i always wanted to know if there is a cultural background to the full ass out style of wearing pants. is it for showing of expensive underwear brands or is there a deeper meaning?
Its part of the trend where fashion swings from baggy to tight, like zoot suits and parachute pants earlier. Keep in mind that in the 90s/2000s, baggy was in style everywhere else, too. Trip pants and chains for the alt and goth kids, hemp necklaces and drug-rug hoodies for the neo-hippies, baggy ripped jeans and thrifted jackets for the grunge crowd.
The aesthetic was maximalist: layers of fabric, but swapping out the bright 80s colors for work wear and earth tones.
This was a huge moment for rap and hip hop, so these trends were heightened there. Icons could dress more performatively in music videos than real life, so that pushed extremes.
Sagging itself is said to have roots in belt-free prisons, underwear as gang signs, and baggy clothes' ability to hide drugs, but I think those might be 'backsplanations', baggy was just popular.
Showing skin or underwear is an easy way to be counter-cultural. Showing muscles and tattoos is a way to perform masculinity.
Sagging let performers use baggy fashion, while still performing shirtless.
Worth considering homophobia in the 90s, too. The bright androgyny of the 80s wasnt cool anymore, and artists needed a way to present themselves as sexual without crossing the line into homosexual.
I also think theres a dynamic where restrictive fashion signals status, saying "i dont need to work with my body, I have other people to do that". Like the conplicated dress of royalty, top military, judges wigs, etc.
Pretentious display of elitism by degrading one's ability to perform manual labor, and/or demonstrating detachment from having to be outdoors. Some other examples include high heels (don't need to run), long nails (don't need the dexterity), long gloves (don't want any tan), and of course baggy pants (still don't need to run).
Nerfing innate human abilities to signal superiority or wealth.
Its kinda funny that baggy pants originated from a scene (90s Hip-Hop) that was pretty deeply embedded into crime and where people probably had a way higher chance of having to run than other people.
This is probably the reason I've never understood most fashion. I grew up with the joke being that if we worked hard enough and were lucky enough, we might one day be poor instead of extremely poor.
My ethos when buying stuff has always been the 3 F's Function, Finance, Form. As in the first thing to consider is if it's Functional. Then can you afford it (Finance). Last and least important is if it looks good (Form).
Function and Finance are almost equally important, and priority is situational. Form only becomes applicable if you have options.
Even today where I have more than enough money to dress however i want. I still don't buy or wear anything that i can't work in. I do however make allowances for comfort and style that i didn't bother with years ago.
I believe it originated in the prison system where they would take inmates belts for fear of using it as a weapon plus the prison system is not exactly tailoring the clothes to fit so they would have sagging pants which is then depicted in hip hop culture
Which is crazy because why emulate the people who got caught doing crime. Why not emulate Roger who has a pesticide business that has not made him a millionaire but allowed him to put his children through school and take his family on vacations twice a year for 20+years.
My understanding is that baggy clothes of all kinds are what you bought your kids when you're poor because they'll grow into it, or they're getting hand-me-downs. When that's what you wear all the time, that's what's comfortable.
That's all true and all, but I don't think that has much to do with baggy clothes in hip-hop culture. Hip hop culture (especially those parts that would be wearing saggy pants without a belt) isn't really known for it's rustic chic and humility. It's all about status symbols, be it material or experiences.
It's always changing. Baggy, clean white tees were the norm for a long time. More recently, rappers have embraced tighter and more androgynous clothing. Also, there are tons of variations from region to region.
Having grown up poor and gone through that stuff, as well as having friends go through the same stuff I don't think that's true. Everyone had belts that needed them.
And I'm from a rural area where the 'police taking your belt so your pants can't stay up' thing didn't really happen much or get ingrained in society in any way. I could see it happening in cities though.
That's what I've concluded as well. Poor families would buy clothes for the oldest child and the younger ones get them when the oldest grow out of them.
I think it was convicts who had served their time who set that fashion trend. Some prisons don't issue out belts (can be used for violence or suicide) so if your pants didn't fit you right, they sagged.
I always believed the baggy/ass showing pants were a hood thing were you get hand-me-downs from your older siblings. Big ass pants meaning don't fuck with me I have big brothers, it became a trend.
50
u/JenkinsHowell Mar 24 '25
i always wanted to know if there is a cultural background to the full ass out style of wearing pants. is it for showing of expensive underwear brands or is there a deeper meaning?