I asked the following Q of the day last year, and the answers were so much fun that I thought I’d give it a whirl again:
What article of clothing have you worn in the past that is a complete embarrassment now?***Clothing that your parents bought for you doesn't count — this one has to be your unfortunate selection.
Mine would be a memorable pair of gauchos — 100% thick and nasty hot polyester, powder blue. Purchase date around 1977. I wore those crappers for two seasons — with brown boots, I recall.
That still qualifies as my worst fashion faux pas. It's hard to figure out what fashion trends are going to be forgotten or reviled, but I have to say that some things I see on the street defy any logic or fashion sense whatsoever.
Kate and I were in the Verizon Wireless store yesterday, and there was a customer at the service desk with a beige washcloth sitting on his head. Not balled up or wet, mind you, a dry one just draped over his cranium like a doily on a table. He was talking to he customer service agent and a person who was with him and none of them acted like this wasn't strange in the slightest. WTF is that about?
86 Responses to “Q of the day - fashion mistakes”
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>
In the late 80’s when i was still pretending to be straight i had what i call my Miami Vice outfit(picked out for me by my girlfriend), it consisted of a turquoise open collar shirt and white slacks.
Corduroy pants. Sure, I was a kid at the time, but my parents didn’t make me wear them. It was by my own free will.
overalls (and I had more than one pair)….oh I’m so ashamed
I bought and wore a calf-length, powder-aqua-coloured, ’80s-band-inspired blazer. I wore it until I realized it looked like some sort of hospital O.R. lab coat. Then it came out of circulation.
If I remember correctly, I used to wear it with black, leggings, a black turtleneck, and high-heeled black boots. Ah, the ’80s…
Hot pink vest w/ numerous pockets and zippers. It was so embarrassing, I bought a second one when the 1st one got burned w/ battery acid.
1985. A high watermark for fashion mistakes. I had a mullet, too.
I bought a size-smaller shirt about three years ago- one of those black button-down golf shirt kinda things- unaware it was the type that fits snugly to you instead of wearing loose. No problem, said I, I’ll look awesome in it once I lose those 15 pounds. It’s still on a hanger in my closet, unworn.
Also, I wore a flannel overshirt about 3 out of every 5 school days all through high school. I didn’t buy my first undershirt until I was in college.
>>>I bought and wore a calf-length, powder-aqua-coloured, ’80s-band-inspired blazer.
I used to buy clothes at Chess King–including the Bugle Boy ensembles that had the shirts with the tails, and matching tribal print pants.
Did I mention I also had a mullet?
My most fucked up getup lies somewhere between denim shorts and sparkly vests. Not together of course, but both where horrible choices.
My gold chain. Not because I was wearing a cross or other kind of pendant. Just a gold chain. Look, it was the 80s in NJ. It didn’t seem like a bad idea.
Kate and I were in the Verizon Wireless store yesterday, and there was a customer at the service desk with a beige washcloth sitting on his head. … WTF is that about?
Before the sale of do-rags became ubiquitous, many-a-youth in the city would simply drape a small towel over their heads. I’m not sure if this guy was doing the same thing, but I definitely have seen people just drape towels on their heads like, as you said, doilies.
I have this fugly vest I wear sometimes - it’s just hideous. It’s this greenish knit thing, and the worst thing about it is it makes my skin look greenish, so I look ill.
I still wear it, actually. There’s something really fun about fugly clothes.
Though I think the worst clothes-related faux pas of mine was when I wore my “heretic in good company” t-shirt to a friend’s church. If I’d been trying to offend them, I suppose it would have been ok…
I wore suspenders for a while, also in the mid-80s and in high school, if that lessens the shame any, and there was the time–also in high school–I bought this aqua/teal shirt that was cloth on the top and mesh on the bottom, with pinched up things on the shoulders held there by rivets or something. I’m not doing justice to its hideousness.
Flannel shirts in the early 90s, especially since I’m from the South where they are completely inappropriate to the weather.
Incertus Brian,
I still wear braces with my suits as I find them more comfortable than wearing belts.
But for myself (and showing my age), a pair of plaid slacks with a 3 inch cuff on bell bottoms that were over a foot wide. Worn with white loafers with two inch heels.
