The latest fashion trend in hip-hop has its male stars raiding the women's clothing department for inspiration.
Lil Wayne jumped around in skinny women's pants during his performance at this year's MTV Video Music Awards. Kanye West wore a multi-print shirt designed for women at the Coachella music festival.
Kid Cudi has been seen in a plaid skirt, Snoop Dogg often wears jewelry designed for women and Pharrell Williams is a fan of the Hermes-made Birkin bag, the ultra-expensive purse favored by Hollywood's top actresses.
Elena Kiam, the owner and creative director of the jewelry brand Lia Sophia, said she initially was surprised to see her women's line embraced by some of rap's top acts, like 50 Cent, P. Diddy and Snoop Dogg, who has worn her pieces in music videos and on magazine covers.
"When we were designing these really beautiful, sparkly necklaces, we thought more for top editors, maybe a celebrity movie star. We really weren't thinking about hip-hop," said Kiam, who said Beyonc, Rihanna and Miley Cyrus also have worn her designs.
"There was a rapper wearing the same piece as a soccer mom from Ohio," she added.
Celebrity stylist June Ambrose said those multiplatinum musicians can pull it off because their personas stretch beyond the hip-hop culture. Of Lil Wayne's much-talked about decision to sport a pair of boxer-revealing, black-and-white leopard print pants during the VMAs, she acknowledges his attire was "eccentric, but you know, he's a rock star and pulls it off extremely well.
"Fashion should be as unisex as it is right now. It's probably the most unisex we've seen it," she said.
West, hip-hop's ultimate metrosexual who will debut his own fashion collection in Paris on Saturday, wore a flowing, long-sleeved women's shirt designed by French fashion house Celine earlier this year at Coachella. Though some people poked fun at his clothing choice, Ambrose saw nothing wrong with it.
"I think it's acceptable if you're not wearing a pair of heels with it and you're not wearing lipstick and neither of these guys did that," said Ambrose, who has styled Jay-Z, Diddy and Will Smith. "They treat fashion like it is art."
It's not just rappers -- Russell Brand and rockers like Steven Tyler and Pete Wentz have worn women's clothes in the past; Janet Jackson said the famous sparkly black jacket Michael Jackson wore during his legendary "Motown 25" performance was from his mother's closet.
Justin Bieber, the 17-year-old pop phenomenon, admits he has rocked women's jeans because of their suitable fit.
"I think I've worn women's jeans before because they fit me better," he told the Associated Press at a recent fashion event. "I just think that whatever works, works."
"It wasn't like it looked like a woman's sweater," continued Bieber, referring to the shirt worn by West. "It was just a regular sweater that just happened to be a woman's."
But hip-hop culture -- often defined as much by its masculinity as its music -- always seemed to be different. It's hard to imagine Eminem raging onstage in a breezy women's top; rapper DMX once clowned Jay-Z for wearing sandals on the beach, deeming it unmanly. Hip-hop's style in recent years has ranged from oversized sports jerseys to sweats to sagging pants and plain white T-shirts. Lately though, hip-hop stars are likely to sport clothes that are made to fit, and sometimes fit tightly, like rock and indie hipsters.
"(Lil Wayne and West are) small enough to pull it off, and that's really what it's about," Ambrose said. "I don't think Jay-Z could pull that off. He doesn't have the body type for it. But these two guys are pretty petite, and they're able to pull those things off because (the clothes) come in a size that they can wear."
Whether Lil Wayne will be sporting more women's clothes is unclear. Still, this latest trend in hip-hop isn't a new one, said Ambrose. She remembers seeing similar happenings in the 1980s with rappers like Grandmaster Flash, Kool Moe Dee and the Ultramagnetic MCs. .
"Those guys were wearing leather pants, blouses. If you go back and look at the eccentricity, it's really just come full circle," she said. "Back in the late '80s and early '90s, guys were wearing bright-colored jeans, skin tights, like leggings, and high boots."