Streetwear is often confused with street style, but they are worlds apart. Street style is a very general term for fashion on the streets; a typical example would be a celebrity wearing fashionable outfits to pose for paparazzi pictures. Streetwear, on the other hand, is a rather niche style of dressing made famous by rappers and celebrities like G-Dragon and CL from 2NE1. It’s a tricky style to define, but it can be identified mostly by baggy pants, stylish sneakers and oversized pullovers.
In Singapore there’s a bit of a movement of girls wearing streetwear classics like the winner of our herworldPLUS Street Style Awards, Steph L, better known by her Instagram and blog Mianbaobreadpan, who’s a Singapore street dancer and fashionista. Check out Steph and her friends for inspiration and check out our 6 tips on how to pull it off without looking like an overgrown schoolboy.
1. Know your brands and fashion inspirations
Observing popular streetwear brands and pap shots of celebrities rocking streetwear will get you far in discerning what’s “street” and what’s not.
Some essential streetwear brands are: Adidas, Nike, HBA, Stussy, Supreme, AcidSG, Kenzo, Alexander Wang
Celebrities to get your streetwear inspo from: Kanye West,G-Dragon, Pharrell Williams, Cara Delevinge, Rihanna
Asos Criminal Damage Long-sleeved top, £40.00
2. Know your basics
The easy staples of this style are jeans, pullovers, T-shirts, crop tops, jogger pants, hats (bucket hats, snapbacks and baseball caps), sport shoes and sneakers. So comfortable, right? These staples will take you far and with skillful matching, you can come up with hundreds of outfit variations. Oversized silhouettes are also crucial to this style, so pull on your boyfriend’s jacket or your dad’s old Nike sweater.
Hood By Air’s Dreamer Hoodie, $400
3. Know your colours
There are many colourful streetwear outfits, but from personal experience I find that monochrome and darker colours like grey or maroon are the easiest to pull off. You want to make a quiet and dignified statement, so leave the bright yellows or bubblegum pinks for your summer bikinis.
Stylenanda’s Skinny Pants, $29 USD
4. Know that less is more
Excessive layering and messy prints hardly ever work for this style, although masters like Rihanna manage to pull it off with aplomb. For starters, try wearing an oversized slogan T-shirt paired with skinny jeans and your trusty Nike sport shoes.
Other outfit ideas: Wear an oversized baseball jacket or pullover with a pair of ripped denim shorts and a pair of high-cut Vans sneakers. You can also opt for a crop top, joggers and classic all-white Adidas shoes.
Adidas Superstar Foundation Shoes, $80
5. Know that shoes are important
This is the most crucial tip, because it’s almost impossible to come across an amazing streetwear outfit without a dope pair of shoes. If your clothes are the blank canvas, your shoes should be the central masterpiece.
Classic streetwear shoe models: Adidas Superstars, Adidas Stan Smiths, Nike Air Max 90, Adidas Yeezy Boost, Vans Old Skool, Nike Jordans
Stylenanda’s Racing Flag Accent Blouson, $43 USD
6. Know and own the streetwear attitude
Confidence is everything when wearing this style. Without it, don’t even try because you’ll just end up looking like a trend-follower!
