Whale tail

Whale tail is the Y-shaped waistband of a thong or G-string when visible above the waistline of low-rise jeans, shorts, or a skirt that resembles a whale's tail. Intentionally or unintentionally, a whale tail is exposed above the trousers mostly when sitting or bending, or even while standing. The frequency or occasion depends on the style of trousers, the style of underwear, and the way they are worn. Displaying whale tails became popular in the early 2000s, together with the rise of low-rise jeans and thong underwear. The trend, popularized by a number of female celebrities including Christina Aguilera, Victoria Beckham, Mariah Carey, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, waned within the decade.

Specially designed trousers like low-rise jeans or hip-huggers and higher cut thongs led to greater exposure of the whale tail. The trend was also associated with the trend of sporting lower back tattoos. 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, which quickly became mainstream as a Gucci model revealed one on the catwalk, Melanie Blatt of All Saints was photographed showing her thong as she got out of a taxi, and Victoria Beckham suggested that her husband enjoyed her wearing her G-strings around the home.Britney Spears has been portrayed as a major contributor to the whale tail's popularity. Her whale tail display has been referred to in such creative literature books as Married to a Rock Star by Shemane Nugent,Thong on Fire by Noire,The Magical Breasts of Britney Spears by Ryan G. Van Cleave, and Off-Color by Janet McDonald.The Oregonian, a Portland, Oregon, newspaper, wrote in 2004 that an abundance of whale tails had become a distraction on the campus. Social commentator Ann C. Hall identified this campus trend as an "apparent intersection between everyday campus fashion and soft porn". 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.

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