They had a hip hop party in new york and had a list of banned items – no baggy trousers, no doo-rags, gang colors, but strangely, also no timberland boots.
Ummm. . . when/how did timberlands go from Montana mountain man wear/Hippie going on hike style, to urban ghetto?
Or was this just some strange exception?
Wu-Tang Clan-- Raekwon specifically-- talked about them on their album “Enter the 36 Chambers” which came out in 1993. The accompanying photos showed them wearing Timberland boots, so it’s been at least that long. They definitely caught on around, or possibly before, that point. One of the most successful hip-hop producers calls himself Timbaland, in fact.
Somewhere about 1995. And, no, I’m not kidding. Look at the ad below your post. There’s a direct relationship between size of the logo and urban ghettoness. The whole boot is one big logo!
Edited to add: **Cagey Drifter **- I almost said 93, but thought that might be pushing it, and then I took too long writing and you beat me to it. Anyway, glad to see someone backed up my early 90’s guess.
There was a rumor about Timberland being racist like there was a rumor about Tommy Hilfiger.
Perhaps they got adopt as a backlash from this?
Wait, somebody had a hip hop party and banned Timberland boots? What’s the point then? If anything, I’d require them.
In Notorious B.I.G.'s song “Suicidal Thoughts” he raps:
“Tims” as they are often called in hip-hop are frequently mentioned, it’s hard to date when Biggie first recorded this verse since so much of his material was released after his death (the same verses are sampled on the song “Hold Ya Head” with Bob Marley), but he was producing music in the early to mid 90’s (if Raekwon had a track mentioning them in '93 as Cagey Drifter suggests it would likely predate Biggie’s verse) but either way I would concur with the other posters that it’s been like this for a while.
The bigger question is why were they banning all those hip-hop culture accessories at a hip-hop concert?
I was gonna say - were they ever not? I’ve associated Tims with hip-hop culture as long as I’ve been aware that such a thing existed (I’m 24).
It seems weird banning them at a concert, though. Maybe it was a gang thing?
As an early 20s white guy, I would feel weird wearing them. Does that address your question at all?
Hmm, my regular work shoes are Timberlands, and I also have a pair of Timberland boots. I knew they had some kind of hip-hop following, but I had no idea it was such a big deal. I’d no more change my choice of footwear (they’re comfy, dammit!) because some rapper wears them than I’d refuse to drink Cristal or Hennessy 
I’m with Colophon here. I’ve had Timberlands as my essential winter boot for as long as I can remember.
These are the ones I wear now. I found them in a sports shoe store, but all of the stores catering to the hip-hop crowd had much larger displays.
Color me totally bwuh’ed. (Bwuh?)
I’ve been wearing a pair similar to these for about 5 years. They’re waterproof, comfortable, warm, and totally utilitarian. They’ve held up extremely well; the only thing I’ve had to do is replace the laces. I’m not about to give them up for fear of being mistaken for a hip-hop gangsta. snerk Like that’d happen.
The kind that are associated with hip-hop look like these:
As far as I know, the darker brown kind are not.
I guess my reputation as an incredibly white chick is safe then.
I could be wrong though; my exposure to this scene comes from photographs and records. On an average day I don’t come in contact with, uh, ‘ghetto’ people.
Jeez, you’re only 24! Yes, they were ever *not. *In fact, these were fairly ubiquitous in the urban gay wardrobe of the '70s and early '80s . . . what was known as the “clone” look. I still have a pair, though mine are deep rust color.
Around '91 or so Timberland’s were standard apparel for rich suburban frat boys. At some point, like Tommy Hilfiger, they were embraced by hip hop culture.
My brother happens to be straight and wore those in the early 80s as his boots for everyday wear. So yeah, they haven’t always been associated with hip-hop folks.
Light beigey nubuck-finished ones with brown leather cuffs around the mid-ankle area, yes. Black or dark brown ones, no.
Double ghetto points if you wear them without shoelaces or with one pant leg rolled up.
I can verify that. In 91 the standard suburban fray boy uniform consisted of Timberland work boots (great for sloshing around the 2" think beer slime at fraternity parties), a baggy pair of GAP jeans, a plaid J Crew, LL Bean or Abercrombie flannel (over a waffle long sleve T-shirt which was under your Pearl Jam or Nirvana concert shirt) and a fraternity or collegiate baseball cap (University of South Carolina was popular for some reason)
But here’s a question that will blow your mind. When was rap and hip-hop NOT associated with rich suburban frat boys?
By any chance, did his “everyday wear” consist of jeans and a denim jacket over a hoody sweatshirt?
Mmmmmmm … clones :p. Thank you for bringing up good memories, panache!
Besides the gay stereotype from a while back, I’ve always thought of Tims as ghetto/banger kinda footwear. Might be from my visits to outlet malls … if I wandered into the Tim store, I usually felt like a grain of salt in a pepper shaker.