Oh, the slacks and shoes were worn in the early ’70s. But I did not wear the shirt half-way unbuttoned with the coke spoon on a chain
I used to tie my shirts in a knot on the side when I was a kid. And wear really huge oversized teeshirts with leggings. My favorite pair, for some reason, where capri length leggings that were white and black checkered. Oh, and I also used to wear ponytails on the side of my head. I was a kid, but all of these things were my idea, and my mom only reluctantly complied with my clothing choices.
Neon. Back in the 80s, there was that whole thing with white shirts emblazoned with neon logos like “Relax” (Don’t Do It). I bought a BRIGHT yellow neon top and matching neon earrings (plus neon socks). I blinded my family and probably looked like an idiot. But everyone was doing it…
Also, I loved stirrup pants and paisley.
I still wear braces with my suits as I find them more comfortable than wearing belts.
Yeah, I did that briefly into the 90s–suspenders with suits–but these were with jeans, a la Marty McFly. Bad call.
Purple jeans and knee length tiedye shirt. I too used to tie it on the side.
Powdery periwinkle colored suede zipped up the side Wlson leather miniskirt- was a size 4 at the time. Wore it about 3 times, while shooting pool/hustling for beers 20 years ago, with a big see-through gauzy white shirt that had pockets strategically placed over the nips and no bra.
Oh I did enjoy watching guys spill their beers when I bent over…
Combat boots with a babydoll dress back in the 90’s.
And anything I wore in the 80’s. What’s scary is I see those styles being worn by teenage girls now.
I have worn overalls, but they weren’t as bad as a shirt that I had, mid 80’s, that was a hoodie, but not sweats material, and the sleeves zipped off. Horrible. I think it was a Sergio Valenti (sp?).
I’m just happy my very fashionable mother dressed me back then.
I bought a pair of red plaid courderoy pants. There really is no excuse.
Guys, you’re describing my wardrobe NOW
I have a pretty bad picture here.
I’m afraid that photo doesn’t quite do those hideous pants justice, however.
Is anyone else terrified that 80s fashions are coming back? First, they brought back the leggings ….
My personal best was probably a hot pink blouse that I referred to as my “Flock of Seagulls shirt” because it looked just like the one that the lead singer wore in the video for “I Ran.” Except in hot pink. I usually wore it with the black leather studded belt that I got at Express.
And yet it was the one and only time in my life that I was actually dressed like everyone else my age. Sigh.
I had red tights that I wore with a denim mini-skirt. I mean bright, bright red. It sounds hideous, right?
In high school in in ‘81 or ‘82 I was very proud of my blue velvet blazer with wi-i-i-i-ide lapels.
I had red tights that I wore with a denim mini-skirt. I mean bright, bright red. It sounds hideous, right?
Oh, I can beat that. From the ankles up:
Slouchy black ankle boots
Bright red tights
Black corduroy miniskirt
Black-and-white checked shirt
Bright red sweatervest
Black fedora
The best part? This was the carefully selected outfit that I wore to the Duran Duran concert.
I’m a long-time lurker, but had to come out of lurkerdom for this question.
Mine was a pair of hot pink leggings, worn with a longish t-shirt (but not really long enough), white gym socks and white keds - I wore this to the Houston Galleria (very fashionable) with my mother, who was visiting from Indiana, I think in the early 90’s. I had just recovered from a all-over rash of unknown origin and was taking steriods, had gained 20 pounds and knew I looked horrible, but I didn’t care (the steriods made me crazy). My poor mother!! Oh, and big hair. (I was in Texas after all!)
But can anybody explain why people would wear a washcloth on their heads?
I can explain why I wore rainbow suspenders–I liked Mork.
I have to go die now.
mnemosyne — that actually sounds like a pretty rockin’ outfit!
[This was the carefully selected outfit that I wore to the Duran Duran concert.]
Oooo! My fave song and video was “Rio”…
A Greek fisherman’s cap. In my defense, it was the ’70s, and I am of Greek descent.
My Molly Ringwald Tribute would probably qualify as a faux pas, though I still feel affection for it. White silky shirt w/ruffle, embroidered vest w/cameo pin, fake pearl necklace and earrings, a beret that MATCHED the vest, and round, rainbow-mirrored John Lennon shades. Permed hair, probably, I don’t remember. I was teased mercilessly, but oh, I had fun putting it together.
I can’t say I’m really embarrassed about anything I’ve worn. There are a couple of dresses I wore in the ’80s that you’d have to put a gun to my head to get me to contemplate wearing now, but on the other hand, my mother basically made me wear them, and my mother had some damn funny ideas about what looked good on me when I was a young teenager. (Boxy cut plus dropped waist plus short-waisted equals massive fashion disaster.)
