While many might shudder at the thought of wearing their underwear in public, the no-pants trend has picked up steam in recent years, with celebrities such as Kristen Stewart, Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, Sydney Sweeney and many more rocking the look.
Lisa’s outfit confuses the internet
Pop singer Sabrina Carpenter and K-pop star Lisa in particular rocked the internet with their pantless outfits at the Met Gala – although the latter has stirred up some controversy.
Social media users were offended by Lisa’s underwear – part of a lacy bodysuit designed by Louis Vuitton – which seems to have an image of civil rights activist Rosa Parks embroidered onto it (although this hasn’t been confirmed), along with a number of other figures.
It’s possible the look wouldn’t seem quite as offensive if the rest of the bodysuit wasn’t concealed by the blazer. Nonetheless, it’s a less successful attempt at marrying the gala’s theme of Black dandyism with one of the hottest trends in fashion right now.
But where exactly does the no-pants trend come from? Is it as “new” as it seems? And do we have Bridget Jones herself to thank?
The modern revival of no pants
The revival of no pants, or mini shorts, marks a shift towards individualism in fashion, and is possibly also leveraging shock value. We’ve seen the trend slowly reemerge since 2022, with celebrity outfits and a series of runway adoptions.
The latest runways have continued to deliver collections with hot pants, mini shorts and simply no pants, including Miu Miu Spring 2024 RTW, Alexander Wang Spring 2025 RTW and Louis Vuitton Spring 2025.
The body positive movement may also be a factor in the way celebrities are expressing themselves. The no-pants trend is a moment to celebrate the legs. It’s also particularly useful for people who are shorter, as it creates the illusion of longer legs by pulling the focus to the torso.
Sabrina Carpenter told Vogue she was specifically advised by Pharrell Williams – Louis Vuitton’s men’s creative director – to not wear pants at the Met Gala due to her short stature.
Back to the origins
While fashion is often seen as frivolous, the way we dress is actually closely linked with cultural, economic and political movements.
Pants for women have a long and complex history. Before the mid-19th century, it was considered unacceptable for women in Western societies to wear bloomers (pants), as this was seen as a threat to male power.
The taboo continued up until the early 19th century, with one 1903 men’s magazine presenting a special issue of “bifurcated girls” – that is, women posing in trousers.
And it was only in 2013 that France officially overturned a 200-year-old (unenforced) ban that said women could only wear trousers with permission from the police.
If the no-pants trend seems overtly or subtly transgressive, it is because of the centuries women have spent trying to negotiate how much they can show of their bodies.
Exoticism also has a big role to play in the way women adopted trends to expose their body. In the past, each time women revealed parts of their body they weren’t “supposed to”, they’ve been met with public shock.
As for the no-pants trend, we can probably trace the first contemporary examples of this back to the rise of ballet clothing and dancewear, particularly the leotard, from the 1950s onward.
The workout videos of the 1980s (hello, Jane Fonda) also boosted the popularity of the look.
The fashion life cycle
For women, pants provided practicality and freedom of movement, which was especially important as they took on men’s roles during the first and second world wars. So it’s no surprise womens’ pants became a fashion mainstay.
Other trends, such as going pantless, will usually come into mainstream fashion in one of two ways. Either they trickle down from runways and celebrities, or bubble up from street style or social media.
Trend cycles begin with “innovators” and “early adopters” – the bold among us who are ready to take the risk before others. Research into fashion trends suggests about 1% to 2.5% of the population are innovators who will adopt a style before it gains traction among the public.
Trends will generally die when they hit a point of saturation and people become tired of them. While a trend that’s closer to classic fashion may last ten years, fashion “fads” tend to fizzle out after about one to two years.
Given the Met Gala appearances, I think the no-pants look will be sticking around for at least another year. We can also expect it to dilute as it trickles down into mainstream fashion, which means we might see more mini shorts in stores instead.
Jye Marshall, Lecturer, Fashion Design, School of Design and Architecture, Swinburne University of Technology
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.