Top 10 Worst 60s Fashion Trends
Even the most fashionable folks make a sartorial slip-up now and once again. Yet, there are some fashion trends that are not simply so bad, merely so pervasive, that they've become iconic in their own right. Some of the worst fashion trends out there, from the leisure suits of the '70s to the light-up sneakers of the 1990s, are so ridiculous by today's standards that we can't assistance only laugh—and wonder what nosotros were thinking.
Have a trip downwardly memory lane as nosotros recollect the worst fashion trend from the twelvemonth you were born, starting back in 1940. And for more boom from the past style, This Is the "Information technology" Hairstyle the Year Yous Were Born.
By 1940, both England and France had entered World War II, which made way for American designers to dominate the wardrobes of the world. Some, including Claire McCardell, helped to fill the void of new designs coming out of Paris; in the early 1940s, she introduced the popover clothes. Originally meant equally a ready-to-article of clothing utility garment, this wrap dress became a go-way staple across the country. What makes it and so ridiculous, you ask? Well, every $7 apparel was sold with an oven mitt that fastened via button, co-ordinate to an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And for more than fun retro style, check out these Mode Trends But Cool '90s Kids Will Call back.
In the early 1940s, bowler hats—which were already wildly popular with men—were downsized for feminine sensibilities. The result? Miniaturized bowler hats that women would wear askew. Information technology's a trend that Vogue noted, in 1941, was "definitely not for the unselfconfident." Basically, information technology was a more polite way of saying few could pull this off and thank goodness more didn't try. In their look back at embarrassing style trends over the years, Harper's Bazaar deemed information technology i of the worst of the 1940s, calculation, "Miniature hats flatter very few heads."
World State of war Two had a huge affect on fashion, largely because of textile rationing. For the most office, garments were designed with that in mind. But safety played a major function, too. Enter: the siren arrange, a unmarried-piece garment that was designed to be worn over clothing or pajamas, and then y'all could just throw it on and run to the nearest air raid shelter. Suits were designed for both men and women, and Winston Churchill (pictured here) was one of the style's biggest fans. The practicality is, of course, understandable. The fact that it was marketed as haute couture? Less and so. And for more fashion news delivered to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.
The zoot adjust was a amorphous, oversized ensemble that made any man who wore one look like he was draped in, well, drapes. (Traditionally, zoot suits were fabricated by buying a suit that was several sizes too big and then tailoring it to fit.)
And the zoot adjust was not without controversy. As reported by Smithsonian magazine, in June 1943, white U.S. war machine personnel spent a week assaulting "unpatriotic" men in Los Angeles who championed this trend. The ostensible reason for this spate of violence was to punish those who went confronting wartime rationing, but the majority of the victims were Mexican-American men. The riots didn't dampen the manner'due south popularity, all the same; information technology rose through the rest of the decade, before fading into obscurity in the 1950s.
Wearing makeup on your legs in lieu of stockings dates back to the 1920s, simply, according to the National Museum of American History, the way hack really took off during World War Ii, when nylon—the material used to brand pantyhose—was rationed. Women would paint their legs with makeup to brand it look like they were wearing stockings. (Some creative-minded ladies fifty-fifty went then far as to describe on blackness lines with countenance pencils to simulate seams.) And if y'all desire to avoid a manner faux pas, discover these 40 Fashion Trends That Aren't Worth Wearing.
In the 1940s, at that place was no improve way to continue your pilus out of your face than with the hair snood. These were typically crocheted (like a fancy hairnet), but a headscarf could also be tied like a snood, as the working adult female pictured hither proves. For wives working in factories while their husbands were at war, this was the await. (Thank goodness for the invention of ponytail holders.)
You've seen them on everyone from Elvis to Brad Pitt over the years, merely Hawaiian-style floral impress shirts—also called Aloha shirts—have roots that engagement all the way dorsum to the '20s. However, their true ascendancy took place in the late 1940s and carried into the 1950s (as you can run across from this instance on Montgomery Clift in the 1940s-set film From Hither to Eternity). According to Racked, members of the U.S. military stationed in Hawaii earlier, during, and after Earth State of war II brought these shirts dorsum every bit a "bluecoat of honor," and they quickly became a casual wardrobe staple. And today, they still seem to be the vacation uniform for men of a certain historic period, no affair what state they're visiting.