Speaking of massive fashion disasters, is it just me, or does the current ridiculous three-quarter-length everything trend make everyone look like they’re twelve and have grown out of their shirts/pants/leggings over the summer by unexpectedly putting on three inches in height?
I went through the ’90s mostly wearing jeans/cargo pants, t-shirts, flannel shirts, and Doc Martens. Not all that much has changed, except now that I’m a bit older, I tend to wear turtlenecks and blazers with my jeans and Doc Martens (in the fall and winter, at least).
On the other hand, I’m Canadian, so I deserve a pass for still owning a red-and-black checked heavy flannel shirt/jacket. It’s like a national law…
The worst for me: A black, short sleeve button-up shirt with metal tips on the lapel, worn with a bolo tie (!!!) a vest, a mini skirt and slouchy black ankle boots (which are back in style for some unknown reason). This monstrosity was complemented by sky high feathered bangs (I’m not from Texas so I have no excuse). It was sooo Some Kind of Wonderful.
I still cringe when I think of it.
In fifth grade: overall shorts. Oversized, bright pink or turquoise or red sweatshirts painted with puffy paint, usually worn with a pair of white long underwear pants that I thought were leggings.
In fourth grade: my grandfather’s referee shirt, which came down to my knees, worn with bright yellow shorts.
In sixth grade: hot pink, orange, and black patterned tunic sweater, worn with hot pink stirrup pants, white socks, and most probably black shoes (although I can’t remember). I wore this to the first sixth grade dance. I thought I looked AWESOME.
Seventh and eighth grade: Endless size XL t-shirts, with not-funny things written on them, worn with jeans and size XL plaid flannels.
I was in fifth grade in 1992. I don’t even have the excuse of the 80s. I recently found a blog, http://whatclaudiawore.blogspot.com, that shed some light on my fashion choices: I loved the Baby-Sitters Club books, and reading about the fashion choices of the girls in those books makes me realize where the tunic sweater dance outfit came from….
First, they brought back the leggings ….
and I said nothing because I did not wear leggings. Then they brought back the parachute pants…
What, no one fondly reminiscing about the acid-washed slim-slim jeans?
Those were the first pair of jeans I bought on my own. They also died in 50 washings, but who’s counting wear when fashion rules?
The real irony is that my body frame has never been slim - I had recently started training for semi-pro bike racing and dropped 20 pounds. I looked great, but the jeans that fit my waist were obscenely tight around the the thighs and calves. I’d sit in class feeling sections of my legs go slightly numb from the loss of blood.
I had a calf-length jacket that must have been meant for an old lady that I wore in the ’80s. I went through a vest phase in early adulthood. All vests all the time. I had a pirate shirt that I wore to a trendy club once… with a leather vest. Very very bad.
Oh! And I wore spurs to an Allen Ginsburg poetry reading circa 1990. With my black leather vest. Iggy Pop was staring at me, at not because I was hot. I can tell you that for sure.
I loved the Baby-Sitters Club books, and reading about the fashion choices of the girls in those books makes me realize where the tunic sweater dance outfit came from….
Ha, me too! Judy Blume taught me I wasn’t alone when it came to stressing about family dynamics, puberty and boys, but more importantly Ann M. Martin taught me how to dress.
I had a pair of troll doll earrings, hair and everything. They were awesome, and dangled down to my shoulders. They had multi-colored hair. This was when I was about 7 or so. I think they’re still around my parent’s house somewhere. I also had a pair of parachute pants.
And I have no idea what that washcloth thing is about. Although it makes sense that the customer service agent acted as though it was perfectly normal - you’d probably lose your job if you pointed and laughed at a customer, which is the appropriate response to that attire.
A pair of black Hammer pants, a black bustier with thick gold chain trim, and a police cap with black glitter on the brim and gold trim. I loved that outfit.
Anyone remember “Clarissa Explains It All”? The title character wore a different outfit in every scene. I liked her style back then, but now I’m not sure I want to see it again lest I see how bad my taste is.
I’m almost always wearing a blue spring jacket, preferences to ones with cuff-flaps, epaulets or tall collars.
Back when I was broke and needing to replace it, I bought a Members Only jacket that matched most of those requirements. Wrong shade of blue, and didn’t really fit my physique. Ultimately, it was too much of an 80’s flashback.
