The Sagging Pants Style: Men who wear their pants below their crotch and wear a long t-shirt to cover their asses don’t know where they originated. Some people believe that this “look” (if one could call it that) is in part a result of men imitating rappers. Many who don’t fancy that style see it as just awful and cringe at its appearance.
Here’s some background information on “sagging pants.”
Sagging, or wearing trousers with waistbands that fall across the hips (or lower) instead of snug to the midsection, remains a contentious fashion trend. Although adolescent and youthful males overwhelmingly favor this sartorial fad, they do not limit it—young women have likewise indulged in the urge to sag.
The practice, which began in prisons, worked its way from the hoosegow into hip hop culture. Many rap artists adopted it, such as Ice-T and Too Short, which enhanced their perception of the tough-guy cachet. Sagging can be accentuated by wearing the saggy coveralls backward. Kriss Kross’ debut album, “Totally Krossed Out,” from 1992, depicts a pair of 13-year-old rappers doing this. By 1995, the style had crept into the mainstream teen culture—one no longer needed to be a wannabe “gangsta” to sling them low.
Consistent hitching, an act that becomes embedded in the wearer’s walking style, keeps trousers worn that way up. Although sagging originated in the United States prison system, it was not a clothing trend introduced by confined homosexuals trying to advertise their pleasure in casual relationships. Because of ill-fitting jail suits, sagging pants became the standard within the jails. They provided prisoners with clothing a few sizes too large.
Many prisoners had their trousers slip down their buttocks because they were always over-size, and of course, the other issue was they lacked belts. They do not permit belts in most correctional facilities because, all too often, their inmate owners’ lifeless bodies have been found hanging from them.
This baggy look, known as “sagging,” is now against the law in a Louisiana and Florida town. Opposed opinions on underpants etiquette are butting up against each other in the ongoing saga of sagging. The ban set a high price on low pants, slapping violators with a series of fines: $50 for the initial offense, $100 for another, and $100 and 16 hours of public service for each subsequent offense.
“Appearing in public view while exposing one’s skin or undergarments below the waist is contrary to the safety, health, peace and moral order of the parish and the general welfare,” the ordinance reads.
A comment on Quora stated: “WHY have they gone to such extremes to make themselves ugly and unappealing? Low self-esteem or plain laziness? I don’t know. Another thing that stumps me is why people get their noses pierced and put in an appliance that makes them look like they have a gob of snot hanging down. I almost threw up when I saw this dis-figuration. But then I’m a crabby old bat and have realized that somehow, someway, I no longer fit.”
