B-Boy clothing
Tribal Gear
Armory
Biggest & Baddest
...and now Street Scientists
I'm sure many b-boys and b-girls have a shirt by one of the companies listed above. Take away the popular mainstream shoe brands and these are your options for popular "for b-boys, by b-boys" designs these days. While the majority of b-boy clothing consists of t-shirts, one can also find sweaters, hoodies, spin caps, pants, and more.
I've always wondered why dancers prefer to wear t-shirts while dancing? Is it because of the inexpensive price? The comfort? The ability to express with logos & printed quotes? MexOne from Biggest & Baddest said he wanted his tees to be something "a person can wear when he/she goes out on a Saturday night." I guess I should consider his shirts as designer t-shirts, more fashionable than a normal tee. For me, a big chunk of my clothes come from b-boy clothes. I have so many t-shirts that last week I decided I needed to go to a J. Crew just to break my current dress style. My sister was like, "Do you wear anything else besides hip hop t-shirts?" Haha, but all of these shirts are quite fresh, and that is why we wear them, right?
TRIBAL GEAR
http://www.tribalgear.com/tribal/
Tribal Gear used to be really hot and into the b-boy scene back in the late 90s and early 2000s. I used to remember they were the clothes to buy when I started b-boying. I would see those barbwire tattoo style designs everywhere. But for some reason, the popularity of Tribal faded away, at least in the b-boy scenes where I am familiar with. I'm not sure why. It almost seemed as they expanded too quickly into other scenes, such as MMA, music, and skateboarding, and stopped making the b-boy scene as a priority as before. But that's just my speculation.
ARMORY
http://www.armoryhiphop.com/
Armory has always been a huge seller. It has been super popular in South Korea because of my friends Charlie and Johnjay from Cartel Creative, who also do R-16. And in the United States, Cros1 has done a tremendous job promoting Armory within the scene. Witness Freestyle Session, that is proof of Armory's success. I really like their shirts, too, as I own a couple. The fabric is nice, sturdy, and they come up with really interesting designs.
Born reppin' Armory at R-16 2009
I think my favorite one is the "Run DMZ" shirt printed in Korea. Very nice play on words there between two cultures!
BIGGEST & BADDEST
http://www.thebboyspot.com/store/
With my recent videos documenting TheBboySpot and Biggest & Baddest, I suppose I am a little biase here towards liking their products. I saw first hand how they make their shirts, how MexOne's mom sews on the tags and beanies, and how Spen designs the prints. The creativity in the entire process makes me want to petition for another "t-shirt design" element to hip hop. Haha.
Luigi and Bruce Lee
My favorite Biggest & Baddest shirt is probably the Bruce Lee silhouette. Whoever thought of that idea is a genius. I'll put up a video from Biggest & Baddest guiding viewers through the entire t-shirt making process soon. It'll be like a Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood episode, one where people can see the entire process, step by step. ;-)
STREET SCIENTISTS
http://www.streetscientists.com/shop/
Recently, Bboyworld teamed up with California based Street Scientists to create b-boy style clothing. You can read the news here. Of course, since I am also a moderator on Bboyworld, I suppose I am biased towards this brand of clothing, too. Haha, I know...it is hard to make up my mind on stuff. I really cannot say much about Street Scientists since they are so brand new to the scene. They have only 5 designs right now, and hopefully I'll see more in the near future.
Menno stylin'
I really like this shirt. It really matches Menno's attire. I just recently got this shirt in the mail, too. Thanks Erwin!
SHIRT MODELS
Does anyone buy a t-shirt because their favorite b-boy/b-girl models that shirt? For example, because Roxrite wears Biggest & Baddest, does that mean I want one, too? Or Born wearing Armory? Or Menno with Street Scientists? Or MisLee and Loan with our Strife.tv shirts? Haha, just kidding, our shirts are not for sale, unfortunately.
FINAL COMPARISONS
Because I am running out of things to say, and tomorrow is the beginning of the World Cup quarterfinals, I shall make my final comparisons with easy metaphors.
In short, Armory is team Brazil. Armory, just like Brazil, is really popular to anywhere in the scene. They always create something fresh, and keep it going year in year out. And plus, Freestyle Session is awesome.
Biggest & Baddest is Uruguay. They are super ambitious. MexOne and Spen work hard at what they does, and love to give back to the scene as much as possible. Biggest & Baddest clothing always brings something new to the b-boy fashion scene each season and they have a lot of grassroots support. It's really hard to dislike Biggest & Baddest clothing, just like Uruguay. I mean, seriously...who dislikes Uruguay in the World Cup?
Street Scientists/Bboyworld is team Spain. They used to be big into the clothing scene, but recently just got revitalized. Long story short: Biggest & Baddest used to be with Bboyworld, but then left, thus Bboyworld had no clothing line, then Street Scientists came, and now here it is. Did anyone get confused with that explanation? And just like team Spain, Street Scientists has a lot of backing from the global community due to their connection with Bboyworld.
Tribal Gear is like team England. They used to be really big into the scene, but have since disappeared. I'm not sure what happened.
So what are your favorite b-boy clothing brands? I know I left out the obvious: Adidas, Nike, Puma, etc., but talking about them is not as exciting.
B-BOY FORUM THREAD OF THE DAY:
From bboy.org: I don't know if this story is true or not, but this guy had an interesting encounter with b-boy Machine. I've met Machine before and he wasn't like the guy described in this thread. But funny story nevertheless. It made me LOL. (btw, the writer of the thread is a Strife.tv viewer!)
