Break-Dance Fashion and Popularity
Fashion and the Break dancing go hand in hand. It is part of their identity. Fro instance many go for Adida laced shoes and nylon jumpsuits - both being practical and trendy as well. Any other type of dress would have been a hindrance for sliding on the floor. The image of the typical Break-dancer shows him or her dancing on the streets together with a boom box.
However fashions have changed from the 80’s. Today they wear T-shirts or sweat shorts which might or might not be fashionable by latest standards - that is Phat Farm, Rocawear, Akademics, State Property and few others. The shirts are usually very large and roomy. Loose fitting Khakis, camouflage pants, jeans or sweatpants also came to be popular. Previously for about two decades it used to be kangol hats, nylon Adidas and Nike suits. It needs to be observed that no one typical fashion has come to be associated with Break dancing or B-Boying culture. It is so broad and catholic that all norms are accepted. Rather, those who sport a particular type of dress code (fully black clothes, tight clothes, bleached hair, heavy make up etc) are looked down upon and nicknamed goth or punk.
B-boying became most popular in the 80s. It was first introduced to the outside of New York City and the rest of the world by a movie “Flashdance” in 1983. Before “Flashdance”, there were already movies like “Wildstyle” and “Stylewars”. But “Flashdance” was the first major movie which featured b-boying. Even though it was not a b-boying movie, the short scene which featured b-boying and popping on a street had a great enough impact to inspire people to start b-boying all over the world. After “Flashdance”, many breaking movies were made such as “Breakin’”, “Breaking‘2″, and “Beat Street”. “Beat Street” also had a great impact because it had a scene of battle between “Rock Steady Crew” and “New York City Breakers”. B-boying became very popular as “break dance” by many media coverage. And the city New York designated as B-City.
