What is the age limit for streetwear?
Streetwear has been around for a long time, and has risen with specific brands being at the forefront of the trend for 10 or more years. We’ve all now grown up, or are growing up, so the question has been asked, Can you be too old for street wear?
First of all, there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to deciding what to wear. There are, however a few things you might want to consider, when you’re looking to put together any outfit.
When it comes to streetwear, there’s a few things you may want to think about. These are:
- Your age
- How youthful you are for your own age (outlook on life in general)
- How youthful you look for your age
- Your budget
- Your job
- Where you see yourself in life
- The occasions you wear streetwear
What Is Streetwear?
First of all, we should ask, what is streetwear, so we know what we’re talking about, to remove any doubt.
Streetwear is casual clothing, and is styled from street fashion, and spawned from lots of different sub cultures; From surf and skating in California, to music scenes such as hip hop and punk, as well as street fashions from key cities around the globe, in particular places like Tokyo and New York.
It came mostly from sportswear and sportswear brands, is usually oversized and baggy pieces, with a focus on laid back clothing like T-shirts, sweats, trainers and baseball caps.
In the last decade or so, luxury and high end brands have been created, and others which already existed, have adopted this style which has become increasingly popular. Terms like Luxe sportswear (aka luxury sportswear) were born.
At the high end we have brand’s like Off White, Comme Des Garcons and A Cold Wall. Then there’s the high end luxury fashion brands who’ve gone streetwear, with luxury brands such as Gucci, Versace, Saint Laurent and Valentino getting in on the trend. It’s fair to say a lot of streetwear is expensive designer brands one way or another.
There’s the old school affordable brands becoming street too, such as Adidas Originals, Kappa and Champion to name only a few. If you like things more toned down, Scandinavian style could be the route to go down, with brands like Acne Studios, NN07 and Norse Projects.
Are You Too Old?
Generally speaking, Streetwear is a young man’s game. If you’re a teen, or between 18 – 35 then you’re in the perfect age bracket for streetwear. As you get older, your style may evolved, due to your lifestyle or how you see yourself once you’re getting older.
You may want to start wearing more suits, dressing smarter in casual situations and there could be less opportunity to wear streetwear, depending on your lifestyle as you age.
How Young Do You Look (And Feel)
If you look young, and have a youthful appearance and feel like a young guy, you could carry off streetwear perfectly fine. If you’re like me, in your 30’s and still get asked for ID, you probably look young, and can get away with dressing younger.
If you’re dressing in your 20’s for casual wear and you can pull it off, streewear is cool. You also need to have a young personality, if you’re not comfortable wearing casual clothing, it’s not for you.
However if you look like you’re over 40, or you are over 40, then it’s possibly the time to stop wearing streetwear as your daily style, especially if you’re at a stage where you want to be taken seriously.
The Right Occasion For Streetwear
Just like every other style trend or decision you make when it comes to your clothing, when it comes to dressing well, the occasion or even plays a huge part of what to wear.
Streetwear is a super laid back and casual style of dress, so you can quite easily wear it if you’re young, during the day, particularly if you’re at school or college, or just roaming around the city. You can of course wear it while relaxing at home too, or any other relaxed and laid back setting.
It’s likely not going to be acceptable at work, and this is especially true as we get older. As we get older, we’re probably getting better jobs, and even if we’re not, we’re dressing older. We’re more mature guys, and want to have that mature look.
Dressing in your 30’s is particularly fun, as you’re out of the young 20’s but not in your 40’s, so you can still incorporate elements of young fashion into your style.
Your Budget And Keeping Up With Trends
Streetwear and brands move fast, there’s no doubt about it. When you’re wearing something cool this season, there’ll be a brand new ‘must have’ piece of streetwear next season. Since the trend is usually about logos or graphics, and wearing what’s cool, you’ll be able to see if someone is wearing the old, out of season design which was popular a year ago.
If you want the cool factor, get the latest gear and stay on trend, it will mean updating your wardrobe a lot, keeping on track with the latest releases, and have a budget to do so. A lot of the brands are expensive, so having the budget to keep up can be challenging.
This is the opposite of wearing premium essential items, where you can spend a lot of money on the best luxury staple items, however they will last for years, and are usually plain and timeless.
Toned Down Streetwear Is Cool
Streetwear comes in so many different forms. From huge logos and repeat patterns to bright bold colours, but that’s not where it ends. You can still rock some streetwear brands who are doing things a little more subtly.
Small graphics, small branding and logos and small wording is the key, and it’s gaining in popularity. The small heart Comme Des Garcons T Shirt could be perfectly fine and won’t look out of place on someone in their thirties.
If you love streetwear and want to wear it without looking out of place, get some basic pieces which you love such as tees, sweatshirts and denim, and ensure that the logos and branding is subtle and toned down.
Conclusion
Can you be too old for streetwear? Well, you can look too old, if you’re wearing the wrong pieces, at the wrong time, and you look really old. There is of course no age limit, but the key is to wear it on the right occasions, and choose the pieces you wear carefully.
It will be different for every guy, and only you’ll know if you feel too old for what you’re wearing.
Style is about showing off your personality, when we get older that can change, it all depends on how you see yourself.
For more information, check out the men’s fashion guide which shows off some easy tips to dress your best no matter what your personal style.