As the story goes, in the summer of 1947, science fiction author and cartoonist Ray Faraday Nelson drafted upwards a propeller hat as a joke for ane of his space-abode characters. Soon after the cartoon and his helicopter lid were presented at a sci-fi convention, others took the design and ran with it. Diverse entities, including legendary toy company Mattel, sold versions of it (like hotcakes) around the country in the tardily 1940s. Nelson never secured a patent for his "invention," and, every bit a result, didn't encounter a penny from the sales of this very popular and embarrassing trend. And for more major style blunders, check out The 15 Worst Style Trends from the 2010s, According to Stylists and Designers.
Seeing as 1940s style was all about utility, you had to work with what you had—and the horse coating brim was one of the last prominent examples of that, according to Diminutive Narratives and American Youth: Coming of Age with the Cantlet, 1945-1955 pastMichael Scheibach. They were fabricated of plaid wool horse blankets, which were leap with a black braid and fastened with buckles.
By the late '40s, cloth shortages weren't an upshot similar they were earlier in the decade, so decorative clothing was allowed to flourish. One of the all-time examples of this is the lampshade dress, which, according to the Library of Congress, rose to popularity at the finish of the decade. In their Nov 1948 result, Harper'southward Bazaar described the lampshade wearing apparel as "a make-new silhouette," perchance not fully recognizing that such flagrant, over-the-peak ostentatiousness would quickly be looked downward upon. And if you're ready to revamp your wardrobe, start with these 23 Things You lot Should Toss from Your Closet Forever.
Once decorative fabric took off, itactually took off. Ane fundamental example is the flying panel: an extraneous piece of material affixed to the front, back, or side of a apparel or coat. The new style was commencement featured in the April 1949 issue of Life, which pinpointed Christian Dior as the leading designer of the trend.
In the early 1950s, if you wanted to jazz up an outfit, all you had to do was add a detachable neckband. They came in a variety of styles, and, as shown by this 1951 guide, were even elementary enough to make right at home. Think of information technology equally a dickey for women and frankly, we're glad neither stuck effectually.
In 1952, the United states hit meridian "poodlemania," according to Jennifer Grayer Moore'southFashion Fads Through American History. Actual poodles on their ain were seen as status symbols, but the connection betwixt the fluffy dogs and Parisian way took things to a whole new level. In the 1950s, they were all over the large screen—like the colorful bunch Doris 24-hour intervaltrotted out in 1952's Apr in Paris. Soon enough, poodle patterns started popping upwardly on sweaters, scarves, handbags, and, of course, skirts. Withal, despite the ubiquity, this trend was rapidly sidelined into the dustbin of fashion history.
We have Cristóbal Balenciaga to thank for this ridiculous clothing. In 1953, it was the Spanish designer who introduced the balloon jacket, a garment that The Design Museum notes "appeared to lengthen the legs and set the face up on a kind of pedestal." Yep, if yous ever longed to look similar you lot were missing a cervix, this was the '50s trend for you.
For the nearly part, the 1950s were a fantastic fourth dimension for hats. Withal, non all hats stood the test of time. Example in point: the pail chapeau. A cousin of the every bit dizzy bucket hat, pail hats were a scrap more boxy, and—among women, at least—were ofttimes adorned with flowers, bows, or other ornaments.
Turns out, strange style isn't specific to daytime looks; over the years, in that location have been plenty of wacky pajamas, too. One example is the shortie nightgown. Every bit seen in the 1953 spread in Ebony pictured here or this McCall'due south design from 1955, the cringeworthy look came consummate with a bloomer set. Thankfully, in the years since, women take constitute cozier nighttime digs.
As the decade went on, poodles weren't merely for vesture and accessories; they were also for your very own caput. By the mid-1950s, salons were reporting that iii out of five women were requesting "The Poodle," thank you toLucile Ball and her hit showI Honey Lucy, which aired from 1951 to 1957. The expect gathered tons of curly hair up top and was sleeker on the sides. And there's a reason we oasis't seen it over again in more than than lx years.
