Because WE Were Broke

Okay, I get it.
The kids are just trying to be cool.
Like leather jackets and jeans in the 50's,
Hippies in the 60's,
Afros and Dashiki's in the 70's,
the Punk Rock look of the 80's,
the Grunge look of the 90's - today's kids are just just making the statement that they are not of their parent's generation.

But why emulate a "poor" ghetto culture?
Because "cool" comes from the poor.
When has an established dominant culture created a new trend?

Slabbin' Pants
We used to pull our pants down low to enable us to prevent the detection of our pants being too short by school year's end. We didn't get new clothes because we outgrew them - we had to play it off the best way we knew how. No one wanted to be called out for "flooding".

Over Sized Shirts
Again, the product of necessity.
We often wore hand-me-downs.
When an older brother outgrew his clothes, they might still be a little big for his younger sibling.
But these big shirts also covered the fact that one had his pants pulled down past his hips.

Corn Rows and Short Hair
Back in the day, one wore a Shag (a Black version of the Mullet), or a curl.
But these styles require money to maintain.
To save money - we would just cut off almost all of our hair and place small lines and parts in strategic places to imitate a hairstyle.
If this was not an option - one's sister (or a girl down the block) could always be called on to plat ones naps.

White T's and Wife Beaters
Because they were cheap.
Any Swap Meet (Flea Market) sells three to five shirts for ten dollars.
And they match any jeans or Dickies.

Dickies
They were cheap and held a crease.
With a white dress shirt they could pass for a nice pair of Khakis.

Cons (or Chucks)
These shoes offered no support but they often acted as ghetto cross-trainers.
After a few hours at the local sandlots, open fields or basketball courts - one understands why they invented today's modern designs.
But these too were cheap.

I only lived in the hood until I was eight (and again for two years after my mom divorced my step-dad from the ages of 14-16.). The other half of my childhood was spent in the suburban hillsides of a small California desert town.
But those years spent in the hood enabled me to handle most situations.
Those years in the hood enabled me to interact with people who others might fear.
Today I laugh at the kids who feign poverty with ghetto styles with pants that cost more than my old wardrobe.
But I get it - they're just trying to be cool.