Thank you for commenting on the cap sleeve issue. I am sick and tired of this trend and have purposely passed on some rather cute tops recently because I cannot stand to have another cap-sleeved shirt in my closet!

An over abundance of intentionally-wrinkled shirts. It looks likes stores were too lazy to steam their items before putting them on the floor!

I’m totally with you on the maxi dresses. I love the prints and I’ve tried several on, but they never look flattering.

I’m a bit scared of a return to high waists. Once they come back with more variety, I’m afraid the lower cut styles will start to disappear. It’s hard enough finding pants that fit well, but when you have to worry about waist and hip fit in the same pair of pants, that’s difficult for me.

So totally agree on the ankle-length pants. Drops anyone who wears them into frumpy-dowdy flood-avoider status. This length, BTW, seems to be universally beloved by LIttle Old Ladies in my neck of the woods. Apparently, elastic waist, poly knit, powder blue or faux denim-knit pants (with matching jacket with floral applique on the patch pockets) ONLY come in this length. And since most of these LOLs are already short to begin with, it just makes things worse.

I agree with your list completely, Angie, including the high-heels mania. I actually shortened the heels on three pairs of shoes this summer, and it was like getting new shoes. And ankle pants seem to be the worst offender of the season.

Shoes. Shoes were the biggest issue of the season! Heel heights knew no limits, thanks to the platform craze. And now I’m hearing that platform boots are the “it” shoe for fall, so be prepared for more of the same. Will no one hear our rants and pleas for reasonable heel heights?

Hee. I am glad to hear you approve of tapered ankle-length pants, since I just ADORE mine … but do agree that so many of these items are almost universally unflattering. And oh, how I’d love to see some great-looking mid-heeled shoes!

I agree with you Angie! Especially on the shoes’ insane heel heights. But I DO love the jumpsuit trend and bought one with a straight tapered leg. Can I add one to the list? Draped cardigans with the loooong pointy fronts. Ugh. Never liked the look, I like more fitted clothes.

Yeah, I hear you on the heel heights, since if I”m wearing four inch heels that makes me 6′ 2″…. not a good every day look and people complain that its intimidating (for some reason only guys complain about this. wonder why?).
However, I’ve been living in my maxi dress from Generra. I think its just about finding the right dress because I’ve always snubbed them in the past, but this one was just begging to come home with me. So never say never!

The sleeve issue drove me crazy at the beginning of summer- it was all cap or puff sleeve- not so fab after 50. And agreed on the ridiculous heels- don’t they know there are a lot of us who won’t sacrifice our feet for a pair of shoes?

OMG Angie, I cannot even bear to look at this post because of the first pair of pants on the bottom row. Awful! AWFUL! How can you sleep at night, having exposed your readers to such vile filth! Or as you might say, how can you sleep with yourself?! :p

Everything else is bad but those steal the show.

I don’t think you sound like a broken record regarding heel heights. Until they start making more reasonable options, it’s worth it to keep complaining!

This has certainly been worth a good laugh this morning.
Kim from Nebraska you had me LOL and Angie the pictures you posted are hilarious, especially the lady running in the jumpsuit and heels. Where do you find these pictures?
Unfortunately the picture above the jumpsuit, of the the wide legged, high water pants looks all too common. Stop it Nordstroms!!!

I just clicked on the picture of the gal running in the rust colored jumpsuit and found that it is a Trina Turk and sells for $198 at Bloomingdale’s. Ahhhwww! I cannot believe it.

OK, next to all those atrocities the maxi dress doesn’t look so bad, but I still really dislike maxi dresses the worst in real-life situations.

Word on all of these – the biggest items being cap sleeves and no low heels for me. With my leg issues, trying to work it out without having a low heel can be an issue.

I also want to mega-word on the ankle length pants. Ridiculous! I love the look of knee and just below the knee length pants on the right body, but between the thick of the calf and your ankle or at the ankle just looks so odd. I have yet to see someone pull it off.

My biggest thing is this: Camis for over $10. Seriously, fashion world, just shut up about that. Make them cheaper. There is no reason for a super thin, easily ripped piece of nonembellished fabric to cost that much. Also – give us some v neck camis and tanks that have wider straps!

I’m on the hunt for a new purse and everything available is either tiny-tiny-tiny OR huge-huge-huge. I’ve got a small frame so these huge bags are out of scale and the tiny ones don’t hold anything. I wish that there was more size variation in the purse world. I guess its the same issue as the heel height issue…

Great post, and I appreciate that I’m not the only one frustrated with the lack of V-neck cardigans.

Marlene – I second your beef about purse sizes. It’s not just this season – it’s been a real struggle now for years. I wish petite retailers would design petite purses. I do like the “oversized” bag look, but the scale has to be right, or it looks ridiculous on my 5′0″ frame. Yet I did find two purses at NAS for fall which are just right. Yeah!

