dallaspenn.com

Even tho’ Eric B ran with a mob of dudes from Walt Whitman Houses (Fort Greene projects) including the O.G. Fifty Cent his style of fly apparel was that of a Harlem paper chaser. Polo, Bally and Fila was how the Brooklyn cats got dipped. The above pictured Dapper Dan Gucci ensemble was the shit you saw on the backs of the drug dealers from Uptown.

You see, the pushers were the only dudes who could afford these tailormade outfits. Gucci, MCM, YSL and Louis Vuitton (actually back then LV wasn’t even the shit) were expensive enough in the flagship 5th Avenue stores but you couldn’t find any XL or XXL pieces. So Dapper Dan started his customizing business and it became synonymous with Harlem’s swagger.

Years later Gucci’s lead designer Tom Ford would swagger jack the streets when he designed the all-over monogram jackets that would bring the company back into prominence. It’s a curious tradeoff that the streets give to high end designers. The streets believe these rags ascribe affluence. The rag dealers also want the credibility and the desire of the streets.