So a skater dad of three in Portland, Jared, wants to help his shorties--and yours--represent, and he launches Pimpfants, a collection of righteous-looking streetwear that doesn't have ducks or bears on it, and the big Corporate Types at AOL/Blogging Baby get all in his biznazz about laying the whole Mini-me trip on these sweet innocent children? Because dressing your kid like a tiny adult is somehow fine if you live on Madison Avenue, but not if you live on Avenue B?
Frankly, anyone who can navigate the Gerber trademark minefield while keeping his edge [he calls them "1 Z's," dayum, that's good] deserves a chance to show his goods. Stop keepin' a brother down, yo.
Pimpfants: It's a Baby Thang [pimpfants via bloggingbaby]
Jared's MySpace page [myspace.com/its_a_pimp_thang]
Previous streetworthy gear: Little Rulers, Nippaz With Attitude, etc.
Thank God somebody finally realizes the need for infant and toddler clothes that don't suck. Does this site fill the need? Not yet. Hopefully it'll expand, I'm looking forward to it.
Okay, fine, it doesn't have pink plaid ducks on it and it's not some egregiously expensive mini-me couture thing from a Cookie photo spread, but does that mean we have to celebrate it as hip or daring? 'Cause, is "pimpin'" really what we want our infants and toddlers to be about? Sure, it's funny, but...
Here, Poppa Large said it better than I could, on a post last month on Rice Daddies (and lest you think he's just hatin', don't forget that P.L.'s the o.g. hip-hoppin' daddy, aight?)
[now I'm not gonna dress MY kid in a 'beater, but if there are people who dress like K-Fed and want their kids to match, hey, different strokes. Whether it's pimps an' ho's, hiphop thugs, or NFL, part of the appeal is the decontextualized dissonance of seeing it on a tiny, clueless baby. But that's just a variation of the borrowed halo that drives non-pimp, non-thug, non-lineman adults to adopt a style, too. While Little Rulers is most definitely targeting grownup skaters with their clothes, no one thinks Pimpfants is targeting pimps, right? So after years of Pimp My Ride and just weeks after some ex-pimps win an Oscar, I'd say that the cultural embrace of pimpin' is a bigger issue than can be tackled on a 1Z. -ed.]
Doesn't the existence of baby pimps just suggest the downfall of the American pimping industry? I mean look at these punks! Their hos couldn't be more than 14 or 16....months! Really back in my day, putting a girl to be on the track, was a serious proposition. You had to have respect and be able to throw down to protect yo neck and the ass you represent. You had to provide for yo bitches, create some kind of job security. Now it seems like these new school pimps got no kind of respect for the game. Being pimp used to mean you were a ladies man, pushed a nice caddy with furry dice, had more threads than a christmas sweater and had more ice than a skating rink. Ain't no justice for true pimp.
[um, word? -ed.]
The whole pimp concept is pretty lame, but the simple 1-zies in good colors are actually pretty sweet. The kelly green, black and red ones are nice.
All of you have lost your damned minds. Pimpfants is commercialism, period. Malcolm would have called you fools, and I concur. Ya been bitch slapped, hoodwinked and bamboozled!!!
[Do you mean ex-punk Malcolm Maclaren, who has his own line of kids' clothes now? Or Malcolm X, who would've laughed out loud at the wannabe white guy pimps? Either way, I think you should send a copy of your complaint to the headquarters of Rocawear and Sean John while you're at it. -ed.]
Can we take our eyeshadow pencils and paint bruises on our little girls' arms and legs?
Time for some smeared eye makeup that's safe for children.
I personally think pimpfant is interesting! This clothing can make money.....its unique and different. I bet if one celebrity son or daughter wears this clothing it will diffenetly sell. I would buy it.........I don't take such clothing personally. There are many shirts with pathetic messages on them. But I do have to admit, many parents would find this clothing defensive and inappropriate.
Here is a list of major mainstream networks using the word pimp to reference style, not pimps and ho's. So give Pimpfants a break.
1: CBS 20/20: just did a segment on their show called pimp my property. About renovating homes
2: MSNBC.com: 2 stories, one called pimp my rental, another called pimp your Olympic ride.
3: MTV: hit show called pimp my ride. About giving your ride style
4:ABC News: currently running on their website a story called pimp my news. About a hip executive that will take over ABC news.
5: BET.com: a story called pimp my ipod. About stylish accessories for the ipod
6: ESPN.com: A story called Pimp my coach. About NFL players who think there coaches need a style makeover
These are just a few of the thousands of examples of mainstream people using the word pimp to mean style. All of these stories were accessible as of 05-06-2006.
Other slang words with multiple meanings are:
Sick (means Feeling Ill or means cool), Tight (means cool or snug) Hip (means a body part or means cool) Bad (means good or bad) Ill (means sick or cool). The list go's on forever. So my message to everyone is quit taking everything so literally, develop a sense of humor, and get over it.