In the mid-90’s, my parents sent
me to a boarding high school in Claremont, California. A bunch of kids with no
parental oversight, teenage hormones and time. It generally always meant trouble.
On Halloween, a group of us decided to dress up, sneak off campus, and go
Trick’or’Treating. What better place to pick than the upscale Blaisdell Ranch
community about one mile from our campus, with large million dollar homes and
assuredly plenty of candy.
After visiting ten homes where we
received dirty looks and little loot, we chose one last house at the end of a
cul-de-sac before deciding to call it quits. At this point, we had become a
seriously obnoxious group of costumed teenagers. We rang the doorbell, and an
army of dogs began to bark. A large man as wide as a truck answered the door
who looked less than pleased. The man took one look at us and told us to get
off the property. A ballsy kid among us who had snuck a few beers before our
adventure perched himself in the doorway and demanded candy. Wrong move. He was
picked up by his collar and was just about to get thrown half way to the moon,
when another voice from the foyer said “What’s going on here?” I looked up and
saw a ridiculously tall man fill the doorframe, with high cheekbones, and the
largest plaid shirt I have ever seen. In a very calm voice he told us we had
better move on our way or we were going to be introduced to his dogs. It was
Snoop Dogg.
Walking down his driveway, I
turned back for a moment to look at him, and saw a little smile on his face. From
that moment on, I followed the Doggfather and formed a love for west coast
gangsta rap, Dobermans, and his blatant, in-your-face fashion. Now that I am
done with my trip down memory lane, grab your Gin ‘n’ Juice, and let’s take a
walk down fashion lane with the Snoop.
Snoop Dogg jumped
into the scene in the early 90’s wearing a mixture of west coast gangster and preppy
nerd. His getup, which can be seen in videos like Who Am I (What’s My Name?) included
super-oversized plaid shirts buttoned to the top button, flat-billed ball caps,
Dickies® baggy pants, and Adidas®, Converse® or Nike® Jordan shoes. He
distinguished himself with his extreme height and braided pigtails like a six
year old girl. His style was an
overnight success and adamantly followed. When Snoop co-hosted an episode of
Saturday Night Live in 1995 in his signature Tommy Hilfiger® plaid shirt, that
exact shirt sold out the following day.
Snoop had a debonair
fashion sense that showed itself early. He was often seen arriving to award
shows like the Soul Train awards and the American Music Awards, in sleek flat
caps often worn by touring English gentleman. Snoop wasn’t touring the countryside,
he was touring the world as one of the most popular rap artists on the planet
with a quadruple platinum album. Snoop began to embrace a more pimp attitude
about his fashion, and began to show up in oversized Louis Vuitton® or Gucci®
suits, a tradition he has carried on to this day.
As the millennium came upon us, Snoop’s style
went into full-swing. The award-winning video, Beautiful, features another west coast rapper staple in full
effect, the throwback jersey, such as found at Mitchell and Ness®. In this video, Snoop is wearing a Lance
Alworth San Diego Charger jersey with his signature number, 19. Snoop also pays
homage to his home town by wearing a black wife beater with “Long Beach”
printed on the front, something you will see throughout his career. My favorite
is the suave touch of an orange and white houndstooth Fedora with a pale blue satin
band, as was produced by labels like Calvin Klein® and Ralph Lauren® at the
time. Pure class. Snoop has been known to spend big money on customized Fedoras
as an essential piece of his style.
As the 2000’s wore
on, Snoop Dogg became known for wild outfits and unique style choices. He has
been seen wearing everything from raccoon ears to a kilt (yes, a kilt. MTV
European Music awards in 2007). One thing Snoop knows best is fur. Outlandish,
and politically incorrect, Snoop arrived to many a gala, from the Spike TV Video
Game Awards to the Grammy’s, wearing a huge fur coat. He donned a fur hoodie
during his video Drop It Like it’s Hot.
He has been seen in chinchilla, fox, and lamb; fur-lined caps to floor-length
coats. His stylists were known for scouting out fur clothing all over the world
and were frequenters of Bizakis Furs in Orange County.
The key to arriving
to any event in Doggystyle is to wear sunglasses, and killer accessories. His
sunglasses have ranged from the urban Serious Pimp® Godfather sunglasses (Snoops
own clothing and accessories label) to lux labels like Gucci®, Versace® and
Armani Exchange®. He would wear infamous Rolex® watches on both wrists, and
even funkier styles such as the Nooka® Zub Zot watch, or an MTV xCaliber
bracelet made from melted down guns.
In
reverence of his new name, Snoop Lion has been seen wearing a King Ice Lion
medallion decked out in CZ brilliance as can be seen in his new Reggae-flavored
video No Guns Allowed, a song that
has completely changed Snoop’s image and message. Snoop also has an eye for unique accessories and hip hop jewelry.
He has paid hundreds of dollars on custom made canes from Deborah Harrison. He took
the mundane television broadcasters mic flag and made his own decadent version
in gold and platinum from King Ice®, embedded with a Lion. Snoop was never
afraid to pay a little cash to achieve the
perfect hood ornament.
After seven platinum records, it
is hard to remember that Snoop Dogg is still in his early 40’s. He still has a lot of music producing to do,
and a lot of time to turn heads with his evolving style. As all good pop icons
do, he is heading in a new direction, now as Snoop Lion, a Rastafarian with a
passion for causes. His style continues to baffle and amaze people with his
fluctuation between outlandish costumes to tailored elegance. As for me, he will always remain Snoop Dogg,
the six foot five man standing in the doorway, smiling at a bunch of crazy teenagers.
But with his dedication to fashion and success, I don’t think I will have any trouble
keeping my mind on the Snoop, and the Snoop on my mind.
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