SONG OF THE DAY:
end song to my Orlando Sessions video
funny how I post the title to this song, and yet people still ask "What's this song name?"
people need to learn how to read the info section
1773 - Heart Music (Volta Masters remix)
Armory
Biggest & Baddest
...and now Street Scientists
I'm sure many b-boys and b-girls have a shirt by one of the companies listed above. Take away the popular mainstream shoe brands and these are your options for popular "for b-boys, by b-boys" designs these days. While the majority of b-boy clothing consists of t-shirts, one can also find sweaters, hoodies, spin caps, pants, and more.
I've always wondered why dancers prefer to wear t-shirts while dancing? Is it because of the inexpensive price? The comfort? The ability to express with logos & printed quotes? MexOne from Biggest & Baddest said he wanted his tees to be something "a person can wear when he/she goes out on a Saturday night." I guess I should consider his shirts as designer t-shirts, more fashionable than a normal tee. For me, a big chunk of my clothes come from b-boy clothes. I have so many t-shirts that last week I decided I needed to go to a J. Crew just to break my current dress style. My sister was like, "Do you wear anything else besides hip hop t-shirts?" Haha, but all of these shirts are quite fresh, and that is why we wear them, right?
TRIBAL GEAR
http://www.tribalgear.com/tribal/
Tribal Gear used to be really hot and into the b-boy scene back in the late 90s and early 2000s. I used to remember they were the clothes to buy when I started b-boying. I would see those barbwire tattoo style designs everywhere. But for some reason, the popularity of Tribal faded away, at least in the b-boy scenes where I am familiar with. I'm not sure why. It almost seemed as they expanded too quickly into other scenes, such as MMA, music, and skateboarding, and stopped making the b-boy scene as a priority as before. But that's just my speculation.
ARMORY
http://www.armoryhiphop.com/
Armory has always been a huge seller. It has been super popular in South Korea because of my friends Charlie and Johnjay from Cartel Creative, who also do R-16. And in the United States, Cros1 has done a tremendous job promoting Armory within the scene. Witness Freestyle Session, that is proof of Armory's success. I really like their shirts, too, as I own a couple. The fabric is nice, sturdy, and they come up with really interesting designs.
Born reppin' Armory at R-16 2009
I think my favorite one is the "Run DMZ" shirt printed in Korea. Very nice play on words there between two cultures!
BIGGEST & BADDEST
http://www.thebboyspot.com/store/
With my recent videos documenting TheBboySpot and Biggest & Baddest, I suppose I am a little biase here towards liking their products. I saw first hand how they make their shirts, how MexOne's mom sews on the tags and beanies, and how Spen designs the prints. The creativity in the entire process makes me want to petition for another "t-shirt design" element to hip hop. Haha.
Luigi and Bruce Lee
My favorite Biggest & Baddest shirt is probably the Bruce Lee silhouette. Whoever thought of that idea is a genius. I'll put up a video from Biggest & Baddest guiding viewers through the entire t-shirt making process soon. It'll be like a Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood episode, one where people can see the entire process, step by step. ;-)
STREET SCIENTISTS
http://www.streetscientists.com/shop/
Recently, Bboyworld teamed up with California based Street Scientists to create b-boy style clothing. You can read the news here. Of course, since I am also a moderator on Bboyworld, I suppose I am biased towards this brand of clothing, too. Haha, I know...it is hard to make up my mind on stuff. I really cannot say much about Street Scientists since they are so brand new to the scene. They have only 5 designs right now, and hopefully I'll see more in the near future.
Menno stylin'
I really like this shirt. It really matches Menno's attire. I just recently got this shirt in the mail, too. Thanks Erwin!
SHIRT MODELS
Does anyone buy a t-shirt because their favorite b-boy/b-girl models that shirt? For example, because Roxrite wears Biggest & Baddest, does that mean I want one, too? Or Born wearing Armory? Or Menno with Street Scientists? Or MisLee and Loan with our Strife.tv shirts? Haha, just kidding, our shirts are not for sale, unfortunately.
FINAL COMPARISONS
Because I am running out of things to say, and tomorrow is the beginning of the World Cup quarterfinals, I shall make my final comparisons with easy metaphors.
In short, Armory is team Brazil. Armory, just like Brazil, is really popular to anywhere in the scene. They always create something fresh, and keep it going year in year out. And plus, Freestyle Session is awesome.
Biggest & Baddest is Uruguay. They are super ambitious. MexOne and Spen work hard at what they does, and love to give back to the scene as much as possible. Biggest & Baddest clothing always brings something new to the b-boy fashion scene each season and they have a lot of grassroots support. It's really hard to dislike Biggest & Baddest clothing, just like Uruguay. I mean, seriously...who dislikes Uruguay in the World Cup?
Street Scientists/Bboyworld is team Spain. They used to be big into the clothing scene, but recently just got revitalized. Long story short: Biggest & Baddest used to be with Bboyworld, but then left, thus Bboyworld had no clothing line, then Street Scientists came, and now here it is. Did anyone get confused with that explanation? And just like team Spain, Street Scientists has a lot of backing from the global community due to their connection with Bboyworld.
Tribal Gear is like team England. They used to be really big into the scene, but have since disappeared. I'm not sure what happened.
So what are your favorite b-boy clothing brands? I know I left out the obvious: Adidas, Nike, Puma, etc., but talking about them is not as exciting.
B-BOY FORUM THREAD OF THE DAY:
From bboy.org: I don't know if this story is true or not, but this guy had an interesting encounter with b-boy Machine. I've met Machine before and he wasn't like the guy described in this thread. But funny story nevertheless. It made me LOL. (btw, the writer of the thread is a Strife.tv viewer!)
SONG OF THE DAY:
end song to my Orlando Sessions video
funny how I post the title to this song, and yet people still ask "What's this song name?"
people need to learn how to read the info section
1773 - Heart Music (Volta Masters remix)