Fresh Dressed traces the evolution of street fashion and hip hop culture over the last 40 years but somehow fails to acknowledge the female influence in both the legacy of hip hop and street couture.
With a large quantity of narratives from 1970s New York black and Latino youth, hip-hop culture certainly has a long history that can’t be summed up in a short, feature length film.
Thus, it came as no surprise that crucial details were overlooked when Fresh Dressed, an 82-minute documentary, attempted to portray the evolution of hip-hop culture and streetwear over the timespan of 40 years, premiered. But as per usual, the voice of the female influence was overshadowed by the male perspective within the culture.
Fresh Dressed features multiple segments of personal commentary from rap industry moguls, such as Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, while recounting personal stories and interviews from hip-hop’s prominent disciples and fashion designers like Popmaster Fabel, Dapper Dan, Karl Kani and many others.
Beginning with the history of “Sunday best” outfits, the film examines the evolution of black culture style, shifting through the musical periods of jazz, blues and R&B to the birth of the 1970s cultural movement and emergence of dance floors, microphones, turntables and graffiti crews that would later surface as the platform of resistance for New York's Lower East Side youth.
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But New York's classic legend that Jenkins attempts to illustrate leaves behind an important narrative, whose influence on hip-hop and style paved the way for future generations.
Although Jenkins' film documented these old school hip hoppers mastering the element of street style, a major portion of the film lacked the female voice depicting the evolution of hip-hop couture.
Taking up less than two minutes of the entire 80-minute film, female hip-hop artist Yo-Yo expressed how many of the fashion labels that were on the rise didn’t cater to women — except for Cross Colours, which was worn by TLC and Aaliyah.
There are just so many other female artist that have influenced the style of streetwear that just two short minutes weren't enough to sum up the female perspective of hip-hop fashion in 40 years.
Women have played an integral part in shaping the culture of hip-hop since the movement’s inception. MC Sha-Rock, Roxanne Shanté and Lady Pink have made their mark in a game run by the men.
The film somehow forgot to mention Salt-N-Pepa, the female crew who sported both men's and women's wear and crossed boundaries of styles in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Bringing back the idea of unity to music and the culture, Queen Latifah and Monie Love from the Native Tongues promoted an Afrocentric style, which later inspired other artists such as A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and many other '90s emcees to embrace the themes of love and unity with the African medallions and red, green and black tribal prints.
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Lastly, we can't forget Missy Elliott and her eccentric looks from her music videos to the red carpet from the early 2000s. Her unique fashion sense opened various avenues for artists to mix their quirkiness and outfits to create a brand for themselves as an artist.
Fresh Dressed seemed to provide a great introduction into the narrative of hip-hop's history, but it just would have been nice to see some of hip-hop's femcees sporting their knowledge and flavor in the film.
@its_candicew
