Low is hip to them
But baggy-pants style not so cool with adults
He's lanky. Probably stands 6 feet.
From the looks of it, he'd slide comfortably into a 32-waist jean -- maybe even a 30.
The thing is, 22-year-old Jay Santos of Lawrence prefers just a little more room. Customarily, he wears size-38 Nauticas -- cinched tight around his pelvis.
"It's how I feel comfortable," he said one recent Saturday as he shopped at the Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers.
An extra-large, black T-shirt was pooled around his dark-blue jeans; his left hand clasped the belt that precariously held them up.
"They can think what they want," he said of those who don't approve of his style choices. "I do what I like."
You see them and you might think: Thug. Punk. Gangster. For some people, they turn on a siren: Trouble's coming.
"It reflects an attitude that is not flattering," said 46-year-old Jeff Shapiro of Danvers, who works at Direct Federal Credit Union and is the father of two young boys. "I think they look punk."
Mostly teenagers -- and mostly inspired by hip-hop or "goth" culture -- they prefer baggy, so-low-they-almost-fall-down designer jeans, which are sometimes held up with belts, and sometimes kept in place by periodic yanks.
Like belly, jewelry-jangling hip-huggers, or studded collars, saggy pants are a fashion statement, and one that's been around for a while.
Yet, they continually draw unease, head-shaking -- and, in some cases, legislative action.
But why all the offense?
"It puts them in a category of not really wanting much out of life," said Mary Lou Andre, a Boston fashion consultant and editor of dressingwell.com. "It's distracting. It takes the emphasis off who they are."
Baggy-pants wearers, though, don't get the stereotype. It's really nothing more than style and comfort, they say. Individualism, too, because like baseball hats, pants are ubiquitous: They can be turned and twisted and slung as low as desirable.
"It makes me who I am," said 19-year-old Jermaine Hernandez of Peabody, who wears his jeans so low sometimes they expose his boxers. "I try to be my own self and not copy anyone."
For William Segal, it just feels better. "It's not comfortable when they're up here," said the 16-year-old from Lynn as he pulled his jeans to his waist. He returned them to their usual position, rested below the hips, and exposing about 3 inches of boxer. "It's a lot more comfortable down here."
He does get a little static for it -- mostly from his grandparents.
"But they're old," he joked. "So, they expect me to wear my pants up here," he said as he mimed a pulling motion at his ribcage.
Others are similarly apathetic. Derek Maurais, 19, of Peabody, even gets vehement about whether other people's opinions bother him. "I couldn't care less," he said.
Walking the mall, he wore dark jeans that rested on his hips and a Gerald Green Celtics jersey. An iPod was slung around his neck; a green Red Sox hat was turned backward on his head.
His mother hates his style, he said.
"She thinks it's gangster," he said, "but that's just the way the world is today. It's a fashion statement."
Some levels of baggy are more aesthetically pleasing than others, of course.
Like most teenage girls, Brittany Gorski, 17, of Lynn, prefers extra-loose pants on guys, although she said it does depend on personality. She said they work better when guys are relaxed, not uptight.
Anna Grateraux, 17, of Salem, has her own formula.
Completely off the butt -- not good. Halfway off -- good. Tight and low -- very bad. Also, not too much boxer or briefs peeking out.
"I know guys who dress like that and are still in school and get good grades," she said as she strolled mall corridors with a friend. "People think it's a bad-boy, thug thing."
That perception even rises to the political level: Some legislators have found the style so distasteful that they've taken legal action. Virginia's House of Delegates, for instance, passed a "droopy-drawers" bill in 2005 that imposes a $50 fine on those caught brandishing too-low pants.
Louisiana's Legislature rejected a similar bill in 2005 that would have set a steeper fine of $175; lawmakers in Dallas and Orlando also have considered such statutes.
Governor Deval Patrick joined in on the criticism, too. Last month, he urged adults to discipline young people by telling them not to wear their pants "down there."
Some of the dislike is practical: Many schools ban very low pants because they pose a hazard in the event of an emergency.
"We don't allow kids to have them way down their butts," said Danvers High School principal Mark Strout. "That's unacceptable."
Still, impartial observers say baggy pants aren't all that offensive; backlash is nothing more than the traditional clash of generations.
Like long hair on hippies or unwashed flannel on grunge rockers, elders are always turned off by the fashion of youths.
"Wearing pants on your hips is what bell-bottoms and polyester were when I was young," Shapiro said. "Every generation expresses itself uniquely."
Yet, as people grow up, that fashion tolerance diminishes, said Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University. Example: Baby boomer parents telling their kids to pull up their pants without reflecting on the scoffed-at styles of their own youths.
"We do become, to some extent, fuddy-duddies," Thompson said, "and we have no problem applying double standards."
He also compared the fears currently surrounding hip-hop to the frenzy over 1960s rock 'n' roll. Music and clothes represented by both have faced resistance from authority figures.
Some of the fun, then, is in the shock.
"If adults started dressing like this, it wouldn't last very long," Thompson said. "Part of the duty of youth culture is to upset and make uncomfortable parents, elders, and teachers."
Molly Xecks acknowledged that motive. The 14-year-old from Salem is in the minority of young women who wear super-low pants, and gave one reason for it: "It makes my Dad angry."
Flaunting extra-large shorts, a sweatshirt showing a moonlit cemetery, and pink eyeliner, she said her style is "super comfortable and looks good."
Also, it catches glances. People are "not used to seeing someone as cool as me," Xecks said dryly.
Still, the low-slung style does have its obvious drawbacks, said many who wear them. The extra fabric makes it hard to move fast -- and there's a constant effort to keep them up.
"Sometimes, they do fall down," Hernandez said with a shrug.
For emphasis, he reflexively yanked up his jeans.
NorthTalk
Who should determine what teenagers wear -- the government, school officials, parents, or teenagers themselves? Log on to boston.com/northtalk, e-mail globenorth@globe.com, or write to Globe North, Suite 200, 1 Corporate Place, 55 Ferncroft Road, Danvers 01923. 