Awardrobe malfunction is aclothing failure that accidentally exposes a person'sintimate parts. It is different from deliberate incidents ofindecent exposure orpublic flashing.Justin Timberlake first used the term when apologizing for theSuper Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy during the2004 Grammy Awards, saying that he accidentally revealedJanet Jackson's breast instead of just her brassiere. The phrasewardrobe malfunction was in turn used by the media to refer to the incident and enteredpop culture.[1] There was a long history of such incidents before the term was coined and it has since become common.
TheAmerican Dialect Society defines "wardrobe malfunction" as "an unanticipated exposure of bodily parts".[2] The term was also one of the new entrants into theChambers Dictionary in 2008, along with words likeelectrosmog,carbon footprint,credit crunch andsocial networking.[3] The dictionary defines it as "the temporary failure of an item of clothing to do its job in covering a part of the body that it would be advisable to keep covered."[4]
The term was first used on February 2, 2004 by Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson in a statement attempting to explain theSuper Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy, during which Jackson's right breast was exposed. Timberlake apologized for the incident, stating he was "sorry that anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance of the Super Bowl..."[5] The termwardrobe malfunction appeared in numerous stories in major US consumer and business publications, newspapers, and major TV and radio broadcasts.[6] JournalistEric Alterman described the incident as "the most famous 'wardrobe malfunction' sinceLady Godiva."[7]
The American Dialect Society had a number of related terms forword of the year nominations in 2004, includingJanet moment ("unplanned bodily exposure at a public function"),boobgate ("scandal over Janet Jackson's exposed breast"),nipplegate (like boobgate, "but used earlier in squawk over Jackson's possible nipple ring"), andwardrobe malfunction ("overexposure in a mammary way").[8] People came up with clever terms to describe an occurrence ofaccidental nudity, likenipple slip ornip slip.
AfterBrigitte Bardot gained international fame in 1953 as theBikini girl of theFrench Riviera,paparazzi popularized revealing accidents or staged events with women's swimwear throughout the decade. For one of many instances, acheesecake photo of rising starletDaliah Lavi adjusting her bikini after it broke while at aRio de Janeiro swimming pool was widely circulated byAssociated Press in 1959.[9]
On February 1, 2004, thehalftime show ofSuper Bowl XXXVIII was broadcast live from Houston, Texas, on theCBS television network in the United States. During the show, Justin Timberlakemistakenly removed a portion of Janet Jackson's costume, exposing for about half a second her breast adorned with a nipple shield. This was the first recorded usage of the term "wardrobe malfunction".[10] The incident, sometimes referred to asNipplegate,[11][12] was news worldwide.MTV's chief executive said that Jackson had planned the stunt and Timberlake was informed of it just moments before he took the stage.[13][14] The stunt was broadcast live to a total audience of 143.6 million viewers.[15]
Wardrobe malfunctions have also affected male celebrities, wherein its usually an accident. For example, American streamer and cultura ambassadorIShowSpeed had an incident[16] which was subsequently called IShowMeat, when he accidentally exposed hispenis during a stream, although he avoided a Youtube ban due to the fact it was accidental.[17] On occasion, the media may treat wardrobe malfunction as more sensational when a family member witnesses the incident or the press frenzy aftermath, as mentioned for instance forZoë Kravitz, in relation to her fatherLenny Kravitz when his ripped trousers on stage in Sweden in 2015 accidentally exposed his genitalia.[18]
An inconsistent two-tier application of the wardrobe malfunction mechanism by media can be viewed aslookism, featureism,phallophobia or morphological discrimination if a set of men with the same outfit are treated differently. For example, the media dubbed the male crotch bulge ofLinford Christie andHenrik Rummel as a "lunchbox"[19] and "package"[20] in 1992 and 2012 respectively, whilst glossing over their track and rowing teammates who also wore a spandex outfit, leading to double standard allegations of disparate treatment and discrimination towardsmegalophallic[a] men when their male genital outline is discernible through clothing.[21]
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