Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
Parachute pants, or Hammer pants after MC Hammer, are a style of trousers characterised by synthetic material and extremely baggy cuts, typically worn as menswear and often brightly coloured. They gained media attention in the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s as part of the increased cultural awareness of break dancing. Early break dancers used heavy nylon for jumpsuits and trousers that could endure contact with the dancing surface while lessening friction with the ground, and the baggy cut, narrow at the ankles, increased mobility for dance moves requiring flexibility.
Early break dancers sometimes used heavy nylon to construct jumpsuits or trousers that would be able to endure contact with the dancing surface, or "break pad," while at the same time lessen friction with the ground, allowing fast and complex "downrock" routines without fear of friction burns or wear in clothing. Parachute pants were often somewhat baggy and narrow at the ankles (unlike bell bottoms or wide leg baggy jeans), in order to increase mobility for dance moves requiring flexibility. Due to the use of nylon in parachutes, and the large baggy appearance of the pants, the pants rapidly became known as parachute pants. Often early outfits were of a single color or slightly patchwork in nature, as they were sometimes made of found materials.
When manufactured and marketed as fashionable clothing, parachute pants were often constructed with lightweight synthetic fabrics, making this variety of pants more suitable for fashion than break-dancing.
As fashion cut pants, parachute pants were popularized by hip-hop performers such as MC Hammer. From this point, they were often woven of loose, light fabric, with a low seat containing many folds, and sometimes printed with complex designs, ranging from neon patterns to prints resembling Middle Eastern pattern embroidery, contrasting the earlier monochromatic heavy jumpsuits and trousers. They were also sometimes seen with many zippers and pockets, although often the pockets existed only in order to apply another zipper or other superficial feature to the outfit, and the pocket(s) would not be large enough to be useable. Parachute pants were then used primarily in choreographed hip hop and rhythm and blues dancing, with the light, baggy fabric and folds visually enhancing the flowing rhythm of the dancers' moves, while allowing for greater comfort and mobility.
Infrequent in today's fashion, this garment has received little serious exposure since the early 1990s, and in 2005 parachute pants are sometimes mocked in popular culture as emblems of the early 1990s, much as flares (also known as "bell-bottoms") are associated with the 1970s.
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| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/parachute_pants). 11/1/04 |
The functional version came first, and its details were engineering. Break dancing's floor work, the downrock routines danced low and fast, grinds knees, hips and backs across the floor, so dancers needed a cloth that slid instead of gripping and wore slowly instead of tearing. Heavy nylon answered both needs, and the jumpsuit and trouser forms protected the whole lower body at once. Fullness was functional too: a baggy leg does not bind at the knee or hip when the leg folds, and the narrow ankle kept all that cloth controlled at the point where the foot meets the floor. Many early pairs were made by the dancers themselves, which is why single colours and patchwork construction mark the first generation.
The fashion version kept the silhouette and dropped the workload. Popularised by hip-hop performers such as MC Hammer, the stage and retail parachute pant used loose, light fabric, a low seat with many folds, and prints from neon patterns to designs resembling Middle Eastern embroidery. Zippers multiplied as decoration, often applying another zipper or feature to a pocket too small to hold anything. On stage the design still worked as dance clothing, the light, baggy folds visually enhancing the flowing rhythm of choreographed hip-hop and rhythm and blues routines while allowing comfort and mobility, but on the street it was pure period fashion. Use declined after the early 1990s, and the style settled into popular culture as an emblem of those years, much as flares stand for the 1970s, though every later revival of baggy trousers, from wide-leg jeans to modern cargo cuts in ripstop nylon, borrows the same fullness-through-the-leg idea in a quieter form.
The name comes from the nylon used in parachutes and the large, baggy, billowing appearance of the pants, which resembled parachute cloth caught by the wind. The combination of lightweight synthetic fabric and extreme fullness fixed the name as the style spread.
Early dance versions were heavy nylon jumpsuits and trousers, sometimes homemade from found materials in a single colour or patchwork, built to survive floor contact. Fashion versions were lightweight synthetic pants with a low seat and many folds, complex prints, and often decorative zippers and pockets too small to use.
The tapered ankle increased mobility for dance moves requiring flexibility, keeping the baggy leg from catching underfoot during fast and complex routines, while the fullness above the ankle let the fabric move and billow with the dancer.