This official got his post through his wife's family connections, and everyone looks down on him.
Tips
usage
In the figurative sense 裙带 almost always comes in 裙带关系 "nepotism", originally favours won through a wife's or sister's family and now any nepotism, or in 裙带风, a culture of such favours.
memory
The literal sense lives on in 裙带菜, wakame seaweed, named for its frilly, ribbon-like edges.
