Phat pants
Phat pants, or "Phatties" are a style of pants, worn by men and boys that are fitted at the hips and widen all the way down to the ground enclosing the feet due to their width.
About Phat Pants
Phat Pants are worn by male ravers and can be used as a visual identifier. It is common at a typical rave to hear "I saw you at [party] last week, I know those pants!". Usually made of denim, but can be made of any material. Ravers will often customise their phat pants by covering them with reflective materials of their own design, the brighter the better. This gives the effect, especially at parties, of what could be considered a super hero uniform: each one being colourful and unique. The added color helps raise the party vibe.
Phat pants are frequently adorned with a multitude of large pockets giving ravers a place to hold their water bottles, chupa chups and whatever else may be necessary to get them through a weekend of partying.
When a raver dances the Melbourne Shuffle the hidden feet effect of the wide legs gives the appearance of the dancer floating on air.
While this was originally a clothing item worn mainly by males, this is no longer the case. It is now becoming more and more popular for females to wear phat pants. This could be due to the fact that the Melbourne Shuffle style of dancing is becoming more common and these pants help the illusion of sliding across the floor more than gators and a short skirt.
Ravers will buy the most original pair of phat pants that they can lay their hands on, as they are deemed to be a form of self expression. 'Phatties' can vary in cost from $100 to $400, with many ravers happy to spend such an extravagant price on one pair of pants as long as they are good quality and will last many hours of stomping and dancing at indoor as well as outdoor events. Some ravers even class themselves as 'elite' or 'hardcore' if they own several pairs of phats. This is not an attitude fostered by most ravers however. There are many ravers in Australia that feel that one cannot do justice to their phats unless they are worn out in public on a shopping trip or similar activities.
They are most commonly worn by men but younger boy ravers also wear them too.
How they are Worn
Phat pants are often worn with braces, which are not designed to be worn over the shoulders. They are quiet often too short to do this anyway. They hang loosely on the pants from 'd' clips at the waist, and are usually brightly coloured webbing with a reflective strip sown down the middle. Usually, the binding ring at the back is a heavy metal, which helps the braces to swing out in an arc around the dancer when spinning.