Abs-solutely Fabulous!: The Sexy new Patch of Skin to flash.(clothes that show off midriff)(Brief Article)

The trend on everyone's hips right now? A low-slung style that reveals a tantalizing slice of tummy. Here's all you need to know about being a belly Prancer.

* It's the dress code for the fearlessly fashion-forward. Spotlight-stealing gals like Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, and Britney Spears are making midriffs their main attraction with their incredibly shrinking waistlines. Pants and skirts are hanging so low on hips these clays, getting a glimpse of a thong on a chic star is as common as spying an eyeful of cleavage at a Cosmo cover-girl party. In fact, look-at-me lingerie, along with meant-to-be-seen extras like undie jewelry and crystal body art, are essential parts of this provacative peekaboo style.

The low-riding look actually has roots that go way back. "Hip-hop kids in the '80s walked around with their trousers almost falling off and their underwear bands peeking out," says celebrity stylist Freddie Leiba, who dresses such trendsetters as Elizabeth Hurley. "Then stars like Janet Jackson and Madonna took that raw style and evolved it into more mainstream fashion." The lower-belly landscape took Full-fledged center stage in 1992 when Janet Jackson showed off her newly sleekened and tight tummy while cavorting with Antonio Sabato Jr. in her "Love Will Never Do Without You" video. Spurred by Jackson's transformation and the nation's fitness craze, women felt empowerment by showing some midregion skin. "They adopted the attitude 'I'm hot, I work out, and I'm going to flaunt it," says Cosmo sittings editor Clyde Ray Brual. For today's ab-flashing flock, that superconfident mind-set is crucial. "While the trend is about looking sexy, feeling sexy is equally important in pulling it off," says Brual.

These days, low-slung styles for every dare-to-bare girl are popping up all over. Whether you want to go boldly brazen for a night of clubbing in a miniskirt that sits snugly just above your pubic bone or be more moderate and work-appropriate in low-riders that teasingly flaunt just a sliver of stomach, we have the style to suit you. A piece of friendly fashion advice while assembling your own little-go-peek look for the first time: Less is more. "A look that's subtly suggestive, like a sweater that shows just an inch of skin, is far more sexy than a style that's blatantly in-your-face," says Leiba.

3 Peekaboo Styles

Whether you want to show just a sliver of skin or flaunt your whole ab acreage, here's how to top off your low-rise look.

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