Whale tail

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Whale tail is the waistband of a thong or g-string when visible above the waistline of low-rise jeans, shorts, or a skirt creating a shape resembling a whale's tail.[1][2][3] A closely related exposure of underwear is when it is seen through the clothing, which is called a visible panty line (VPL).[4]

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[edit] Fashion phenomenon

Whale tail, thong exposed from top of low-rise jeans
Whale tail, thong exposed from top of low-rise jeans

The whale tail is exposed above the trousers mostly when sitting or bending, or even permanently, depending on the style of trousers the style of underwear, and the way they are worn. The appearance of this Y-shaped fabric termed a whale tail may be deliberate or unintentional. Specially designed trousers like low-rise jeans or hip-huggers and higher cut thongs lead to greater exposure of the whale tail.[1][2][3][4][5] The increased popularity of low-rise jeans has led to increased exposure of the whale tails in the late 1990s. The phenomenon has been compared to the phenomenon of visible bra straps.[6][7]

The layered clothing trend of the early 2000s is led by the whale tail style that incorporates hip-hugger jeans, crop tops and high riding thongs popularized by Britney Spears and Anna Kournikova.[8] The Oregonian, a Portland, Oregon newspaper, wrote in 2004 that whale tails had become a distraction in the campus.[9]

Jess Cartner-Morley, fashion writer of The Guardian, claimed that following pop stars in the hipster trousers gave rise to the "low-slung jeans, whale-tail G-string era".[10] She quoted Louise Hunn, editor of the British edition of InStyle, as saying — "When a look goes too mainstream, people start wearing it badly. And then the really fashionable people run a mile" — while discussing the rising trend of exposing muffin tops and whale tails led by the popularity of hipster jeans.[11] The New York Times claimed that the thong, with straps worn high over the hips, exposed by fashionable low-rise jeans and Juicy Couture sweat pants, became a public icon. It says, "Just as Madonna made bras a public garment in the 1980's, Ms. Lewinsky, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton transformed women's panties into a provocative garment intended for public display."[12] Early in 2000s, whale tails became common to celebrities, providing opportunities to the papparazzi.[13] Sisqó, the R&B artist, rhapsodized about whale tails in his Thong Song.[12] Pornographic film director Mike Metropolis made three films based on whale tails — Whale Tail (2005), Whale Tail I (2005) and Whale Tail II (2006) — with Mark Ashley in the lead.[14]

Tail of a whale, the inspiration behind the coinage
Tail of a whale, the inspiration behind the coinage

The trend of wearing whale tail revealing jeans started to dissipate in the late 2000s.[citation needed] American clothing designers started going for a more modest look,[citation needed] their focus shifting from low-slung jeans and exposed midriffs to high-waisted trousers and cardigans.[12] And while the thong represented 24 percent of the $2.5 billion annual market in women's underwear, it stopped growing since end of 2004.[12] By 2007, accounted for only 12 per cent of the knicker market.[15] Trinny Woodall, presenter of BBC1's What Not to Wear, described women who wore thongs showing above their trousers as "disgusting", while Jodie Marsh, model and reality TV star, said "Showing your thong is a bit old now."[15] Additionally, Cartner-Morley claims that the whale tail and the muffin top, "twin crimes of modern fashion", has also led to a decline in the popularity of hipster jeans.[16] Jessica Kaminsky wrote in I Hate the Gym, a lifestyle commentary, "I hate when girls let their "whale tails" creep out of their pants."[17]

[edit] Linguistic phenomenon

The word was selected by the American Dialect Society (a group of linguists, editors, and academics) in January 2006 as the "most creative word" of 2005, winning by 44 votes. The other nominations for the year were muffin top (meaning the bulge of flesh hanging over the top of low-rider jeans, 25 votes), flee-ancée (meaning runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks, 15 votes), and pinosaur (meaning a very old Wollemi pine tree near Australia’s Blue Mountains, 6 votes).[18] While discussing these new coinages Sali Tagliamonte, associate professor of linguistics at the University of Toronto, observed that young women in North America were ahead of young men as influencers.[19] The use of the word to indicate an underwear phenomenon has shown up in serious mainstream news media,[20][21] sometimes in reference to the popstars who made the fashion trend popular.[22] Wayne Glowka, member of the Georgia College and State University faculty and head of the New Word Committee of the Dialect Society, said about the happening, "Language is just going on its merry way, creating many new words. It's time for men to win something."[23]

