Forbidden Pants

About

Forbidden Pants, also known as Flare Pants, is a slang term referring to a type of women's pants that are considered "forbidden" on TikTok and elsewhere because they emphasize a woman's butt, in turn making men horny. The "Forbidden Pants" are typically Daisy Del Sol pants, specifically the high-waisted, comfy, yoga and flared kind with tapestry-like patterns, similar to leggings. TikTokers, Twitter users and Redditors started posting memes about Forbidden Pants, often referencing Latina and Black women due to their propensity for often wearing the pants and knowing the secret. Many creators used Ice Spice's 'You Thought I Was Feeling You?' song for their videos in late 2022 in which they'd twerk.

Origin

On September 25th, 2018, the subreddit /r/GirlsInFlarePants was created revolving around the clothing type, which predominantly gained engagement in 2021. For instance, on January 14th, 2021, Redditor Purrywink posted a video to the subreddit^[8] that received roughly 7,300 upvotes in a year and a half.

The concept of "Forbidden Pants" became well-known in 2020 on both TikTok and Twitter as the apparel became more prevalent online in the late 2010s. For instance, the earliest known reference to the concept was posted by Twitter^[1] user GhostyHippie on May 18th, 2020, who captioned a photo of a woman wearing the pants with, "The forbidden pants for women. 🥴🥴🥴😩," earning seven likes in two years (shown below).

On August 18th, 2020, TikToker^[2] sweet_byrdie performed the Chika Dance in a video that received roughly 230,100 plays and 21,500 likes in two years (shown below). In her description, she wrote "#forbiddenpants" and many comments in the comment section read, "Forbidden pants 👖." Sweet_byrdie's video is the first known reference to the concept on the platform.

Spread

On September 25th, 2020, Redditor papadidit031 posted a picture of a woman in flare pants to /r/GirlsInFlarePants,^[9] captioning it "The forbidden pants" and gaining over 760 upvotes in two years.

Going into October 2020, the "Forbidden Pants" concept became more prominent online. For instance, on October 14th, 2020, Twitter^[3] user jodieegrace tweeted, "can’t believe the tik tok teens have just discovered yoga pants and they’re calling them flared leggings I hate it here," in reference to the growing popularity of the "Forbidden Pants." Over the course of two years, the tweet received roughly 492,500 likes.

In late October 2020, TikToker notkrystalpearl posted a video (since deleted) in which she was dancing in the "Forbidden Pants." The video went viral and received multiple duets and stitches before being deleted. For instance, on October 31st, 2020, TikToker^[4] kaydenquinn uploaded a stitch that received roughly 103,800 plays and 3,000 likes in two years (shown below, left). On November 1st, 2020, TikToker^[5] gh0stxbby uploaded a "Forbidden Panrts" video that received roughly 755,400 plays and 98,800 likes in two years (shown below, right).

Continuing into 2022, "Forbidden Pants" content received increased engagement on TikTok. For instance, on March 29th, 2022, TikToker^[6] itsxanthiaa posted a video about the pants, reiterating that she was skeptical about them but soon after wearing them, she bought them in every available color. Over the course of seven months, the video received roughly 1.1 million plays and 122,400 likes (shown below, left).

On August 23rd, 2022, TikToker^[7] marcus_gb posted a video in which he pretended to be behind a Latina woman wearing the "Forbidden Pants," gaining roughly 331,800 plays and 53,900 likes in two months (shown below, right). TikToker marcus_gb was one of many male creators on the platform to make content regarding their thirst over the pants.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References