I cannot figure out why anyone would pay $98 for the black pants, upper right, from Nordstrom. They even make the MODEL look dumpy and make her rear end look enormous. Shame on Nordstrom for offering them. Although I think a lot of people passed because they are now on clearance. Folks: Just because clearance items are cheap, do NOT, I repeat Do NOT buy these unless you buying them to take them to the landfill and remove from the fashion system.

Angie, I totally agree with you on the heel heights rant. As someone who wears adult size 5.5 and even some kid’s shoes, 4+ inch heels are ridiculous! They look even more painful than they are on my little feel, and usually do not stay on my shoe rack long before getting passed on to someone else. I much prefer 2-3 inch heels and wish stores actually sold them. *sigh* I have been enjoying my ballet flats though. My own rant is peep-toes. Although I love the look of peep-toes, I wish they would go away, because I have yet to have a pair that did not give me blisters, and they seem to be on 90% of the shoes available right now. I also agree that there are far too many cap sleeves, even though I like them myself. I’m a maxi lover, but harem pants don’t make it through my filter. To each her own. I agree with you on jumpsuits; I’ve been saying that they looks matchy-matchy since they started appearing in stores. Fortunately, they haven’t really caught on here though. I’ve only seen them in stores and not on people.

I agree with all that you posted…now hang on… I just got back from Nordies and I can’t believe the sky high heels…even for me ….I am a seasoned high heel wearer and the amount of 5 inchers even discouraged me…I just want some cute pumps…not look X rated. ….*bow chikka wow wow*

Re heel heights: hope is on the way. One of my clients is a shoe retailer; we’re seeing many great-looking shoes with 2″ to 3″ heels for early spring (available late November 2009). Designers include Anyi Lu (ultra-comfy and beautiful), Cole Haan, Stuart Weitzman, Bruno Magli (now working with a new designer–styles are considerably less matronly than in the past), and Donald J Pliner.

I think you nailed this one!

Crop pants continue to be everywhere and yes, sadly, will be back next year.
I thought there was a lack of bermuda/decent length shorts in stores but maybe I was too late.

Last week I was lucky to find nude patent peep-toes with a 3 inch heel!!! At Clarks. Not super trendy but classic. Now I can stop scanning ebay for something like this (it became an obsession). Other than that there was nothing in the shops for me – reasonable height heels were too dowdy and frumpy.

Looks like these won’t be going away anytime soon.

-meream

Love the sky-high stripper shoes! Keep ‘em coming! (I know I’m in the minority here, though.)

We are just entering into our spring/summer season here in Oz. I can see some gorgeous styles enter the shops with a lot more tailoring than in previous seasons. But there are some shockers as well.
The maxi dress was HUGE here last year but can’t see too many this time, thank goodness as I loathe them. I also agree about the pant length, even my husband thinks the cut-off at the ankles makes women have shorter looking legs. So overall I agree with your pet peeves.

My biggest frustrations this season were:
-too many dresses being too short for work
-too many cropped pants
-not buying enough colored shoes when I had the chance

While I don’t mind a cap sleeve – for me it adds a bit of shape to some shirts = it was a bit abundant. Worse, to me, is the narrow jean trend. I know it’s not going away, but unless you look like a model, you will, sadly, look like those unfortunate women in the PZI advert that flashes to the right of the screen. A cap sleeve, not a disaster. Looking like a $40 hooker, sad.

I am hoping the capant trend peters out. Rather unfortunate!

Maxis and Jumpsuits were never on my radar: too faddish and “LA TV show B Lister” to even contemplate.

I agree with Angie, but personally I am done with ruffles. It has just gotten too over the top. I don’t want to buy any more because everything is going to look dated. And everyone looks like they have on the pirate shirt from Seinfeld.

I defintely agree on the harem pants. I once bought a pair, biggest fashion mistake ever.

I love maxi dresses but I have given up on them. After two bad UK summers weatherwise, I have resigned to the fact that they are completely impractical

Agree with the whole list. Those ankle-length pants should be banned.

Personal additions:

–waiting for the ’skinnies’ craze to go away. Not so great for those with hips.

–giant cross-body bags. I find the strap across the breasts unflattering.

–the ‘pregnant’ look. This includes babydoll tops. Never got used to this popular look.

Maybe I’m missing something, or I’m just inexperienced, but I can’t tell the difference between the pants on the bottom left and palazzo pants. I absolutely LOVE my palazzo pants–they give me a much nicer, less-hippy line. I bought them at Lane Bryant 4-5 years ago, and they have served me incredibly well. Maybe the difference is that I have ones long enough that I HAVE to wear 2-inch heels? At any rate, I’m sticking with them!

I think that’s the difference: Length. The wide pants are great, but notice the gal is wearing this pair barefoot. Aside from maybe a thin leather flip-flop, I can’t imagine what shoes would make those pants look right due to their ankle-skimming length.