Now why is that?

[The Grebe]

I got to wondering about something today.....I seen a kid walking down the street and his pants were half way down the cheeks of his butt and it looked like he had about 15 yards of material between his belt and his ankles. Now this kid was shaped like a broom handle, nothing to grab aholt of, straight up and down.

Now I'm wondering about something? I'm not a heavy set guy by any means,I'm five 10 and fluctuate between 175 and 185 pounds and my waist fluctuates between 32 and 33 inches, depends on how many pork chops and how much ice cream I eat. I have a kellava time keeping my pants up even with a belt on? It starts out okay, but after a little work, theres the butt crack showin, looking like it starts in the middle of my back!

I've tried everything, I've cinched my belt so tight that my voice gets squeeky and my pants are all puckered up around the waistline! I tried pullin my shorts up under my arm pits and my pants about chest high. In no time flat, "Peek aboo guess who?" butt crack!

I've thought of having some velcro surgically installed around my middle, but my wife kicked me a good one in the shin and said that wasn't gonna happen.

Suppose I could go to sapenders...( Or is it suspenders?)or maybe some sportsmens glue?

Why can a kid that is as straight as an arrow, intentionally wear his pants around his cheeks and they don't fall down? I can't even keep mine up? There is no justice, alot of questions and no answers! Heck with it, I'm gonna have me another Dilly Bar.

[leech~~]

I got to wondering about something today.....I seen a kid walking down the street and his pants were half way down the cheeks of his butt and it looked like he had about 15 yards of material between his belt and his ankles. Now this kid was shaped like a broom handle, nothing to grab aholt of, straight up and down.

Now I'm wondering about something? I'm not a heavy set guy by any means,I'm five 10 and fluctuate between 175 and 185 pounds and my waist fluctuates between 32 and 33 inches, depends on how many pork chops and how much ice cream I eat. I have a kellava time keeping my pants up even with a belt on? It starts out okay, but after a little work, theres the butt crack showin, looking like it starts in the middle of my back!

I've tried everything, I've cinched my belt so tight that my voice gets squeeky and my pants are all puckered up around the waistline! I tried pullin my shorts up under my arm pits and my pants about chest high. In no time flat, "Peek aboo guess who?" butt crack!

I've thought of having some velcro surgically installed around my middle, but my wife kicked me a good one in the shin and said that wasn't gonna happen.

Suppose I could go to sapenders...( Or is it suspenders?)or maybe some sportsmens glue?

Why can a kid that is as straight as an arrow, intentionally wear his pants around his cheeks and they don't fall down? I can't even keep mine up? There is no justice, alot of questions and no answers! Heck with it, I'm gonna have me another Dilly Bar.

Grebe, from BC also and have seen the same kid or many like him. I think the difference is, none of these kids have ten pounds of keys on their key ring in one pucket and a 5lb big fat wallet in the other like you have! But, I think the real key is wearing big bunched up boxers underneath that hold them up.

[JBMasterAngler]

Pants are getting lower and shirts are getting baggier. They wear shorts now, and sag them so low that the bottoms of the shorts are at the shoes! JUST WEAR PANTS THEN!!! I can't stand this style...which also includes the ball cap with straight bill, and sticker I hope these kids get arthretis in their hips and knees so bad when they're older (in reference to how they have to walk funny to keep their pants up).

[nofishfisherman]

If these kids knew the real origins of the low pants style they probably wouldn't be so eager to wear their pants around their knees. It used to actually communicate something to other people. Now it just looks stupid.

[MinnesnowtaWild]

[zamboni]

I went to college for 3 semesters and same kids that wore shorts in the dead of winter were the same ones that wore knit beanies (stocking caps) in the spring and summer

[GatorBait]

This fade originated from Gang members in order for them the conceal weapons and drugs better w/o being noticed from bulges and such. At the same time, colors are used for identifaction between factions. Unfortunately the fade has caught on to anyone who thinks this lifestyle is the next best thing. Half of the kids wearing this stuff have no idea what they are doin.

[Shack]

GB youz straight out of Compton.

I figured you were going to say the pants sagging is caused by " all" the guns and drugs OG's are carry'in.

This will give you an idea I understood as the reason why sagging is so popular. Well at least what cable tv has tought me.

Quote:

When it comes to pop culture, as you will clearly see in a moment,

fleeting trends like those associated with the relatively infant hip

hop fad, quickly lose their historical provenance. To answer your

question would be tantamount to someone in the 1980?s asking what

single landmark event prompted the briefly fashionable rolling of a

cigarette pack in the sleeve of a t-shirt during the predominantly

teenage ?hoodlum? phase of fashion in the 1940?s and 1950?s.

Here are some varying positions on this issue from reputable sources:

This was an observation of the budding hip hop culture back in 1989:

?The look is squeaky clean. In its simplest form, the hip-hopper's kit

consists of a hooded baggy top, tracksuit pants and training shoes.?

