Should buyers, sellers and wearers of Urban Wear … also called Hip Hop Apparel and Youth Clothing … be concerned about Baggy Pants Laws? Those are some rather strange Town Council Ordinances that basically say: Wear Baggy Pants — or Show Any of Your “Tightie Whiteys” (underwear) — and You Get a Ticket.
Observers who focus more on Individual Legal & Constitutional Rights (less on Fashion Trend Gossip) have other names for Baggy Pants Laws, including “Criminalizing Fashion” and “Racial-Ethnic Profiling via Clothes.” (See the link below to a blog post, Racial Undertones of Baggy Pants Laws.)
You With The Droopy Drawers, Halt! I’ve Got A Ruler.
Laws banning “baggy pants” include fines (up to $1,000) on Urban Wear “offenders.” Or they threaten jail time (!) on either youth who wear pants below their waistlines … or on their parents. (Apparently, for not supervising their offspring’s wardrobe “malfunctions.”)
Much as this kind of small-town “decency” ordinance sounds like a joke, Baggy Pants Laws have passed in Missouri, been proposed in Kentucky, and even put police sketch artists to work in Michigan. (The Baggy Pants Chart above is from the Flint Michigan Police Department.)
Pants-Law-Passers claim they Protect Public Decency, Protect Us From Indecent Exposure (Oh nooooooo. Underpants!), Legislate Good Taste (Whatever that is; Whoever defines it), and Support Community Standards.
Others add to that list. Baggy Pants Laws can also be labeled: Doomed. Illegal. Unconstitutional.
Urban Apparel Sales Still Riding Higher Than Waistbands
One reader of a blog post on the “criminalization” of baggy pants bluntly said:
“With all the problems facing the youth of America and our country as a whole, should legislatures and the criminal justice system be bogged down with this crap?” (R. Burdick on 04/17/2009)
Vadim at the blog Flawless Hustle said:
“Lucky for us, we have the Constitution, and we have the First Amendment, which clearly allows for Americans to exercise their Freedom of Expression to, for example, wear clothes others might find distasteful.”
Urban Wear and Hip-Hop-Youth Clothing buyers who still have doubts should take a tip from Michelle Chen at RaceWire, who applies the “Supreme Test” … literally. (The U.S. Supreme Court and a pile of precedent.)
“Grown-ups have been fretting about what kids are wearing for generations. In the 1960s, black armbands worn in protest of the Vietnam War were banned, ultimately leading to a landmark Supreme Court ruling. During the 1990s, courts ruled that some bans on provocatively worded T-shirts and other controversial fashion flunked the constitutional test because they didn’t serve a valid safety or disciplinary purpose.”
Find the Best-Selling Urban Wear:
See wholesaler listings at Off Price Network Urban Wear including:
· Steal Deal Inc. #1 in Hip Hop Gear and Urban Clothing for Baby Phat, Rocawear, Sean Jean, club wear, shoes and jackets for men, women and children (including Plus Sizes)
· Rancher Fashion from Fashion Express LA, an importer and wholesaler of Boys and Men’s Casual and Sportswear – Denim Shorts, Jeans, Long Sleeved Casual Wear
· Seven Seas Brand Name Urban Wear who guarantees authenticity in their wholesale clothing and urban wear for everyone (Sean John, Enyce, Akademiks, Ecko, Apple Bottom, Phat Farm)
· Urban Denim Company wholesale supplier of urban wear and hip hop clothing for small-to-medium sized apparel retailers
· Union Outlet for below-cost closeout, brand name and off-brand urban and street wear for men, women and children.
Those Off Price Network Urban Wear listings extend to Select Related Listings — active wear, brand name urban wear, casual wear, club wear, fashion wear – for wholesalers who supply apparel textiles, industrial wear, camouflage, uniforms and licensed urban clothing lines. See also:
· Stay Up lines of T-shirts, hats, sweatshirts and baseball jerseys
· B & A Uniforms a wholesale distributor of corporate clothing and industrial wear, including medical scrubs and casuals
· Sport Rep for officially licensed sports wear; and Surf Wear Hawaii for surfer apparel and accessories
· Leather Wear from Gem-Tex … Wholesale distributors of woven, dyed and printed fabrics such as Italy’s Guarisco Industria Tessile … American Spandex stretch fabrics for swim, dance and action sportswear … and a manufacturer’s rep for specialty leathers (tanned, dyed, suede or glaze finished leather fish skins) from Sea Leather Wear of Canada.
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Finally, for a more serious take on this from an Individual Rights POV – written by a blogger whose day job is in Criminal Justice — see The Racial Undertones of Baggy Pants Laws by Matt Kelley in April, 2009.