The third in a series by Hassle writer Anna Hoang celebrating legendary costume designer Ruth E. Carter, recipient of the 2023 Coolidge Award. Catch up with the previous installments here, here, and here, and be sure to check out the Coolidge’s accompanying repertory series!
Where social media goes, fashion accounts follow. Where fashion accounts follow, I’m lagging a few blocks behind. A part of me is reluctant to be swayed by today’s trends, proven to be impermanent and yet the strongest determinant of a person’s passion for fashion. But at some point in everyone’s wardrobe cycle, people reach the stage of maturation not when they no longer care, but when they are able to nail down their look for life. Fashion is not the clothes so much as it is how it’s worn.
Watching New York, an Instagram account run by the “people’s paparazzi” Johnny Cirillo, is a fascinating vérité on unexpected efforts from people who might not be expecting the attention. Forget the minimalist backdrop of a West Elms apartment studio; see how those pants flow while jaywalking or if the top can endure crowds. Even if it’s beyond the realm of what I would consider wearing, it’s fun to celebrate people who try. That’s fashion to me.
Before I share fit-inspo from Carter’s collection, I would be remiss not to mention the colorful ecosystem of Brooklyn in Do the Right Thing. The neighborhood’s rising divisions on a sweltering summer day can make for difficult costume stability, especially as the cast are sweating in between takes. Carter noted that, while Nike’s sponsorship took care a lot of the budget, she had issues with the colorways, which she thought were too bright for Brooklyn at the time. It’s hard to imagine these characters in any other chromatic scheme; when I think of distinctive styles in this time period, it’s Mookie’s Dodgers jersey, the zigzag-patterned loose fits against the muted math polos that separate generational cliques, and Mister Señor Love Daddy’s Afro-inspired workwear at the radio station. While the baggy muscle tanks/5-inch inseam combo regrettably has not caught onto mainstream menswear, it’s safe to say that the film hosts some iconic looks. One, notably: Radio Raheem. Even though it contains little layers and uncomplicated cuts, the “BEDSTUY DO OR DIE” shirt that Carter has custom-made at a local vendor, the LOVE-HATE knuckle rings, and a large Techsonic boombox to befit such a stature (Google has Bill Nunn pinned at almost 6’4″), Radio Raheem’s simple look is a head-turner.
On the flip side, meticulous detail was placed into the costume design for 2021’s Coming 2 America, the sequel in which the fictional country of Zamunda collides with Queens once again. After the success of Black Panther (she had to stress to the cast and crew of C2A that this movie was not going to be the same), Carter recruited nearly forty designers around the world to help craft costumes for Zamundan royalty and their children, some of which represents the second generation of New York and African style, and surrounding figures. The results: 800-something costumes, where at least 90% of them were custom-made from designers based from LA to Lagos. There are a lot of stunners, from Meeka’s practice combat outfit reflecting the colors of the Zamunda flag to Bopoto’s gold-cage dress. However, Lavelle’s city swagger (played by Jermaine Fowler) is equally met by his Italian-renaissance-tapestry dashiki and Pan-African Puma jacket, which belong both on the streets and on the stairs of the Met Gala.
But as it is with street fashion, you might see an outfit that catches your eye, only for it to disappear around the corner and perhaps never to be seen again (at least, if Cirillo didn’t take a picture of it already). With little context, these are some outfits I’d think about if I saw them in the streets:
Featured films:
Do the Right Thing (1989) dir. Spike Lee
Coming 2 America (2021) dir. Craig Brewer
The Great White Hype (1996) dir. Reginald Hudlin
Summer of Sam (1999) dir. Spike Lee
Dolemite is My Name (2019) dir. Craig Brewer
I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) dir. Keenen Ivory Wayans
Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014) dir. Spike Lee
Shaft (2000) dir. John Singleton
