[6] Originally shown by WWE female wrestler Amy Dumas in early 2000, others such as Britney Spears have been portrayed as a major contributor to the whale tail's popularity.
[7][8][9] Her whale tail display has been referred to in such creative literature books as Married to a Rock Star by Shemane Nugent,[10] Thong on Fire by Noire,[11] The Magical Breasts of Britney Spears by Ryan G. Van Cleave,[12] and Off-Color by Janet McDonald.
[5] The layered clothing trend of the early 2000s was partly led by the whale tail style that incorporates hip-hugger jeans, crop tops and high riding thongs popularized by celebrities.
[19] Jess Cartner-Morley of The Guardian claimed that following pop stars in the hipster trousers gave rise to the "low-slung jeans, whale-tail G-string era".
[20] On 17 September 2004, a writer for the Chicago Sun-Times stated, "Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera regularly were photographed with thong straps riding high above their low-rise jeans.
"[8] Actresses Gillian Anderson, Natalie Portman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall and Tara Reid, MTV's Molly Sims, model Kate Moss, singers Beyoncé Knowles, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson, LeAnn Rimes and Britney Spears have been associated as propagators of the trend by ABC.
[21] In France, clothing brands started creating the thong or le string in styles that encourage a projection above low-hung jeans, such as designs that had small jewels or luminous stars sewn into the "tail".
[23] Indian model Shefali Zariwala displayed a whale tail in the MTV Immies-winning music video "Kaanta Lagaa" and shot to fame and public debate in 2003.
The bill proposed that "it shall be unlawful for any person to appear in public wearing his pants below his waist and thereby exposing his skin or intimate clothing" and that violators would be subjected to three eight-hour days of community service and a fine of up to US$175.
[30][31][32] Garments that reveal underpants were banned in four other Louisiana towns including Alexandria and Shreveport, where violators face fines of US$150 or 15 days in jail, as well as Hawkinsville, Georgia.
[31][34] In February 2005, the Senate Courts of Justice Committee of Virginia voted unanimously in a hastily convened meeting against a bill proposed by Delegate Algie T. Howell Jr. (Norfolk, Virginia) to impose a US$50 fine on any person who publicly and intentionally "wears and displays his below-waist undergarments, intended to cover a person's intimate parts, in a lewd or indecent manner" in a public place.
[47] In 2019, publications including Vogue and the Daily Record began referring to a revived interest in the trend, with influencers such as Kim Kardashian, Hailey Baldwin and Dua Lipa prominently wearing it.
[56] Attributing whale tails to mainstreaming of the sexualization of young women, The Santa Rosa, California Press Democrat termed the trend as "stripper chic".
It received 44 votes to muffin top's 25, flee-ancée's (a reference to runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks) 15, and pinosaur's (a very old Wollemi pine tree near Australia's Blue Mountains) 6.