<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>In reference to the controversial fashion trend from the '90s and early aughts, <a href="https://www.thecut.com/article/butt-cracks-are-back.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>The Cut</em> </a>recently declared that "Cracks Are Back." If you're left with a raised eyebrow, not to worry; we'll fill you in on the whale tale trend made popular by Y2K It girls like Paris Hilton and Christina Aguilera. The trend was essentially to wear a high-rise thong beneath low-rise jeans so theat the thong can be visibly seen sitting atop your hipbone.</p>
<p>The trend rose in popularity due to the raunchy girl-gone-bad aesthetic that was pegged to a lot of celebrities who fashioned the look. The once-girl next door archetypes like Britney Spears and Victoria Beckham were confident and sexy bombshells who weren't afraid of showing a bit of skin. With the comeback of high-rise jeans in the 2010s, many thought they saw the end of the whale tale until Hailey Beiber brought the trend back to life for the Met Gala in 2019. Since then, it seems the trend oscillates in and out of fashion every year or so, but for the most part, 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> and more recently, Katy Perry, have been seen donning the provocative trend. However, this time, the rendition comes to us in the form of what's called "butt cleavage," where instead of the thong being the object of focus, the entire butt crack is exposed, sometimes sans thong. Zendaya recently fashioned a less-intense rendition of the trend at the World Premiere of Dune: Part Two; nevertheless, as seen below, the butt is very much still the star of the show.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Below, we'll explore the origins of this racy trend and how it eventually morphed into "butt cleavage."</p>

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    <div class="section-text"><span>Though the origins of shameless thong showing began with </span>burlesque<span>&nbsp;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>&nbsp;</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>&rsquo;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&nbsp;'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 gown with a revealing low back and built-in thong. Alexa Demie sported a similar look at the premiere of <em>Euphoria</em> in 2019.</span></p>

<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 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 in 2020, 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>

<p>As can be seen above, the latest version of the trend eliminates the thong and puts attention on the derriere. For the 2024 Billboard Women in Music Awards, Katy Perry donned an Ellie Misner set that featured lace-up detailing across the entire backside, showing off the crack in the process. During a premiere for <em>Dune: Part Two</em>, Zendaya wore a bumless Thierry Mugler suit of armor that is quintessential to the brand's love for alluring and borderline erotic silhouettes.</p>

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

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