Sagging (fashion)

Sagging is a manner of wearing trousers or jeans which so that the top of the trousers or jeans are significantly below the waist, sometimes revealing much of the underwear.

Sagging is predominantly a male fashion. Women's wearing of low-rise jeans to reveal their G-string underwear (the "whale tail") is not generally described as sagging. A person wearing sagging trousers is sometimes called a "sagger", and in some countries this practice is known as "low-riding". It has become popular since the popularity of wearing brightly colored and patterned "boxer shorts".

Sagging first peaked in popularity during the 1990s, and has recently made a comeback in the 2010s, with celebrities like Justin Bieber, Liam Payne, Ross Lynch and more bringing back the fashion trend. Sagging in the 1990s usually focused on baggy trousers with plaid boxers, but in the 2010s sagging has become popular with skinny jeans and branded boxer-briefs.

The style was popularized by skaters and hip-hop artists in the 1990s. It later became a symbol of freedom and cultural awareness among some youths or a symbol of their rejection of the values of mainstream society.

It is often claimed the style originated from the United States prison system where belts are sometimes prohibited and there can be a lack of appropriately sized clothing,

During the first decade of the 21st century, many North American local governments, school systems, transit agencies, and even airlines passed laws and regulations against the practice of wearing sagging pants, although no state or federal laws have been enacted banning the practice. US presidential candidate Barack Obama, speaking just before the 2008 US Presidential Election, appeared on MTV and said that laws banning the practice of wearing low-slung pants that expose one's underwear were "a waste of time ... Having said that, brothers should pull up their pants. You are walking by your mother, your grandmother, your underwear is showing. What's wrong with that? Come on. Some people might not want to see your underwear. I'm one of them."

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