I later discovered that this was the exact same blue jacket Charlie Murphy was wearing during the “Rick James” sketch on the Chappelle Show.
He couldn’t pull it off either.
Col Bat Quano: ROTFL!
While I have some 80s horrors in my past (turquoise stirrup pants! I loved them), I don’t feel embarrassed by them - I was in grade school, I can be forgiven for being fashion-stupid, right? Oh, and the super-long, cheap plastic bead necklaces that you wore in one big loop with a knot tied into it. I think I wore those past grade school, though.
But as a senior in high school, in the early 90s, I wore this dress to our spring formal dance that, wow. It was long and kind of purply-pink and gauzy, and overall not that bad. Except that it had poofy sleeves. I have kind of broad shoulders. Poofy sleeves + broad shoulders = really ridiculous. I don’t know why I thought that looked good! I’m terribly afraid it’s still in my old closet in my parents’ house.
I had a pair of velour maroon overalls I wore all through college and a little longer. Oh man I loved those pants. Now I’m just ashamed.
Although I’d have to say my worst of the worst was a pair of dark red corduroy bell bottoms that I didn’t realize were bell bottoms when I bought them. Always try everything on. Do you know how bloody hard it is to peg bell bottoms? It was the 80’s and we folded and rolled all the bottoms of our pants to fit the 3 pair of socks and the balloon canvas sneakers.
But when I think of it I do remember being absolutely in love with this baby pink pant suit with teddy bears all over it. Even so many years later I’m not sure if it really was a pant suit or just a pair of pajamas. Eh in 4th grade no one cares. I wore my pink stripey Polo pajama pants on the golf course and all around Denver last year.
in my super punk rock days i had multiple mini skirts made of pleather or pvc. nobody should wear plastic clothing.
when i was a little kid i dressed like a pirate every day for like 2 months. no matter where we went. i have a very patient mother.
but i have to say the biggest fashion mistake i made was at the end of high school when i convinced myself thong underwear was comfortable. i lied to myself. fuck “sexy”, i like my breifs.
You guys are all too young to remember the 60s aren’t you? Well, except maybe Richard (13). I remember the outfit he describes. My own: when I was in junior high, so mid-60s. A long sleeved empire style dress. The top and sleeves were electric blue lime green polka dots. Big polka dots — like 1 1/2 inches across. The bottom was lime green and electric blue stripes. I wore matching knee socks in lime green and electric blue check.
And of course, miniskirts. What *were* we thinking?
MKK
I had this jacket, circa 1993 probably. I begged my aunt to buy it for me. It was this horrible small, muted floral print on the front side, and I swear to god it was like cheap upholstery fabric–coarse like that. The back side was black faux satin. It zipped up the middle. Awful. I proudly wore it to kindergarten.
The worst one? The velvet skirt that I just sent over to Goodwill. It was blue and multicolored, and I wore it with a blue peasant that had *ahem* strategically placed ribbons on an already big-chested woman.
That… if I find pictures, I’m burning them.
My worst in elementary school (born 1965, so early ’70s) were wool red/white/blue plaid bellbottoms, passed down by a cousin. I had to wear them for a few years and nothing was hotter or itched more than those pants, plus they soaked up SO much water, either from snow or mud puddles!
I hate even seeing photos of myself in those things; can still feel their clammy, itchy grasp…
I may be wrong but it seems like many of the clothes that people are now saying were “embarrassing”, “shameful”, “mistakes”, “bad”, “ridiculous”, “a faux pas”, etc, were unremarkable or even fashionable at the time. Why is it embarrassing now to have worn 70s clothes in the 70s, 80s clothes in the 80s, etc? I understand that it is considered embarrassing to be wearing 70s clothes in the 80s because one is signalling that either one “doesn’t know better” or else can’t afford newer clothes, and people do not want to be thought to be ignorant or poor, but what is the threatening implication of having been wearing “timely” clothes? Isn’t it just as embarrassing to be wearing 2000s clothes right now? I’m sure in the 2020s people will feel just as sure that 2000s clothes were “ridiculous”. But people genuinely seem to feel like they should not have been wearing 80s clothes in the 80s without worrying about whether they are currently wearing 2000s clothes. I have never understood this.
