Ten Stupid Fashion Trends
Despite the stupidity of a few male fashion designers, I love fashion. When it’s not about starving oneself to fit into a size zero or saying that Barbie Doll’s ankles are too fat, fashion is about self expression, creativity and beauty. But over the years, there have been several fashion trends that were, er, stupid. Here are ten of them:
Knee Warmers
Featured by French designer Vanessa Bruno in her Spring 2010 collection. If fashion these days is about looking long and lean, then this does exactly the opposite – it visually cuts your legs to make them look shorter and fuller.
Schoolgirl Look for Adult Women
It’s difficult to decide what I hate more – when women are called “girls” or when women are expected to look like girls. What’s the point of this look anyway? Catering to men’s fantasy of having sex with a minor?? I sure hope not.
Leg Warmers
An incredibly hot trend in the eighties, leg warmers have been showing up here and there in some collections. Unless you’re a dancer and really need them to prevent injury, you just look stupid when you’re wearing leg warmers.
Harem Pants
Harem pants are not just incredibly ugly – they will make your figure look hideous too. Wearing harem pants is basically an excellent way to visually add ten pounds and take five inches off your frame.
Huge Shoulder Pads
Back in the eighties, women totally fell for this look because they believed it would make them look more powerful. There have been a few attempts to revive shoulder pads in past years. Thankfully, none of them succeeded.
Baggy Pants
Perhaps it’s just me, but the look of male underwear peeking above pants that are so big they practically fall to their knees? Not very attractive. I’ve already mentioned my disapproval of the (mostly) teen fashion of baggy pants on this blog, and while patient readers have explained the origins of this fashion trend, I still find it incredibly stupid.
Butt Writing
Butt Writing, or ass writing if you prefer, is about making sure everyone notices your butt. In some cases, it’s about turning your behind into a walking advertisement for certain brands. I’ve already complained about this fashion trend. How come it’s still here?
Extremely Low Rise Jeans
The main problem with extremely low rise jeans: this fashion trend often provides innocent bystanders with way, way TMI.
Torn Jeans
The designers call them “distressed” jeans, much like car salespeople are using “pre-owned” rather then “used,” I imagine. I still say it makes absolutely no sense to pay $225 for a pair of ruined pants.
Statement Shoes
Sure, we all love to make a strong statement and look fabulous, but when the statement is made by wearing shoes that seriously increase your chances of breaking an ankle, one has to wonder, is it a beautiful look, or are we looking here at yet another STUPID FASHION TREND?
Comment of the Day:
S.T.U.P.I.D.
S-illy
T-rends
U-sing
P-eople’s
I-diocy
D-isasterously
Lori Hoeck, who writes about self defense on her website and blog, Thinking like a Black Belt.
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Carla responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 10:45 am →
Ha ha! The Harem Pants reminds me of the “Hammer Pants” (MC Hammer) of the ’80s. I guess they are marketed for people who are too young to remember who he was and how hideous that looked.
I do have a pair of torn jeans but they were a pair of jeans I got used from eBay for $10, wore in tact for a few years and torn them myself recently! All you need is a pair of scissors and washer. I would never pay full price for a pair of jeans that I can “make” myself.
Lori Hoeck responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 11:17 am →
S.T.U.P.I.D.
S-illy
T-rends
U-sing
P-eople’s
I-diocy
D-isasterously
Jannie Funster responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 11:55 am →
I’ve still got some of those shoulder pad dresses in the back of my closet hoping for a come-back… someday.
But those knee warmer things in number one, how silly-looking. Why not just put on some pants if your knees get cold? What’s next — elbow warmers??
Marelisa responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 12:53 pm →
Hi Vered: I have broad shoulders so I’ve always taken the shoulder pads out of my shirts and dresses. One of your ads is for “The Men’s Pen”: men’s cosmetic concealer stick (for dark circles, blemishes, and enlarged pores). Ha, ha, ha.
MomGrind responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 12:57 pm →
Carla, it’s true – you can totally make torn jeans all by yourself.
Lori, this is great! I’m thinking this is shaping up to be Comment of the Day.
Jannie, hmmm elbow warmers. Interesting.
Marelisa, I love these ads because they target men’s insecurities for a change, or maybe they create these insecurities like they do with women!
Davina responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 1:07 pm →
Hi Vered. Guilty!
Leg warmers and shoulder pads. Another one I remember and still see a lot of, is women wearing heels that are either too big or small for them, which is obvious by the position of their heel. Must have been a good sale and they just HAD to have THAT pair. (I know, cause I’ve considered that sometimes.) Yikes, I’ve never seen low rise jeans that low — she does have a nice behind though — not that I make a habit of looking at women’s rear ends… but how can you not in this pic?
Barbara Swafford responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 1:15 pm →
Hi Vered,
I WAS guilty of leg warmers (in private – gotta love those Jane Fanda days) and shoulder pads. The other trends, NOT!
