Afros are back!!

[Leanmean]

At least they are here in the U.S. I guess it was only a matter of time before the 70's style of dress that the white kids are going through, e.g., hip-huggers, bell bottoms and platform shoes, would cross over to the black kids. The 'fro is mostly worn by young boys and teen boys. The 25 and over men are still wearing twists, dreads, shaved heads and those popular braids that start at the top of the head and go down the back of the head. (I don't know what that's called).



Funky Dude -- here you go! Next we'll see the comeback of the pimp mobile, diamond in the back, sunroof top...

[HustleBaby]

[quote]

On 2001-12-19 08:53, Leanmean wrote:

At least they are here in the U.S. I guess it was only a matter of time before the 70's style of dress that the white kids are going through, e.g., hip-huggers, bell bottoms and platform shoes, would cross over to the black kids. The 'fro is mostly worn by young boys and teen boys. The 25 and over men are still wearing twists, dreads, shaved heads and those popular braids that start at the top of the head and go down the back of the head. (I don't know what that's called).



Leanmean,

I've seen young black guys wearing fros for about four years now. It seems like when Snoop Dogg started sportin' a Sylvers-sized

afro, the guys in the hood adapted to it. In the Village, I've noticed black people sporting fros back in the early 90's. Since people in the Village go by the beat of their own drum, you would see fros in all sizes from (Lenny Kravitz to Angela Davis). I don't wear a fro but I've been wearing bell-bottom pants, platform sandals, hip huggers, dashikis, crocheted duster coats etc...since 1990 and I know some other girls who wore the same fashions as well. So this crossover thing that you're talking about is the other way around. Some of us in the hood been wearing 70's fashions way before Vogue magazine and the masses made it popular. Those braids that start from the top of the head and going back is called "cornrows".



*DISCO DELIGHT*

[Leanmean]

Hustle Baby, thanks for opening my eyes! My world is fairly small because I live in a small town -- yes, Orlando is SMALL! See my replies in brackets.



[quote]

On 2001-12-19 19:09, HustleBaby wrote:



Leanmean,

I've seen young black guys wearing fros for about four years now. [We're a little slow down here in Orlando!]



It seems like when Snoop Dogg started sportin' a Sylvers-sized afro, the guys in the hood adapted to it. [The only image I've seen of Snoop Dogg is on those "Behind the Music" shows and he has cornrows. I guess I am "Behind the Times"!]



In the Village, I've noticed black people sporting fros back in the early 90's. Since people in the Village go by the beat of their own drum, you would see fros in all sizes from (Lenny Kravitz to Angela Davis).

[We don't have any funky places like the Village in Orlando. My main contact with black people is the women I work with, who don't ascribe to the 'fro style. One of them told me the 'fro had BEEN back! The only time I noticed it was when I made it a point to look as I passed through a historically black section of town on my way to work. Gee, what does this say about Orlando or me, for that matter?!]



I don't wear a fro but I've been wearing bell-bottom pants, platform sandals, hip huggers, dashikis, crocheted duster coats etc...since 1990 and I know some other girls who wore the same fashions as well. [I WISH I could get away with wearing a headdress and dashiki because they look so striking on black folks, but with my lily white-assed skin, I'd look like a total poser. In other words, I'm jealous.]



So this crossover thing that you're talking about is the other way around. Some of us in the hood been wearing 70's fashions way before Vogue magazine and the masses made it popular. [I should have known! Just like disco began in the black community and gays embraced it as our own, so the clothing styles have been initiated from the black community for the past 20 years!]



Those braids that start from the top of the head and going back is called "cornrows". [I thought that might be what they are called. But today's cornrows don't look like the ones I remember from the 70's. That's not saying much because we all know by now that my memory is fuzzy! Apparently, I live a VERY sheltered life! Thanks again for the wake up call!]



[Getting "DEEP" for a minute, with all the wonderful culture that the black community has brought to the white community for the past four centuries, I don't understand why there is still such a separation.]