Mary Kay,
I remember similar to what you describe. The Austin Powers movies are the closest most of these kids have been to those styles (unless they watch ’60s comedy or James Bond rip-off movies or can find dvds of laugh-in or something).
At least I never wore a Nehru jacket or shirt. I worked in a Men’s clothing store for most of the late ’60s/early ’70s and what I remember is those men who bought the Nehru jackets or shirts were those who most should have avoided such items.
Jeez, tedious; loosen up a bit- just a game…
Like this list of “50 Worst Cars” on CNN:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/completelist/0,,1658545,00.html
I am really surprised that my 1978 Plymouth Horizon failed to make this list.
1980s. A neon-colored (actually closer to the colors you got on a PC color monitor in those days) acrylic jacquard sweater with a flower pattern. Even now when I recall this sweater my eyes get afterimages of the pattern.
Silhouettes have completely changed, as my mother and sister found going through attic bags of our mid-1980s high school clothes. Unwearable. The shoulders and sleeves, especially, were much bigger than anything in stores today.
okay, can’t think of any from the past at the moment (was just hanging out with obnoxious friends, and have to be at work at 6am), but:
what about all of these “blouson” camisoles, and empire-waisted dresses/tops, that only look cute if one is actually pregnant. I mean, seriously- what the fuck?
These styles would be cute on anyone carrying (and showing), but on other women, it just makes them look like they’re carrying.
major. fashion. faux. pas.
I am sorry, Louise, I did not mean to question the fun. I don’t always have a very good sense of what is an appropriate question for a given forum.
OK, I have to delurk for this one too.
tedious, I know what you mean, and such is the nature of fashion (as opposed to style). I think most posters are reminiscing about stuff that seemed so right ‘then’ but so awful in retrospect, so agree that they’re not really mistakes.
My biggest ‘real’ fashion mistakes have all been to do with wearing stuff that doesn’t suit my body/ colouring etc., but it’s more fun to remember the hideous multicolour harlequin leggings I wore with red ballet shoes and a red shirt, circa 1983.
Think I also had that oversized shirt with mesh and silver grommets …
i don’t even have to think about it. My favorite outfit my freshman year of high school.
White T-shirt with small purple flowers print. Purple shorts. Sandals. Black dinner jacket.
yes, you read that right. Black dinner jacket. Looking back on it, I probably looked like some sad Sesame Street matching game: “Three of these things belong together, three of these things are kind of the same….”
In the 80s I would get dressed like Lori Singer on FAME — not what she wore, but how she got dressed, leaving the house in mom-approved gear but with a big bag full of “cool” stuff I would put on as soon as I was safely out of her sight. I used to go to the local punk club — real, honest-to-god, Black Flag and Suicidal Tendencies played there punk — with my then-boyfriend in these outfits.
15 years later, his sister sent him some photos that he shared with me. In one, we are dressed to go to this club. I am wearing a white oxford-cloth shirt and a GIANT — I am not kidding, GIANT — green, satin, might-as-well-join-the-St-Patrick’s-Day-parade bowtie.
I have no idea how I went to that club and did not get killed.
This isn’t quite embarrassing (at least to me) but it will definitely date me, if I wasn’t already: there’s a picture of me in my high school yearbook wearing a denim jacket and a Bill the Cat t-shirt.
I looked at the picture last year and thought, “Actually, I look pretty good! Go me!”
(And my favorite Duran Duran song was “New Moon on Monday.” I may have mostly liked the faux-revolutionary video, but the song itself is damn catchy.)
But people genuinely seem to feel like they should not have been wearing 80s clothes in the 80s without worrying about whether they are currently wearing 2000s clothes. I have never understood this.
It’s a metaphor for all of the other mistakes we made as teenagers wrapped in a much less threatening package. I mean, we could all sit here talking about the time we humiliated ourselves by trying to seduce a guy who just. wasn’t. interested. but that gets depressing very quickly. So instead we tell funny stories about our clothes to symbolize all of those bad decisions we made as teenagers.
I had Morrissey hair in high school. I was totally obsessed with the Smiths but my naturally curly jew-fro did not gel with my Moz tribute ambitions and looked quite ridiculous…I know its not clothing but a fashion faux pas nonetheless.
tedious -
Yes, the clothes were fashionable at the time. However, I think we can all look back and say “what were we thinking?” because the descriptions sound awful.
mnemosyne - I love Bill the Cat! I would totally wear that t-shirt now!
