Whale tail

Recording artists such as Madonna (seen here at Seattle in 2012) and Britney Spears made visible underwear and whale tails popular

By the mid-2000s, whale tails became common to celebrities, providing opportunities to the paparazzi.[17][18] Whale tail display spawned a new accessory — clip-on jewelry for the visible straps.[19] Jess Cartner-Morley of The Guardian claimed that following pop stars in the hipster trousers gave rise to the "low-slung jeans, whale-tail G-string era".[20] On 17 September 2004, a writer for the Chicago Sun-Times stated, "Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera regularly were photographed with thong straps riding high above their low-rise jeans. And even usually tasteful Halle Berry succumbed to the thong craze by attending an awards show with bejeweled thong straps peeking out from above her miniskirt."[8] Actresses Gillian Anderson, Natalie Portman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall and Tara Reid, MTV's Molly Sims, model Kate Moss, singers Beyoncé Knowles, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson, LeAnn Rimes and Britney Spears have been associated as propagators of the trend by ABC.[21]

In France, clothing brands started creating the thong or le string in styles that encourage a projection above low-hung jeans, such as designs that had little jewels or luminous stars sewn into the rear.[22] In India, thongs peeked out of low-rise jeans in page three parties and university bashes.[23] Indian model Shefali Zariwala displayed a whale tail in the MTV Immies-winning music video "Kaanta Lagaa" and shot to fame and public debate in 2003.[24][25] In Japan, clothing company Sanna's brought forward an extreme low-rise hip-hugging jeans design with built-in thong whale tails.[26] R&B artist Sisqó rhapsodized about whale tails in his "Thong Song"[9] — "I like it when the beat goes da na da na/Baby make your booty go da na da na/Girl I know you wanna show da na da na/That thong th thong thong thong." 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.[27] Another movie titled Whale Tail: Thong Dreams was released in 2005 featuring Sunny Lane and Kirsten Price.[28] In 2003, web content developer Gavin Hamilton created the site whale-tail.com with content featuring whale tail display.[29] The domain name WhaleTail.com sold for $6,600 in October 2004.[30] The website has been quoted by ABC Radio, NY Times,[9] FHM (UK) and Fuel Magazine (Australia), and has been nominated as a Best Adult Web Site by Australian Adult Industry Awards in 2008.[31]

In 2004, Louisiana, USA State Representative Derrick Shepherd proposed a bill (HB1626), also known as the Baggy Pants Bill to Louisiana House of Representatives. The bill proposed that "it shall be unlawful for any person to appear in public wearing his pants below his waist and thereby exposing his skin or intimate clothing" and that violators would be subjected to three eight-hour days of community service and a fine of up to US$175.[32] The measure died in the face of opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union.[33] The bill was proposed again in 2008 and was rejected by a state Senate panel.[33] In two Louisiana towns, Delcambre (a maximum penalty of US$615 fine or up to six months in prison) and Opelousas (a maximum penalty of US$500 fine or up to six months in prison), wearing low slung pants that reveal buttock cleavage or undergarments is considered a misdemeanor.[32][34][35] Garments that reveal underpants were banned in four other Louisiana towns including Alexandria and Shreveport, where violators face fines of US$150 or 15 days in jail, as well as Hawkinsville, Georgia.[34][36]

In February 2005, the Senate Courts of Justice Committee of Virginia voted unanimously in a hastily convened meeting against a bill proposed by Delegate Algie T. Howell Jr. (Norfolk, Virginia) to impose a US$50 fine on any person who publicly and intentionally "wears and displays his below-waist undergarments, intended to cover a person's intimate parts, in a lewd or indecent manner" in a public place.[37] The bill (HB1981), also known as the Droopy Drawers Bill, was earlier passed by Virginia House of Delegates by a 60–34 vote.[38][39] Atlanta, GA, Dallas, TX, Baltimore, MD, Charlotte, NC, Yonkers, NY, Duncan, OK, Natchitoches, LA, Stratford, CT, Pine Bluff, AR, Trenton, NJ, Pleasantville, NJ, as well as three other Georgia towns, Rome, Brunswick and Plains have seen attempts to ban underwear peeking over the pants.[36] School dress codes sometimes also banned some low-rising pants or visible underwear.[40][41][42]

By the end of the decade whale tails suffered significant backlash. Jessica Kaminsky wrote in I Hate the Gym, a lifestyle commentary, "I hate when girls let their 'whale tails' creep out of their pants."[43] In 2007, religious writer Tamie Bixler Lung wrote, "There is something wrong when Christian guys and girls want to run around with their underwear hanging out the top of their pants, or their thong strap sticking out the back of their low-rise jeans."[44]

The trend of wearing whale tail-revealing jeans started to dissipate somewhat in the mid 2000s when American clothing designers started shifting focus from low-slung jeans and exposed midriffs to high-waisted trousers and cardigans.[9] Jess Cartner-Morley, fashion writer of The Guardian, claimed that the whale tail and the muffin top (the bulge of flesh hanging over the top of low-rider jeans), "twin crimes of modern fashion", had led to the decline in the popularity of hipster jeans.[45] 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".[46] While the thong still represented 24% of the US$2.5 billion annual market in women's underwear, it stopped growing by end of 2004.[9] Some vendors, including Victoria's Secret and DKNY, started selling thongs that do not result in whale tails.[47][48][49][50] Adam Lippes, founder of the lingerie line ADAM, said, "Women got tired of it. And they got sick and tired of seeing string hanging out of the top of every celebrity's jeans."[9]

In 2019, publications including Vogue and the Daily Record began referring to a revived interest in the trend, through influencers such as Kim Kardashian, Hailey Baldwin and Dua Lipa prominently wearing it.[51][52][53]