Whale tail is the Y-shaped rear portion of a thong or G-string when visible above the waistline of low-rise pants, shorts, or skirts that resembles a whale's tail. [1] [2] [3] Popularized by a number of female celebrities including Amy Dumas, Christina Aguilera, Victoria Beckham, Mariah Carey, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, displaying whale tails became popular in the early 2000s, together with the popularity of low-rise jeans and thong panties; but quickly waned within the decade.[ citation needed ]
Low-waisted trousers, such as low-rise jeans or hip-huggers, and higher-cut thongs led to greater exposure of the whale tail. [1] [4] The trend was also associated with the trend of sporting lower back tattoos. [5]
The word was selected by the American Dialect Society in January 2006 as the "most creative word" of 2005.
The rising popularity of low-rise jeans led to increased exposure of thong tops in the early 2000s. [6] Originally shown by WWE female wrestler Amy Dumas in early 2000, others such as Britney Spears have been portrayed as a major contributor to the whale tail's popularity. [7] [8] [9] Her whale tail display has been referred to in such creative literature books as Married to a Rock Star by Shemane Nugent, [10] Thong on Fire by Noire, [11] The Magical Breasts of Britney Spears by Ryan G. Van Cleave, [12] and Off-Color by Janet McDonald. [13] The Oregonian , a Portland, Oregon, newspaper, wrote in 2004 that an abundance of whale tails had become a distraction on the campus. [14] Social commentator Ann C. Hall identified this campus trend as an "apparent intersection between everyday campus fashion and soft porn". [5] The layered clothing trend of the early 2000s was partly led by the whale tail style that incorporates hip-hugger jeans, crop tops and high riding thongs popularized by celebrities. [15] [16]
By the mid-2000s, whale tails became common to celebrities, providing opportunities to the paparazzi. [17] [18] Whale tail display spawned a new accessory—clip-on jewelry for the visible straps. [19] Jess Cartner-Morley of The Guardian claimed that following pop stars in the hipster trousers gave rise to the "low-slung jeans, whale-tail G-string era". [20] On 17 September 2004, a writer for the Chicago Sun-Times stated, "Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera regularly were photographed with thong straps riding high above their low-rise jeans. And even Halle Berry catered to the thong craze by attending an awards show with bejeweled thong straps peeking out from above her miniskirt." [8] Actresses Gillian Anderson, Natalie Portman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall and Tara Reid, MTV's Molly Sims, model Kate Moss, singers Beyoncé Knowles, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson, LeAnn Rimes and Britney Spears have been associated as propagators of the trend by ABC. [21]
In France, clothing brands started creating the thong or le string in styles that encourage a projection above low-hung jeans, such as designs that had small jewels or luminous stars sewn into the "tail". [22] In India, thongs peeked out of low-rise jeans in page three parties and university bashes. [23] Indian model Shefali Zariwala displayed a whale tail in the MTV Immies-winning music video "Kaanta Lagaa" and shot to fame and public debate in 2003. [23] [24] In Japan, clothing company Sanna's brought forward an extreme low-rise hip-hugging jeans design with built-in thong whale tails. [25] R&B artist Sisqó rhapsodized about whale tails in his "Thong Song" [9] —"I like it when the beat goes da na da na/Baby make your booty go da na da na/Girl I know you wanna show da na da na/That thong thong thong thong." Another movie titled Whale Tail: Thong Dreams was released in 2005 featuring Sunny Lane and Kirsten Price. [26] In 2003, web content developer Gavin Hamilton created the site whale-tail.com with content featuring whale tail display. [27] The domain name WhaleTail.com sold for $6,600 in October 2004. [28] The website has been quoted by ABC Radio, NY Times , [9] FHM (UK) and Fuel Magazine (Australia), and has been nominated as a Best Adult Web Site by Australian Adult Industry Awards in 2008. [29]
