20 Jan 2015

The past festive holidays had one outstanding fashion statement; a fancy floral hat in a variety of designs, casually worn by teenagers and youths aged below 30. 

Karma has a strange way of dealing with life. Back in the days, this fitting hat was referred to as a sporty originally worn by tennis players and later sdori in customized street lingo. Nowadays the hip hop generation calls it a bucket hat and given the noise it has raised, one would think it is a novel concept. 

Although bucket hats have a hip hop heritage, for instance through LL Cool Jay, in this part of the world it is a trend only visible within the kwaito society. 

The sporty or sdori was popular in the 1990s, popularized by the kwaito acts across borders such as Alaska, Trompies, and locally T.H.A.B.O of The Untshwarable fame among others. 2014 saw the comeback of the bucket hat with US hip hop act Schoolboy Q single handedly being responsible for its return to the game and style. 

This hat gear made an appearance on his Hoover Street music video.  Thereafter neighborly hip hop acts Casper Nyovest and K.O also made a cameo in their musical hit videos.

T.H.A.B.O says the sdori days are over as the hip hop society has taken over and made it stylish and fashionable. Back then, T.H says a sporty hat was only associated with manyora and it did not have the stylish fashion trend that it carries now. 

Now that the hip hop society has taken over this little phenomenal accessory, T.H says it is not suprising as in this part of the world the hip hop world is influenced by kwaito sounds. Evidently so in hit tracks like Caracara by K.O, Casper’s hit makers Phumakim and Doc Shebeleza, Run Jozi by AKA, one can identify elements of kwaito rhythms. 

A bucket hat has proved to be a fashion statement to be reckoned and the in accessory to date.

People find it easy and comfortable to enhance their attires with a bucket hat. Even at weddings and events you would spot a stylishly smoking hot brother clad in their slim cut swagger suits and at the same time with a bucket hat on. Even the girly glamour type to your typical tomboy swagger girls are so into the bucket hat.

This trendy fashion item is not only daytime friendly but can seamlessly transit to night life because of its various colourful designs. Also there are those that can be worn during rainy days, similar to those featured in Iggy Azalea’s Clueless music video.

Amazing also about bucket hats is that they are reversible; making it convenient and easier to grab on the go and spot it on the other side if it is messy and you really have to cover your head and accessorize. 

Fashion expert Taes Entaile says any fashionable item owes its popularity and massive popularity on how the product has been re branded and packaged and presented as well as positioning the item with current fashion trends. 

“In the case of the bucket hat, it retraces its popularity from the old sporty trend of the manyora era,” Taes says.  And therefore, he enlightens that with more celebrities wearing it and making it absolutely up-to-the-minute must have item it boomed terrifically. 

Taes goes to clarify that during the old school sporty days, then came in kangol hats but they were not as huge and phenomenal in the market like the bucket hats now.

Despite the revolution of sporty hats, T.H.A.B.O says they as manyora and kwaito lads remain loyal to their headgear. He says they would rather wear the bucket hats the old way they know how; that is folding in the brims of the hat and thus getting the feel of their old school sporty or sdori as they refer to it. ENDS