# How has the sagging pants - exposed underpants look survived decades? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 30, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812 "2012-07-30T02:51:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/61 "2012-08-01T04:40:48Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Well, now the kids are wearing tight jeans AND [sagging](http://www.justinbieberoriginal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/justin-bieber-sagging-pants-rain-85.jpg)them. I’m used to the sag. I grew up with it. But sagging \*skinny \*jeans is silly even to me. > > And it’s not just a case of old cranky folks not getting it…I hear the young kids tell each \*other \*to stop with the skinny-sag. > > But what can you do. As a kid, I had lots of fun with fashion. And as an adult, I’m down to wearing black button down shirts and blue jeans every damn day that I’m not wearing business casual black slacks. Can’t knock the kids for having their fun with fashion, even if it is all wrong to me. This. I see this shit now and I’m just like, “WTF?!” With the ‘old-school’ sagging, it at least was done in a pair of jeans that naturally fuckin’ _sagged_. These guys today look like they take such painstaking efforts to get those tight-ass jeans pushed half-way down their asses. :smack: ---
**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:** [August 1, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/62 "2012-08-01T17:16:35Z")
Somewhat off-topic: what about persistence of 1980s hair? I still see a lot of women, mostly working-class and/or rural whites, with a coiffure straight out of the Reagan era. It can;t be as if they’re unaware of more contemporary fashion trends; I can’t imagine even Eastern Europe or -Stan countries being in that much of a time warp. I live in a town that’s heavily populated by hippies, and I see a LOT of 1960s hair - long, flat, straight, parted in the middle. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/63 "2012-08-01T17:20:02Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > Somewhat off-topic: what about persistence of 1980s hair? I still see a lot of women, mostly working-class and/or rural whites, with a coiffure straight out of the Reagan era. It can;t be as if they’re unaware of more contemporary fashion trends; I can’t imagine even Eastern Europe or -Stan countries being in that much of a time warp. Do they tend to be in their 50s/60s? If so, they may have settled on a hairstyle (or have come back to one they found when) they were in their 20s/30s. Perhaps urbanites are more fashion conscious or less interested in doing things the way they were done a generation ago. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/64 "2012-08-01T18:29:23Z")
> [@MacCat](#): > > About a week ago on my way to work, I was stopped at the traffic light with many others by the train station, when an obviously late young lady in very high heels was attempting to hurry. It was hilariously laugh out loud funny. It actually looked like she would have been faster with a cautious walking pace. I know. I don’t wear those either. I do admire to a small extent the women who can wear very high heels and be perfectly graceful, but they are few and far between. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/65 "2012-08-01T19:00:19Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > Except for the guy from Green Day. 😉 > [Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong Kicked Off Plane for Saggy Pants | Us Weekly](http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/green-days-billie-joe-armstrong-kicked-off-plane-for-saggy-pants-201139) That\*\* Us \*\*link locked up my browser. Bieber’s saggy skinny jeans look like he tried to put on pants too small, got them up to but not over the butt, and left them there. I guess it could be seen as the male answer to showing your bra? I don’t know, it looks awkward to me. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/66 "2012-08-01T19:43:29Z")
I read somewhere that there had been a number of increased successful arrests by police because suspects with their pants practically falling off are a lot easier to catch in a foot chase. This sortof pleased me. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/67 "2012-08-01T19:48:59Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Do they tend to be in their 50s/60s? If so, they may have settled on a hairstyle (or have come back to one they found when) they were in their 20s/30s. Perhaps urbanites are more fashion conscious or less interested in doing things the way they were done a generation ago. I have noticed, when I am at the Wal-Mart in my not incredibly urban hometown, that people’s fashions/hairstyles appear to have been frozen the moment the graduated from high school. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/68 "2012-08-01T20:03:57Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Not so sure about that. The most militant anti-sag contingent appears to be black adults. Regardless of ethnicity, few young males continue sporting this look very far into adulthood, and teenaged boys don’t want to look like their fathers. I think that’s your answer right there. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/69 "2012-08-02T02:45:14Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Regardless of ethnicity, few young males continue sporting this look very far into adulthood, and teenaged boys don’t want to look like their fathers. More than that, teenagers want to show that they are people who are independent of their parents and who don’t need their parents’ approval. Dressing in a way your parents don’t approve of is a harmless way to do that. Obviously, if the point is to show that you aren’t like your parents and don’t care what your parents think of how you dress, your parents’ vocal disapproval is not going to dissuade you from dressing that way. It’s more likely to have the opposite effect. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/70 "2012-08-02T14:47:33Z")
