Back in 2012, Kanye West made the skirt-wearing trend cool among celebs after he rocked a skirt with leather pants during the "Watch The Throne" tour, and other celebs have been spotted in a similar style including Diddy, Chad Ochocinco, Vin Diesel and A$AP Rocky.
This week, actor Omar Epps joined in the trend after he made an appearance on The View wearing a blazer with black pants and a skirt. And of course there were folks who had something to say about it, including Brand Nubian's Lord Jamar.
He wrote on Twitter:
So now OMAR EPPS has joined the SKIRT GANG??? Say it sint so!!! Old heads suppose to know better. Wish I could say I photo shopped these pics of dudes in skirts to try & fool ya'll b.u.t. They're actually wearing them. Smh.
What's funny is @omarepps new show "Resurrection" looks interesting & was on my radar to watch especially cause he's in it. #whytheskirt? I still might check it out, although we gotta let these SELL OUTS know we not supporting them when they cross enemy lines. We need to start putting these CLOWNS on trial for crimes against humanity! Just like they did with complicit Nazi ' s .
Meanwhile, Omar didn't take the criticism too lightly, and he took to Instagram to explain his decision to wear the skirt by posting a photo of men in an African tribe wearing traditional dresses, with the caption:
It's sad that we as African-Americans are so disconnected from our true roots, our heritage & our lineage that most can't see the forest for the trees. For me, it's about celebrating and honoring our ancestral history thru actions. I walk on the shoulders of the ancients. And we've become so disconnected from our African roots that we give credit to others (who came long after) for "creating" that of which was our natural culture to begin with. We should embrace our history and be proud of our heritage! #FactsOverFashionStatements #RealityCrushesPerception #3rdEyeClarity
Lord Jamar snapped back:
So now n—as wanna flip it & bounce it & act like they was doin some AFRICAN sh–t…yeah ok! GTFOH If that's what u was doin @omarepps then u should have verbally stated that when they made u stand up & model for them. Ya'll ain't NEVER talkin bout AFRICA any other time now that a conscious artist calls u out u wanna fall back on the MOTHER LAND. Fashion makes a STATEMENT, this is why is called a FASHION STATEMENT. ..duh. What STATEMENT are we making in skirts? What may have been CULTURALLY ACCEPTABLE thousands of years ago is no longer the case. TODAY the CULTURAL ARCHETYPE is that skirts & anything resembling them are for women. PERIOD! I am well informed Mr. @omarepps let's not even play these games. Dude tried to act like he was taking some intellectual high road. SmhI & all people with intelligence reject ur explanation @omarepps When we wear close we are often trying to SEDUCE someone, we want them to be attracted to us by what we have on…who u trying to attract?
This isn't the first time Lord Jamar has spoken out against men wearing skirts. Last year, after Kanye performed in a skirt for the Hurricane Sandy Benefit Concert, Lord Jamar released a track called "Lift Up Your Skirt." He later explained the lyrics, by saying that he was speaking out against the feminization of black men in Hip Hop.
First of all, it's not just jabs at Kanye West. It's anybody promoting the feminization of the black man in hip-hop culture. Anybody that I see out there, rocking dresses and all of that type of sh*t, I might shoot a jab at. But Kanye is one of the ones right now that's representing that movement. He's one of the first ones that you see in a skirt. Now you got other people following suit and rocking full-out dresses or they're trying to rock kilts. We're not Irish. We're not Europeans. Rocking kilts and all that is just another excuse to introduce that skirt style. You understand what I'm saying? And I'm not with it. This has nothing to do with sexuality, who they choose to be with and all that, I'm not even talking about that. I'm talking specifically about, what is hip-hop? And that's not hip-hop. Rocking dresses with mean faces, that's not hip-hop."
Omar Epps isn't the only one who's taken it back to his African roots recently with the skirt attire. A few weeks ago, Mos Def, who has moved to Capetown, South Africa, emerged wearing a skirt that he later revealed was a "wrap from Ghana."
Is men wearing skirts fashion-forward or fashion faux pas?
