Midriff school's student planner and handbook which includes "clothing that reveals the midriff". In 2004, the Board of Education of Meriden, Connecticut, brought a dress code that banned shirts, blouses that expose the top of the shoulders, haltertops, spaghetti tops, and any clothing that exposed the waist, midriff or hips. Indian women have traditionally worn saris that bare the midriff, especially South Indian women. The gap on the midriff between sari and the choli presented the elegance of a woman's graceful sway of her gait. A possible cultural justification is that in ancient Indian tradition, the navel of the God Vishnu
Bikini swimwear of the 1930s and 1940s incorporated increasing degrees of midriff exposure. The 1932 Hollywood film "Three on a Match" featured a midriff baring two piece bathing suit. Teen magazines of late 1940s and 1950s featured similar designs of midriff-baring suits and tops. However, midriff fashion was stated as only for beaches and informal events and considered indecent to be worn in public. Hollywood endorsed the new glamor in films like 1949's "Neptune's Daughter" in which Esther Williams wore provocatively named costumes such as "Double Entendre" and "Honey Child". Wartime production during World War II required vast amounts of cotton,