Teens wearing pants at their knees..

[LisaR]

Really? Must be regional? I don't see it as much anymore as it used to be.

We are vacationing in Savannah, GA at the moment and I can tell you it is BIG with the locals here. It is hilarious. It seems to be greatly exaggerated here compared to what I have seen over the years. They are wearing them very low with a belt just above their thighs. I really want to roll down the window and yell, "pull up your pants," but DH has suggested that might not be the best idea. I really thought this trend was fading until I arrived here. Someone needs to tell these boys they are behind the times.

 

[lovesmurfs]

I think it's fading here- it looks stupid. The boys have to walk with their knees 2 feet apart to keep their pants up- If that makes them feel cool, whatever, but they look dumb.

Every time I see someone walking like this, I think of the penguin scene with Dick Van **** in Mary Poppins!

 

[Mickey527]

My ex DIL bought my grandson who is 4 a pair of jeans that are baggy. Sewn into the jeans is a big strip of elastic with some words on it. the elastic is sewn at the top and is tightenough to stay around his belly so when he wore the pants it looked like his underwear elastic and the pants were falling down a bit and showing his underwear.
He hasn't worn those pants since his dad got full custody in December.

 

[shortbun]

Whether children know it or not, the "look" originated with the jail house. Belts are taken away so trousers slump.

Their exaggerated version glorifies being in jail.

Maybe to you. Look, grownups have hated teen fashion trends in every generation since Elvis or longer. It's called 'saggin' and it's all the rage with the boys around here...has been for years. I've actually left boys behind who could not run to get the bus because their pants prohibited it. When they complain, I tell 'em, 'pull your pants up and run!' I don't allow(who am I kidding, he pulls them down as soon as I'm out of sight) my son to sag. I make his friends pull their pants up and I lecture them about old people and what they think of their sag. It changes nothing. lol! When they really want to participate in something where saggin is not allowed, they all pull up their pants. I don't care about it that much but it does look really stupid. So did my long dirty hair, bell bottoms draggin the ground and thick dark eyeliner.

 

[Geoff_M]

I think it's fading here- it looks stupid. The boys have to walk with their knees 2 feet apart to keep their pants up- If that makes them feel cool, whatever, but they look dumb.

I agree... I often cannot help but snicker when I see a boy with his pant half way down to his knees. I don't see how it's cool to walk around looking like you've just dropped a load into your pants!

I also shudder to think what our high school hallways would look like if a big hip-hop artist decided it was "cool" to wear their boxers on their heads one day!

 

[NotUrsula]

I happened to be in a local store one day when I heard the funniest comment on these pants, and it's so true.

I was shopping in the boys dept for DS when I heard two moms discussing buying pants for their sons. One boy had gone into the dressing room with a pr. that was obviously too big, and his Mom was saying she was not going to let him buy them. The other mom laughed and said that the upside to pants like that were that you know that your kid was never going to be shot at by a cop for running away -- because it's impossible to run in those pants.

I'm in a major city in the midwest (not Chicago), and the style is pretty much out now; I mostly see it on men over 30 who are unwilling to concede their ages. The really IN thing for boys here at the moment is super-tight pants -- and yes, the thinner boys do go for women's jeans to try to get them as tight as possible.

 

[CathrynRose]

I've heard that it originated in prison as a way for prisoners to "signal" to one another that they were "available", if you get my meaning.

Seriously? I'll let my boys know it appears they're "looking for some action" if-ya-know-what-I-mean....*wink wink*

It seems that they were just imitating the rappers. At least I know that is where my sons and their friends got it from.

Exactly.

I'm in a major city in the midwest (not Chicago), and the style is pretty much out now; I mostly see it on men over 30 who are unwilling to concede their ages. The really IN thing for boys here at the moment is super-tight pants -- and yes, the thinner boys do go for women's jeans to try to get them as tight as possible.

I'm in Chicago, and I can tell you right now, that not one of my boys (gonna be 19 & 15) friends, wear super tight skinny pants.

However, if you go to Boys Town in the city: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boystown,_Chicago - that is, indeed the look, there.

 

[Myothername]

I remember something cute my then 3 year old son said about this. He wore boxer shorts even then and his short pants were coming down so you could see his boxers. He was really skinny. Anyway, I said pull your pants up. You look like a thug at the mall. He pulled them up, thought a second and said "Don't they have a momma?"

 

[Magpie]

My 12yo son has no waist. Seriously! He's not at all overweight, but he goes straight up from his hips to his chest. That means he's not comfortable wearing jeans around where his waist would be if he had one, and he *hates* belts. He likes to wear his pants low on his hips, right under his stomach. And if they fit around there, then they're way too long for his legs.

Someday when he's a millionaire, he's going to have to get all his pants specially made to order.

But in the meantime, it just means his pants sag and I'm always after him to roll up the legs so he's not tripping over them. Personally, I like the loose-fitting styles - they fit my son a little better than the others. His grandpa was built the exact same way, and he always bought pants several sizes too large and used suspenders to hold them up.

That said, I also think the extreme gangsta look, with the undies hanging out, looks ridiculous. On the other hand - does anyone remember parachute pants from the eighties? I thought those looked really stupid, too. It's just the same old, same old. Soon enough they'll be on to something else.

