In the light of a fashion explosion in diversity, a new dominant style, or rather styles coming from the same place, has arrived in the teenage dressing scene. Brand names now determine fashion more than ever for teenagers, becoming an entire outfit change rather than just the brand tag with the same design. The new dominant style which is replacing the likes of Ralph Lauren Polo and Tommy Hilfiger is urban wear. Originating from the cities, streets, and offices, urban wear brings to many teens in the outer city areas a new way to look.

One of the fastest growing markets is mountain sport bookbags. It's not that mountain climbing has become a popular sport all of a sudden, but the influence of city goers wearing big bookbags with lots of straps and pockets have caught the attention of suburban youths who have replaced their Jansport or preppy bookbags with hiking bags such as The North Face and Mountain Smith. Are they more comfortable? Perhaps, because these bookbags were made for long walks, which are very possible in some schools. However, they don't look good on anyone, especially not on girls, and they are larger than necessary.

Another style that has stemmed from urban wear is deconstructive dressing. The color grey is the hottest color these days and shades of it as well as the classic black and white solids are becoming mainstream. Simple designs without the stripes, pictures, or words can give anyone a classy city-look. Designers such as A|X and DKNY are at the head of this trend and though boring in uniqueness, it's still very stylish.

City wear has produced very influential pants. Skaters a few years ago wore their JNCO's to do their thing while making wide bottoms popular among the teenage population. After that was played out, the old school b-boy style got its chance with baggy, but not as wide legged pants. Nowadays, cargo pants are most popular, though most of its pockets are useless. Along with that, many ravers, people who do movements with their hands and body at parties, have embraced huge 20+ inch bottoms that resemble a dress more than pants. These pants are supposed to give ravers more room when they perform. Dress pants are also becoming a fad. Instead of being only worn on special occassions and taken off as soon as the chance arrives, dress pants, when they are a big baggy and matched well with a shirt, looks very nice. Many suburban teenagers have taken the city pants wear and made it a part of their own style.

Other styles have come from urban wear, but are for niche groups. Many hip-hop fans can be found wearing goggles or ski masks these days because of the influence city rappers have on them. FUBU (For Us By Us), urban wear established by African-Americans, fit black youths very well with its bold colored clothes. Tommy Hilfiger is still strong, though declining, and jewelry, an essential part of urban wear, has become popular with bracelets, necklaces, and rings on both guys and girls.

The traditional preppy wear and jock wear will remain part of the teenage scene, but with cheaper, yet stylish urban wear, teenagers have a new way to clad themselves.

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