Hip-hop, a subculture which originated among the African-American youth in New York and which has since spread worldwide, that among other things is associated with rap music, saw its fashion go mainstream in the mid Nineties. As the fashions became mainstream, hip hop rappers in particular started teaming up with designers and creating their own brands of clothing.
The Head
The baseball cap was, and is, a common item worn on the head. Previously, they had been worn back to front; now they were being worn the right way round again. The baseball cap should be branded to some degree; American sports teams are a favourite. An alternative pieces of headgear was what is called a do-rag, a piece of cloth or a headscarf that would be wrapped around the head and integrated with the hairstyle.
The Body
Tracksuits were popular all over body wear, but baggy clothes of one description or another were popular in 90s hip hop rapper fashion. For one thing, baggy clothes made it easier to perform the dances associated with hip hop culture, and thus tended to be worn even by those who weren’t dancing. Jeans, if worn, would be baggy. Jackets such as bomber jackets , baseball jackets (the lettered jackets worn in American schools) and Baja jackets, which had a hood and a single large front pocket.
Overalls, camouflage pants, chinos and khaki pants also became popular, with clothing from later in the decade tending to be less baggy than that from earlier in it.
Accessories
The primary accessory of the hip hop rapper is jewellery. This tends to be big and chunky. Heavy and thick chains would be worn around the neck. These would often come with pendants, also big and chunky, with dollar signs being popular as the emphasis on wealth increased.
Other jewellery would be watches, bracelets and rings. These are often heavily encrusted with diamonds. For a costume, such things will be far too expensive, even those that are simply gold rather than diamond encrusted gold, so fake and costume jewellery is needed. The bigger and tackier looking the better.