In the late 1950s, the line between evening wear and nightwear started to blur. As the Way Institute of Technology points out, "these dresses lay in-between daywear and evening gowns, falling at the length of a day dress but embellished similar evening wear." Take this Balenciaga nightie-turned-gown await from 1957, for example. Scandalous!
Compared to the tight hourglass dresses that were popular throughout the 1950s, trapeze dresses—flowing, waistless, triangular things—seemed modern by the end of the decade. The 1958 Dior drove, designed by the one and only Yves Saint Laurent, introduced the shape—and here's Her Imperial Highness Princess Margarettaking the ridiculous look in.
The apron skirt was one of the well-nigh emblematic symbols of the late 1950s and early on '60s. Fluffy, vibrantly colored, and designed to be worn by housewives, it's a vestige of a bygone era. Sure, these garments were feminine and fun, just they weren't applied for cooking and cleaning, and were a sterling example of women's clothing that happened to be fashionable simply not remotely functional.
Culottes, the pant-skirt hybrid, become in and out of mode similar the tides. But they were extremely popular in the 1960s—especially equally a vacationing garment. As the McCall's blog notes, they were often marketed as "playsuits" for adults. Blench!
Sometimes, fashion is meant to be as accessible as possible. And sometimes, it'southward meant to exist asinattainable every bit possible. For an example of the latter, wait no further than this 1960s outcome of Faddy, which featured an impossible-to-pull-off leather turban. And actress and Princess of Monaco Grace Kelly, sported this foreign white turban in 1961 at The White House, proving that even the most glamorous women brand manner mistakes.
The roadmap for 1960s manner was laid out in no small-scale part by Audrey Hepburn's era-defining part inBreakfast at Tiffany's, which came out in 1961. While many of the styles from the movie—glamorously oversized sunglasses, opera-sized cigarette holders—were worth copying, some decidedly were not—like the matching headscarf expect. And while there'southward nothing wrong with a headscarf on principal, we're glad nosotros've moved on from having it match the wearer'southward dress, as seen in this 1962 Butterick blueprint.
Bold liquid eyeliner. Ostentatious gold jewelry. Geometric haircuts. Yous can thankElizabeth Taylor and the 1963 movieCleopatra for popularizing ancient Egyptian-styled mode.
It's hard to blame folks of the 1960s for doing asSean Connerydid in the 1964 striking movieGoldfinger, just this romper he donned on screen didn't withstand the test of time. Any strapping young lad who emulated the look likely regrets it at present.
In the mid-1960s, with the Space Race fully underway, it's no surprise that manner reflected the cultural obsession of the time. Designers similarAndre Courrèges andPierre Cardin entered into a couture Space Race of their own. In fact, as W reports, Courrèges showed such an interest in space travel that NASA even invited him to come visit Greatcoat Canaveral in Florida. The runway Space Race gave us such retro-futuristic designs as leather skirts-and-suspenders and 23rd-century-inspired structure hats. Thank goodness these looks were quickly blasted to the moon.
Color blocking is ane thing, but the trend in the mid- to late '60s was combining colors that are diametrically opposed and, under no circumstances, go together. For example, Harper's Boutique points out this 1966 editorial that featured models wearing—gulp—orange with pinkish, and yellow with dark-green. Ick!
We may talk well-nigh today's fast style as being dispensable, but in the 1960s, some of the habiliment actually was—because it was fabricated of newspaper! Scott Paper Tissue (yeah, the toilet paper company) introduced paper shift dresses in 1966—and before long others followed suit, as this deal from the hair coloring experts at Breck proves. According to a 1967 article in Time, the dresses sold for effectually $1. For $vii you could go a paper kaftan, while $12 would buy a man's suit. And for $15 you could go the paper wedding clothes of your dreams. Hope information technology doesn't rain!
Typically, men'southward fashions are far more staid and boring than women'south looks. But the '60s and '70s were definitely an exception. In terms of ornamentation for guys, there was no accessory more love in the late '60s than the pendant necklace. Exhibit A: The 1968 Newsweek trend piece aptly titled, "Penchant for Pendants."
By the end of the 1960s, at the dawn of the psychedelic era, women started rebelling against the plain-colored pantyhose that dominated for decades. Notwithstanding, co-ordinate to fashion concern managing director Kalyani Kala, at the time, going "bare legged … was still too immodest." And so women institute a center ground: fun and flirty patterned tights, as shown on this model.