It’s amazing that some of the trends do come back. Didn’t they learn the first time?
The Stiletto Mom responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 2:44 pm →
Um, guilty of shoulder pads and leggings in the 1980′s. They won’t be fooling me this time!
travit responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 3:23 pm →
I’m guilty of more of those than I would care to admit. Bodysuits (often worn with my harem pants) were another stupid trend. No one past diaper stage should wear anything that snaps at the crotch.
Patricia responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 3:33 pm →
I wore leggings when I was pregnant 30 years ago and I knit some really cute ones for my toddlers with dresses and diapers to change (tights were hard to handle and we did not use disposable diapers) The kids liked them, and on toddlers they were cute. Well, gymnastics and yoga too the leg warmers did a nice trick.
Shoulder pads I take out…I have great posture – that though is probably why folks did not think I was powerful.
I am afraid I stopped wearing heals after high school – and then only for singing groups I was in matching dresses for! Comfort and health are most important.
With 3 daughters, I can honestly say I hate jeans…..and purchasing them and having the kids cut holes and paint on them….so they had to purchase them for themselves early on in life. The ones for toddler’s looked cute but changing wet diapers was a nightmare.
This was another fun post to ponder – Thank you
The Lawyer Mom responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 3:36 pm →
I would add peasant blouses to the list. They just make everyone look pregnant.
With shoulder pads, I was a major felon. I even wore them under my pajamas. They minimize my hips, you see (or at least I thought they did). ; )
Lovelyn responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 4:25 pm →
I actually do get cold knees maybe those lacy knee warmers are for me;)
Kim Woodbridge responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 4:35 pm →
I have never seen the knee warmers before. When I was younger I used to have terrible pain in my knees and it would wake me up at night. Sometimes I used a heating pad but the knee warmers would have been perfect.
I remember it being difficult in the 80′s to find clothes without shoulder pads – I would rip them out.
MomGrind responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 5:12 pm →
Wow, many of us fell for shoulder pads, leggings and and leg warmers. It’s true though that it was difficult in the eighties to find clothes without shoulder pads.
Travit, you cracked me up with “No one past diaper stage should wear anything that snaps at the crotch.” So true!
Michelle @ Find Your Balance responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 7:01 pm →
Knee warmers? I hadn’t heard of that one!
Dr. J responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 7:04 pm →
I’ve definitely wondered about a few of these myself! What were they thinking? Material for “The Far Side,” I’d imagine.
Lance responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 7:55 pm →
Those Harem pants – they just look completely wrong. In fact, I looked and did a double-take, to try and figure out what I was seeing (gasp! someone was wearing these up above!). Wrong…just plain wrong…
Hayden Tompkins responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 8:02 pm →
I’m never giving up on my dream of wearing legwarmers! Never!
P.S. Harem pants are HIDEOUS.
P.P.S. But not leg warmers.
P.P.P.S.
Aydan responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 8:13 pm →
I own a pair of leg warmers. They’re black and plain and I always assumed I was supposed to wear them around my calves under my pants on really cold days to, you know, keep my legs warm. Apparently not?
Harem pants do have a sort of utility fashion; they’re used as the basis for a lot of Middle Eastern dance costumes, at least for women. I have a pair in my dresser. You wear them under skirts to keep from flashing the audience. They always look good on the troupe I watch, but theirs are designed differently than the ones in the picture.
Kelvin Kao responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 11:34 pm →
FCC should investigate if these people are getting paid a commission for their butt writing.
Harem Pants responds:
Posted: October 27th, 2009 at 11:37 pm →
Haha – I just knew harem pants would be on that list somewhere. Not sure if they deserve it though!
MomGrind responds:
Posted: October 28th, 2009 at 1:44 pm →
Kelvin, you crack me up.
Wow, an entire website dedicated to harem pants. I’m impressed!
Friar responds:
Posted: October 29th, 2009 at 5:14 am →
Okay, so who’s more “stupid” here?
The stupid male fashion designers, or all the women who buy their creations?
But then again, I already know what the answer will probably be:
The women have no choice. Because the nasty male-dominated media has convinced these poor souls that they have to wear these things in order to feel like attractive and valued members of society.
I suspect no matter what, it’s still all the men’s fault, and women are the helpless victims.
With that in mind, I will respectfully bow out of this debate.
Tracy responds:
Posted: October 29th, 2009 at 9:43 am →
What about nail jewelry?
Bwahahaha.
Miss Britt responds:
Posted: October 29th, 2009 at 9:46 am →
I agree with all of these (especially the ultra low rise ripped jeans, which look horrible on anyone over the age of 14) – EXCEPT the school girl.
A certain amount of school girl, I think, is about “innocence” more than “jail bait”.
MomGrind responds:
Posted: October 29th, 2009 at 10:28 am →
Friar, you – bowing out of debates? Highly unlikely.