- 1989 Observer 24 Sept. 37/4

CORPORA: HIP HOP SUMMARY

From a historical clothing prospective comes this undecided commentary:

?There is some disagreement among the origin of baggy jeans. Some

observers seem to think people in the Hip Hop community began to copy

the pants that prisoners were issued while they were incarcerated and

thus lend their attire to prison chic? Others are convinced that the

baggy jean actually has some roots in the skate/snowboard industry.?

HISTORICAL BOY?S CLOTHING

This article in the New York Times ?appears? to explain it very well ? or does it?:

?First of all, the baggy pants, or saggin?, as it is called,

originated with prisoners, who were not given belts, so their pants

sagged. In addition, many hip-hop-inspired fashion labels, starting

with Cross Colors and Karl Kani and now with Sean John and Rocawear,

began making strides in the marketplace and culture by designing jeans

cut specifically for blacks. (Other labels designed for whites were

often too tight, so people bought them several sizes too big to fit

better.) This style was never about status in the way a Stetson hat

was or a Gucci hat is now. Instead, it could be read as hip-hop's

ability to redefine the culture around it.?

(An excerpt from ?Is Stagolee's Stetson Like a Rapper's Baggy Pants??

by Todd Boyd, which appeared as an article in the New York Times in

the summer of 2003. Todd Boyd, as it turns out, is actually ?Dr.? Todd

Boyd, Professor of Critical Studies at the University of Southern

California's School of Cinema-Television and the author of several

books about black culture.)

HIPHOPMUSIC

Then there are ?professionals? who claim to know more about the subject than most:

Believe it or not, there is actually an academic study of the hip hop

culture. The subject?s most widely recognized scholar happens to be Dr

Jon Abdullah Yasin, Professor, Bergen Community College, Hackensack,

New Jersey, whose credentials are most impressive by any academic

standard. He lectures nationally on the issue and maintains that the

culture has African origins (and also speaks on this very issue of

baggy pants).

BERGEN COMMUNITY COLLEGE ? DR. JON ABDULLAH YASIN

THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF BALTIMORE COUNTY

All four of these sources are reputable and all four are reasonable

offerings. Where each one seems to fail is in the hard evidence

supporting their position on the issue and in pointing out a

verifiable source for their information. The truth is, hip hop?s baggy

pants evolved as a subculture trend, and since subcultures aren?t

particularly documented as they occur inasmuch as they are discussed

and studied in retrospect, it seems that the truth regarding this

issue will remain a short trail of footprints which have since blown

away in the wind.

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH / CONCLUSION

Furthering my research in an attempt to associate one of these

explanations with the most plausible origin. In doing so I found a

most believable explanation that appears to be most closely supported

by Dr. Yasin?s version of the fashion?s origin:

This most reasonable explanation is offered in this article, which

seems to confirm Dr. Yasin?s position that the baggy pants originated

(at least in concept) from an eccentric American youth translation of

old African culture blended with exaggerated street fashion of the

time. Here are some excerpts from a very interesting article on the

subject:

?Hip-hop fashion took its look from the street and from the black

cultures that fueled it. Jamaican Rastafarians inspired dreadlocks and

rasta caps in Jamaican red, green and yellow; b-boys mixed it with

logo track suits and hi-style sneakers; afrocentrics proudly displayed

Kente cloth in bright colors and leather emblems of the homeland; and

rappers took oversized clothes and heavy gold emblems to the extreme.

Mix it all together?rasta, breaking, afrocentricity, rap?and what

you've got is a very strong sense of what became 90's hip-hop style.?

?By 1981, rap was leaving the streets, including a noteworthy

appearance by The Funky Four + 1 More on Saturday Night Live, which

helped introduce both rap and breakdancing to the suburban,

middle-class world. Almost overnight, kids were donning oversized,

shoelaceless adidas and gold dukie chains, jamming to Run DMC and LL

Cool J. Rap would still be considered a black art until white rappers

the Beastie Boys brought their own form of rap to the charts with

?Fight for your Right? off of 1986?s Licensed to Ill. The hip-hop

culture had successfully crossed racial barriers to become a major

force.?

HIP HOP ? YESTERLAND FASHION

Clothing in various branches of American culture has long since

bridged social, gender and racial barriers. What once may have been

unique to a particular culture often becomes commonplace among like

minded individuals as a show of solidarity. Such was the case in the

60?s when black and whites alike wore American Indian style beads,

western style fringe and Roman style sandals. The phenomenon was

repeated in the 70?s when blacks and white alike wore African style

Afros. The fashion itself becomes secondary to the participants?

interest in the ?look? and show of solidarity to their cultural peers.

