Sagging (fashion)

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"Sagging" is the fashion of wearing trousers (slacks, shorts or jeans) below the waist, hanging around the buttock area. Usually the underwear is worn higher, so that the underwear is exposed, but not much bare skin. The style is typically worn by males.

Sagging began in prisons, where ill-fitting uniforms and rules forbidding belts resulted in falling-down pants.^[1] The practice spread to Los Angeles and New York City street gangs.^{[citation needed]} This style expresses a "tough guy" image for the wearer, and became a prominent element of hip hop fashion as gangsta rap became popular in the 1990s, and remains very popular today, especially with middle and high school students.

In many school districts across the United States, sagging is prohibited. The Virginia General Assembly tried but failed to approve a law making the sagging style illegal in February 2005.^[1]