How to Rock Hip Hop Jewelry

How to Rock Hip Hop Jewelry

Hip-hop jewelry has always been about status and swagger. It’s about demonstrating how much wealth you have to flex and how ostentatious you’re willing to get with your persona. Jewelry offers a way to talk loud without saying anything. But you have to know what you’re doing, and you have to be able to back up your swagger. Here’s how you can rock hip-hop jewelry with confidence.

Make Things Custom

Hip-hop fashion is about showing how much money you have, but it’s also about showing off who you are. Custom pieces help distinguish your look and set you apart from all the other interchangeable bling and chunky chains in the club.

For a rapper like 2 Chainz, going custom means working directly with your personal jeweler, but there are more sensible and attainable options for everyone else. Names have always been a common motif in hip-hop jewelry. Only go with your own name if you really want to boast. More likely, it should be the name of a close or lost loved one.

But there’s plenty of room to get more creative with custom pieces. From photos to personal art designs, there are plenty of affordable ways to use a jeweler’s template and still end up with something distinctly your own.

Stack Your Chains

Whether we’re talking bracelets or necklaces, just a single piece of jewelry is often not enough where hip-hop jewelry is concerned. It’s good to have a strong centerpiece to anchor your stack, but a layer of different chains is necessary if you really want your core piece of jewelry to pop.

It’s important to mix things up here, on both the wrist and around the neck. Lengths of different sizes, shapes, materials, and textures will add texture to your look. Feel free to get creative — mixing chunky chains with thinner models and employing a mix of platinum, gold, and white gold as your inspiration demands.

Look to Inspiration

There’s no one way to wear hip-hop jewelry. Instead, there are countless different styles that reflect the rappers, influencers, and producers who are working in the game today. If you still aren’t sure where to start, pick a rapper with a style you dig and let it be your reference point. A simple flick through XXL will reveal a whole lot of options available to you.

Know the Earring Options

Earrings are practically a prerequisite for both men and women. For guys, the standards are simple. Go with a stud, and make it as opulent as you can afford. Big diamonds are the expectation here, though there’s some leverage in how extravagant you want to go. That said, we’re seeing more hip-hop heads get creative with styles like huggie hoops and 3D cubes.

Ladies have a lot more flexibility. Big earrings are always in with hip-hop fashion, with large hoops being a standard choice for just about anyone. But you can get a lot of mileage out of larger statement pieces that can be used to anchor your entire look.

Make it Your Own

Using someone else’s style as your inspiration is a good idea, but letting it rule your entire sense of style forever is something to be avoided. Let other looks guide you, but make sure that you’re learning what works and what doesn’t — and don’t be afraid to experiment for the sake of entertaining new options.

Fortunately, you won’t run out of options when shopping for hip-hop jewelry. Just be sure that you’re working with a legit retailer with a reputation that you know you can depend on.