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Accidental exposure of nudity in public
An artist depicts torn clothing that uncovers a woman's buttocks

A wardrobe malfunction is a clothing failure that accidentally exposes a person's intimate parts. It is different from deliberate incidents of indecent exposure or public flashing. Justin Timberlake first used the term when apologizing for the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy during the 2004 Grammy Awards, saying that he accidentally revealed Janet Jackson's breast instead of just her brassiere. The phrase wardrobe malfunction was in turn used by the media to refer to the incident and entered pop culture.[1] There was a long history of such incidents before the now-common term was coined.

The American Dialect Society defines "wardrobe malfunction" as "an unanticipated exposure of bodily parts".[2]

Etymology

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The term was first used on February 2, 2004, by Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson 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..."[3] The term wardrobe malfunction appeared in numerous stories in major US consumer and business publications, newspapers, and major TV and radio broadcasts.[4] Journalist Eric Alterman described the incident as "the most famous 'wardrobe malfunction' since Lady Godiva."[5] It was also one of the new entrants into the Chambers Dictionary in 2008, along with electrosmog, carbon footprint, credit crunch and social networking.[6] That 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."[7]

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The American Dialect Society's word of the year nominations in 2004 included a number of terms related to this one, 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").[8]

Female

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After Brigitte Bardot gained international fame in 1953 as the Bikini girl of the French Riviera, paparazzi popularized revealing accidents or staged events with women's swimwear throughout the decade. For one of many instances, a cheesecake photo of rising starlet Daliah Lavi adjusting her bikini after it broke while at a Rio de Janeiro swimming pool was widely circulated by Associated Press in 1959.[9]

On February 1, 2004, the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII was broadcast live from Houston, Texas, on the CBS television network in the United States. During the show, Justin Timberlake mistakenly 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 as Nipplegate,[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]

Male

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Wardrobe malfunctions have also affected male celebrities. American streamer and cultural ambassador IShowSpeed had an incident[16] which was subsequently called IShowMeat, when he accidentally exposed his penis 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 for Zoë Kravitz, in relation to her father Lenny Kravitz when his ripped trousers on stage in Sweden in 2015 accidentally exposed his genitalia.[18]

See also

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References

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Footnotes

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Citations

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  1. ↑ Puente, Maria (February 4, 2004). "Will 'Wardrobe Malfunction' Live On?". USA Today. Retrieved October 7, 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  2. ↑ American Dialect Society (January 7, 2005). "Word of the Year" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on February 11, 2006. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Apologetic Jackson says costume reveal went awry". CNN. February 2, 2004. Archived from the original on Apr 24, 2008. Retrieved April 22, 2008.
  4. ↑ Eisen, Rich (2007). Total access : a journey to the center of the NFL universe. Internet Archive. New York : St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-36978-1.
  5. ↑ Eric Alterman, Why We're Liberals: A Political Handbook for Post-Bush America, page 186, Penguin USA, 2008, ISBN 0-670-01860-0
  6. ↑ "Electrosmog enters the dictionary," BBC
  7. ↑ "Dictionary suffers a wardrobe malfunction," The Mercury, 2008-08-15
  8. ↑ Glowka, Wayne; American Dialect Society. "2004 Words of the Year Nominations" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on August 19, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  9. ↑ Horsley, Edith, The 1950s, Bison Books Ltd. London 1978, p. 236, picture and caption top left.
  10. ↑ Moody, Nekesa Mumbi (February 3, 2004). "Janet Jackson Apologizes for Bared Breast". Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 3, 2004. Also published by CNN.com as "Apologetic Jackson says 'costume reveal' went awry".
  11. ↑ Bauder, David (February 4, 2004). "Spike Lee says Janet Jackson's breast baring a 'new low' for entertainers". U-T San Diego. Associated Press. Archived from the original on April 11, 2004. CNN.com published this story in an earlier version as "Janet Jackson takes responsibility for breast-baring Archived 2007-12-31 at the Wayback Machine".
  12. ↑ Hilden, Julie (February 20, 2004). "Jackson 'Nipplegate' illustrates the danger of chilling free speech". CNN. Archived from the original on Jun 18, 2007. Retrieved July 27, 2007.
  13. ↑ "MTV points finger of blame at Jackson". Today. February 3, 2004. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  14. ↑ Walls, Jeannette; Pearson, Ashley (February 3, 2004). "Jackson's Super stunt was planned". Today. Archived from the original on September 28, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  15. ↑ Ryan, Joal (March 2, 2004). "Kids Watch Super Boob". E!. Archived from the original on Feb 3, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  16. ↑ "IShowSpeed confronts his father for viral 'IShowMeat' video | indy100". www.indy100.com. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
  17. ↑ Ocho, Alex (2023-08-17). "IShowSpeed Avoids YouTube Ban After Accidentally Exposing Himself". Complex. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
  18. ↑ Bayley, Leanne (2015-08-06). "Zoe Kravitz and Chelsea Tyler mortified by #PenisGate". Glamour UK. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
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