The Good, The Bad, The Ugly of Fashion

[Left of Plumb]

"If you wore a trend the first time around, you don't get to wear it the second time around."

- Stacey London

Oh, Stacey London, you are the Socrates of Style. If only people listened.

Like death and taxes, one can always take comfort in the consistency of bad fashion making a return appearance in our culture. It is a testament to the creative limitations of the fashion industry.

And proof that we are a planet of lemmings.

I’ve often wondered where fashion trends are born. I know where they all die - in the back of my closet. But what sort of demented mastermind came up with the idea to resurrect culottes (which first came into fashion as knee-breeches commonly worn by gentlemen of the European upper-classes from the late Middle Ages or Renaissance). Yeah, I read shit.

I picture a room full of these guys huffing hairspray and coming up with the Summer line.

I have been unfortunate enough to have been the willing victim of several hideous fashion trends. Just like the rest of you, I have happily worn shoulder pads so big I had to go sideways through doorways. I’ve worn neon mini skirts with suspenders and sang “Oh Mickey You’re So Fine” whilst kicking up my sparkly tennis shoes. 

Let’s take a moment to walk down memory lane. Well, not so much memory lane, since most of this crap is back or on it’s way back into the fashion focus. Maybe more of a walk of shame.

Parachute pants or the “I’ve taken a dump and you can’t tell” pant 

Then:

A bit of street pimp with a dash of Ali Baba.

Now:

Jesus, Chris Brown, did you beat Rihanna with that thing?

The One-piece jumper 

Then:

Just because you could make it in you hobby room, does not mean you should. 

Now:

I want to wrap him in a blanket and put him down for a nap. 

Overalls 

Then:

The item of clothing that knew no racial, gender or economic boundaries. 

Now:

Here, let me just put on my jaunty chapeau before I hit the fields, Pa Joad.

 Bonus Now:

I…wha?....huh??? I am a business man. No, I am a blue collar man. No, I am a bookish hipster. How about just NO! 

Double Bonus Now:

What do we love more than a hillbilly? A BRILLIANT hillbilly!

 I could go on for many pages about neon, ripped up t-shirts, Varnais sunglasses, mock turtlenecks and platform tennis shoes. But, I think we all get the rather sordid picture here. So, I will leave you with a quote from my favorite famous gay, who is NEVER wrong.

“Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.”

― Oscar Wilde

 

 

[Veronica Corso]

Good lord! Did we dress that badly?

I know I did:  Shoulder pads to rival any zoot suiter, hawaiian shorts, acid washed jeans, cringeworthy Candies shoes , and even more cringeworthy jellies, elf boots, tight black leather pants (with the paisley zoot suit blazer), Beatle boots...neon pink mini dress, pink and green...but I never, ever wore a scrunchie.

[lorianne]

thank god - i saw the title and half expected to find a picture of myself from the 80's wearing acid washed jeans and leg warmers with one of those little black bars across my eyes.

[Pam Malone]

Mini skirts are here to stay.  If you've got the legs, go for it!  I hope matching sets come back.  I love wearing shorts or capri pants and a top that matches,  it gives the same effect as a one-piece jumpsuit, but is not a  boobie trap when it comes to going to the bathroom.

[Jenny]

Thank God we alter it ever 6 months, I read recently that high waisted mom jeans are back. 

[Left of Plumb]

Oh lord, I hope not!!