‘Whale tail’ panty and thong trend gets sizzling boost from Charli XCX, Billie Eilish: ‘Rebellious and subversive’
Don’t get your panties in a twist over this trend.
The coveted accessory of the summer isn’t the latest “It” bag or designer shoe — it’s underwear.
Once taboo and deemed unsightly, visible underwear lines are the hottest must-have this season, whether briefs are bared beneath a mesh dress or thongs peek out of a waistband.
Most notably, the trend, with roots in hip-hop culture and Y2K fashion, has ushered in a revival of the ’90s era “whale tail,” as celebrities — no longer afraid of hiding the dreaded granny panty — are keen on hiking up their G-strings above their hips.
A-lister style savants have worn some variation of visible undergarments, like Katy Perry in a backside-baring gown or Dua Lipa in a backless dress cut to mimic a whale tail. Sydney Sweeney also sported a pair of white briefs poking out from beneath her low-rise jeans while on an outing in Manhattan recently, while Hailey Bieber is a fan of sheer frocks with cheeky undergarments beneath.
“Brat” sensation Charli XCX, for one, posted a sultry selfie on Instagram this week while showing off a pair of pink panties peeping over the top of her blue jeans.
The snap was followed by another of the cover for her latest single — a remix of her hit “Guess” featuring Billie Eilish, who rocked a three-stack of boxer-style trunks.
In the music video for the song, a topical club anthem centered around underwear, the two pop stars rolled down a mountain piled high with thousands of panties.
While it’s not necessarily new to show some skivvies — just look at the ’80s Calvin Klein ad campaign with Mark Wahlberg and Kate Moss — the resurgence is “subversive,” said costume designer Eric Daman, who worked on set for the forthcoming adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s “It Ends With Us.”
While filming, Blake Lively was spotted wearing high-waisted blue boxers underneath her low-rise trousers, a “conscious” choice that Daman describes as “rebellious and subversive and self-possessed.”
In a way, he told The Guardian, it is a “middle finger to societal norms” and “a strong yet subtle way to show independence, strength and rebellion.”
The trend has been heating up since a slew of fall/winter 2023 collections from the likes of Miu Miu, Gucci and more saw underwear as outerwear or designer-branded panties peeping beneath waistbands.
“They made it look so undeniably cool, we couldn’t look away,” NYC stylist Beverly Nguyen told The Zoe Report of Miu Miu’s catwalk.
“You see previous generations being referenced in runway shows because people are influenced by a certain era, [like the ‘90s],” stylist Turner Turner noted, adding that the trend is reminiscent of Aaliyah in ’90s Tommy Hilfiger.
The only difference now is that “we’re seeing what might be seen as traditionally men’s underwear worn on cisgendered women or on people who are more fluid in their approaches to their gender and sexuality,” Shaun Cole, a University of Southampton associate professor of fashion, told The Guardian.
The fad follows last year’s frenzy for peekaboo bras, a red carpet look also adopted by Sweeney, as experts boldly declared that “boobs are back.”
Meanwhile, Gen Z women oozing confidence are sporting a stripped-down version of the cheeky style by wearing only lingerie in true “naked fashion.”
“There is a certain sexuality about the trend that I find very interesting, because there is this power about it, like, ‘You can look but can’t touch,’” designer and Upcycling Diaries CEO Audrey Steen, 24, previously told The Post.
