A wardrobe malfunction is a clothing failure that accidentally or intentionally exposes a person's intimate parts. It is different from deliberate incidents of

indecent exposure Indecent exposure is the deliberate public exposure by a person of a portion of their body in a manner contrary to local standards of appropriate behavior. Laws and social attitudes regarding indecent exposure vary significantly in different ...

or public flashing.

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

first used the term when apologizing for the

Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy The Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, which was broadcast live on February 1, 2004, from Houston, Texas, on the CBS television network, is notable for a moment in which Janet Jackson's breast—adorned with a nipple shield—was expo ...

during the

2004 Grammy Awards The 46th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 8, 2004 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California honoring the best in music for the recording of the year beginning from October 1, 2002 through September 30, 2003. They recognized ac ...

. The phrase "wardrobe malfunction" was in turn used by the media to refer to the incident and entered

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ...

. There was a long history of such incidents before the term was coinedElaine's inadvertently exposed nipple in her photo Christmas card forms a plotline in the ''Seinfeld'' episode "

The Pick "The Pick" is the 53rd episode of the sitcom ''Seinfeld''. It is the 13th episode of the fourth season, and first aired on December 16, 1992. In this episode, Elaine mistakenly mails out a Christmas card in which her nipple is exposed to all he ...

", 1992. and it has since become common.

Etymology

The

American Dialect Society The American Dialect Society (ADS), founded in 1889, is a learned society "dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, and of other languages, or dialects of other languages, influencing it or influenced by it." The Society p ...

defines "wardrobe malfunction" as "an unanticipated exposure of bodily parts".

Global Language Monitor The Global Language Monitor (GLM) is a company based in Austin, Texas that collectively documents, analyzes, and tracks trends in language usage worldwide, with a particular emphasis upon the English language. It is particularly known for it ...

, which tracks usage of words on the internet and in newspapers worldwide, identified the term as the top Hollywood contribution to English (HollyWordie) in 2004, surpassing words like ''girlie men'', ''Yo!'' and ''frass''. The term was also one of the new entrants into the ''

Chambers Dictionary The ''Chambers Dictionary'' (''TCD'') was first published by William and Robert Chambers as ''Chambers's English Dictionary'' in 1872. It was an expanded version of ''Chambers's Etymological Dictionary'' of 1867, compiled by James Donald. A sec ...

'' in 2008, along with words like ''electrosmog'', ''

carbon footprint A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, place or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Greenhouse gases, including the carbon-containing gases carbo ...

'', ''credit crunch'' and ''social networking''. 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."

Origins

The term was first used on February 1, 2004 by singers Justin Timberlake and

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...

in a statement attempting to explain the Super 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..." The term ''wardrobe malfunction'' appeared in numerous stories in major US consumer and business publications, newspapers, and major TV and radio broadcasts. Journalist

Eric Alterman Eric Alterman (born January 14, 1960) is an American historian, journalist, author, media critic, blogger, and educator. He is a CUNY Distinguished Professor of English and Journalism at Brooklyn College and the author of eleven books. From 199 ...

described the incident as "the most famous 'wardrobe malfunction' since

Lady Godiva Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly re ...

Related terms

The American Dialect Society had a number of related terms for

word of the year The word(s) of the year, sometimes capitalized as "Word(s) of the Year" and abbreviated "WOTY" (or "WotY"), refers to any of various assessments as to the most important word(s) or expression(s) in the public sphere The public sphere (german: Ö ...

nominations in 2004, including ''Janet 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"), and ''wardrobe malfunction'' ("overexposure in a mammary way"). The term has been translated into other languages to describe similar incidents, including ''garderobedefect'' (Dutch), ''incident de garde-robe'' (French), ''disfunzione del guardaroba'' or ''incidente del guardaroba'' (Italian), and ''mal funcionamiento de vestuario'' (Spanish).

Instances

In April 1957, Italian actress

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood ci ...

was being welcomed to Hollywood by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

at a dinner party at Romanoff's restaurant in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

. American actress

Jayne Mansfield Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer, and ''Playboy'' Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s while under contract at 20th Century Fox, Man ...

arrived last and went directly to Loren's table. Mansfield had previously engineered several stunts exposing her breasts. On this evening, she was seated between Loren and her dinner companion

Clifton Webb Webb Parmelee Hollenbeck (November 19, 1889 – October 13, 1966), known professionally as Clifton Webb, was an American actor, singer, and dancer. He worked extensively and was known for his stage appearances in the plays of Noël Coward, i ...

. Braless and wearing a deeply plunging neckline, Mansfield at one point stood and purposefully leaned over the table, further exposing her breasts and her left nipple. Photographer

Delmar Watson David Delmar Watson (July 1, 1926 – October 26, 2008) was an American child actor and news photographer.Nelson, Valerie J"Delmar Watson, child actor turned news photographer, dies at 82" '' Los Angeles Times''. October 28, 2008.Andres, Holly J. ...

pictured Loren staring at Mansfield's breasts, and Joe Shere also recorded the incident. Shere's picture received international attention, and was published world-wide. On February 1, 2004, the halftime show of

Super Bowl XXXVIII Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Carolina Panthers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) ch ...

was broadcast live from Houston, Texas on the CBS television network in the United States. During the show, Justin Timberlake deliberately 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". Also published by CNN.com as
Apologetic Jackson says 'costume reveal' went awry
. The incident, sometimes referred to as Nipplegate, CNN.com published this story in an earlier version as

". was news world-wide. MTV's Chief Executive said that Jackson had planned the stunt and Timberlake was informed of it just moments before he took the stage. The stunt was broadcast live to a total audience of 143.6 million viewers. At the 2016 NFL Draft Combine, American football player Chris Jones ripped his compression shorts in the crotch during the 40-yard dash, and his genitals were seen live on television.

Notes

References