They are even causing trouble on airlines. And why the hell did the airline let him on the next flight? You get rowdy and we have to call law enforcement? NO FLIGHT FOR YOU! NEXT! Link safe for work > **[Travel News: Destinations, Airlines, Travel Deals & More](https://www.nbcnews.com/business/travel)** > > Find the latest travel news, videos, and photos on NBCNews.com. Read stories covering tips on travel deals, airfare prices, top stories & more. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/71 "2012-08-02T15:00:35Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > They are even causing trouble on airlines. And why the hell did the airline let him on the next flight? You get rowdy and we have to call law enforcement? NO FLIGHT FOR YOU! NEXT! > > Link safe for work > > [Travel News: Destinations, Airlines, Travel Deals & More | NBC News](http://overheadbin.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/31/13053951-man-with-baggy-pants-booted-from-spirit-airlines-flight) Really, even if he did end up pulling up his damn pants, I would think that they would ban him at least for a while. What an idiot in more ways than one. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/72 "2012-08-02T15:02:58Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > According to two of my acquaintances in the prison system (as guards, not guests), as far back as the early 1990’s in the prison population wearing your pants down to show your underwear was the method that gay men advertised their sexual availability. [Snopes says False](http://www.snopes.com/risque/homosex/sagging.asp) ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/73 "2012-08-02T17:20:02Z")
Isn’t the sagging pants style the reason for underwear with the names on the waist bands? You cannot advertise your pair of $45 designer boxer briefs unless your pants droop low enough. “Designer Underwear” is one fashion trend I don’t get.🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/74 "2012-08-03T04:31:54Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > More than that, teenagers want to show that they are people who are independent of their parents and who don’t need their parents’ approval. Dressing in a way your parents don’t approve of is a harmless way to do that. > > Obviously, if the point is to show that you aren’t like your parents and don’t care what your parents think of how you dress, your parents’ vocal disapproval is not going to dissuade you from dressing that way. It’s more likely to have the opposite effect. I don’t know about anyone else in this thread, but a very large amount of those who I see dressed like this every day are easily in their 20s-30s. They are certainly not just teenagers rebelling against their parents. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/75 "2012-08-03T04:42:11Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I don’t know about anyone else in this thread, but a very large amount of those who I see dressed like this every day are easily in their 20s-30s. They are certainly not just teenagers rebelling against their parents. I’m not sure. This coupled with the other-relatively recent boom in that demographic of living with Ma and Pa well into one’s mid-to-late 30’s and it very well may _be_ rebellion; albeit not very impressive. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/76 "2012-08-03T05:31:40Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I don’t know about anyone else in this thread, but a very large amount of those who I see dressed like this every day are easily in their 20s-30s. They are certainly not just teenagers rebelling against their parents. Yeah this is correct. I said “kid” in the OP, but these are really more 20 somethings than teenagers doing this style ---
**Author:** ![randicoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@randicoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randicoot)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/77 "2012-08-07T12:53:08Z")
I thought I’d seen the worst of sagging but saw some teenagers a few days ago. I so wish I had a camera with me. They were sagging their swim shorts at the beach, 4-5 inches of boxers showing, hitching up the shorts as they ran into the water. I don’t know how it has survived. But this was in New Hampshire so I hope it is the tail end of the trend. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/78 "2012-08-07T13:40:45Z")
An acquaintance was telling me the other day about the petty crimes he used to commit, such as shoplifting. He said he would regularly go to changing rooms, layer on the clothes, and walk out. “You’d just put on the clothes and walk out?” I asked. “Yeah,” he said, “Why else do you think everybody wears such baggy pants?” Obviously that doesn’t explain the _mass_ appeal of the style, but I thought it was an interesting data point. ---
**Author:** ![Bass\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/43a26b/32.png) [@Bass\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bass_Chick)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/79 "2012-08-07T14:18:06Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Fashion trends come and go but [sagging pants](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagging_(fashion)) with exposed underwear seems to have remained in vogue as an urban youth style for a remarkably long time. I’m thinking it’s got to be close to 20 years now. > > What’s keeping it alive? From what I’ve seen of everyday kid wear on the streets it appears to be pretty much a black only thing. Is it different in large cities? Has it been embraced by fashion designers? I saw a young man with sagging jeans yesterday afternoon. He had gray underwear and he happened to be white. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812/80 "2012-08-09T23:46:06Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > What’s up with neckties? Can we get over that fad already? Neckties aren’t a fashion trend that is decried by a large portion of society. And they don’t prevent movement. But, let’s say they were equivalent. Why would there be a problem asking the question? With that in mind, what is the purpose of your comment, other than to imply that we are all cultural snobs? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-sagging-pants-exposed-underpants-look-survived-decades/629812.md?page=5)