Jumpsuits knew no gender in the 1970s and were en vogue throughout the decade. According to a tendency report in The New York Times from the time, they oftentimes had the "silhouette of a garage mechanic, a carpenter, an army nurse, a house painter, [or] a airplane pilot," equally this ad from The Fifth Season at the fourth dimension proves. Aye, this is "one easy piece" nosotros wish we could easily unsee.
Who wears brusk shorts? The women of the 1970s, for certain. According to Smithsonian magazine, the style too inspired several hit songs of the time, including James Chocolate-brown'south "Hot Pants (She Got to Use What She Got to Get What She Wants)," Bobby Byrd'due south "Hot Pants/I'chiliad Coming, I'm Coming," and the Dramatics' "Hot Pants in the Summertime." They make even more of an embarrassing statement with these gladiator sandals and stockings.
The '70s-era Swedish glam group ABBA was no stranger to glitzy costumes, but their flared flashy bong bottoms were particularly memorable. Sure, flares and bell bottoms seem to come and go, just the '70s iterations were louder than the rest.
"In the 1960s and 1970s crochet took off as a freeform means of expression," notes the Crochet Guild of America. And while nosotros understand crocheted rugs and tapestries—these home accents, after all, remain popular today—nosotros still can't wrap our heads around the idea of crocheted clothing. There'southward actually but zip nearly crochet—between its lack of coverage and typical heaviness—that makes information technology appealing every bit dress. These Coats and Clark models are real troopers.
In the mid- to belatedly 1970s, the infamous men's leisure suit was everywhere, which The New York Times referred to as "the most talked‐about, written‐about, sketched, photographed and analyzed category of men's clothing." If you're unfamiliar with this fashion precious stone, it was oftentimes a three-piece ensemble with large safari-similar pockets and fifty-fifty bigger lapels. And boy, are nosotros big-time thrilled information technology's no longer in style.
In the '70s, the only style to become customized T-shirts was to make them yourself. As Grayer Moore writes in her book, iron-on letters were placed on everything from hats to jackets to tote bags, making whatever statement '70s kids were feeling at the time. The messages never looked quite right, even after the hours spent trying to spell out your graduation year or your breakdancing alter ego name. They didn't even work on Danny Zuko (John Travolta) inGrease!
The near shocking await of 1976 was easily designer Rudi Gernreich'due south duotard, which is essentially a unitard, except with three legs. Oh, and it was also meant to be worn past two people: each person got their own leg, and then shared the centre i. It was made for the Bella Lewitzky Trip the light fantastic Company for a performance called Inscape, but information technology quickly became the talk of the manner world. Considering, well, await at it!
In the summertime of 2019, the Skirball Civilisation Centre in Los Angeles hosted "Fearless Fashion," an exhibition of Gernreich's work, which also includes the controversial monokini. For a fleeting moment, the duotard could be seen in all of its glory.
If you lived through the '70s, chances are loftier your mom put a bowl over your head and used pair of scissors to cut around the edges. It was the haircut that won Olympic effigy skaterDorothy Hamillthe gold in 1976, and acquired a very embarrassing hair trend every bit a issue.
Co-ordinate to Business Insider, these pirate-inspired crimes against fashion were all the rage in the late '70s and early '80s. "Huge, floppy bow ties, colorful patterned jackets, shirts with ruffles and lace, and trousers that looked more like bong bottoms became much more prevalent," the website notes. "The typical tuxedo in the '70s usually had at least 2 of these elements, if not all of them."
We await back and laugh, but shoulder pads were once championed asthe large affair. According to a 1979 Washington Post trend piece, "Shoulder pads—believe it or not—will make you lot seem taller, your waist announced slimmer, and will anchor your clothes." It's no wonder we all bought into this very embarrassing trend, includingPrincein the massive '80s flick Royal Rain.
Movies frequently inspire fashion, and Fame—the 1980 film about choked competition at a New York Urban center performing arts high school—did exactly that, ushering in the workout clothing craze of the decade. Legwarmers were the heart of the expect, and the heart hasn't yearned to bring back this accompaniment in the 40 years since.
