Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 2, 1993 TAG: 9307020101
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Madelyn Rosenberg
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Or it could be a joke.
Far be it for us to judge the fashion sense of the young people who have been spotted this summer with their pants down.
The trend (near as our astute panel could tell after a day of people-watching at the river and the beach music festival) goes something like this:
Both sexes are wearing their shorts unbuttoned and unzipped.
For the gals, pants are pulled hipward, showing off most of the underlying bathing suit bottoms.
Guys' shorts aren't pulled down as far (mercifully), but they're not wearing anything underneath, either.
Did they learn it from "Baywatch?"
Rosalyn Lester, chairwoman for Radford University's fashion department, first saw the style on beaches last summer.
Trends that start with the people are sometimes a criticism of something, she said, "or a calling."
Lester hasn't analyzed the open fly, but she's willing to take a stab at it. Are the trendsetters mocking modesty? she asked. "Or are they saying, `OK, I'm going with your modesty code, but only so far?' "
Maybe it's just plain comfortable.
by CNB