just a simple search on TikTok Since then, we’ve seen the style continue to spread to stylish cities around the world.Of course, that’s nothing new: male hip-hop musicians (and some women,especially singer aaliyah) became popular in the 1990s and 2000s. Widely popular as casual and comfortable streetwear complicated for young people a variety of concerns (as is often the case in youth fashion) from adults. But with themes converging from runways to sidewalks, the declaration is clear. Sagging is back in fashion and this time it’s for everyone.
Eliana Arviz, a 25-year-old content creator, often wears boxer shorts under her baggy jeans as she wanders around Los Angeles during the week, running errands, buying coffee, and going to flea markets. It often happens. Boxer briefs provide a safe way to move around in her low-hip pants. “Don’t worry about something hanging, like, I don’t know,” she says with a laugh.
Hailey Teo, 24, a presenter and emcee in Singapore, saw one member of the K-pop group Blackpink emulate her style. In a Calvin Klein ad for 2022. Now Theo is wearing Calvin Klein for the same, and enjoys being able to wear the convenient low-riding pants that cover the belly that boxer shorts offer. “I love the idea of low-waisted jeans, but my midriff makes it difficult for her to pull off her Y2K style,” she says.
As menswear-inspired pieces and actual menswear become more popular among women, many are opting for the boxer and baggy jeans look as another way to incorporate stereotypical masculinity into their everyday look. I’ve been enjoying myself. Sienna, her 25-year-old Brooklyn-based vintage clothing entrepreneur, Philippi, loves to wear baggy jeans and Spellsum boxers with her cropped shirts and lace hair accessories, and is typical. A masculine touch is added to the hem of the outfit that seems to be feminine. Up.
“Traditionally, boxers have been viewed as a kind of masculine garment,” she says. “I love how girls make it their own.“
Kara Canela, 25, a dancer, initially struggled to fit her boxers neatly under her jeans. But after her trial and error, she now finds boxers with pops of color and print that her waistband can add to an outfit, and the comfort the style provides when going out with friends or going to her dance class. I like it. Canela, who is gay in her own right, also sees a lot of slack within Los Angeles’ lesbian and queer femme communities. This community already helped loosen gendered dress rules in the 20th century, with boxers paired with baggy jeans fitting comfortably (and, to put it bluntly, with any biological gender and gender identity). Man.
Of course, Canela recognizes that this style wasn’t always accepted everywhere — and still isn’t. “My family is from Texas. When I go out in my boxers and jeans, my grandparents would say, ‘Pull your pants up’ or ‘What’s going on here?'” she said. Masu.
In the 1990s and 2000s, many puritanical authorities of the time criticized young men, especially young black men, for wearing loose pants. One of the reasons is that doing so reveals the underwear. (and sometimes cheek-to-cheek) to the world. In addition to the concerns of parents and junior high school principals, slackness became an issue. well said It originated in prisons, where inmates were often prohibited from wearing belts. (The theory is questioned. )
Soon, local officials in some communities in the United States The relationship between sagging pants and crime. A city council member who wanted a ban on sagging in Ocean City, Maryland, told The Washington Post in 2013: Cities in Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, etc. tried to enact a law In the 2000s, anyone wearing pants could be fined, fined, or even imprisoned. Transportation and school systems have also addressed slackness.
Susan B. Kaiser and Maxine Lees Craig, The Persistence of Taste: Art, Museums, and Life Since Bourdieu theorized It is believed that this controversy may have contributed to the longevity of the style that can still be seen today. Many “continue to wear styles that strongly resonate with them,” they write. “Panic shifts responsibility for social inequalities to young people’s style choices, while encouraging young people to pull up their trousers to show loyalty to the institutions and dominant cultures that have failed and rejected them. ing.”
Kaiser, emeritus professor at the University of California, Davis, who has taught courses on design, gender and dress, argued in a recent interview that this new era of slack isn’t as controversial as its predecessors. . It looks more modest. Historically, men’s underwear was completely unknown until the advent of sagging in the 1990s. Women’s underwear, on the other hand, is not. T-backs and G-strings (sometimes, “Whaletail” style). Boxer briefs may look modest in comparison. “It’s not sexual, so it might not be that scary,” Kaiser says.
In recent years, as more and more Americans abandon the idea of the genitalia as an automatic indicator of gender, rigid standards regarding “men’s” and “women’s” underwear have begun to blur. In response, start-ups and established underwear brands are increasing the availability of boxers specifically designed for the female anatomy. (i.e. no open fly or support pouch.)
For example, underwear and clothing brand TomboyX aims to provide “underwear that makes any body feel comfortable, regardless of size or gender,” according to its website. So while we offer standard bikinis, thongs and brief cuts, we also offer period underwear, placketless boxer briefs, and gender-expressive clothing such as tucked underwear and binders.famous brands such as Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, J. Crew, Skims, Alo, Lululemon, and others also make versions of the classic boxer or boxer-brief silhouette for women. Haynes introduced women’s boxer briefs in 2005, according to a spokesperson.
Alexandra Fuente, CEO and founder of women’s underwear brand Woxer, recognized a similar need in 2017 when she began developing a range of women’s boxers. “It’s been a defining decade, really. Gender norms have changed and apparel doesn’t need to be gendered,” she says.
She also notes that the coronavirus pandemic may have ushered in an era in which comfort is the primary purpose of clothing, creating a new slack trend among women. “Comfort is the new priority in post-pandemic clothing, not baggy and skinny jeans. Wear comfy boxers or boxer briefs instead of thongs,” she says.
Of course, the constant circulation of fashion novelties may best explain why pants have become more and more baggy and underwear waistlines have risen. Broadly speaking, his Gen Z-driven fashion for the 2020s tends to revive the styles of the 90s and his 2000s, but with a more holistic view of who wears what. Emma McLendon, a fashion professor at St. John’s University in Queens, pointed out to the Post in 2022: It’s a way to avoid gender. “
So maybe it’s no wonder Miu Miu’s saggy silhouette quickly struck a chord with fashion-conscious young women. Revived with a gender-expanding twist, the turn-of-the-2000s style—the era of female slack may have arrived just as planned.