Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
The way that Malcolm X talks about fashion in his youth, you would almost guess that he was on Project Runway. As soon as he gets to the big city, Malcolm doesn't waste any time getting into the fashion scene. He says:
Like hundreds of thousands of country-bred Negroes who had come to the Northern black ghetto before me, and have come since, I'd also acquired all the other fashionable ghetto adornments—the zoot suits and conk that I have described, liquor, cigarettes, then reefers—all to erase my embarrassing background. (4.3)
Why does he bother with the zoot suits and other stuff? To fit in.
Have you ever heard of conspicuous consumption? It's spending money on luxury goods (a.k.a. stuff you don't need) in order to increase your social status. In other words, it's buying the newest iPad so that everyone will think you're cool. And that's exactly what Malcolm X is doing when he buys his zoot suit, drugs, and alcohol. And he's not alone.
There are tons of other young men and women who are trying to seem cooler by doing the same things he did. Malcolm X writes:
These ghetto teen-agers see the hell caught by their parents struggling to get somewhere, or see that they have given up struggling in the prejudiced, intolerant white man's world. The ghetto teenagers make up their own minds they would rather be like the hustlers whom they see dressed "sharp" and flashing money and displaying no respect for anybody or anything. So the ghetto youth become attracted to the hustler worlds of dope, thievery, prostitution, and general crime and immorality. (16.153)
Since these kids see no hope for gaining any kind of social status in dominant society, they look to the ghetto world for respect and to improve their self-esteems.
But you probably also noticed that Malcolm X forgot all about that stuff when he joined the Nation of Islam. He didn't need a suit or drugs to feel important. The Nation of Islam taught him that all black people are inherently better than white people. But even after he realized that statement wasn't exactly true, Malcolm X retained his sense of self-worth. Who needs a zoot suit when you've got that?