In response to tedious, sometimes I’ve chosen to wear clothing that is stylish but terribly unflattering on me. When I was in school in the early ’90s, I had a lot of hand-me-down ’70s clothes that were just adorable, but I was teased mercilessly for wearing them. Later, I did receive a lot of compliments on my patterned leggings and oversized, paint-splattered hair clip, but when I look at pictures? Yeesh.
The early seventies in the UK was the time to wear ‘challenging’ clothes. They were no worse than those that followed in the eighties and later, but stood out more from the surrounding ordinary clothes. My favourite was pink loons, a purple thin cotton shirt, and a surplus UK Civil Defence great coat (circa 1952), dark blue and nearly floor length. I wish I had kept them, but they were figure hugging then…
I’m torn between the bright red parachute pants and the tan corduroy overalls, although the long denim jacket with the glittery Grateful Dead Skull on the back is a strong contender.
Ack! YOU had a “Bill The Cat” shirt??? I am so wicked envious, mnemosyne!!! I think I still have a big stuffed Opus in the attic and all of the Bloom County books in my home office; my 12 year old is now a Classic BC fan too.
Pam, part of the reason I love-love-love your posts is the mix-up of serious political/racial/gender issues with fun stuff like this.
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/bloomcounty
My first stop every morning, before I see how nasty the world has been to each other overnight- enjoy, mnemosyne et al!!
I am SO copying for wallpaper “Pear Pimples for Hairy Fishnuts” when it comes around on the guitar!!!
What, nobody else had knickers in 1982? Mine looked resplendent with kneesocks, Bass shoes, and a a white blouse with fancy trim. Knickers are preppy, aren’t they? Aren’t they??
I will also own up to a junior-high dalliance with Mork suspenders as well as the outfit my sister called “Jolly Green Giant”: kelly green corduroy pants worn with a kelly green zip-front hooded sweatshirt.
Much of this is just decadism. As in, “back in the 80s (70s, 90s, 60s, 50s, whatever) I had horrible taste but I’ve gotten so much better now!” But by the very nature of fashion, what is cool today wouldn’t have been cool or avant-garde back then, but just embarrassing. For something to be a full-sized fashion mistake, it would have to be painful even at the time it was committed, and there would have to be alternatives.
So, my second worse fashion mistake (the worst I mentioned last thread): round glasses. Note to self: While round glasses might have looked great on skinny men with long straight hair back in the 60s, you are neither skinny, nor male, nor straight-haired, and it hasn’t been the 60s since you were born.
And, beige. There must be people that look good in beige somewhere out there, but no matter how much I used to like that colour as a teen, I’m most emphatically not one of them.
Then there are the ones that weren’t exactly mistakes, but more passive-aggressive dress code rebellion: The “nice” white high-necked blouse with the excessive frill over the bust (and me a DD cup). A perfectly OK 80s costume of turquise sweater, white jean jacket, blue jeans and Adidas trainers, and then, at my mother’s insistence that I wear a skirt, exchanging the blue jeans for one of my mother’s navy blue pleated knee-length skirts, and dark tan nylons. Or another dress code catastrophe, where in a nice outfit of slacks, blazer, white shirt and flat shoes, exchanging the slacks for a too-small black calf-length skirt borrowed from a 60 yo made people avert their eyes in horror.
idiosynchronic, re: Slim-washed jeans: In the early 80s, all the skinny girls in school sewed and shrank their jeans to really, really skin-tight. In one memorable case, it took four people to get one of those girls out of her jeans after a day of hiking. Usually, she said, she needed only her mother to help…
When I was in high school in the early 90s, my grandmother gave me a box of old clothes from when she was in high school in the early 50s. There was a blue, A-line wrap skirt with frogs around the bottom that I just loved and wore all the time. I’d probably wear it even now, if I still had it and was as skinny as I was in high school. But I got teased like crazy for wearing that.
I also had a thing for hair accessories (hats, giant hairbows and ribbons, etc.) and ties in high school. There’s a picture of me in the yearbook wearing skinny jeans, a blue silk button up shirt, a multi-colored printed tie, and a fedora. That was an outfit.
The top and sleeves were electric blue lime green polka dots. Big polka dots — like 1 1/2 inches across. The bottom was lime green and electric blue stripes. I wore matching knee socks in lime green and electric blue check.
Does anyone else think this is actually sounds fabulous??
