Ghetto Fashion Trends

Ghetto fashion trends emerged during the late 1980s due to a variety of factors. The first and foremost being the de-mineralization of the urban environment with many dead bodies lying in pools of stagnant water, causing a lack of minerals in the soil making fruits and vegetables rot more easily. Another was the escalation in drug use and abuse by both white and black Americans, which caused an increase in body hair and an increase in vanity. These people then made use of clothing as a way to hide their so-called deficiencies thus creating a need for such clothing. This is when the “ghetto fashion trends” came about.

Hip hop fashion, which was a distinct style of dressing originated from inner city youths living in New York City and in other US cities, followed by Los Angeles, other US cities. The artists influencing this movement were mainly from the Caribbean, such as the Roots, the Ying-Yang twins, the Clipse family, and others. All of them wore clothes that reflected their background and their association with the urban culture of the time. The term “ghetto” was used often in hip hop lyrics as a derogatory way of describing certain areas of the city which the artist thought was inferior and hip hop clothing reflected that. The same garments were often worn by the women in these communities.

Ghetto fashion trends are still in existence today and are more popular among the younger generation, but are starting to fade away as more people associate fashionable trends with the rich and famous who are more apt to wear the trend than the poor who do not. However, there are some areas in which the goth/urban fashion style is making a comeback. Recently, there has been an increase in the amount of clothing and accessory stores that sell goth/urban clothes, with the hip-hop crowd especially taking notice.