A waistband is a strip of material that is either elastic or some other confining fabric that encircles the waist, usually as a component of clothing such as

skirt A skirt is the lower part of a dress or a separate outer garment that covers a person from the waist downwards. At its simplest, a skirt can be a draped garment made out of a single piece of fabric (such as pareos). However, most skirts are fi ...

trousers Trousers (British English), slacks, or pants are an item of clothing worn from the waist to anywhere between the knees and the ankles, covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth extending across both legs as in robes, skirts, and dr ...

shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the human pelvis, pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" b ...

swimsuit A swimsuit is an item of clothing designed to be worn by people engaging in a water-based activity or List of water sports, water sports, such as swimming, Diving (sport), diving and surfing, or sun-orientated activities, such as sun bathing. Di ...

s, and

undergarment Undergarments, underclothing, or underwear are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer garments from being soiled o ...

s. A waistband can be a complete

, worn to limit expansion of the abdomen, to meet various objectives including to help prevent overeating, to encourage mindful eating, to encourage good posture, or to immediately slim the appearance of the waist (much like a corset, also sometimes called a waist cincher, or

girdle A belt, especially if a cord or rope, is called a girdle if it is worn as part of Christian liturgical vestments, or in certain historical, literary or sports contexts. Girdles are used to close a cassock in Christian denominations, including th ...

). A waistband can be an outer garment, worn for fashion, or for utility.

History

Historically, in

northern India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

, waistbands served various purposes including fastening miscellaneous items to oneself, such as knives. In ancient history in the southern

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...

, the waistband could serve as a

status symbol A status symbol is a visible, external symbol of one's social position, an indicator of economic or social status. Many luxury goods are often considered status symbols. ''Status symbol'' is also a sociological term – as part of social and soci ...

when people would adorn themselves with ornaments attached to their waistbands. In the early 19th century, members of some

Taoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...

branches had their waistbands colored as a distinguisher and in order to symbolize their membership of the

sect A sect is a subgroup of a religious, political, or philosophical belief system, usually an offshoot of a larger group. Although the term was originally a classification for religious separated groups, it can now refer to any organization that b ...

. In the western world during the 19th century, the contortion of waistbands was less pronounced due to the fashionability 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 ...

Material and culture

Among some members of the

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

, the placement of beads upon their waistbands is an established

tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

that is believed to enhance and accentuate a women's

femininity Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered fe ...

. The dimensions of the waistband serve as a contrivance for streamlining waist measurements. Waistbands are often designed with belt loops in order to allow for variation in case of manufacturer subtleties or weight variation in the wearer. A recent

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish ...

survey revealed that the placement of one's waistband by males varies with age, with mid-teen boys placing them the lowest, while it steadily rises until the age of 57. The exposure of the underpant waistband has become a trend among followers of grunge music and hip-hop. In stretchy waistbands, the material can be made of various materials including rubber and latex. In contemporary times, waistbands are more picturesque and scintillating compared to previous designs. In western culture waist bands are now often used to achieve body goals such as to prevent overeating in order to maintain a healthy weight. For example see the Wilhouette Waist Band, which is worn under clothing and which claims to limit expansion of the stomach to make you feel full earlier.

Unwanted erections

Some men use the waistband in order to hide a genital bulge (also known by the informal terms ''man-bulge'' or ''moose-knuckle'') in order to avoid embarrassment. During an

erection An erection (clinically: penile erection or penile tumescence) is a physiological phenomenon in which the penis becomes firm, engorged, and enlarged. Penile erection is the result of a complex interaction of psychological, neural, vascular, ...

, this is done by jutting it upwards beneath the waistband. This approach may on occasion be colloquially and informally referred to by

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gro ...

terms such as a ''waistband tuck'', the ''waistband trick'', the ''uptuck'' or ''the tuck'', the ''"6 to midnight"'', or the ''boner tuck''. Although such penile concealment is common in many cultures, some analysts have proposed limiting such a sentiment to informal etiquette so it mitigates the possibility of a young male's propensity for genital dysphoria and subsequent

gender dysphoria Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to a mismatch between their gender identitytheir personal sense of their own genderand their sex assigned at birth. The diagnostic label gender identity disorder (GID) was used until ...

or body dysmorphia.O'Shea, Saoirse Caitlin. "This girl's life: An autoethnography." Organization 25.1 (2018): 3-20.

References

{{Clothing materials and parts Clothing