Low-hanging trousers are hitting new lows. We’ve seen people wearing their pants so low that their innerwear is in full view. But how low is too low?
The crotch-to-waist measurement on a standard pair of jeans is somewhere between 10 and 12 inches. But over the past couple of years, the rise has dipped as low as three to four inches. The dropped crotch has gone so low that it’s inching toward turning no-rise.
Designer A.D. Singh says, “Low cut jeans look great till the time they are not hanging. They become obscene when people wear it particularly low. As long as it is sitting perfectly on your low waist bone, which is almost four inches above the crotch point, it’s fine.”
Ish Sagar, founder of La Silhouette, gives a brief history of the low-rise pants fashion which was popularised by the hip hop artistes in the early 90s. “This style was invented when prisoners in America were prohibited from wearing belts due to internal prison fights.” He further states that wearing the pants in the mid-level of the underwear would be considered right if the attributes match the attitude and aptitude at the right place and the right time. “Wearing the pants below the mid-level is as good as ‘pants on the ground’, which is never meant to be fashionable,” he adds.
“The real problem with extremely low-riding pants is that they’re impractical. One can’t sit comfortably without being conscious. I think moderately low pants can be worn with style and class. One just needs to have a right mix of confidence and attitude to pull it off. But with the love handles that are visible on even the leanest frames, it can become a little embarrassing,” says fashion stylist Manaswi Sharma.
In order to avoid being a subject of ridicule, Manaswi suggests, “It’s better to just hike up your pants a little, let it sit below your natural waistline on the hip bones and not below the lower mid of the underwear.”