In 2004, Louisiana, USA State Representative Derrick Shepherd proposed a bill (HB1626), also known as the Baggy Pants Bill to Louisiana House of Representatives. The bill proposed that "it shall be unlawful for any person to appear in public wearing his pants below his waist and thereby exposing his skin or intimate clothing" and that violators would be subjected to three eight-hour days of community service and a fine of up to US$175. [30] The measure died in the face of opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union. [33] The bill was proposed again in 2008 and was rejected by a state Senate panel. [33] In two Louisiana towns, Delcambre (a maximum penalty of US$615 fine or up to six months in prison) and Opelousas (a maximum penalty of US$500 fine or up to six months in prison), wearing low slung pants that reveal buttock cleavage or undergarments is considered a misdemeanor. [30] [31] [32] Garments that reveal underpants were banned in four other Louisiana towns including Alexandria and Shreveport, where violators face fines of US$150 or 15 days in jail, as well as Hawkinsville, Georgia. [31] [34]
In February 2005, the Senate Courts of Justice Committee of Virginia voted unanimously in a hastily convened meeting against a bill proposed by Delegate Algie T. Howell Jr. (Norfolk, Virginia) to impose a US$50 fine on any person who publicly and intentionally "wears and displays his below-waist undergarments, intended to cover a person's intimate parts, in a lewd or indecent manner" in a public place. [35] The bill (HB1981), also known as the Droopy Drawers Bill, was earlier passed by Virginia House of Delegates by a 60–34 vote. [36] [37] Atlanta, GA, Dallas, TX, Baltimore, MD, Charlotte, NC, Yonkers, NY, Duncan, OK, Natchitoches, LA, Stratford, CT, Pine Bluff, AR, Trenton, NJ, Pleasantville, NJ, as well as three other Georgia towns, Rome, Brunswick and Plains have seen attempts to ban underwear peeking over the pants. [34] School dress codes sometimes also banned some low-rising pants or visible underwear. [38] [39] [40]
The trend of wearing whale tail-revealing jeans started to dissipate somewhat in the mid-2000s when American clothing designers started shifting focus from low-slung jeans and exposed midriffs to high-waisted trousers and cardigans. [9] Jess Cartner-Morley, fashion writer of The Guardian , claimed that the whale tail and the muffin top (the bulge of flesh hanging over the top of low-rider jeans), "twin crimes of modern fashion", had led to the decline in the popularity of hipster jeans. [41] She quoted Louise Hunn, editor of the British edition of InStyle , as saying—"When a look goes too mainstream, people start wearing it badly. And then the really fashionable people run a mile". [42] While the thong still represented 24% of the US$2.5 billion annual market in women's underwear, it stopped growing by end of 2004. [9] Some vendors, including Victoria's Secret and DKNY, started selling thongs that do not result in whale tails. [43] [44] [45] [46] Adam Lippes, founder of the lingerie line ADAM, said, "Women got tired of it. And they got sick and tired of seeing string hanging out of the top of every celebrity's jeans." [9]
In the late 2010s, a number of late 1990s and early 2000s fashion trends made a comeback. Starting in 2018 and 2019, the look returned to prominence as fashion designers showcased the style at runways such as at the Met Gala. [47] In 2019, publications including Vogue and the Daily Record began referring to a revived interest in the trend, with influencers such as Kim Kardashian, Hailey Baldwin and Dua Lipa prominently wearing it. [48] [49] [50] [51] The American singer-songwriter Beyoncé would also adopt the look for a 2019 British Vogue photo shoot. [52]
Copying celebrities, teenagers on TikTok, members of Generation Z, would quickly adopt the trend. [53] By 2021, the trend had gained enough social media prominence that on the platform, “#WhaleTail [had] more than 32 million views.” [54]
However, unlike the previous wave, when an almost accidental look was emphasized, the new wave instead placed an importance on purposefulness. While some influencers still wore a thong with a separate pair of clothing, this new trend would have the whale tail be the center of the fashion piece. For example, some companies sold skirts that had a thong built-in. [55]
The trend would not be just a Western phenomenon. By 2022, a number of K-pop stars, such as Lightsum's Chowon, would also join the trend by posting photos of themselves revealing whale tails while performing a wide range of duties such as when posting on social media, participating in promotion tours, and at times when performing. [56]
