Response Post: "Swagga-Style"

So my initial response to the blog post "Swagga-Style" by Ale'ah Bashir-Baaqee, was that it definitely needed a tone change. The idea of Who defines style? was a good one, but the biased opinion was just not doin' it for me. Ale'ah, your analysis on who defines style did not match up with the amazing evidence you provided at the beginning about how style and fashion has changed over all these decades.


First off, who decides what "dressing black" is? Or "dressing white"?
For your information, the sagging fashion began in prison. This means that both black and white men in prison could have been rockin' it. It is often affiliated with gang fashion, hip-hop fashion, or the lack of a wearing a belt. It prison, it could have just been the fact that they didn't want to zip their outfits all the way up. 


The only reason the sagging fashion was - and is now - considered a "black thing", is that most often the men in prison come from rural neighborhoods, in which most black men are from. Fashion is definitely an expression of who people are. So let's think about this:


A black man from a ghetto neighborhood -  he has probably been to jail in his lifetime, and considering where he lives, he doesn't have much to be happy about. To express his frustration through style, he sags his pants to his knees and walks the streets with a mugg on his face. 
A white man from a ghetto neighborhood - because of his skin color, you would only assume the possibility that he has been to jail by the way he is dressed. He is in the same conditions as the black man, so he too, sags his pants to his knees, and walks the streets with a mugg on his face.


A white man doing this does not imply that he is trying to act or dress "black". He is simply expressing who he is and how he is feeling. The same thing applies for black people who wear clothes most white people wear. Why do they get away with that without question, I have no idea.


My final statement is this: style can be creative and expressive. Let's not question those who choose to keep it that way.