For scofflaws and gentlemen, a solution to saggy pants

Spend any amount of time in the more urban precincts of the United States and you'll notice that a large number of young men like to wear their trousers rather loose, perhaps out of a desire to look like they've been to prison and had their belts confiscated.

Over the past few years, this has led to public awareness campaigns asking young men to "stop the sag", with some municipalities passing bylaws cracking down on saggy pants ostensibly in the name of public decency. But inevitably, these laws end up being used as an excuse to harrass black youth. I've written two columns for Maclean's magazine about this.

But now it appears that a solution is at hand. A Harlem inventor named Andrew Lewis has created a device  called the "Subs" that that is half garter belt, half suspenders, and which allows you to regulate the exact height at which your pants will sag. (Canadian men will recognize this device as basically the garter belt used to hold up hockey socks, except attached to clips on the inside of your pants).

According to street vendor Kendu Howze, "This is actually a good idea. You would be able to maintain the swag appearance without constant readjustment." It will also prevent cases like the time man suspected of stealing discs from a video store was tripped up by his baggy pants, falling twice before police captured him.

***

UPDATE: Sarah Barmak sees the obvious problem with this:

@sarahbarmak: Wouldn't a pair of fussy suspenders defeat the purpose of saggy pants, which is looking like you don't give a @#*& ?