G-String

The origin of the term "G-string" is obscure. Since the 19th century the term geestring referred to the string which held the loincloth of American Indians ^[1]and later referred to the narrow loincloth itself. William Safire in his Ode on a G-String quoted the usage of the word "G-string" for loincloth by Harper's Magazine 15 years after Beadle's and suggested that the magazine confused the word with the musical term G-string (i.e., the string for the G note). Safire also mentions the opinion of linguist Robert Hendrickson that G (or gee) stands for groin, which was a taboo word at these times. ^[2]

There are a number of intermediate styles between full rear coverage and a string rear. Like the tanga, the G-string is essentially a bottom covering that covers the pubis and leaves the buttocks bared; The term G-string is generally used when the vertical strap in the rear of a G-string is no wider than a string.^[3] Other similar styles include the Brazilian, rio, and T-back (T-string). The naming of the intermediate cuts is debatable, and different vendors use the words somewhat interchangeably.

Bettie Page, who became known as a "Pin Up Queen" because of her modeling work in the late 1940s and early 1950s, made her own G-strings and other undergarments because such items were difficult to obtain commercially.