexy look with a bad boy style, the group were known for wearing baggy clothes which meant they were hand me downs from a bigger family relative which represented toughness running through their family.

Tommy hilfiger was a prominent brand in 1990s in new york people would wear Tommy hilfiger ,snoop is said to influence the movement because he wore a Tommy hilfiger top on a show and it sold out in stores the following day which is shocking but people wanted to look good and keep up with the flashy trend that hip hop icons set.

Throwback clothing such as jerseys and snapback were very popular and cost hundreds of dollars in sterling maybe about 500 pounds - 1000 grand for clothing it was so popular but too expensive for fans or followers of the trend to follow so counterfeit become involved and flooded the market with knock off so that people who couldnt afford to keep up could keep up with a faux version.

In order for artist to keep up with trends and make more money some decided to even create their own lines
here are some examples  Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Wear, Nelly Apple Bottom Jeans), Russell Simmons (Phat Farm), Kimora Lee Simmons (Baby Phat), Diddy (Sean John and Enyce), T.I. (AKOO),, 50 Cent (G-Unit Clothing), Eminem (Shady Limited), 2Pac (Makaveli Branded), OutKast (OutKast Clothing), Eckō, Famous Stars and Straps, Bape, Billionaire Boys Club, 

Hip Hop fashion now is still pricey people still want the latest and would go 2weeks without a proper meal for the latest givenchy or versace tee which i find crazy well i don't mess around with food but its crazy how people would do anything to feel a part of a trend which is what i call a crazy society. Rappers today still wear a bit of baggy clothing most look the same as they have tried to revert the black on black style by layering different types of black outfits in one look. also rappers have songs after luxury brands rapper migos named his song versace and he has a tacky video with versace clashing everywhere oh no but or Mr kanye west trying to call himself the worlds best creator of everything with his ego as big as 2 pence thinks he is a designer after having a line with guiseppe zanotti "cruel summer" to be honest i don't like kanye west and never will its funny how he didn't get into central saint martins but that's another story for another day.




  

The Youth culture

In the 1970s many teenagers were inspired by DJ Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa as they set up the universal Zulu nation which was a hip hop cultural event where people would try and draw kids out of gangs and violence and bringing the youth together to look at the brighter side to life

The youth looked at hip hop as a way of expressing themselves in this subculture . the youth looked up to music as an influence and it wasn't just the music they looked at style which was important as it showed what sort of style and persona the person had.

Block parties helped the youth to stop getting into trouble in the streets instead they would use their energy into enjoying music and having a great vibe with people who loved the hip hop scene.

1985 youth worldwide started to embrace hip hop subculture and they whole idea of being a community supporting talent and finding your own talent.

Another thing that the youth did was marking territories by doing shoefiti which was basically tying shoes together and throwing them over a power line or thin bridges. Ahh when i write it seems so boring sorry viewers i'm going to try and make it understanding in such a cool way :)

Jordans and Chuck taylors

Another thing that the youth did was marking territories by doing shoefiti which was basically tying shoes together and throwing them over a power line or thin bridges.

Influences on the evolution of Hip Hop

With every cause there's always a beginning on how things started i honestly wonder what influenced people to start dancing like mc hammer or how people started to beatbox and i don't mean batter a cardboard box into pieces it's literally the sound of music through the use of your mouth.

Well Hip Hop is two slang words put together the word hip originated in 1898 meaning current and hop meaning movement so basically its about the whats the latest in the culture e.g fashion ,food , arts and entertainment and how rhythm and movement are entailed with today's dancing and dancing in the past.

Hip Hop started when people started to find common issues that most people faced which was either poverty , violence or environmental problems.

The four core elements of hip hop culture was rap music , turntablism (DJing), breaking(style of dancing) and graffiti art people being turning their problems into talents an example of this would be a rapper rapping about poverty and how his family struggled.Or how a graffiti artist illustrates poverty or life in south Bronx

People such as the ghetto brothers throw block parties and plugged in music to their stereos and played music this was to help the streets come together and find a common interest which mainly was hip hop music.
when people started Mcing and rapping they would normal rap or mc to a beat which a DJ would make also rap battles took place which made people want to learn how to rap and beat the champions lol i couldnt rap to save my life the only thing i guess i could do is make a beat from my hand using a table lol african style but i guess African beats contributed to the start of hip hop aswell as it consisted of different styles and mixing different music to create new music.

The Power of 3

History and Hip Hop

So where did it all start well hip hop started in the south Bronx in New York . i actually thought Bronx was short for Brooklyn but i guess i was wrong "Laugh out loud"

So where did the birth of hip hop start well it started in the south Bronx in New York. I actually thought Bronx was short for Brooklyn "Laugh out loud" I hope you Americans understand my joke.

Bronx was once called Manor of morrisania then later shortened to morrisania

Germans  and Irish immigrants moved to the city then it became heavily populated with Jewish people in 1930 in its peak around 43% of people were Jewish  

The white flight also known as the ethnic shift started in the 1950s in the Bronx moved from two thirds of non Hispanic to two thirds of black African American or Puerto rican –after world war 2 the Bronx became a city where people of different

 One of the poorest cities in the united states

Poverty=Poor

Where did the cookie start to crumble well it crumbled in the south Bronx in the 1960s you could latterly graffiti poverty all over this town. The south Bronx  is a working class city for families but then later dispersed into a poverty city in the 20^th century .

What contributed to this cookie crumble was it missing its chocolate chips ? I guess in other words you can say so there was no strong foundation in this city because many factors such as the white flight , landlords abandoning the city because of reconstruction of cross bronx expressway and the ethinic movement of different races moving into the city so   this was the core to the poverty

Arts and Culture

In the 1970s the South Bronx is known for its quirky fresh prince of bel air art scene  the art scene blossomed from the Fashion moda founded by a Viennese artist, Stefan Eins

Hip Hop art and fashion is still being communicated today and graffiti still continues.

       

Exploring the subcultures

It may sound boring but the word subculture actually makes me question the fact of how did fashion arrive and what influenced so many subcultral groups.

I've been asked to do some research into a subculture and find out its influences and how it arrive and look at the fashion within the subculture

So i went to the photographic gallery in oxford circus but saw some weird but cool photos which illustrated a mothers bond with her children but i found it a bit perverted unfortunately i didnt get any photos but i went to another gallery in the ICA and it was very cool saw loads of influences from different time periods here are some photos