<p><em>L'Officiel</em> delves into the history of this season's most revealing trend and a late 90s and early 2000s cult: the exposed thong.</p>

<p>One of the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/90s-outfits-celebrity-fashion-making-comeback" target="_blank" rel="noopener">90s</a> and early aughts' most controversial trends seems to have recently creeped back into fashion, with young <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/gen-z-y2k-millennial-90s-fashion-nostalgia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Y2K</a> celebrities like <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/bella-hadid-depop-vintage-stores" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bella Hadid</a> and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/music/exclusive-pop-star-dua-lipa-welcomes-us-on-stage-to-attend-her-rehearsals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dua Lipa</a> being photographed both on the West Coast and East Coast in their high-waist thongs or beauty moguls like <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/kim-kardashian-kanye-west-getting-divorced-lawyers-settlement">Kim Kardashian</a> bringing the style directly onto social media, having recently posed for <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/kim-kardashian-west-matthew-williams-givenchy-designer-thong-fashion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Givenchy</a>'s Creative Director <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion-week/givenchy-fall-winter-2021-collection-runway-fashion-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matthew Williams</a> in a sexy <span>low-cut back dress with <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/kim-kardashian-west-matthew-williams-givenchy-designer-thong-fashion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exposed thong</a> from the Spring/Summer 2020 collection.</span></p>

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    <div class="section-text"><span>Though the origins of shameless thong showing began with </span>burlesque<span> dancers in the 1930s as part of their performance costumes, t</span>he now so-called <a href="https://www.lofficielsingapore.com/fashion/when-whale-it-stop" target="_blank" rel="noopener">whale tail trend</a> made its fashion debut at<span> </span><a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/jean-paul-gaultier-sacai-nike-collab-sneaker-release-date" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jean Paul Gaultier</a>’s Spring/Summer 1997 runway show, which included exposed <span>undergarments, thongs and briefs alike. Then, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion-week/tom-ford-fall-winter-2021-womens-mens" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tom Ford</a>'s Spring/Summer 1997 collection for <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/gucci-aria-film-alessandro-michele-balenciaga" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gucci</a> featured models walking out with only <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion-week/whale-tail-thong-g-string-givenchy-gucci-hailey-bieber-fashion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">G-strings</a> on their lower halves, men and women alike. Thin thong straps were also featured, this time with clothes over them, for Ford's Spring/Summer 1998 collection, too. The memorable Gucci piece would return again, when the <em>Keeping Up with the Kardashians</em> star posed in a neon green two-piece set with the vintage double-G logo thong peeking out while promoting <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/kim-kardashian-builds-mini-kkw-beauty-store-backyard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">KKW Beauty</a> on Instagram in 2018.</span></div>
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Jean Paul Gaultier Spring/Summer 1997

Gucci by Tom Ford Spring/Summer 1998

 Kim Kardashian wearing the '90s Gucci thong

<div class="section-text">Before Kardashian, the exposed thongs of the 90s and early <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/y2k-fashion-inspiration-2021-instagram-celebrity-style" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2000s</a> were popular among music and movie stars who helped to bring the look into the mainstream thanks to their pairing of low-rise pants and skirts with thongs pulled up high over the waistband. The undergarment even gets its own pop cultural moment in Sisqo's 1999 "Thong Song."</div>
<div class="section-text">At the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, the whale tail trend was all the rage, with <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/britney-spears-finally-speaks-out-controversial-documentary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Britney Spears</a> who performed her hit song "Oops I Did It...Again" in a gold two-piece set with a bedazzled built-in G-string. Then, Christina Aguilera and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/halle-berry-instagram-trench-coat-style" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Halle Berry</a> rocked the VMA's red carpet with the high-waist underwear straps showing. Socialite <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/paris-hilton-favorite-y2k-accessories-hot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paris Hilton</a> followed suit the next year, wearing an exposed pink thong at the Lloyd Klein Fall/Winter 2001 presentation in New York City.</div>

<p><span>However, by the mid 2000s, the whale tail obsession came to an end, when both the thong and the low-rise cut fell out of vogue. But like all trends, it circled back. In 2018 and 2019, designers began elevating the look on the runways, and at the Camp-themed </span><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/everything-we-know-2021-met-gala-american-fashion-exhibit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Met Gala</a>, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/hailey-bieber-skincare-beauty-line-rhode" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hailey Bieber</a> showed up on the red carpet in a pink Alexander Wang gown with a revealing low back and built-in thong.</span></p>

Hailey Bieber at the 2019 Met Gala in a pink Alexander Wang thong gown

<p>Since then, the high-waist thong detail has populated the runways of Jacquemus, Givenchy, and more. In the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/gianni-versace-fashion-signatures-designer-history-medusa-bondage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Versace</a> Spring/Summer 2021 women's collection, models strutted with hip-strap details, similar to those worn by Bella Hadid on the Versace Spring/Summer 2020 Men's runway with a pair of sparkly low-rise pants.</p>

Versace Men's Spring/Summer 2020

Versace Spring/Summer 2021

<p>While we may not fully retire our high-waist denim for low-rise cuts and exposed thongs, the daring trend is begging to go mainstream again. And after a year spent inside, many of us are ready to take some fashion risks. Judging from the various A-listers and fashion mavens' photos, and the continuous social media push towards <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/gen-z-y2k-millennial-90s-fashion-nostalgia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">90s and Y2K fashion</a>, we might be soon walking around in our G-strings thinking, "Oops We Did It...Again!"</p>

Why Do We Keep Returning to the 90s Whale Tail Trend?

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