Bondage pants are a classic gothic style of trousers with a variety of zippers, straps, chains, rings and buckles, giving them a BDSM look. Tripp NYC is the key brand known for creating and distributing these pants to the masses. They come in a variety of colors and patterns; one of the most common patterns being tartan. They also come in a variety of styles, including tight or wide-legged, long, short or capris. Lots of Tripp pants also have zip off legs to make each pair in to shorts. The pockets are extra massive creating plenty of room to hide your possessions in. Along with the excessive amount of straps and zippers, Tripp pants are highly utilitarian as they can be adjusted for everyday wear depending on needs. They are the goth version of the ever-popular urban style JNCOs.
Popular Philadelphia-bred rapper, Lil Uzi Vert, shocked music fans all over by wearing all black wide-legged Tripp pants down the red carpet at the Grammy’s last week. He was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Rap Performance for his verse in Bad and Boujee with Migos. Uzi has always incorporated classic rockstar type pieces into his wardrobe, but his raver pants, which he accessorized in typical goth fashion with dangling chains, felt particularly subversive for the Grammys red carpet, where traditional tuxedos and glamorous gowns usually reign. In a climate nostalgic for the return of Myspace emo, artists are claiming to be rockstars, punkstars and popstars. Lil Uzi Vert dressed as a gothstar at the Grammy’s.
Before Uzi re-introduced the mainstream to Tripp pants, they had been a rising trend in the underground music scene. A couple months ago Gucci Mane was spotted in a skinny pair. As some of the original and most successful goth rappers to come up off Soundcloud, it’s safe to say that this recent wave of Tripp pants was started by Black Kray and Yung Bruh. They both began rocking the classic red and green tartan skinny bondage pants with studded belts as early as 2014. On the more emo side, Yung Cortex and the Boyfriendz have all been seen wearing the heavily zippered pants often. Lil Aaron’s video for Hot Topic features himself green screened into a classic cyberpunk dance meetup. The dancers are dressed in full rave gear, sporting Tripp pants of course.
Bondage pants have mainly been worn by members of youth subcultures, including punks, ravers, goths, Otaku and indies. Although many people consider these pants an element of fetish wear, many early punks have said the origins of the pants were from homeless people who put straps on their pants so they could hold onto a train. Developed by legendary British designers Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren in the 1970s, the trousers were made infamous by icons within the punk subculture such as the Sex Pistols who would originally get them from Westwood/McLaren’s shop, SEX.
The original drainpipe design was an anti fashion statement against the flares of the time. The men’s variety tend to feature baggier legs, larger pockets and more metal details such as chains, skulls, mock handcuffs and D-rings while the women’s styles are usually more tailored and have less metal hardware decoration but occasionally have details of lace, ribbon or tartan making them seem more feminine.
In the late 1990s and early-to-mid 2000s, Tripp NYC’s signature design that combined the chains and straps of bondage pants with the baggy legs and bright linings of phat pants became incredibly popular amongst U.S. teenagers. They also held some minor popularity amongst college students, then in their early 20s, and were worn on stage by members of some nu-metal, industrial rock, and darkwave bands. Additionally, during that time period this style of phat pants-inspired bondage pants became frequently observable among members of the goth, heavy metal, gamer and raver subcultures. Such pants were a popular sell for mallcore giants such as Hot Topic and Spencer’s Gifts, and ranged from observable to ubiquitous at alternative music nightclubs and anime conventions prior to a gradual decline in popularity and visibility starting in the late 2000s.
Only recently has the bondage pants trend started re-emerging within the luxury market. Gothic brands such as Hood By Air, Whatever 21 and (sometimes) Gypsysport have been sending wide-legged pants down the runway for the last couple of seasons. A particularly successful example of this was Palm Angels FW17 collection which featured black metal lettering, futuristic sunglasses, hoodies pulled tight around the face and extremely wide legged pants.
A related emerging trend is tartan plaid being mixed into gothic streetwear looks. Vetments, Chanel, Balenciaga Calvin Klein, and many other luxury fashion powerhouses all incorporated tartan plaid into their FW18 collections. Originally the pattern was associated with the aristocracy and military, developing an air of dignity and exclusivity. However, in the late 1970s, punk music was a way for youth to voice their discontent with the ruling class. The unorthodox use of tartan, which had long been associated with authority and gentility, was then seen as the expression of discontent against modern society. In this way tartan, worn unconventionally, became an anti-establishment symbol.
Tartan plaid originally was made of only wool. However, with growing popularity in the print itself, it is now also made in many other materials. The Dress Act of 1746 attempted to ban Tartan print altogether. However, the law was repealed and Tartan was then adopted as the symbolic national dress of Scotland. In the 1960s, a Scottish society was created to record and preserve all known tartan designs. The Scottish Tartans Authority’s database, the International Tartan Index consists of about 3,500 different tartans (with over 7,000, counting variants), as of 2004.
Since the Victorian era, authorities on tartan have stated that there is a particular etiquette to wearing the pattern, specifically tartan attributed to clans or families. This concept of the entitlement to certain tartans has led to the term of “universal tartan”, which describes tartan that can be worn by anyone. Traditional examples of such are Black Watch, Caledonian, Hunting Stewart and Jacobite tartans. In the same line of opinion, some tartan attributed to the British Royal Family are claimed by some to be “off limits” to non-royalty. Even so, there are technically no rules on who can, or cannot, wear a particular tartan.
Note that there are a select few modern tartans that are protected by trademark law, and the trademark proprietor can, in certain circumstances, prevent others from selling that tartan. For example, the “Burberry check” of the English fashion house, first designed in early 1920s, is an instantly recognizable tartan that is very well known around the world and is protected legally.
As far as the tartans being used on Tripp pants, there are three main colorways; classic red with green, yellow with red, and navy with forest green. Popular LA-based gothic clothing retailer, Unif, sells a variety of tartan plaid garments from pants to shoes to backpacks. Schoolgirl gone bad, the plaid Tripp pants go best with a studded belt, bullet belt, oversized hoodie and lots of chains.
If you are interested in purchasing a pair of your own, they go for about $85 per pair online. This is the anti-skinny jean trend. Prepare to see more and more rappers integrating classic gothic and punk apparel into their wardrobes in the upcoming months.
Photo Credits:
1) Lil Uzi Vert at the Grammy’s – Getty Images/Mike Coppola
2) Black Kray in Tartan Plaid Tripp Pants – @sickboyrari
3) Yung Cortex in JNCO jeans – @yungcortex
4) Palm Angels FW17 Runway Show – Palm Angels
5) Unif Tartan Plaid Shoes – @unif