Since the advent of the zoot suit in the 1930s, teenagers have bucked traditional dress codes.

Fads have come and gone, parents have made fusses and schools have passed rules to ban certain styles, but one fashion trend — one that started in prison where inmates aren’t given belts — could carry a stiff fine and jail time in certain cities across the nation.

It’s the sagging of pants, and it’s dropped to all-new lows with some male teens, who cinch their pants around their thighs, leaving their buttocks exposed.

The style made its way into pop culture by the late 1980s via hip-hop and gangster rap, but pants were typically kept above the groin and halfway above the rear end.

Now it seems the trendy style has “lowered” its standards even more, with pants being worn halfway down the upper leg in cities and suburbs all over — including Tracy.

“I’ve been seeing more and more younger kids my age wearing their pants like that,” said 19-year-old San Joaquin Delta College student Kristin Bellows. “I think it’s personally stupid, but as long as their junk isn’t showing, I guess I don’t have a problem with it.”

Some lawmakers in certain cities do have a problem with it and have taken measures to outlaw the saggy style. Delcambre, La., a town of 2,321 that’s 80 miles southwest of Baton Rouge, banned the wearing of saggy pants in June. Fines of up to $500 or a six-month jail sentence may be imposed on any would-be “low-riders” in the small southern town.

Mansfield, another Louisiana town with a population of 5,496, has an ordinance on the books that fines offenders as much as $150 plus court costs or up to 15 days in jail for saggy pants.

Tracy doesn’t have a decree that prohibits low-worn pants, nor do neighboring cities of LivermoreManteca. 

“No one has brought it forward,” said Steve Abercrombie, a teacher and city councilman. “I don’t understand why it’s a cool thing to do, but it seems to be the in thing. It’s good for the cops, because (the people doing it) can’t run as fast.”

Abercrombie teaches at Delta Charter School, which has banned saggy pants. Tracy Unified School District’s dress code also prohibits students from wearing pants at the thighs, and students face a suspension of up to five days on their third offense and a possible recommendation for expulsion.

“Kids are always saggin,’” said Tracy High School Assistant Principal Troy Brown. “It really comes down to parents to catch their kids before they walk out the door before they arrive at a school, where 500 of the 2,500 kids are sagging their pants.”

Measures to prohibit sagging statewide in Virginia and Louisiana backfired in 2004, when opponents cried that students’ right to self-expression was being violated.

The latest crackdown that began last summer hinges indecency laws in cities like Atlanta and Baltimore.

Atlanta City Councilman Clarence “C.T.” Martin proposed a city ordinance to ban saggy pants, as did Councilwoman Helen Holton in Baltimore, who both justified their proposals in response to concerns about indecent exposure.

One Bay Area man even argues that saggy pants are bad for your health.

Aaron Parnell, a “posturist” out of San Mateo, has a practice that works on the relationship between people’s muscles and bones, similar to a chiropractor. He says that sagging one’s pants can lead to hip degeneration, low back problems, life-long knee misalignments and bunions on the feet from the awkward gait.

“Being cool is more important than being healthy,” Parnell said. “But if these kids could only see the long-term effects this trend is having on them.”

Among the Tracy parents adamantly opposed to the fad is Pamela Tinkerton, who has a 12-year-old son in a local middle school.

“How does this make these kids feel cool?” asked the 34-year-old. “I think these kids have serious self-esteem problems and are on the verge of flashing their private parts. I wouldn’t allow my kid out of the house dressed like that.”

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Andrew McKinley of Manteca has been wearing his pants around his thighs for three years. He said it’s not uncomfortable to wear his pants as low as he does — just below the buttocks — and he says he has no problem walking. Or waddling, by the looks of it.

“It’s just my style,” McKinley said. “That’s just how we do business — hella low.”