G-string

File:Fine-art-buttocks.jpg

A black and white photo of a woman in a G-string

A G-string is a garment consisting of a narrow piece of material that barely covers the genitals, a string-like piece that passes between the buttocks, and a very thin waistband around the hips.<ref name="M-W">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> There are designs for both women and men. Men's G-strings are similar to women's but have a front pouch that covers the genitals.<ref name="Cole">Template:Cite book</ref> G-strings are typically worn as underwear or swimwear or as part of the costume of an exotic dancer.<ref name="M-W" />

G-strings are usually made of fabric,<ref name=IH>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> lace,<ref name=Preminger>Template:Cite book</ref> leather, or satin. They may serve as a bikini bottoms or they may be worn alone as monokinis or topless swimsuits. G-strings are also worn by go-go dancers.

As underwear, G-strings may be worn in preference to panties to avoid the creation of a visible panty line,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> or in order to enhance sex appeal.

The two terms G-string and thong are sometimes used interchangeably; however, technically they refer to different pieces of clothing. G-strings have a thinner back strip than thongs, and usually a thinner waistband.<ref name=IH/> These connectors are often made of string rather than a strip of fabric.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Etymology

The term G-string is first attested in 1878.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> In the same book girdle and breech-clout is used for the same garment.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> It originally denoted the loincloths worn by certain American Indians, and did not come to be used for a type of female undergarment until the 1920s. The significance of the G is unclear. Charles Fletcher Lummis said it resembled a capital 'G'.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> It has been suggested that it represents a euphemistic abbreviation of groin,<ref>Template:Cite OED</ref> or else that it is short for girdle; the term girdle-string is attested as early as 1846.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

There are numerous examples in 19th century newspapers of a girdle (as the belt of a breech clout) being the repository for scalps, tomahawks and knives of native americans<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and with the same meaning girdle string was still in use in 1899.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

As attire for a dancer it is known from 1910 when Elbert Hubbard wrote: "Down in New York a girl gave a Salome dance in a G string and sandals"<ref>Template:Citation</ref> and as beach wear from 1921.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

History

Template:Multiple image The G-string first appeared in costumes worn by showgirls in the United States in Earl Carroll's productions during the 1920s,<ref>B. Foley, Undressed for Success: Beauty Contestants and Exotic Dancers as Merchants of Morality, page 143, Springer, 2016, Template:ISBN</ref> a period known as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties.<ref name="Shteir2004">Template:Cite book</ref> Before the Great Depression most performers made their own G-strings or bought them from traveling salesmen, but from the 1930s they were usually purchased from commercial manufacturers of burlesque costumes.Template:Sfnp During the 1930s, the "Chicago G-string" gained prominence when worn by performers like Margie Hart. The Chicago area was the home of some of the largest manufacturers of G-strings and it also became the center of the burlesque shows in the United States.<ref name="Shteir2004"/> Early performers of color to wear a G-string on stage included the Latina stripper Chiquita Garcia in 1934, and "Princess Whitewing", a Native American stripper near the end of the decade.Template:Sfnp

The term G-string started to appear in Variety magazine during the 1930s. In New York City, G-strings were worn by female dancers at risqué Broadway theatre shows during the Jazz Age. During the 1930s and 1940s, the New York striptease shows in which G-strings were worn were described as "strong". In shows referred to as "weak" or "sweet" the stripper wore "net panties" instead. "Strong" shows usually took place only when the police were not present, and they became rarer after 1936 when Fiorello H. La Guardia, the Mayor of New York City, organized a series of police raids on burlesque shows<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and closed strip clubs in the city for the first time in its history. The Mayor also banned showgirls from performing fully nude at the 1939 New York World's Fair.<ref name=Guarnieri>Template:Cite news</ref> Showgirls sometimes wore flesh-coloured G-strings to give the illusion that they were completely naked.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The American burlesque entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee is popularly associated with the G-string.<ref name=Quinn>Template:Cite book</ref> Her striptease performances often included the wearing of a G-string; in a memoir written by her son Erik Lee Preminger she is described as gluing on a black lace G-string with spirit gum in preparation for a performance.<ref name=Preminger/>

By the late 1980s G-strings had become widely available in the Western world, and they became increasingly popular during the 1990s.<ref name=Opiyo>Template:Cite book</ref> Men's G-strings had developed from garments worn by physical culture and bodybuilding models,Template:Sfnp and in 1994 a men's G-string was the best selling design of HOM, a luxury men's underwear brand owned by Triumph International.<ref name=Cole/> Other underwear brands, such as Sloggi and Jockey International, also introduced men's G-strings.Template:Sfnp In Africa the G-string has become a fashionable item of clothing for young women, and they are often visible above the back of low-rise jeans as a whale tail.<ref name=Opiyo/> As lingerie they are sometimes worn with a babydoll.Template:Sfnp

In modern strip clubs the strippers often wear G-strings and the customers often give them tips by placing banknotes in their G-strings.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The wearing of G-strings in strip clubs is required in some jurisdictions under laws that prohibit public nudity.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Some regulations cover the design of G-string allowed. These regulations have in many cases been determined by liquor boards and can differ significantly over a short distance.<ref name=IH/> The constitutional legality of such regulations has been upheld in two cases by the US Supreme Court, when it had to rule on whether First Amendment rights were being infringed.<ref name=Guarnieri/>

Disposable G-strings are sometimes worn for modesty when spray tan is being applied at a beauty salon.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>