Connotations
When Westerners once again came into contact with loincloths elsewhere, they viewed it as an exotic and indecent garment, possibly because the wearer's buttocks were partially exposed. The connection of loincloth-wearing with "backwardness" became even more pronounced in the 19th century heyday of colonialism and industrialisation. Often the only garment black male slaves in the tropical colonies were permitted to wear was a scanty breechcloth, while even working class in the West wore at least a shirt and trousers.
During the Second World War, Allied prisoners of war in the harsh Japanese camps often had nothing but a breechcloth to wear.
At present the loincloth is nearly extinct as normal male wear in the industrialized world, except in certain contexts in Japan. However, in some cases it is worn as part of tribal - or national dress, either for the benefit of tourists, by tradition or as a statement. It is occasionally worn in jest by naturists on the village square and near the port of the naturist village Ile du Levant, where by law some cloth must be worn.
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