I have watched Straight Outta Compton four times, and it was released less than a year ago. Okay… I know what you’re thinking: “does this girl not have anything better to do than watch movies all the time?!” Well, what can I say. I love movies. But I promise, I don’t always watch movies. Just 4 times a week! Is that bad?
Anyway, back to the most interesting film about the rise and fall of N.W.A, the hip hop group that dominated the charts in California in the 90s.
When you think of movies that have influenced the fashion world your mind probably doesn’t go to Straight Outta Compton. I mean, at first glance it seems like all the characters are dressed in the same 80s and 90s hip hop style that we now know to be corny. But that is not at all the case. Let’s analyze Eazy-E’s outfits from back in the day. Eazy most often wore very baggy jeans (baggier than the other members of N.W.A) and the Charlie Brown polos. According to Kelli Jones, the costume designer for the film, Eazy-E would dress more costume-like than the other members of the group. He had a very different flair than the others, and because this film is a biographical drama, Jones had to make sure that she nailed Eazy’s look (especially since he is deceased and could not give his own input).
Contrarily to Eazy, Dre was more into sweatshirts. This is very evident when you watch the movie. To be honest, I was really into his crewneck sweaters. His sweaters were the perfect “I’m wearing my boyfriends sweater but I know it looks cute on me” type. Luckily for Jones, Dre was able to give his own input, old photographs, and research to help her create costumes for his character on screen.
So you probably think creating and finding the costumes for Straight Outta Compton was easy. All you had to do was look at a few pictures of N.W.A from the 80s and 90s, and then find clothing that matched their style (which sounds easy enough, since hip hop clothes aren’t that hard to find in California). Well, think again, my friends. Because Jones had to go through a lot to ensure that the characters in the film looked like the real members from the group. Because this movie was somewhat of a biography of Eazy-E, Ice Cube, and Dre, and because Universal was determined to make the fashion in the movie as perfect as it could be, Jones actually had to do a Powerpoint for Universal Studio. A Powerpoint that showed the group members actual photos from the 90s next to her fitting photos. And these images had to match up.
So Jones couldn’t simply walk into any store that sells hip hop clothes. She had to get things embroidered, create pieces, and find vintage shops that had the exact polos and the exact button downs that the group members wore in the 90s! Jones even had to get the shoelace right. Lucky for Jones, Nike and Adidas really helped her out in terms of shoes and gear. In fact, Nike gave her roughly $20,000 worth of items from the archives.
Alright, so that’s some of the fashion from Straight Outta Compton. In my opinion, the purpose of fashion in this film was to help demonstrate how distinct these musicians were from the general norm. Back then, rap and hip hop were not as popular as they are today. So N.W.A had to differentiate themselves from the norm and show what they were about. And fashion was a way for them to do that. Fashion was a way for them to show how badass they were.
As hip hop and rap became more popular, so did their look. The hip-hop style became rather mainstream in the 90s, and we can still even see some people wearing that look today. So Eazy, Ice Cube and Dre became trendsetters back then, and their trend never fully faded. Of course, you don’t see this look everywhere. But you do see it. Lately I’ve even been seeing girls wear some hip-hop style snapbacks. Just look at Khloe Kardashian wearing a Compton Snapback only 1 week after Straight Outta Compton was released. Coincidence? I think not. Have you guys noticed anything like that?
Below you can find some of the items that were worn by the characters in the film and by the actual members of N.W.A (including the snapback worn by Khloe). If you want to see more clothing items from the movie, click here!
References: Universal Pictures Images
FASHION UNRAVELED 