[edit] Alternative meanings

Whale tail on a Carrera GT
Whale tail on a Carrera GT
Whale tail on a Trike
Whale tail on a Trike

An earlier use of the term whale tail dates back to 1984, when a certain design of rear-end spoilers were introduced to Porsche 911 Carrera. Those horizontal tails were immediately dubbed as whale tails.[24] Since then the term has been used to refer to large rear spoilers on automobiles (including Ford Sierra RS and Cosworth[25], Porsche Carrera GT[26] and Saab 900[27]), the rear of a trike,[28] as well as other vehicles.

A certain type of bicycle handle is also known as whale tail, while other types of handle are the regular bicycle type and handles without a belly bar. A whale tail style guide handle (U.S. Pat. No. 5993109) lacks the free ends that are characteristic of a bicycle style guide handle.[29]

A beach in Destin, Florida is also known as the Whale's Tail.

[edit] See also

[edit] Footnotes and references

  1. ^ a b Double-Tongued Dictionary
  2. ^ a b Wiktionary
  3. ^ a b Reduplicatives on Celebrate Today
  4. ^ a b Underwear exposed over trousers, Art of Dress Designing, Global Media, ISBN 8190457578
  5. ^ Leah Garchik, Daily Datebook, San Francisco Chronicle, page F8, 23 August 2004: A Hollister spy says the thong visible from the back of low-rise jeans is called a "whale tail."
  6. ^ Gross anatomy: Girls, TimeOut NewYork
  7. ^ Fairwell to fashion faux pas of summer, Star Tribune
  8. ^ 2000s Encyclopedia, AllExperts.com
  9. ^ Tom Quinn, Updated Dress Code Addresses New Styles, The Oregonian, page 1, 24 June 2004:"Another distraction occurs when pants ride low in the back and expose thong underwear, a phenomenon students have dubbed whales' tails... If you a 16-year-old boy in an English class, and you’ve got three whales’ tails in front of you, it’s pretty hard to concentrate on verbs."
  10. ^ Jess Cartner-Morley, One-piece in our time, Guardian
  11. ^ Jess Cartner-Morley, No time to waist, Sidney Morning Herald
  12. ^ a b c d Alex Kczynski, Now You See It, Now You Don't, New York Times
  13. ^ Lindsay Clydesdale, So Thong, And Thanks For Nothing, Daily Records, 6 Februrary 2008
  14. ^ Mike Metropolis at the Internet Movie Database
  15. ^ a b Liz Hull, So long to the thong as women reject the chav look for big pants, The Daily Mail, 5th February 2008
  16. ^ Jess Cartner-Morley, Hang up your hipsters, The Guardian, March 25, 2005
  17. ^ Jessica Kaminsky, I Hate the Gym, page 33, Simon Spotlight Entertainment, ISBN 0689873697
  18. ^ Words of the Year 2005. American Dialect Society (2006-01-06).
  19. ^ John Harlow, Hey exogals, girl talk is the future of English, The Sunday Times, January 8, 2006
  20. ^ CNN Transcripts of Showbiz Tonight
  21. ^ CNN transcripts of The Situation Room
  22. ^ CNN transcripts of The CNN Newsroom
  23. ^ Marsh Mercer, Word of year might be something manly, Seattle Pi, January 3, 2007
  24. ^ Wayne R. Dempsey, 101 Projects for Your Porsche 911, Page 198, MotorBooks/MBI Publishing Company, 2001, ISBN 0760308535]
  25. ^ Graham Robson, The Illustrated Directory of Classic Cars, Page 228, MotorBooks/MBI Publishing Company, 2001, ISBN 0760310491
  26. ^ Porsche 911 History. edminds.com.
  27. ^ Classic Saab Whale Tail restoration, Saab Commemorative Edition Website
  28. ^ Hannigan Trikes, Easycart
  29. ^ Guide handle for a manually steered machine, Patent Storm
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