So it is with hip-hop fashion. While the fashion certainly appears to

have taken it?s roots from African culture, it was clearly modified

over time prior to its arrival in the US by heavy ?rasta? influence

and then further amended by American youth culture (longing for an

identity that was unique, cool, defiant, and outrageous) wherein the

excesses were added for effect to indicate social status or to make a

social statement. The Kente cloth of the Africans and the baggy track

suits of the Jamaican Rastafarians (parachute pants, ala MC Hammer)

were soon replaced domestically with huge expensive jeans reflecting

the culture?s outrageous excesses and was eventually replaced by

fashions such as khaki or cargo pants specifically designed to have

the ?saggin? look while actually fitting the wearer. Like most

youthful traditions in the United States (and indeed many other

countries), much was borrowed from cultures other than our own,

Historically however, (speculating about the future here) the source

will likely be recorded as having been the brainchild of US street

culture while you and I, for the moment at least, now know otherwise.

Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy

for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By

following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to

enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find

that that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any

questions about my research please post a clarification request prior

to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final

comments and I look forward to working with you again in the near

future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

[GatorBait]

Yeah, and sadly I see the pants sagging on a daily basis within these confined razor wire protected walls. You'd be amazed at how much [PoorWordUsage] one can hide in a pair of baggy pants.

Yeah, you won't ever catch me baggin in Compton, but as a Security Threat Group Specialist I know more about the OG's than they know about themselves. Such a sad, sad lifestyle to even pretend about.

[rushing]

lol You know you are getting older when you start complaining bout what the kids are wearing and how it looks stupid. Baggy pants are nothing new. I was a skater punk in the late 80s and early 90s and most of my shorts and pants were super baggy. I still wear baggy shorts and pants its just now I wear suspenders to hold them up. What drives me nuts is the super skinny jeans guys are wearing now. I think that looks way worse than baggy ones.

[Shack]

Gator I assume the carry this and that came as a "hey this works pretty good" or the crowd who took on just happen to be in the field where carrying gun & drugs would occur if leasure suits had became big at that time.

You would know better than I or them when it comes to the people you work with. No doubt the big/loose chosen issued wear prisoners wear is derived from concealing stuff and maybe a little comfort & style I would guess? I also agree with your thoughts on people loosing the true meaning of their fashion choices. The biggest example of a cultures clouthing flip flop is the coming of these Weekend Warriors who paint them selves up in biker garb. Kids and taking on a new fad is only natural. Educated grown men/women who "want to ride" and play the part of the biker just shows how any age group can start something they have no clue the history involved. There was a time not to long ago you did not want to make a mistake of being viewed as a biker. It was an invite for real bikers to challenge you or make an example of. Leather & road rash protection is one thing, but when you rip the sleves off or only wear a vest with nothing under, sew patches all over it, get a some tats, throw on a wallet chain, buy jeans that look used, throw on a head rag and head to the nearest rough bar, IMO way more weird than seeing a kid with his jeans sagging. All the stuff these people doll them selves up with when the Mon.-Fri. biz-suit is taken off for the weekend has a meaning, history, they have no clue about. Murder, drugs, guns & even worse. Even attending these so-called biker rallys, these people have no clue the history of the orignal/true biker gathering.

Rushing is right on. It started a year or so ago, but the saggy look is on the way out. This year my 13 year old will only wear extreme slim fit. I am all for self expresstion, but I do miss him wearing baggy skater jeans.

[GatorBait]

Yeah, the "wrong" biker garb is suicide in the midwest area for even thoughs that are rural, or out of the big city. I see it all the time, it's no biggie in my eyes until they get the idea that they Need to sport rockers on the back of their vests. This in cense will get you questioned, beat, or killed. I've seen it happen and I live in the "village" of less than 1k. I worry more about bikers than I do anyother gangbanger in the non city area of the midwest. Hopefully people are a bit more smart about how they "advertise" their weeked warrior fun. There's a fine line between who you are and who want to be like. Be a little educated on it I guess, don't go on a bike rally with "Support your local HA's" patch when your in Outlaw territory. Seen it before, I just stop and say a prayer for them. It definately cracks me up, I had a boss (executive status) do this, and it just threw me for a loop everytime I seen him. To each their own I guess.

LOL, yeah, my 13yr old came home one day from shopping sporting a straight brimmed hat with graffiti type font on it and half his boxers showing. I'm like, what is this an April Fool's joke or something. But this is the style dad, yeah, well that style will only get you a min wage job, go return it. LOL, I love parenthood.

[Black_Bay]

I guess I'm late to the party because I've just been wearing baggy clothes the last couple of years. Mostly it's because I'm getting old so my gut is growing and my rear end fell off sometime around 2008.

[Loose]

I was born without a a$$ my pants are always falling down, to a point, they get about mid butt and stop, o yea there is crack too.