Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Dress Your Age, Not Your Shoe Size...


More times than not, when I come across photos of Jay-Z he is dressed in urban wear. The other day I was on a website that shall not be named, looking at celebrity photos. When it came to pics of Jay-Z and Beyonce, several comments focused on his attire and a desire for him to dress like the 40 year old man that he is. Yet as a rapper and creator of Rocawear, I don't understand why his attire is so perplexing to some. Not only that, but when he's mingling with moguls Jay can clean up very well. Perhaps, I'm biased though because Jay can do whatever he wants. On the other hand, a lot of ya'll ain't Jay. o__O

I'll be the first person to say that adults over the age of 30 who constantly wear name brands such as Dereon, BabyPhat, Rocawear, Apple Bottoms, etc get the Terry McMillan side eye from me. Maybe, in some manner I am a little more old school than I thought. Having an almost thirty year age difference between my parents and I, seeing and observing them and the crowds they associated with, I had an ideal of how 30-40 year old adults should dress. I grew up around men who wore slacks and dress shoes, button ups and trench coats and weren't 37 with cornrows in their heads o__O. There were jeans but they were few and far in between and worn with casual shoes. The women I grew up around didn't wear fitted tees and jeans with apples on their butts. I'm actually sad at the decline of casual wear. Oh and no, I'm not suggesting linen suits and Stacy Adams.


Frankie, Keyshia Coles' mom with her Jordan's on...dressing like she doesn't have like 10 adult children o__O

Is it over saturation of the hip hop culture? Obviously. I mean because let's face it, outside of trying to be young and actually being young there is no reason why people would habitually wear those clothes. Perhaps, there's irony in this now refusal to grow up and 40 year olds trying to be 30 were once 15 trying to be 25. The loss of being a teenager is now manifested in these undergrown adults walking around looking like urban youth. I guess the overarching moral of the story would be to inform that 40 is NOT the new 30 and 30 is NOT the new 20. Grow up, dress your age and not your shoe size. *heavy eye roll*

***Sidenote: This is a WHOLE other post in itself, but while I'm on the subject of being too old for something... If you're forty years old, stay yo tail out the club with 20 year olds. Go to a lounge or something. There's nothing worse than seeing a grown man/woman partying with people that are young enough to be his/her children.

6 comments:

  1. You know what, this is important. As a 36yr old woman who appears to be 10yrs younger n any given day, I have an issue with people who refuse to accept the grace that is supposed to come with maturity. They want to hold on to their youth, by any means necessary and most times come out looking like fools. Everything from hair-dos to choices in clothing to manner of speech and hangout spots...just a mess! We should be setting a more respectful standard for ourselves and embracing it instead of trying to hold on that lil' bit of hip-hop we have left. Be classic, not ratchet.

    Great post!

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  2. YES! @ Be classic not ratchet! Love that.

    Oooh you touched upon hair... I forgot to mention that in this post, as far as women are concerned...but that is ANOTHER thing that grinds my gears...Why are forty something year old women walking around looking like Toucan Sam is their stylist? Just *smh*

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  3. i agree with you 100%!! thanks for writing this post. however, unfortunate for many, but lucky for you, you were exposed and know what grown folk's clothes look like and that it can be classy, stylish and sophisticated. some ppl don't realize that or know and are stuck in a rut.

    xhibit was on monique last nite. i was talking to my 14 year old sister about adults needing to dress like an adult. x let go of his cornrows, but not the air force ones. you can still be hip hop and let those go too ;) he still looked goodthough!

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  4. Not only dress your age...but ACT your age too! SHOOT!

    BTW, love the new layout! :-)

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  5. I saw Xhibit the other day on TMZ... yes, he looks MUCH better with the fade. I'm all for improvement so at least he took the first step. See, I don't even mind urban wear sporadically, (BBQs, Basketball Tournaments etc) but everyday wear? Nah.

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  6. YES! You said it right there...

    And Thanks! :-D

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