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A high-rise or high-waisted
garment
Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials ...
is one designed to sit high on, or above, the wearer's
hips
In vertebrate anatomy, hip (or "coxa"Latin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) in medical terminology) refers to either an anatomical region or a joint.
The hip region is ...
, usually at least 8 centimetres (3 inches) higher than the
navel
The navel (clinically known as the umbilicus, commonly known as the belly button or tummy button) is a protruding, flat, or hollowed area on the abdomen at the attachment site of the umbilical cord. All placental mammals have a navel, although ...
. In western cultures, high-rise jeans were especially common in the 1970s, late 1980s through the late 90s, derided as
mom jeans
Mom jeans is an informal term for high-waisted women's jeans that were first fashionable in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the late 1990s and 2000s they were mainly worn by adult American women and considered "old" by younger women. High ...
in the 2000s, and popular again in the mid-to-late 2010s and continues to be popular into the present in competition with
low-rise pants
Low-rise pants, also known as "low-cut jeans", "lowriders" or "rap pants", are a type of trousers, pants that sit low-rise (fashion), low on, or below, the Hip (anatomy), hips, usually at least 8 centimetres (3 inches) lower than the navel. ...
.
Modern fashion
In western culture, high-waisted pants tend to have long zippers, ranging from about 7-10 inches long, and leave the navel either completely covered or barely shown. Zipper lengths are not to be confused with rises. High-waisted pants have rises typically 10 inches long or longer.
In European menswear, pants sat level with the navel until the 1950s, and were held up by a pair of
suspenders
Suspenders (American English, Canadian English), or braces (British English, Australian English) are fabric or leather straps worn over the shoulders to hold up skirts or trousers. The straps may be elasticated, either entirely or only at attach ...
. During the 1940s,
Zoot suiters wore pants with a waistband so high that they often reached the chest.
1960s to 1990s
Low-waisted
drainpipe jeans
Slim-fit pants or skinny jeans (when made of denim) are tight trousers that have a snug fit through the legs and end in a small leg opening that can be anywhere from 9" to 20" in circumference, depending on size. Other names for this style includ ...
and
flared trousers
Bell-bottoms (or flares) are a style of trousers that become wider from the knees downward, forming a bell-like shape of the trouser leg. These are similar to flared jeans.
History Naval origins
In the early 19th century, when a standardized uni ...
were a counterculture statement among the
Mod
Mod, MOD or mods may refer to:
Places
* Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band
* M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...
s and
hippies
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...
of the late 1960s and early 1970s, in contrast to the higher waisted
Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss (; born Löb Strauß ; February 26, 1829 – September 26, 1902) was a German-born American businessman who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans. His firm of Levi Strauss & Co. (Levi's) began in 1853 in San Francisco ...
jeans teenagers had worn previously. During the late 1970s, however, there was a
backlash
Backlash may refer to:
Literature
* '' Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women'', a 1991 book by Susan Faludi
* ''Backlash'' (Star Wars novel), a 2010 novel by Aaron Allston
* Backlash (Marc Slayton), comic book character
* ''Backla ...
against disco and hippie fashions, and members of
Generation X
Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western world, Western demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years a ...
opted for higher rise pants. These straight leg
acid wash
Stone washing is a textile manufacturing process used to give a newly manufactured cloth garment a worn-in (or worn-out) appearance. Stone-washing also helps to increase the softness and flexibility of otherwise stiff and rigid fabrics such as ca ...
jeans remained popular throughout the 1980s and 1990s, until
hip hop fashion
Hip hop fashion (also known as rap fashion) is a style of dress originating from Urban Black America and inner-city youth located in New York City, followed by Los Angeles, then other cities across the United States. All have contributed various ...
went mainstream and it became
fashionable
Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion ind ...
for teenagers to
sag
SAG, SAg, or sag may refer to:
Land formations
* Sag (geology), or ''trough'', a depressed, persistent, low area
* Sag pond, a body of water collected in the lowest parts of a depression
People
* Ivan Sag (1949–2013), American linguist
...
their
baggy pants
Wide-leg jeans, colloquially called baggy pants, are a style of clothing that were popular from the early 1990s to the early 2010s. The quintessential brand of " hip-hop"-style wide-leg jeans comes from the Los Angeles–based JNCO ("Judge None ...