My fashion mistakes weren’t nearly so..fashionable. Most notably, for some reason I decided that it would be really cool to wear different colored socks, which I did all throughout sixth grade. This was the era where you matched socks and shirts, and I guess I thought mixing it up would be cool.
I had rainbow striped jeans when I was eight or so. I thought they were so frickin’ awesome.
I had a blue tie-dyed t-shirt that was about 4 sizes too big, hung down to mid-thigh, and had a sparkly puffy-paint lace collar design on the top. I wore it with anything, although I probably could have just belted it and worn it as a dress.
I also had paper-bag-waist pants (remember those?) that not only made my waist look about 3 inches bigger than it was, but also made my butt look absolutely enormous.
Sad.
So, I still think I trump everyone. I also mentioned this last time, but I once wore red cotton shorts over grey sweat pants, and it was 1994. So, booyah.
I used to think it was funny to wear garish Hawaiian shirts. I find hideous clothing hilarious, though. For example:
http://www.bigdogs.com/images/products/family/2926.jpg
Gasp - the dreaded denim jumpsuit with red contrast stitching and a front zipper that ran from neck to crotch.
The horror….
/delurk (think I delurked for this question last time too!)
Two worst outfits ever, both extremely silly even for the times:
Jeans rolled up tightly to mid-calf, with puffy, bright colored socks. Worn with one of those inside-out-on-purpose sweatshirts and HUGE plastic hoops. And a perm, of course.
Black bodysuit that buttoned at the crotch (someone else PLEASE fess up to this one too) and purple jeans.
Also, HUGE 80s glasses that I wore until the mid-90s, although that was more a “no vision coverage” thing than a “fashion statement” thing.
Most of my fashion “mistakes” as a teenager were due to shopping with my mother. Now, Mum and I are completely different builds, and we also have different colourings, and completely different tastes when it comes to colour and style. We are both rather opinionated, as well. However, as a teenager, I was often so annoyed (or upset) by the whole business of having to go clothes shopping with Mum that I’d just say “yes” to whatever it was she was buying to get the whole damn business over and done with. This resulted in things like the purchase of a set of dark brown floral overall-a-likes with a sort of rusty-orangey-brown woolen jumper (Aussie meaning, not US) underneath. Neither of these got worn, and wound up getting handed on to a charity in this state. Given Mum had put a bit of trouble into altering the straps of the overalls to fit me (I’m busty *and* short-waisted, a wonderful combo) she was more than a little irritated.
I also wound up with a lot of hand-me-downs (or rather, hand-me-sideways) from one of my cousins. There’s just one small problem: she was a curly-haired blonde, I was a straight-haired brunette. On her, yellow looks good. On me, yellow makes me look as though I’m in the final stages of a terminal illness. I suspect at least part of my “weight problem” as a teenager was an effort not to have to wear Ruth’s outgrown clothes.
My absolute fashion “worst”? My dress for the year twelve school ball. Context: I’m a short, plump girl - Australian size 18 then, which was positively *huge*. Mum and Dad were paying for the dress, so I had to comply with Mum’s idea of what was “appropriate”, which given the thirty year age difference between us meant I was looking at stuff which was rather modest and designed to cover as much skin as possible (which was rather a pity, since some of the “racier” stuff actually suited me better). Fortunately for me, there was a certain amount of restriction in what was available that would fit. After much searching, we found “the dress”.
Cream lace, over cream satin. Designed to be strapless, but finding a strapless bra in my size (I was a DD cup even then) was damn near impossible, so it wound up having straps made for it by mum. Fitted bodice, tiered skirt.
In horrified hindsight, if I could have searched high and low for something which appeared to be designed to make me look as wide as I am tall, I doubt I could have gone past That Dress for sheer awfulness. We coupled this with one of those “all-in-one” longline bra/girdle/bodysuit combinations which was supposed to do something about the pot belly in a shade of beige best labelled “hideous”[1], and a set of pale cream high-heeled shoes. My mother said I looked lovely - and to this day she was probably the only person who thought so. I swear, the memories of That Dress are at the top of my list of reasons *never* to get married in a traditional fashion.
[1] This fastened at the crotch, not with a snap fastening, but rather a set of hooks and eyes. Or rather, it didn’t, because in order to be able to fasten it, my arms would have needed to be about six inches longer at least.
LA gear high-top sneakers with two colors of laces: teal and silver, paired with layered neon green and neon pink socks.