Dear Sticky Wicket,
I’m annoyed when I see young black men with their pants down around their knees. Why do they have to wear their pants so baggy?
~Just Curious in Kansas City, Mo.
Dear Just Curious in Kansas City,
This particular “fashion” trend emerged in the early 1990s as a part of hip-hop culture that glorified the tough guy bravado of prison-bound “gangstas.” In many U.S. prisons, inmates are frequently issued ill-fitting uniforms. To combat the risk of potential suicides, prison regulations prohibit inmates from wearing belts — forcing them to adapt to pants that sag well below their waistlines.
The introduction of the style is sometimes attributed to the teenage rap duo Kriss Kross, who wore sagging jeans — backwards, no less — and oversized baseball jerseys in the videos from their debut CD, “Totally Crossed Out.”
Some young African-American men “sag” for comfort and maximum exposure of name brand labels. One senior at a Kentucky high school told a newspaper reporter, “It’s not comfortable with your pants all the way up. If you buy a nice pair of jeans, and it has a symbol on the pocket, you want people to see that. What’s the point of buying expensive jeans if nobody can see it?”
While sagging is widely popular among African-American males, the trend is also prevalent in skateboard culture and favored by some young women.
Some local lawmakers have tried to ban sagging. Mansfield, La., a town located near Shreveport, passed measures in June of 2007 that include fines of $150 or 15 days in jail for individuals caught sagging. Other cities in New Jersey, Florida, and Virginia have followed suit.
However, like so many other fads popular with young people, sagging is likely to be a temporary phenomenon. Parachute pants, a popular fashion introduced by rapper MC Hammer in the late 1980s, have long-since sunk deep into the pit of fashion faux pas, as have the backward clothing trends. Furthermore, mainstream hip-hop impresarios such as Sean “Puffy” Combs — who wield significant influence and power in hip-hop culture — have abandoned the trend, choosing to wear their pants at waist level.