Attributing whale tails to mainstreaming of the sexualization of young women, The Santa Rosa, California Press Democrat termed the trend as "stripper chic". [57] [58] Post-modern thinker Yasmin Jiwani and co-writers described the trend in Girlhood: Redefining the Limits as an attempt to redefine girlhood while acknowledging the debate around it. The book termed the trend as the "slut" look popularized by Britney Spears. [7] Some experts even dubbed visible whale tails as "thong feminism" for young girls. [59] Other experts accused marketers of "outrageous selling of sex to children". [60]
One conjecture assumes that the style of exposed thong may have "bubbled-up" from the street level to the high streets, like the jeans and t-shirt look of James Dean. [61] Another assumes the fad was initiated by glamor model Jordan in England and singers Mariah Carey and Spears in the United States. [62] The phenomenon has been compared to the phenomenon of visible bra straps. [63] [64] Saying that "just as Madonna made bras a public garment in the 1980s, Ms. Lewinsky, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears transformed women's panties into a provocative garment intended for public display", the New York Times claimed that the thong, with straps worn high over the hips and exposed by fashionable low-rise jeans and "Juicy Couture" sweat pants, had become a public icon. [9]
"Whale tail" was selected in January 2006 as the "most creative word" of 2005 by the American Dialect Society, a group of linguists, editors, and academics. It received 44 votes to muffin top 's 25, flee-ancée's (a reference to runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks) 15, and pinosaur's (a very old Wollemi pine tree near Australia's Blue Mountains) 6. [67]
While discussing these new coinages, Sali Tagliamonte, associate professor of linguistics at the University of Toronto, observed that young women in North America were ahead of young men as influencers. [68] The use of the word to indicate an underwear phenomenon has shown up in serious mainstream news media, [69] [70] sometimes in reference to the pop stars who made the fashion trend popular. [70] Wayne Glowka, member of the Georgia College and State University faculty and head of the New Word Committee of the Dialect Society, said about the happening, "Language is just going on its merry way, creating many new words. It's time for men to win something." [71]
Velour, occasionally velours, is a plush, knitted fabric or textile similar to velvet or velveteen. It can be made from polyester, spandex, or cotton, or a cotton-polyester blend. Velour is used in a wide variety of applications, including clothing and upholstery. Velour typically has a medium-length pile, shorter than velvet but longer than velveteen.
Panties are women's underwear. Panties are form-fitting. Typical components include an elastic waistband, a crotch panel to cover the genitalia, and a pair of leg openings that, like the waistband, are often made of elastomer. Various materials are used, but are usually chosen to be breathable.
Bell-bottoms are a style of trousers that become wider from the knees downward, forming a bell-like shape of the trouser leg.
Buttock cleavage is minor exposure of the buttocks and the intergluteal cleft between them, often because of low-rise pants. The crena is a formal term for the cleft between the buttocks.
Wide-leg jeans, colloquially called baggy pants, are a style of clothing popular from the early 1980s to the 2000s, and also during a revival in the 2020s.
Sagging is a manner of wearing trousers that sag so that the top of the trousers or jeans is significantly below the waist, sometimes revealing much of the wearer's underpants.
In fashion, the midriff is the human abdomen. The midriff is exposed when wearing a crop top or some forms of swimwear or underwear.
Fashion of the 1980s was characterized by a rejection of 1970s fashion. Punk fashion began as a reaction against both the hippie movement of the past decades and the materialist values of the current decade. The first half of the decade was relatively tame in comparison to the second half, which was when apparel became very bright and vivid in appearance.
