Low-rise jeans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Low-rise jeans are jeans intended to sit low on, or below, the hips. They are also called lowcut jeans, hipsters, hip-huggers and lowriders. Worn by both men and women, low-rise jeans are intentionally cut lower on the waist, thus covering less body on front (the belly) and the back. Usually they sit at least three inches lower than the belly button. Low-rise jeans have existed since the 1960s, but their renewed popularity and the subsequent trends they inspired among young women and men (i.e. the whale tail and lower back tattoo), and the Boxer Shorts Showing look on men, were one of the earliest phenomena that distinguished the popular fashion of the 2000s from that of the 1990s.
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[edit] Measurements
Lowrise jeans, are designed to expose a considerable amount of the upper body or the torso. The "rise" of a jeans is determined by the distance between the crotch and the waist and is usually around eleven inches on regular pants. In comparison, the average measurement of low rise jeans is roughly seven inches (18 cm), with some as little as three to four inches (7.6–10 cm). Several jeans brands also reflect the rise on the zipper, by creating pants with zippers far shorter than regular pants, usually between 2 and 3 inches, and some manufacturers even provide 1 inch zippers. The latter can also be classified as "Ultra Lowrise Jeans", and the small zipper no longer has its traditional function, but rather becomes a display of fashion, an additional marking of a lowrise pair of jeans.
[edit] History
[edit] Hip Hugger Pants
Hip-huggers, the precursor to low rise jeans, rose to popularity during the late 1960s, with the ascendance of the hippie counterculture and psychedelic music. Often worn with light-cotton, paisley-printed tops or nehru-collared jackets, bell-bottomed hip huggers were popularized by rock icons such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Robert Plant. Later, hip-huggers became a staple of popular culture, as it was incorporated into the disco scene of the 1970s.
However, during the early 1980s, waistlines moved higher as wide, flared, bell-bottoms gradually gave way to designer straight-legged jeans. Throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s, as more women entered the corporate workforce, the high waist design remained predominant, with commercial designers such as Gloria Vanderbilt and Calvin Klein at the forefront.
[edit] Revival
The fashion of lowrise jeans reemerged in 2001, particularly among girls and boys between the age of 14 and 25. Although its popularity also increased among women and men of other ages, the major focus of advertising is still directed at teenage girls and boys, with typical teen stores selling lowrise jeans in different styles and colours. Most teenage and twenty something oriented retail stores that carry jeans (ie Guess, American Eagle, Hollister, Stitches) only or mostly carry low-rise jeans.
Currently, lowrise jeans are manufactured in many styles, and though tight jeans are usually the most popular, they also exist in loose, baggy, flare and destroyed style. Due to the popularity of lowrise jeans, manufacturers have also begun making lowrise styles of other kinds of pants. In the stores today, there is an immense variety available. Indeed, low-slung jeans, especially tight black styles, have become increasingly popular in the more recent emo scene.
[edit] Fashion
The primary intention of wearing lowrise jeans is to display more skin at the waist, torso, and hips. As a result, girls usually wear these pants in combination with shorter crop tops, giving a glimpse of skin between the jeans and the top, or (more commonly in the summer or in warmer countries) showing their entire midriff including the belly button.
One of the effects of a lowrise jeans is not only the display of more skin on the abdomen, but also the (partially or completely) revealing of the buttocks when sitting down or bending over. In many cases, cleavage becomes visible[1]. When a thong is exposed above a pair of lowrise jeans on the back, it is commonly referred to as a "whale tail", due to its somewhat similar shape.
People often wear lowrise jeans as a fashion, and the display of butt and underwear is simply an additional "effect", although this too has had an impact on fashion. Becoming aware that their underwear is no longer always hidden inside their pants, more women choose their underwear to function with their lowrise jeans[2] [3], the same applies to men with the choice of boxer shorts being crucial.Tattoos are also often placed on the lower belly or back. Lowrise jeans are often worn because tattoos placed in the midriff area, are more likely to become visible.
[edit] Legal Matters
Legislator Derrick Shepherd of the state of Louisiana in the USA made an attempt in 2004 to outlaw the fashion of lowrise jeans, particularly to bring a halt to the display of underwear under the pants, claiming it to be disrespectful and obscene. People still spotted with their "whale tail" or "boxers showing" would be fined $500. This bill (HB 1703) was rejected by the Louisiana House.
The Times-Picayune of New Orleans editorialized on May 8, 2004: “Some Louisiana lawmakers seem determined to make us the laughingstock of the nation. The appearance of a Comedy Central crew at Thursday’s hearing is a guarantee they’ll be successful. But even ideas that are dumb and comical can have dire consequences. A bill that would pull into the criminal justice system children and adults who wear their pants low is not only dumb -- it’s dangerous.”
A similar bill was attempted in Hampton Roads, Virginia, USA, putting a $50 fine on anyone deliberately showing their underwear. The bill was rejected in February 2005.
Further conservative reactions come from schools, putting a particular dress code on their students, not allowing them to wear pants below a certain area of their body, or displaying underwear.
[edit] Medical concerns
A popular rumor says that in 2003, Dr. Malvinder S. Parmar pointed out that wearing tight lowrise jeans puts pressure on a sensory nerve, which can cause pain and paresthesia in the nerve's area of distribution. This is known as Meralgia paresthetica, showing symptoms of tingling or a burning sensation on the lateral aspect of the thigh. The problem with previously examined patients was resolved when they avoided wearing tight lowrise jeans, after 4 to 6 weeks.
[edit] Sources
- Canadian Medical Association Journal
- UJeans.com Rise
- Mejeans.com Right Jeans
- Groovyjeans
- The Denim Blog
