The Current State of Female Dress

Beyoncé Knowle’s House of Deréon, Gwen Stefani’s L.A.M.B, Jennifer Lopez’s J.Lo and Kimora Lee-Simmon’s Baby Phat lines are all clothing companies that have contemporarily dictated the fashions, styles, and dress of the American hip-hop female. Their lines are giving the female hip-hop community a more feminine, sexualized, and sometimes overtly provocative image--most abundantly through the video vixen. These “video models,” if you will, are presented as over sexualized bodies in hip-hop cinema and music videos. Through the styles of the previously mentioned celebrity brands these models have a significant influence on trends for females in the hip-hop community. In the 1980’s, even though they didn’t have their own clothing lines, female rappers such as Salt-n-Peppa, Queen Latifah, and Monie Love presented hip-hop culture with their own take on style and dress. They wore large letterman jackets, body suits, flat boots, gold twisted chains, and African inspired hats all in vibrant colors. And, even if they look somewhat silly to contemporary eyes, the style was definitive and significant to the black female image—in a positive way. The video girls appear to have taken the mic from female rappers and hip-hop artists when dress and style are concerned. Arguably the only celebrity female rapper who has ventured into fashion would be Eve with her Fetish clothing line launched in 2003. And even Fetish has had problems with the collaboration between Eve and the INNOVO Group, which produces and distributes the celebrity’s clothing brand.

Born out of a predominately male youth culture, it is no surprise that hip-hop’s dress and style was exceedingly rooted in the masculine. Now, instead of relying on the appropriation of established brands artists have become successful enough to start their own labels for the culture. Sean “P.Diddy” Combs and Sean “Jay-Z” Carter are two artists who are dominant players in the fashion and style game of hip-hop culture. In 1976, the street style of the Bronx evolved out of necessity rather than complete excess. B-Boys and Fly-girls wore clothing that complimented their gymnastic-like dance moves requiring floor work like head spins and flips. In the early 1980’s their aesthetic became both practical and casual, with the emergence of major label brands such as: Adidas--for its vividly colored track suits, Cross Colors’ multi-colored denim suits, Pelle- Pelle, Marithé Francois Girbaud both epitomizing the baggy denim ensembles worn by hip-hoppers. Instead of the female artists directly influencing the way female hip-hop fans dress, labels and video vixen are becoming the standards. However, with the 60's mod style of dress becoming more and more trendy, one can only hope that tight spandex leggings begin to morph into full on figure hugging body suits.