There has long been something somewhat glamorous near equestrian fashion. But these incredibly wide-hipped jodhpurs that made their way to the runway in the 1980s took it to a new level. In 1985, ane reporter wrote an article for Cincinnati Magazine titled "Brutal Pants: The Unkindest Cut of All" about these riding pants gone incorrect.
In 1981,Olivia Newton-John's smash hit "Physical" cemented the trend that Fame started: casual workout wear. (Today, you lot'll recognize it by its more fitting proper noun, "athleisure.") In the music video for the song, Newton-John rocks a headband. Past the side by side year, the sporty accessory became insanely pop—both in and out of the gym. Thankfully, athleisure has evolved.
In 1981, a former bank president named Preston Haag Sr. went looking for a new business concern venture. He traveled to Brazil, where he noticed all the young women wearing vivid plastic shoes and decided to strike a bargain with the local manufacturer to bring them to united states of america, according to the Ocala Star-Imprint. Haag introduced the footwear at the 1982 World's Fair, but it wasn't until 1983, after Bloomingdale's ordered two,400 pairs of jellies, that the tendency took off. Presently plenty, everyone learned how painful and sweaty the fashion was.
If you grew up in the '80s or early '90s, chances are yous had at least one slap bracelet. This bizarre accessory, described by The New York Times equally "basically a Venetian bullheaded with an attitude," was accidentally invented in 1983 by a high school shop teacher from Wisconsin. He showed his creation to an agent who represented toy inventors, and it wasn't long before children everywhere were slapping their wrists with bendable plastic—that is, before they were banned by teachers across the country.
Presently afterward Miami Vice made its debut, pastel suits for men started hitting the runways in the mid-'80s—and the sidewalks, too. According to Esquire, the wildly pop show, which ran from 1984 to 1990, singlehandedly prompted men to wearable double-breasted suits, loafers, and dramatic V-necks in a variety of soft, pastel colors in an endeavour to emulate Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson). Simply in the '80s, folks.
Acid-launder denim was no doubt popular throughout the entirety of the 1980s, but it was everywhere in the middle of the decade. Nowadays, we're a bit wiser, and realize that, yes, light jeans can wait good, merely jeans faded to the point of corrosion, less so.
Usually made from nylon, this 1980s accessory was "durable, colorful, practical—and non chic," Vice bluntly points out. "Their functionality meant they were apace adopted past tourists, on whom the fanny pack was often a feature of a sloppily-assembled or sick-fitting outfit of T-shirt and baggy shorts. Tourism in both New York and Japan boomed during the '80s, perhaps solidifying a worldwide prototype of the sloggy American cramming their property in a cheap little handbag that rested gently on the barrel." That may be harsh, but information technology'south also not wrong.
Those who grew up in the 1980s sympathize just how wellStranger Things, Netflix's popular '80s-set up sci-fi horror show, nails the decade's style—like the Members Only jacket championed by Steve "the Hair" Harrington (Joe Keery). It'southward the blazon of garment that instantly sends viewers back to the era. According to Mental Floss, in 1987, Members Simply'due south sales jumped 15 percent and some stores reported increases of upwardly to 82 per centum. Simply information technology wasn't long earlier guys of the '80s wondered why they were shelling out $55 for this not-so-special jacket.
Vivid, bold, double-breasted ability suits were a must-wear for women in the late '80s, as seen hither on Linda Hamilton, star of 1984's The Terminator. As Faddy summed it up: "Divers by its larger-than-life proportions, such as its trademark linebacker-reminiscent shoulder pads, there were plenty of bossy and brash connotations that came with the corporate costume of the go-big-or-go-habitation decade."
At the time, it was seriously sexy. But, in hindsight, information technology seems downright silly. After all, why clothing a adapt if you lot're only going to wear half of it…and nothing else? Well, that's exactly what women did who wanted to push the boundaries of the power suit in the belatedly '80s and early on '90s. They rocked double-breasted blazers so oversized, they looked like dresses. According to Harper'southward Bazaar, they usually were only paired with 2 other accessories: natural makeup and simple aureate hoops, a laBeverly Hills, 90210star Gabrielle Carteris (pictured here).
