How I Got Into Streetwear

(Warning: If you continue on, you will encounter big walls o' text)

I was asked on one of the many forums I post at, "How did you get into the streetwear scene?" I've been asked this before, but my answers never got specific. I guess now is a good time.

I didn't really learn about the streetwear culture until I was in 9th grade. At the time, I had this strong interest in Japanese culture (I still do to some extent). I read about the kids in Harajuku, Roppongi Hills, and Shibuya and all the crazy stuff they did with their outfits. I also stumbled onto a few websites dedicated to the kinds of clothes they wore. All I knew then was that they were exclusive and you couldn't find them in any of the stores within a 1,000 mile radius of where I live, Texas. I ended up putting it out of my mind and only browsed around 'em once every few months. At the time, I was more interested in b-boy culture. I guess that also helped open me up to the streetwear scene since they both have strong hip-hop elements involved and I always loved H.E.R. Just to let you know how in the dark I was, I used to crease my jeans with gallons of Stayflo and wore EVERYTHING 2 sizes too big. Yeah. I also knew a lot of the stuff I saw on those websites would never fly around my friends.

In 10th grade, as I was doing my usual browsing of underground hip-hop forums, I came upon my first WDYWT thread (what did you wear today). Needless to say, I took a pic of what I was wearing (some Old Navy jean shorts, white K-Swiss Classics, and blue Dickies button up) and posted it up. I was roasted for a good 2 pages. Dudes were talking about my clothes, proportions, etc. That forum was also where someone sold me my first pair of straight HEAT son! I bought a pair of Adidas Snakeskin Concord Hi's for $80. After awhile that was it. I didn't buy anything else aside from a few Chuck Taylors.

If it wasn't for that forum, I would have fallen for the trends going on around me (tall tees, wearing jerseys even if you didn't like the team just cause it was a popular jersey, grillz, excessive jewelry, etc.) I did fall into a few though, like wearing some belt buckles I bought at those random mall stands and matching everything (green hat, green shirt, green shoes).

It wasn't until I graduated HS and came to college that I found other people who had the same interests and thats when I became introduced into the whole culture. Music, clothing, art, etc. Back then, the hypebeast look was hot, so that's what I dressed like (bright colors everywhere). I came to my senses after a year and a half of the hypebeast look and now I'm working on my own steez.

Anyways, hope you liked my story, and that is how I lost my virginity. Also, the internetz is serious buzinezz.