The fashion of the 2000s is often described as a global mash up, where trends saw the fusion of vintage styles, global and ethnic clothing, as well as the fashions of numerous music-based subcultures. Hip-hop fashion generally was the most popular among young people of both sexes, followed by the retro-inspired indie look later in the decade.
Slim-fit pants or skinny jeans are tight trousers that have a snug fit through the legs and end in a small leg opening that can be anywhere from 9" to 20" in circumference, depending on size. Other names for this style include drainpipes, stovepipes, tight pants, cigarette pants, pencil pants, skinny pants, gas pipes, skinnies, and tight jeans.
Briefs are a type of short, form-fitting underwear and swimwear, as opposed to styles where material extends down the thighs. Briefs have various different styles, usually with a waistband attached to fabric that runs along the pelvis to the crotch and buttocks, and are worn by both men and women. Swim briefs are a variation used as swimwear.
The social impact of thong underwear has been covered extensively in the media, ranging from bans on wearing thongs to thongs for children.
Underwear, underclothing, or undergarments are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer clothing from being soiled or damaged by bodily excretions, to lessen the friction of outerwear against the skin, to shape the body, and to provide concealment or support for parts of it. In cold weather, long underwear is sometimes worn to provide additional warmth. Special types of undergarments have religious significance. Some items of clothing are designed as undergarments, while others, such as T-shirts and certain types of shorts, are appropriate both as underwear and outerwear. If made of suitable material or textile, some underwear can serve as nightwear or swimwear, and some undergarments are intended for sexual attraction or visual appeal.
The thong is a garment generally used as either underwear or in some countries, as a swimsuit. It may also be worn for traditional ceremonies or competitions.
In clothing design, a panty line on a human body goes at an angle from the high hip down to the crotch. It is used as a reference line, for example, a babydoll can end either below or above the panty line. The term is also used for the edge of the panties, in particular when it is visible through the outer garment.
Low-rise is a style of clothing designed to sit low on, or below, the hips. The style can also be called lowcut, hipster, or hip-hugger, and can apply to garments worn by males or females. The term can be applied to all garments that cover the wearer's crotch area, including trousers, jeans, shorts, skirts, panties, briefs, bikinis, pantyhose, and tights.
Wearing underwear as outerwear is a fashion trend popularized by celebrities, sports and media. It began as a practical and comfortable variation of clothing, such as the T-shirt and the sleeveless shirt, but later evolved into provocative, controversial fashion statements. 21st century versions include the display of thongs and bras in women's clothing, and the display of underpants under low-slung pants in men. Wearing underwear as outerwear has historical antecedents in the display of undergarments in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
A high-rise or high-waisted garment is one designed to sit high on, or above, the wearer's hips, usually at least 8 centimetres (3 inches) higher than the navel. In western cultures, high-rise jeans were especially common in the 1970s, late 1980s through the late 1990s, derided as mom jeans in the 2000s, and popular again in the mid-to-late 2010s and continues to be popular into the present in competition with low-rise pants.
Whale tail is the Y-shaped waistband of a thong when visible above the waistline of low-rise jeans.
The fashions of the 2020s represent a departure from 2010s fashion and feature a nostalgia for older aesthetics. They have been largely inspired by styles of the late 1990s to mid-2000s, 1980s, and late 1960s to early 1970s. Early in the decade, several publications noted the shortened trend and nostalgia cycle in 2020s fashion. Fashion was also shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a major impact on the fashion industry, and led to shifting retail and consumer trends.
This style has sparked heated debates across the country, as parents negotiate their daughter's skin quotient and students debate their comfort level with the visible thong over fries and gravy at lunch.
Another distraction occurs when pants ride low in the back and expose thong underwear, a phenomenon students have dubbed whales' tails... If you a 16-year-old boy in an English class, and you've got three whales' tails in front of you, it's pretty hard to concentrate on verbs.
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has generic name (help)A rebellion against parents and other adults who seem to have forgotten their own fling with hot pants and the no-bra look.