Tap pants, also known as side-cut shorts or dance shorts, are a form of

lingerie Lingerie (, , ) is a category of primarily women's clothing including undergarments (mainly brassieres), sleepwear, and lightweight robes. The choice of the word is often motivated by an intention to imply that the garments are alluring, fashio ...

designed for women, similar to French knickers in appearance. As the name implies, they are a type of

shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ar ...

, in that they cover the pelvic area and the upper part of the upper legs. The name originates from shorts worn by tap dancers during the 1930s while practicing their routines. Tap pants are mostly made of lace, silk, satin, polyester, rayon and cotton voile. Some pairs may be trimmed in ruffles. Tap pants look much like track shorts, allow freedom of movement, and can be worn as an outer garment over other types of underwear (e.g.,

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. There are designs for both women and men. Men's G- ...

s), however they are mostly worn as innerwear or leisure wear. From a distance, tap pants can be mistaken for a half slip. Tap pants generally hang loose around the body. For this reason, they have been losing popularity to slimmer versions of underwear since the mid 20th century, as loose undergarments do not mix with figure-hugging dresses, and especially with

pants Trousers (British English), slacks, or pants (American English, American, Canadian English, Canadian and Australian English) are an item of clothing worn from the waist to anywhere between the knees and the ankles, covering both legs separatel ...

. Another garment, similar to tap pants but tighter to the body, are boyshorts or booty shorts. A

culotte Culottes are an item of clothing worn on the lower half of the body. The term can refer to either split skirts, historical men's breeches, or women's underpants; this is an example of fashion-industry words taken from designs across history, ...

is similar to tap pants, but longer in the leg.

References

{{lingerie Undergarments Trousers and shorts Women's clothing