 

[EMom]

We took DD skating at Christmas and saw a teen boy there in a "different" look. He was sporting the SUPER SKINNY jeans which didn't surprise me. But he had combined that style with the "wear your pants low on your hips" style and let me just say....It was NOT working for him. I swear, it simply looked as if he couldn't get a pair of tight pants pulled all the way up. That look is just as bad on a teen boy as it is on a grown woman.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

My 12yo son has no waist. Seriously! He's not at all overweight, but he goes straight up from his hips to his chest. That means he's not comfortable wearing jeans around where his waist would be if he had one, and he *hates* belts. He likes to wear his pants low on his hips, right under his stomach. And if they fit around there, then they're way too long for his legs.

Someday when he's a millionaire, he's going to have to get all his pants specially made to order.

But in the meantime, it just means his pants sag and I'm always after him to roll up the legs so he's not tripping over them. Personally, I like the loose-fitting styles - they fit my son a little better than the others. His grandpa was built the exact same way, and he always bought pants several sizes too large and used suspenders to hold them up.

That said, I also think the extreme gangsta look, with the undies hanging out, looks ridiculous. On the other hand - does anyone remember parachute pants from the eighties? I thought those looked really stupid, too. It's just the same old, same old. Soon enough they'll be on to something else.

HAMMER TIME!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c4L4CPfQY8

u can't touch this!!!!

 

[ksjayhawks]

We have a few kids in our alternative high school where I teach who wear their jeans like that. It will be interesting to see how they walk when they are older or what problems they have because they have to walk so "funny" in order to move in those pants! Plus, some are so low the boys have to hang on to their pants in order to walk! And I swear they don't look in the mirror to see what we see when they go past us and we get the "rear view". Believe me, on most it isn't pretty!

I think the kids who become orthopedists are going to make a mint off these kids in the future!

We also have the kids in the skinny jeans and they too, have a unique walk but at least I don't see their underwear!

 

[disneymarie]

Whether children know it or not, the "look" originated with the jail house. Belts are taken away so trousers slump.

Their exaggerated version glorifies being in jail.

Yep that is right. and often they have to wear what there is their size or not. Also the layering.
That is so bad boys on the street strip off a pant, or hoodie etc and are in new gear, and off the radar.

 

[Sparx]

I see a lot of sagging pants with the "gangster" teens in the mall or whatever, and I see even more older boys (late teens early 20s?) wearing super tight womens jeans and women's cut tshirts, with their boxers pooched out over the top of their pants. I'm not sure which one is more annoying. I do think that the sagging fades out as they get older, but I notice a lot of older looking guys with really really tight clothes.

 

[Arielle22]

My BIL is a police officer in a larger city. He says the police like the low hanging pants because it makes the criminals easier to catch

I was helping dd16 clean out her closet the other day. She came across a pair of super skinny jeans which she had grown out of. I went to put them in the give away pile but she told me, No those are going to my friend Andy. I asked isn't Andy a boy? Yup he is. Apparently Andy is very happy with the jeans.

 

[locolala]

Yeah... be careful. If they truly were gangsters, you might have been shot.

Nah, they wouldn't be able to get to their guns. We like to talk about pantsing the guys in the mall who dress like that, well, steal their wallets then pants them. They wear their shoes so big that the pants wouldn't be able to go over their feet, and with pants around your ankles, it's rather hard to run.

 

[Feralpeg]

A few months ago, I was at the McDonalds new the All Star resorts on WDW property. I was sitting in a booth eating lunch with my daughter. We saw this kid whose pants were so loose, the waist was literally below his butt cheeks. The problem was that he could not walk without holding onto the pants. If he let go, they would have fallen on the ground. Not good because he was trying to carry a drink holder with drinks along with a couple of bags of food AND get out the door. Very funny to watch!

 

[pilesoflaundry]

Well I don't see it very much anymore but back when it was "the thing" most boys said they wore there pants that way because it was comfortable. I don't think it would be comfortable but they said it was I think most did it simply because the majority of there friends did. Not because it was started in jails.

They look so hard to walk in and everyone that I see around here has this sort of awkward swagger to prevent tripping so how on earth are they more comfortable?

I'm tired of seeing everyone's undies!

 

[CathrynRose]

Also the layering.
That is so bad boys on the street strip off a pant, or hoodie etc and are in new gear, and off the radar.

***Sigh***

So, now my boys are looking for action, gang-member wanna-be's and slick enough to layer so they can be on the move from the po-po, quicker.

It's a look. Just a look.

I had my head shaved, wore all black clothes and red lipstick in high school. What was the origin of my look? I'm dying to know.

 

[Ember]

They're teenagers. They wear stupid things and don't care that adults think they're stupid. That's how you know they're cool! I owned a pair of hot pink spandex in the 80's... What was I thinking?! I don't care for the attitude that comes with some teenage boys sporting this style (and, yes, in my experience there is a correlation between the style and the over the top attitude), but it's not every boy and I try to remember that they'll grow out of it eventually.

The only time it's ever really bothered me was when I went to the Apple store to buy my laptop. The kid who helped me had his pants hiked down with his butt hanging out and I complained to the manager. As street wear, fine. But at a job pull your pants up!! I actually had the manager cracking up when I pointed out that I wasn't about to trust some kid who couldn't work pants properly to sell me a computer!