Hottest Hip-Hop Apparel/Accessory Trends

At the end of the month, I'm going to list what I consider to be the top ten footwear brands in New York. Obviously, there aint gonna be no Prada on my list. However sweet her shoes may sometimes be, this will be a list dedicated to street trends (though how saddened was I when my neighbor Michael, one of the freshest dressed kids on the block, asked me the other day where he could buy some Prada sneakers. I wanted to scream at him, "Nooooooooooooooo!" But oh well, who am I to get in the way of a young man's shoe game.) My plan is to do the shoe list on a monthly basis, but in the meantime, here are some images from a recent party whose guests were decked out in some of rap's hottest apparel and accessory trends. See if you can spot the trends without looking at the captions:


^^Lessee, how many trends can we count here? I've got five: fitted cap, Yankee jacket, Billionaire Boys Club top, oversized watch and gold chain. (That's Fat Joe on the left and I'm not sure who on the right.)


^^I'm guessing, but I think the striped shirt on the left is LaCoste, then we got a couple more fitteds and Jada wearing Bathing Ape, a brand that's moving up the chart with a bullet though I'm not sure we'll ever see anything but counterfeits on the street. He's also sporting the chain with a piece, both of which are scaled down versions of the bigger-is-better style from back in the day. No idea who the guy to his left is. What can I say? I don't get invited to these kinda parties.

^^This guy is wearing LaCoste, which is still a hot hood brand, but maybe not as hot as last year when kids were wearing LaCoste tops AND shoes. The nerd glasses are another big accessory trend.

I wonder, if cats are starting to embrace Pharrel's label, will they also start to shake off their deeply engrained instinct to coordinate? Personally I don't think so. Maybe for the younger kids, but for the older guys, it'd probably be downright painful to wear an outfit that featured a mishmash of colors and prints.