Miss Britt, I can totally see your point, and the appeal of the look, but still (respectfully) disagree… grown women are not supposed to be, or look “innocent.” There’s a time for innocence – children are innocent, bless their little hearts. We are not (well I am not!) and in my opinion shouldn’t try to be.
Lori Hoeck responds:
Posted: October 29th, 2009 at 11:38 am →
Hi Vered,
Thank you for the link love!
Could wrist warmers (a.k.a knitted pulse warmers) be the next goofy trend?
Dot responds:
Posted: October 30th, 2009 at 6:51 am →
This is funny! The knee-warmer woman has about 10″ of knees, too. Her legs look like they’re Gumby – stretched. Being unfashionable, I used leg warmers under skirts on the way to work, since I can’t wear boots because they make my feet perspire too much. I’d remove them once I got to work and put them back on to go home. That was before it occurred to me that I could just stop wearing skirts. I’m surprised (not totally) that you don’t have skirts on your list. Who invented these things, anyway? Are they supposed to “ease access” for guys? Why not cover all parts of one’s butt, even if it’s windy? But women still think skirts are feminine and attractive, despite how oppressive they really are.
To Friar – “I suspect no matter what, it’s still all the men’s fault, and women are the helpless victims.” Good point. And I hope Vered is reaching the women. It’s too hard to reach the designers.
Bamboo Forest - PunIntended responds:
Posted: October 30th, 2009 at 12:47 pm →
Funny post and good commentary. Thanks for the laughs.
zoe responds:
Posted: October 30th, 2009 at 4:30 pm →
I can only speak for myself of course, but for me, the school girl look comes from having spent 9 years in Catholic School. I really don’t know how explain it other than, I think the uniform almost becomes symbolic of repressed sexuality, and ends up being kind of fetishized.
RC - RC Rambling responds:
Posted: November 1st, 2009 at 3:35 pm →
I had to giggle, since the ad at the top of this post (from Google), was for some definite statement shoes. Very impractical and not very cute.
As for leg warmers, I laughed when I realized how easy it was for me to find them for two Halloween costumes. Yes, they are back. Dancer or not.
J.D. Meier responds:
Posted: November 2nd, 2009 at 1:11 am →
I like to ruin my pants the old fashioned way — I just wear them out.
I’m glad shoulder pads faded out.
Nurit responds:
Posted: November 2nd, 2009 at 9:55 am →
Oh boy, these are horrendous indeed!!!! Most of them from the 80′s, no? I fell for a few a those, but I was young and naive??? Didn’t know any better? Or just plain fashion victim? Yes, “fashion victim” is the way to describe it.
Stupid Beauty Trends responds:
Posted: November 3rd, 2009 at 10:01 am →
[...] writing last week about stupid fashion trends, it occurred to me that during recent years, there have been beauty trends that were/ are just as [...]
Cath Lawson responds:
Posted: November 9th, 2009 at 2:23 am →
I have to confess that when I was younger I wouldn’t buy an item that didn’t have shoulder pads.
John Hoff - WP Blog Host responds:
Posted: November 24th, 2009 at 9:22 am →
I saw the this title in my RSS reader and had to click on it. These are great. You know, the one I really hate that is popular right now is the saggy “tight” pants. Saggy and baggy was bad enough, now they have to do it with tight pants. Uggg….
Lindsey Hoff responds:
Posted: November 24th, 2009 at 11:01 am →
I have to agree with my husband John on this one it’s a horrible trend here in Vegas…the extremely tight skinny jeans sagging so the boxer shorts show at the top. WHY!!!!
Behind this trend I would say those bubble dresses you know the ones that look like you took a full length dress and folded it so you have a short dress. To make it worse I only see heavy girls wearing them…I mean really they don’t need the extra volume if you know what I mean!!!! I can’t find a good link for this but YUCK!
LOL at the knee warmers!
Patrick responds:
Posted: November 29th, 2009 at 5:19 pm →
One that is increasingly popular where I live is tucking jeans halfway into cowboy boots. That is to say, you tuck in one side, and leave the other side out. To make it even worse, the guys are now doing it. Last time I knew, you either tucked the pants in or left them out if you were a woman, and wore them on the outside if you were a guy. When did all of this halfway stuff become fashionalble?
Toni responds:
Posted: January 26th, 2010 at 9:34 am →
Why are so many women’s “fashions” designed to make women awkward or impaired? I’ve never understood long nails, sheer fabrics and heels you can’t really move around in. What’s the point? If your nails are so long you can’t open a soda can or dial a phone, and your clothes prevent you from doing anything even remotely physical because they’ll snag or tear, and you heels are too high to walk fast or efficiently use an emergency exit, what statement are you making? It seems weird that anyone would want to wear things to make them less self-sufficient.
CutieGirlDiva responds:
Posted: August 26th, 2010 at 9:03 pm →
EEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!! Those count as fashion trends?!?