[HustleBaby]

[quote]

On 2001-12-20 08:44, Leanmean wrote:

Hustle Baby, thanks for opening my eyes! My world is fairly small because I live in a small town -- yes, Orlando is SMALL!



Leanmean,

From what I've been told, Orlando is one of the most popular cities for tourists in Florida. It was always categorized with Tampa and Fort Lauderdale. I've visited Florida about seven years ago and that was in Miami. So my question is "How small is Orlando"?



*DISCO DELIGHT*

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: HustleBaby on 2001-12-20 21:10 ]</font>

[HustleBaby]

[quote]

On 2001-12-20 08:44, Leanmean wrote:



But today's cornrows don't look like the ones I remember from the 70's. That's not saying much because we all know by now that my memory is fuzzy! Apparently, I live a VERY sheltered life! Thanks again for the wake up call!]



I guess with any fashion or hairstyle that is reborn, it will most likely have some creativity or something odd thrown in to make it fresh. For example, todays youth have all kinds of intricate cornrow patterns:

zig-zag, swirls, mazes, ram-horns etc..

Unfortunately, todays youth refuse to admit that they like some of the fashions from the 70s. So they'll add something different or even change the names (ex.bell-bottom/bootleg

pants) to made it likeable for their generation.



*DELIGHTFUL*

[Leanmean]

from Hustle Baby



So my question is "How small is Orlando"?

I've been trying to find statistical data about O'Town without devoting a lot of time to it, but I couldn't find anything on just Orlando! Here is population info on Orange County which includes Orlando and several other cities and municipalities. Even that info is not the most recent and that's right off the county's webpage!



"The population of Orange County, including municipalities, was estimated at 757,897 in 1995. The 1990 census shows the total population at 677,491. The census indicated that 79.6% of Orange County's population was white, 15.2% black, 9.3% Hispanic, 2.1% Asian, 0.3% Native American, and 2.8% from other races. The population distribution by sex is almost equal, 49.6% male and 50.4% female. The median age is 32."



I couldn't even find anything on geographical boundaries or square miles!



We have a few cultural things, but we pride ourselves on letting the Florida Symphony Orchestra go belly up several years ago and supporting spectator sports instead. We built the Orlando O'rena for that purpose, but now it seems we've grown tired of even sports. We are in the midst of trying to have an "arts district," but we've been in that midst for years with still no definable results except for a studio here and there, here a theatre, there a theatre (in a rented room or store if you can call THAT a theatre!) -- well, it's growing little by little.



Disney World is actually not in Orlando. It is near Kissimmee in what was once the boonies. Good marketing put Orlando on the map, that's all.



Our economy is fueled by low-paying service jobs ala Disney, the hotels, retail and restaurants. These are the first jobs to feel the economic downturn and we've had a gazillion lay-offs.



We are certainly on no par with New York, Chicago, San Fran. In fact to even put us in the same sentence is ludacrous!



I remember being completely shocked when I saw my first homeless person in Orlando back in the early 1990s. Then, just a couple of years ago, I was again shocked to find out that some of our neighborhoods have gangs! A lot of us were shocked. We don't have segregated streets by burroughs or burgs here in O'Town. What streets would they try to defend as their "turf"? Well, now we have all the high drug crime of a big city!

We have our share of the worst things of a big city, but not exactly the best things.

[Funky Dude]

Wow! It's good to know the funky afro hairstyle has made a good comeback. Even where I live in Australia I see the occasional person with an afro hairstyle. It's kinda ironic that modern groups are resampling 70's funk and disco and at the same time the fashion of the 70's has made a great comeback, I guess we can say the 70's is the greatest era of music and fashion.

[funkg]

i see some guys in london wearing 'fro's some are still leaving the afro comb in there too, daft but then i used to do crazy things like this when i was a teen. most young black guys are wearing the cornrow style tilting towards the glam ghetto fab look, possibly due to the UK speed garage seen which covets the bling bling look