What is Los Angeles, if not an amalgam of cultures and ethnicities coming together to form the American dream? Everyone in Los Angeles has a goal, an aspiration, or a vision, and these create the engine that propels this city’s success.
From the film to the fashion industry, Los Angeles is constantly adapting and innovating, and the clothes its residents wear are no exception. What is a Los Angeles shirt? Does it have a distinct element that makes it unique on American soil, or is it simply one of Gildan’s, Berne’s, or Hanes T-shirts adopted by Californians? In the following lines, we will try to find the answer to these questions.
What Is a Los Angeles Shirt?
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The truth is that a Los Angeles shirt can be precisely what you need it to be. For some, it’s a comfortable T-shirt with relaxed fit properties and texts or messages inscribed on it reminiscent of the 90s hip-hop era.
For others, a Los Angeles shirt is all about bright colors and organic materials like wool or cashmere that give a unique twist on the Californian style. And for others, it is simply a couple of Hanes T-shirts. At Wordans.com you can find different styles of clothing items.
Why this difference of opinion? Because Los Angeles is an incredibly diverse city, each person may interpret the offerings of this place differently. For some people, Los Angeles is just about good food and exotic beaches like Santa Monica State Beach or Venice Beach, while for others, it is a place of luxury and wealth.
Some people think of Los Angeles as just Malibu and Sunset Boulevard, while others consider it just Silicon Valley and technological progress. Maybe that’s the charm of cities like Los Angeles and New York. You can find something for everyone here, and all goals have a chance to become a reality.
Los Angeles and Sports Fashion
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Look all around Los Angeles, and you’ll probably find a trace of sports influence in how people dress. And perhaps the sport with the most significant impact on the dress style of the city’s residents is basketball. From tank tops to baggy shorts and sneaker shoes, basketball culture is infiltrating every corner of the town and is practiced even by people who have no connection to sports or exercise.
But there is also a sports subculture in LA that is far superior to many American cities. Go to Venice Beach on any given day and notice the multitude of people jogging, doing outdoor yoga, or simply pulling weights in the outdoor gyms that have become a staple of the city’s beaches.
These people can wear tailored clothing made of specially designed performance-enhancing materials or simple merchandise like Hanes T-shirts. The clothing items of the LA residents are as diverse as any aspect of the city, and they mirror the cultural diversity in this land.
Is Los Angeles the Fashion Capital of the West Coast?
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It would not be wrong to consider this. In recent years, places like San Francisco and San Diego have begun to be true hubs of fashion innovation. Still, Los Angeles is ultimately huge and has the second-largest number of fashion designers in the United States, ranking only behind New York.
What can we find here?
We can find designer clothes or textile creations that fall more into the realm of art than in the world of day-to-day garments, as well as Gildan, Flexifit, Next Level, Puma, or Hanes T-shirts, explicitly created to meet the needs of every pocketbook.
But Los Angeles, after all, means risk and innovation, and the fashion industry here doesn’t lag. Today’s clothes created by LA fashion designers are bold and impressive, with embroidered and pastel patterns reminiscent of the glory years of the 60s.
And if you find a correlation between the two periods, then you’re on to something. LA was among the prominent places where the hippie movement spread, and the fashion for tie-dye shirts and cool, colorful linen shirts originated right here.
The Climate of Los Angeles and Fashion
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You can see many things in Los Angeles, but you will most likely never see a person wearing a warm winter jacket. The median annual temperature in Los Angeles hardly ever drops below 42°F, and days are generally warm and sunny all year round. Because of this, the Los Angeles fashion industry has historically focused chiefly on refreshing clothing instead of all-year garments specific to New York City.
LA is different from most places in the United States. People here don’t necessarily dress up expecting unpredictable weather; instead, they dress to make a statement. For some, that statement is bright, colorful, and expensive streetwear; for others, it’s nothing more than an acceptance of normalcy.
There are few cities in America where you’re as likely to see someone in a Versace T-shirt as in Hanes T-shirts. But perhaps that contrast is a small part of what makes LA an intriguing place to visit.
LA and Hip-Hop Fashion Culture
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We couldn’t end this article without talking a bit about the influence of hip-hop music on the American fashion industry, with Los Angeles probably being the most influential city in this musical genre.
Whereas in the 80s and early ’90s, the hip-hop fashion culture was represented by bucket hats and name-brand tracksuits, in the mid-90, things started to change, and the LA fashion style we have come to associate with the suburbs of this city began to take shape.
If we’re talking about the quintessential Los Angeles shirt, then we’re probably not thinking of Hanes T-shirts, but rather the baggy shirts are worn by Tupac or Snoop Dog. And this style has been preserved and adapted to this day.
Skater fashion, which is now a vast industry, can trace its popularity back to these 90’s clothing styles. In the present, the popularity of snapbacks, sleeveless t-shirts, or cropped tank tops can be traced back to those earlier days when innovation was king and controversy was mainstream.
