# The Missus Wants to Know: Are Head Panties a New Fashion Trend? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 21, 2003, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595 "2003-11-21T23:11:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/1 "2003-11-21T23:11:32Z")
I had to start the this thread title with a disclaimer: my wife related this story to me and wants the opinion of a wider group of people, 'cause neither she nor I are hip-hop fashion gurus. Anyways, she was shopping at our local thrift store (inner city Detroit) and noticed an otherwise normal looking kid (meaning, not looking like a crazy street person), seventeenish, wearing a pair of red girls panties on the top of his head. This _wasn’t_ one of those nylon head coverings or a knot cap. First of all, it had a white elastic waistband (err… headband); second, it had two distinctive leg holes with a seam around them; third, the crotch area (err… top of the head area, in this case) was pieced and seamed together exactly like a pair of panties. So. Are head panties a new fasion trend that I’m too unhip to know about? Or was this young man less stable than he first appeared? Fraternity pledge maybe? Or just got dressed too early in the morning? ---
**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/2 "2003-11-21T23:36:31Z")
I’m afraid a Google search of “head” + “panties” yielded an entirely unsuitable set of results. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/3 "2003-11-21T23:40:50Z")
perhaps the unfortunate lost/won a bet. it will be quite some time before i stop laughing. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/4 "2003-11-22T01:26:50Z")
So. “Just say no” is’nt working for _everyone_, hhhmmmmm? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/5 "2003-11-22T02:40:13Z")
I guess the pantyhose on the head look was too common place. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![jeremynag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@jeremynag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeremynag)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/6 "2003-11-22T02:59:07Z")
Although only abstractly related to the subject, I found it a sign of the times when the Wall Street Journal ran a front page article about “Dew-rags”. Perhaps this youth read the article and was trying to take it to the next level. Incidently, 50 cent has his penciled image on the cover for that story. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/7 "2003-11-22T06:32:19Z")
I once saw Coolio on Howard Stern’s E! show and he had a pair of briefs on his head with his braids pulled through the legholes. Stern teased him about it unmercifully. It was a pair of male briefs though, not panties. So maybe it is a hip hop thing. I guess if I had to wear underwear on my head I’d rather wear panties than briefs, though. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/8 "2003-11-22T06:37:27Z")
In the movie “Weird Science” the teen scientists wore panties on their heads in order to help their computer conjure a woman up when it was struck by lightning. Perhaps the young man cited in the OP was doing something of that sort and simply forgot to remove the panties afterward. See, rational explanation for everything. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/9 "2003-11-22T06:46:44Z")
“Panty-waist” was once a “less-than-adult-male” sort of insult. Now “panty-head” is a modern equivalent. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/10 "2003-11-22T08:17:28Z")
Did he also have pencils up his nose and say “wibble” a lot? ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/11 "2003-11-22T14:48:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > I once saw Coolio on Howard Stern’s E! show and he had a pair of briefs on his head with his braids pulled through the legholes. Stern teased him about it unmercifully. It was a pair of male briefs though, not panties. So maybe it is a hip hop thing. I guess if I had to wear underwear on my head I’d rather wear panties than briefs, though. Ah! Good info, **Diogenes**. You have touched upon the crux of the matter. Putting one’s _own_ underpants on one’s head in search of laffs has a long and honorable tradition (or, ah, so I understood), although usually occuring at 2am rather than 2pm. But someone _else’s_ underpants? Maybe it was an indication of how much of a player he was. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Green\_Feather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e7dd6/32.png) [@The\_Green\_Feather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Green_Feather)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/12 "2003-11-22T15:08:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Evil Captor \* > \*\*In the movie “Weird Science” the teen scientists wore panties on their heads in order to help their computer conjure a woman up when it was struck by lightning. Perhaps the young man cited in the OP was doing something of that sort and simply forgot to remove the panties afterward. > > See, rational explanation for everything. \*\* I believe in the movie they were wearing bras on their heads. I know, I’m nit picking, but here at the SDMB we strive to be acurate. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/13 "2003-11-22T15:10:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Evil Captor \* > \*\*In the movie “Weird Science” the teen scientists wore panties on their heads in order to help their computer conjure a woman up when it was struck by lightning. Perhaps the young man cited in the OP was doing something of that sort and simply forgot to remove the panties afterward. > > See, rational explanation for everything. \*\* The “Weird Science” kids had bras on their head, not panties. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/14 "2003-11-22T19:29:59Z")
Or, he was staging a Raising Arizona style hold-up… “Son, you got a panty on your head.” ---
**Author:** ![darkcrad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6a8cbe/32.png) [@darkcrad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/darkcrad)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/15 "2003-11-22T19:47:10Z")
hmmm not that i knwo of. i just thought they wore hats sideways. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/16 "2003-11-22T22:20:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dewey Cheatem Undhow \* > \*\*The “Weird Science” kids had bras on their head, not panties. \*\* Bras, panties … it’s all good. ---
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/17 "2003-11-22T23:36:24Z")
There, you see? It takes all types. Me, I’ve spent almost all my life getting people to take _off_ bras and panties, not wear more ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/18 "2003-11-23T01:33:56Z")
My sister and I have been threatening each other for months with these things, and Christmas is just around the corner. I think it takes the idea to a new level. [http://www.jokerswildboise.com/cgi-bin/jokerswild/B10.html?id=bvq9Doox](http://www.jokerswildboise.com/cgi-bin/jokerswild/B10.html?id=bvq9Doox) -Lil ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/19 "2003-11-23T14:39:39Z")
In the Dec. 11, 2003 _Rolling Stone_, on page 43, there’s a picture of Strokes singer Julian Casablancas clad in a white belt, a garbage-collector’s shirt, and a pair of heart-decorated panties on his head. The panties had been thrown onstage, and he put them on his head and kept singing. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missus-wants-to-know-are-head-panties-a-new-fashion-trend/214595/20 "2003-11-23T15:22:38Z")
It’s my belief that the person in question was planning to rob the establishment and had heard that crooks often wear nylon stockings over their heads to achieve the robbery. Then finding she had neither in the clean clothes drawer at home, resorted to the next best alternative.