# Are Timberland boots 'ghetto' now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 16, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-timberland-boots-ghetto-now/477454 "2008-12-16T21:03:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-timberland-boots-ghetto-now/477454/21 "2008-12-17T16:33:07Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > But here’s a question that will blow your mind. When was rap and hip-hop NOT associated with rich suburban frat boys? I went to frat parties at at least a dozen colleges east of the Mississippi during my [del]professional drinking[/del] college days (1999-2004) and the prevailing musical genre among rich suburban frat boys was white blues (with a side of pop punk, depending on how close you got to the coast). Think Dave Matthews (ugh), O.A.R., etc. Hip hop was a distant third, and only came into play at parties. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-timberland-boots-ghetto-now/477454/22 "2008-12-17T18:43:18Z")
I always thought that [roll-tops](http://www.timberland.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=roll&origkw=roll&sr=1) were the hip-hop version of Timberland boots. I’ve seen all sorts of (to me) horrifying combinations like metallic leather and checkerboard or Burberry plaids. The ones on that Timberland page are very sedate compared to what I’ve seen on eBay. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-timberland-boots-ghetto-now/477454/23 "2008-12-17T19:03:43Z")
With so many good boots out there I’ve never even tried a pair on. All the ones I’ve seen are then light tan variety and I would never wear a light colored boot. They scuff too easy. Doc Martens, Danner, even a good pair of military jungle boots properly seated are the best I could ever hope for. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-timberland-boots-ghetto-now/477454/24 "2008-12-17T19:10:49Z")
> [@Omegaman](#): > > They scuff too easy. Sometimes that’s the point. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-timberland-boots-ghetto-now/477454/25 "2008-12-17T19:14:24Z")
Some Hip Hop events see themselves as more high class. They want to be the ‘Hip Hop Executive’ crowd, where people are ordering bottles of Cristal rather than hoodies drinking budweiser. Usually they ban sneakers next to baggie jeans. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-timberland-boots-ghetto-now/477454/26 "2008-12-17T20:37:08Z")
When I lived in Cleveland, a new Timberland-branded store opened in the “mall where white people used to shop” a couple of miles from my house. I like Timberlands, but … yeah, they’ve jumped from the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder to MLK Boulevard. ---
**Author:** ![Grimpen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/82dd89/32.png) [@Grimpen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grimpen)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-timberland-boots-ghetto-now/477454/27 "2008-12-17T21:25:27Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > The bigger question is why were they banning all those hip-hop culture accessories at a hip-hop concert? There’s an article in the December 8 New Yorker, about a former policeman who now does security for hip-hop concerts. On page 75: “Tonight was to be an Urban party, and the promoters, for security reasons, wanted an upscale crowd without too many gangster overtones. In dress-code terms, that ruled out baggy jeans, white T-shirts, gold chains, hooded sweatshirts, flat-brim fitted baseball caps (“fitteds”), do-rags, gang colors, and Timberland boots.” ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-timberland-boots-ghetto-now/477454/28 "2008-12-17T22:34:08Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > I always thought that [roll-tops](http://www.timberland.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=roll&origkw=roll&sr=1) were the hip-hop version of Timberland boots. So\*\* that’s \*\*where “this is how we roll” came from! 😉 > [@msmith537](#): > > By any chance, did his “everyday wear” consist of jeans and a denim jacket over a hoody sweatshirt? Hmmm…it may have been jeans and a sweatshirt with a hood, but that was a coincidence. “Rapper’s Delight” was probably the only rap song we would have heard. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-timberland-boots-ghetto-now/477454/29 "2008-12-17T22:50:48Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Some Hip Hop events see themselves as more high class. They want to be the ‘Hip Hop Executive’ crowd, where people are ordering bottles of Cristal rather than hoodies drinking budweiser. Usually they ban sneakers next to baggie jeans. Just out of curiosity, what’s the music mix going to be at these events? The rap equivalent of an oldies station, with the gangster end of the genre clipped out? ---
**Author:** ![T.rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@T.rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.rex)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-timberland-boots-ghetto-now/477454/30 "2014-01-28T00:39:02Z")
What do you mean, ‘now’? Please cite a time in which they weren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-timberland-boots-ghetto-now/477454/31 "2014-01-28T01:36:51Z")
> [@T.rex](#): > > What do you mean, ‘now’? Please cite a time in which they weren’t. “Now” meaning 5+ years ago, when this thread was started. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-timberland-boots-ghetto-now/477454/32 "2014-01-28T01:40:03Z")
He means six years ago. ---
**Author:** ![T.rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@T.rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.rex)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-timberland-boots-ghetto-now/477454/33 "2014-01-28T02:06:23Z")
I contend these boots have been associated with urban counter-culture going all the way to the mid 1990’s (and that just when my own surburbian self got wind of it, so it was probably even much earlier). ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-timberland-boots-ghetto-now/477454/34 "2014-01-28T02:09:37Z")
> [@T.rex](#): > > I contend these boots have been associated with urban counter-culture going all the way to the mid 1990’s (and that just when my own surburbian self got wind of it, so it was probably even much earlier). And that was so important that you had to resurrect a thread for it? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![T.rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@T.rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.rex)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-timberland-boots-ghetto-now/477454/35 "2014-01-28T02:13:37Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > And that was so important that you had to resurrect a thread for it? :dubious: I resurrected nothing. The topic was simply simmering while we all contemplated the far-reaching implications. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-timberland-boots-ghetto-now/477454/36 "2014-01-28T02:22:05Z")
> [@T.rex](#): > > I contend these boots have been associated with urban counter-culture going all the way to the mid 1990’s (and that just when my own surburbian self got wind of it, so it was probably even much earlier). Since this answer was already given six years ago and no new information has been added, I’m going to close this thread. Those who wish to further discuss this may open a thread in IMHO or MPSIMS. Colibri General Questions Moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-timberland-boots-ghetto-now/477454.md?page=1)