The early 90s style is making a comeback
A popular fashion trend sweeping the country right now is the comeback of the snapback hat.
The snapback hat is the same as a normal fitted cap, but instead of specific sizes, it has a row of small adjustable snaps on the back making the hat wearable by just about everyone. Made popular during the 80s and early 90s, they eventually fell out of style in favor of fitted caps in the late 90s. The trend did not start to regain popularity until the late 2000s with hip-hop artists like Wiz Khalifa, Chris Brown and Mac Miller. NBA players also have been seen donning this headwear.
New Era, which is the official on-field cap of Major League Baseball, started producing its version of the snapback hats, called 9FIFTY, in early 2010, according to Assistant Unit Manager Sarah Knotts. She continued, saying that they shipped the 9FIFTY hats to stores in June 2010 to be sold alongside New Era’s fitted caps, 59FIFTY.
Many at Georgia College have caught on to this fashion trend for many different reasons. Some students rock the snapbacks because of the cheaper prices.
“I only buy vintage ones that I find at yard sales and The Salvation Army,” said senior history major Adam Greene. “My American flag snapback is completely covered with the flag and says USA under the bill. Aside from getting saluted and generous props on wearing it, I feel like it sends a message to others that I have a refined taste for things that are vintage and therefore awesome.”
The vintage style appeals to a lot of snapback fans, but some tend to lean more toward name brands like New Era, Mitchell & Ness and others. Senior computer science major Zack Lockhart owns many snapback hats from both New Era and Mitchell & Ness.
“After I saw several hip-hop icons wearing them, I’m sure that sparked the idea in my head,” Lockhart said. “The first one I bought, I bought because of the vintage look. I really like the vintage script and just really like the feel over a fitted.”
Although the snapback hat is making a strong comeback, some people will always sport the fitted caps no matter what.
“(Fitted caps) is just what I grew up with,” said senior exercise science major Brandon Goodwin. “There was a time when I would literally never leave home if I didn’t have my fitted Yankees hat. I never really thought to buy a snapback.”
Like anything in fashion, the continued popularity of the snapback proves to be a difficult thing to measure and predict.
“(Snapbacks) could be hot for another one to three years, or it could evolve and become a secondary silhouette to the 59FIFTY,” Knotts said.
The ebb and flow of the popularity of the snapbacks can possibly be attributed to who is wearing them. In the early 90s when snapbacks were gaining popularity, Tupac Shakur, one of the more popular musical icons of that era, was seen wearing snapbacks both in public and in his videos.
The trend is even seen and heard in popular music with Jay-Z wearing one in the music video for “Otis,” and Tyga even preforming a song called “Snapbacks Back.”
At the end of the day this fascination with snapbacks could just be another thing to fall victim to the cyclical nature of fashion. Many fashion trends can simply be attributed to what designers tell us is fashionable, or they can just be what different celebrities decide to wear at that particular time. We, in this modern society, just want and demand things to change simply because we get bored with what is there. But for the time being, snapbacks are going to be perched atop the heads of rappers, sports stars and college students everywhere.
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