The plough of the decade was not just hammer time, but hammer pants time. Thanks to MC Hammer and his iconic video for the song "U Can't Affect This," America caught its first glimpse of these incredibly baggy trousers that take been mocked e'er since.
Whether or not you worked on a farm, you probably wore overalls in the '90s—sometimes with 1 (or both) of the straps unbuttoned and hanging down. Will Smith, pictured here, was one of the forefathers of this tendency, which he consistently sported on The Fresh Prince of Bel Airfrom 1990 to 1996.
Light up sneakers made their debut back in 1992, courtesy of sneaker manufacturer L.A. Gear. Their iconic L.A. Lights, which lit up with every step, fabricated '90s kids feel like they were walking correct into the future. Ironically, now they but await supremely dated.
Today, you don't see a lot of men wearing crop tops. But in one case upon a fourth dimension, guys from Will Smith toMark Wahlberg (pictured hither in a 1992 Calvin Klein advert with Kate Moss), commonly rocked the expect. EquallyVicki Karaminas, a professor from the School of Blueprint at Massey Academy in New Zealand, explained to Vice, men's crop tops originated in the hyper-masculine surroundings of football (the global version, non the American 1). "The midriff cut extended their silhouette and enhanced the size of their torso and muscles," she said. "It was a very masculine gesture, or await."
Flannel shirts. Dr. Martens. Roughed up cardigans. Yes, by 1994, fashion was absolutely dominated by the grunge style popularized by rockers like Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain (pictured here). Simply, according toHarper'due south Bazaar, it was a drove pastMarc Jacobs—released in 1993—that really cemented the look that nosotros'd simply write-off as sloppy today.
Baggy jeans reigned supreme in the 1990s, and they stayed that style until Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) finally put them in their place in 1995's Clueless (pictured hither). She forever rendered them uncool when she said, "Okay, I don't want to be a traitor to my generation and all but I don't get how guys dress today. I mean, come up on, information technology looks similar they just cruel out of bed and put on some baggy pants … and we're supposed to swoon? I don't recall so!" Yeah: Asif!
Yeah, supermodels similarKendall Jenner andBella Hadid currently swear by the tiny sunglasses trend. Only it'south a resurgence, and a widely lambasted one, at that. As Ellen DeGeneres and her and then-girlfriend Anne Heche prove hither, in the mid-1990s, these tiny sunglasses were no snazzier, coming in horrific tints similar blue, pink, and yellow. No, thank you!
Athleisure had another major moment in the mid-'90s. Everyone fromMissy Elliot toAaliyah toMel Cof the Spice Girls (pictured here) wore Adidas's signature tri-striped track suits. "By the '90s, the tracksuit itself was entrenched both as an on-field athletic staple, as well as a hip-hop icon," notes Complex. "While earlier decades focused on a slimmer fit, these renditions were cut with a relaxed silhouette, making them perfect for pre and post-game attire, merely likewise perfect for lounging around." We tin't hate on the comfort, but we've luckily evolved since so.
In the late 1990s, it wasn't plenty to put your hair up in a ponytail or bun: You needed some sort of plastic clip to seal the deal. Co-ordinate to Bosom, ane option was the ubiquitous hook prune, which allowed you to twist your locks up and secure it at the nape of your neck. The other—butterfly clips—were smaller and more ornamental than functional, property dorsum tiny twists that atomic number 82 to your updo du jour. Information technology was, asTim Gunnwould say, a lot of look.
If you lot owned i type of necklace in the late '90s, it would take been a choker (like T-Boz's pictured here on the left). Whether it was plain black, made of stretchy textile to look like a tattoo, or a ribbon with a cameo hanging off the eye, chokers were the accompaniment at the finish of the decade, according to Cosmopolitan.
In the year 2000—and, sadly, for the few years that followed—ultra-low-rise jeans were everywhere, including on Grammy winners the Dixie Chicks, pictured hither. Paired with safety pin belts and shirts that barely grazed abdomen buttons, when it came to denim, the lower the better. And now, according to Glamour, they're on the brink of returning. Will we ever learn?! If you want to see why nosotros certainly won't, be certain to check out these xx Modern Style Trends Guaranteed to Make Us Cringe in 20 Years.
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