Saggy Jeans

  To sag or not to sag?
I remember when I first saw dudes walking around with their pants sagging in the early 80’s it looked really strange to me especially since pants were only cut one way: Narrow and Straight.  Plus, every adult around me--at that time of my pre-teen years—was repulsed to see a young man walking around with his underwear showing. 

Back then I sometimes saw the baggy pants wearer wearing 2 pair of paints. Nonetheless, in 1982ish, baggy pants were in its’ infancy… The rumor of its’ origin was that youth were imitating convicts that consequently sagged because they weren’t allowed to wear belts in the pen.  Thusly, causing their pants fell below the waist.

Personally I embraced the baggy pants look when I was battling a bout with homophobia in high school. Eddie Murphy (who ironically is rumored to be gay) in his first stand-up show “Delirious” commented that, “You can tell when a fag is looking at your ass because you ass gets hot!”...       

Well, I didn’t want my ass to get "hot" and I definitely didn’t want my ass to get looked at.  So I concealed it in baggy pants.  That was in the late 80’s-early 90’s and now at the age of 34, I’m still sagging. 

I mean, even though I’ve reconciled with my homophobia a long time ago, I’ve been unable to let go of my baggy jean comfort zone and I think that tight or fitting pants look gay. 

Overall, I’m comfortable with my pants hanging off my ass.  But I find that I need a couple of extra inches in the waist even in my slacks, pajamas, sweats…

When I think about it, I think I’m going to sag until I die.  I just can’t help it—or can I?

Comments

[CocoCouture]

Don't do it, dude.

[satisfiedsistah]

Frankly since the fashion started I liked saggy pants on guys. I didn't understand the origins of the fashion until someone told me it started with guys who had been prison inmates. I think the only negative is some people see sagging as an affliation with rappers and thugs. Anyway, sag on. It's your choice, be free.

[SmartBlkWoman]

As the previous poster said, this particular fashion started in prison as a way to let people know that you were somebodies bitch. Its really unnattractive and I don't think that any respectable man should dress that way.

I used to think that it looked "tough" but the older I get the more I realize how misguided it is.

[Guy REal]

Hmm, is the prison story really true, I started to wear saggy jeans because I wanted them really baggy so I bought them way to big and held them up with a belt that caused them to sag.

But smeadium is back in style so the jeans are getting smaller, time to get rock star.

[Don't Push Me]

I don't know about the prison theory thing. Even though I've heard it plenty of times before. Ironically, I think most of the people who are quick to pull out the "prison" thing are the very ones who don't wear baggy jeans nor like the style in the first place.

But you're right "smeadiun" is making a surge. But it doesn't make them comfortable. I'm still torn. To sag or not to sag. It's still a question.

[miss ahmad]

allot of my old school home boys say that they started sagging because growing up they knew they weren't gonna get allot of pants. they bought them big so that they could "grow into them"

ya'll know about growing into clothes.

it's a better look than the unintentional smedium!

I like all type, I like a man in some well fitted pants, especially is he has some nice long legs. saggy and baggy pants can be deceiving, hiding all kinds of stomach and what not!

[Simonsureal]

The sag started because of hand-me-downs, not prison pants....lol...

come on man, step your hood knowledge game up....

[SmartBlkWoman]

Sagging your pants DID start in prison. I know this because a black man that had spent a large portion of his life in prison and appeared to be in his 50's ( and was STILL in prison doing this interview) was on MSNBC saying that this is where the style came from. Black men weren't sagging their pants until the 80's when the whole idea that being in prison was somehow cool was starting to take hold and many black men were going into/coming out of prison due to drug related crimes.

I don't ever remember people sagging their pants as a style thing outside of that. Yeah, people had hand me downs and stuff but EVERYONE wasn't wearing hand me downs.

[Don't Push Me]

I dunno....I find the prison thing hard to believe. Yes, I've heard it again and again since day 1. I just find it hard to believe. And the hand-me-down theory(?). Not sure about that one either...

I don't think it really matters as long as I wear some cool underwear--that's what counts!

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

I remember thinking saggy pants were cool back in the early 90s, but now it looks comically silly to me.
The really strange thing about this look is that it has lingered for over a decade! Think about it... imagine men wearing their 1975 bell-bottoms in the mid 1980s!! They would have been laughed at. Imagine men wearing brightly colored 1992 "Hammer pants" today! When I see the "saggy diapers" look, I can't help but chuckle. When some guy has the complete look, with a shirt that looks more like a nightgown, with some stubby little legs poking out of the bottom, etc. it reminds me of a penguin! Men in India and Afghanistan wear outfits that sort of resemble this look, except the Indian Pajamas are more stylish than the saggy jeans.
As for the local origins, I think it became popular with delinquents who liked the way it made concealing weapons easier, also for shoplifting.
Of course the "prison-bitch" thing is probably true, too. Perhaps the reason they think doing time is cool is because prison is one of the only places where it's considered OK for men to have sex with other men, yet strangely retain their "straight" status in society. I'm sure a lot of them are "on the D.L." when they get out of jail, too.

Another possible reason the look is still popular today is because so many people are overweight, and baggy, tent-like clothes hide the rolls of blubber. Most of the guys who are still doing this are just stuck in a rut.
I notice even among hip-hop fans, the guys who are in shape or buffed tend to wear clothes that fit a bit tighter to show off their physique rather than hiding it under a cotton tent. I hope that someday folks will let the "stubby legs" "took-a-dump-in-my-diaper" look die and take its place in the museum of historical fashion blunders.

[a.]

this is interesting. i have a male friend who for years would ask young men who were wearing their pants ridiculously big (i.e., they were not only sagging, but just intentionally showing their ass) if they wanted to see his ass. usually appalled, they would say, "hell no." he would then reply to them, "then what makes you think that i want to see your ass? pull dem damn pants up!" he made a point.

[adultdate365]

I have too many favorites. I can’ t pick one all time favorite. As a child I kept rechecking out the different colors of fairy books- “ The Red Fairy” book etc. As an adult my favorites are even harder to pick. “ Good Omens” by Neil Gaiman and Terry...

[Bo Ra]

Come on, it's about time that we had a youth movement with some intellect behind it. Why is it that there have been so many 'liberal' white youth movements like the hippies, punks, goths etc... all focused on art, literature and the freedom for all etc, and our focus is on convicts? And don't talk about Mr.X. As 'historically' important as he is, he was no liberal, he had a very personal agenda. Yes, I know that there have been equally bigoted white youth movements (e.g. skinheads), but at least they have been a minority. I can remember the days when people used to picket outside the South African embassy in the UK against apartheid. They were all white kids with punky hair (the types black kids used to beat up), not a black face in sight. Until Mandela visited London, and then suddenly the crowd that met him was mostly black, like we had been giving a s*** about SA the whole time. Come on! Let's be honest.

[Denny]

Saggy pants are a sign of disrespect.

[runescape gold]

I have too many favorites. I can’ t pick one all time favorite. As a child I kept rechecking out the different colors of fairy books

[ClubPenguin]

Its really unnattractive and I don't think that any respectable man should dress that way.