Fashion: Getting Giggy with A Hoodie

Whites have always bitten off black culture (the beatniks, rock 'n' roll, everything Quentin Tarantino has ever done). It gives them that cool, outsider image they so desperately need. But over the past few years, black kids have been taking fashion cues from the whitest of the white: ski gear, polo shirts, hiking boots, N.H.L. jerseys. The gold chains and dangling clocks of the '80s have been replaced with sweaters in bright primary colors with polo embroidered on the front. Jeans are in, but the baggier the better. Ski jackets are pumped up to Michelin Man proportions. Things have got freaky,...