. High rise pants, jeans, and shorts were also popular with men's, young men's, teens, and boys clothing during the 1980s and early to mid 1990s.
Revival
During the mid 2010s and continuing into the present, high waisted pants underwent a revival among younger women, in reaction to the low-rise
skinny jeans
Slim-fit pants or skinny jeans (when made of denim) are tight trousers that have a snug fit through the legs and end in a small leg opening that can be anywhere from 9" to 20" in circumference, depending on size. Other names for this style includ ...
that were popular during the previous decade.
During the 2000s and 2010s, male celebrities who wore high-rise jeans, including President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
,
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...
, and
Top Gear
Top Gear may refer to:
* "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission
Television
* ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme
* ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...
presenter
Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster, journalist, game show host and writer who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' an ...
, were ridiculed by the press.
Indian culture
In ancient India, some Indian philosophers opposed
sari
A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include:
* as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO
* bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO
* gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std= ...
s that expose the
midriff
In fashion, the midriff is the human abdomen. The midriff is exposed when wearing a crop top or some forms of swimwear or underwear. Cholis worn by Indian women expose a section of midriff, usually .
Etymology
"Midriff" is a very old term in ...
. They considered it to be a symbol of adultery.
The
Dharmasastra writers stated that women should be dressed such that the navel would not become visible.
[Encyclopedia of Indian Women Through the Ages: Ancient India – Simmi Jain](_blank)
Still today, some corporate offices in India have strict
dress code
A dress code is a set of rules, often written, with regard to what clothing groups of people must wear. Dress codes are created out of social perceptions and norms, and vary based on purpose, circumstances, and occasions. Different societies an ...
s for women, requiring high-rise saris to be worn to avoid navel exposure.
Gallery
File:Radlerhose Fotomodel Ina.jpg, High-rise leggings
Leggings are several types of leg attire that have varied through the years. Modern usage from the 1960s onwards has come to refer to elastic close-fitting high-rise garments worn over the legs typically by women, such as leg warmers or tights. ...
File:Blue sari 2.jpg, High-rise sari
A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include:
* as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO
* bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO
* gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std= ...
File:High waisted jeans 1435042736.jpg, High waisted flared trousers
Bell-bottoms (or flares) are a style of trousers that become wider from the knees downward, forming a bell-like shape of the trouser leg. These are similar to flared jeans.
History Naval origins
In the early 19th century, when a standardized uni ...
See also
*
Empire silhouette
Empire silhouette, Empire line, Empire waist or just Empire is a style in clothing in which the dress has a fitted bodice ending just below the bust, giving a high-waisted appearance, and a gathered skirt which is long and loosely fitting but ski ...
*
Hip-huggers
Hip-huggers are pants worn by both men and women, generally made of denim and fitted tightly around the hips and thighs, while usually having flared or bell-bottom lower legs. Hip-huggers were first designed by Irene Kasmer in 1957 in Los Angel ...
*
Low-rise pants
Low-rise pants, also known as "low-cut jeans", "lowriders" or "rap pants", are a type of trousers, pants that sit low-rise (fashion), low on, or below, the Hip (anatomy), hips, usually at least 8 centimetres (3 inches) lower than the navel. ...
*
Mom jeans
Mom jeans is an informal term for high-waisted women's jeans that were first fashionable in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the late 1990s and 2000s they were mainly worn by adult American women and considered "old" by younger women. High ...
*
Midriff
In fashion, the midriff is the human abdomen. The midriff is exposed when wearing a crop top or some forms of swimwear or underwear. Cholis worn by Indian women expose a section of midriff, usually .
Etymology
"Midriff" is a very old term in ...
References
{{Reflist, 2
1980s fashion
1990s fashion
2010s fashion
Fashion terminology
Jeans by type
Trousers and shorts