If you haven't heard Sisqo's "Thong Song," then your radio must be broken. The catchy hit song, which catapaulted the Dru Hill frontman up the music charts, has people of all ages singing about the hottest piece of clothing in years—the thong, th-thong, thong, thong.
While the thong has been popular among exotic dancers for awhile here, fashion historians say the thong—which has been wildly popular for decades in Brazil—was slow to catch on in the U.S.
South Americans have had the thong swimsuits for years and that is what drove men insane there. The tourists would come and buy and wear it down there because they couldn't wear them in the U.S.," says Regina Little, a 10-year garment and fashion industry marketer.
A Thong provides more back coverage, with a strip of fabric that is usually one-half-inch to one-inch thick.
A G-string is actually very stringlike, offering the bare minimum in the way of fabric on your behind and across your back.
—Source: Instyle, March issue.
Gina Cooper, Editor-in-Chief of on-line fashion magazine Fashion Finds, agrees that "Brazilians definitely took [thongs to]swimwear," but pointed out that the thong didn't start there. Ironically, the style that many love so much on women may have actually originated on men, Cooper says.
"Thinking back to Ancient art and cultures, having the shape of most of the buttocks being revealed probably originated with men's athleticism," and the thong-like items were worn for "ease and comfort."
In fact, Cooper says, today's jock strap is essentially the "same concept with certain embellishments."
Some fashion historians trace the thongs first public U.S. appearance to the 1939 World's Fair when New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia mandated that the city's nude dancers cover themselves. And fashion designer Rudi Gernreich has been credited with introducing the first thong bikini in 1974.
EVOLUTION OF THE THONG
In the early 80's, Frederick's of Hollywood began selling the panties in its catalogs as did then lingerie newcomer Victoria's Secret.
Last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that "Thongs are the fastest growing segment of the $2 billion-a-year women's panty business." Companies, such as Victoria's Secret, Frederick's of Hollywood, Lane Bryant and even discount stores, such as Target and Wal-Mart credited thongs for their jump in sales then.
"The thong has been in the [U.S.] marketplace for a good 10 years. What happened with thongs was
that there was the ability to give a smooth and rounded finish to the butt and that is was started the craze," says Little.
Shelly Stokes, a 27-year-old Connecticut native, said that she switched to the petite panties pre-"Thong Song."
"I started about five years ago after college mainly for the exterior look —no panty lines— it really had nothing to do with being with sexy," says the placement director, who only buys them now. Although, she admits, "Men definitely find them sexier."
But don't expect her to sport her t-backs out of her bedroom and onto the beach any time soon. "Hell no. I'll never do it," says Stokes. "A few people will [after the song], but Americans are too pure and prudish" for it to become mainstream.
Little agrees that thongs will primarily remain "a behind-closed-doors craze" here, but "If you have kept in shape and can appreciate someone looking from a distance, then it is going to be a thong, thong, thong summer."
THONG SONG BOOSTS SALES OF UNDERWEAR!?Retailers say Sisqo single influencing shoppers' choice of undergarments. We've come a long way from the days of teens scrambling for Beatles haircuts or Elvis' blue suede shoes. Popular music, long an influence on fashion, is now affecting more intimate clothing decisions. Dru Hill singer Sisqo's breakthrough hit "Thong Song" is a saucy, uptempo paean to the previously unsung undergarment, and retailers say the song's maddeningly catchy refrain "That thong, thong, thong, thong, thong!" has sunk deep into the crevices of many listeners' brains.
"My little brother's been singing that damned song nonstop ever since he saw the video." - Donelle Heston, 23, thong shopper
Leading lingerie stores report an increase in thong sales since the single invaded radio and MTV. As the weather turns warmer, and thoughts turn to tight pants and tan lines, consumers are apparently unable to turn the other cheek to Sisqó's infectious beats.
"It's been crazy," said Keisha Walker, store manager for Frederick's of Hollywood's flagship store in Los Angeles. "We have people coming in and asking what is a thong, can they see one, can they try one on. ... We have 45-year-old women coming in and buying thongs."
A recent holiday weekend at the San Francisco Shopping Centre saw crowds eager to slip into the trend. Donelle Heston, 23, tentatively fingered the satiny fabric of a table full of underwear at Victoria's Secret.
"I just don't know about this," she said, laughing nervously. " .... I'd never hear the end of it if he knew I actually wore a thong." She giggled at the mere mention of the word.
"But hell, my mom bought one, so ...," she said, before heading to the register.
"We've had a lot of people come in and actually sing the song to us," said San Francisco Victoria's Secret retailer Patricia Calderon. "We've seen more men than women, actually, in this shop, buying them for their girlfriends." -Shopper Craig Leveroux, 21, said, "You better believe it's popular. I've seen that video everywhere. I bought a pair for my lady for her birthday. .... She didn't look exactly
like the video, but she still looked pretty OK. Actually, I just bought two more."
Walker said most thong customers in her store are women. The song seems to have inspired curiosity and a lack of inhibition, she said, with many customers thronging to the "starter thong," which she compared to a training bra.
"That would be the Rio," Frederick's spokesperson Jim Scott said. "It's comfortable, good cotton, a very good seller."
When asked about Sisqo's reaction to the public's creeping upsurge in interest in the thong, Scott said, "I've heard that he thinks it's hysterical. ... We worked with his people on the video, and we'd love to get some kind of in-store endorsement, with him in the store."
"We're just delighted to be part of that artist's work," said a more tight-lipped A.J. Rosenfield, field marketing manager for Frederick's. "We've seen quite a bit of sales success with this item."
Lingerie shops in New York and Miami Beach, Fla., also confirmed increased thong sales, and radio stations and nightclubs have reacted to the song by sponsoring "thong parties" in which women wearing thongs are let in free.
Artist Strings has recorded her own reaction, titled "Tongue Song." On her recently released Black Widow album, Strings tartly challenges a man to understand what to do once he gains access to the prized piece of underwear.
"This may seem so scandalous," she sings, over the same music track as the Sisqo song, "But the truth is men can't handle it."
Neither Frederick's of Hollywood nor Victoria's Secret would disclose sales figures, but a Frederick's representative said some of the recent sales surge may be attributed to Sisqo himself. On tour with boy band *N Sync, Sisqo's people have reportedly purchased "a huge number" of thong underwear.
-Neil Dressel
SHE'S NOT YOU - 13/09/1962
