A style popularized by hip hop artists in the 90's is now banned on public transit in Fort Worth. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports on enforcing
The T is putting posters in each bus that read: "Grandma says 'Pull 'em up' or find another ride." The advertisements feature caricatures of two grandmotherly figures -- one light-skinned and one dark-skinned -- and the lower half of a person wearing pants low enough for drawers to be seen.
The New York Times, in , noted that not since the zoot suit craze in the 1940's has there been such a backlash against a particular fashion.
The exaggerated boxy long coat and tight-cuffed pants, started in the 1930s, was the emblematic style of a subculture of young urban minorities. It was viewed as unpatriotic and flouted a fabric conservation order during World War II.
That Times piece notes that while some African Americans perceive saggy pants bans as racially motivated - because they tend to target young black men - the prohibitions are often supported by members of the African American community, suggesting a generation gap.
That鈥檚 what is happening in Fort Worth. The driving force behind the saggy pants ban there is City Councilman , an African American who has long said that saggy pants hurt the ability of young people to find jobs. He has led a campaign that has included billboards, bumper stickers, ads on city buses, even events sponsored by community groups,
Moss should perhaps consider recruiting 62-year-old Larry Platt to deliver his message against droopy trousers. Platt experienced a last year when he auditioned for American Idol with a song lambasting people whose pants ride low.
