Revisiting trends we’ve worn before

About the Author

Angie is co-founder of YLF and its resident fashion stylist.

Welcome! Read about what to wear and how to wear it on the YLF Blog. Join the YLF Forum to ask specific questions or just chat about fashion and personal style. Or check out the curated list of things we love in YLF Finds.

Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

Revisiting trends we’ve worn before

— by Angie

on June 5, 2009

Fashion trends often make a comeback every 20-30 years, but generally they are not identical flashbacks. Repeated trends have been modernized, refreshed and improved the second time round, making them more becoming and “new” to wear.

Once you reach a certain age, you’ll probably find looks in stores that you used to wear before. The question is, will you wear them again? I absolutely will, but only if they are a flattering and contemporary incarnation. After all, our goal is a style evolution, not a style stagnation.

Sometimes it takes me a while to get used to the new improved trend. At other times I can scarcely contain my immediate excitement. For example, I had to rethink skinny jeans but I was all over voluminous trends from the word go.

I’m having a ball with the revival of 80’s fashion. It was hideous when I sported it the first time round, but I was at an impressionable age and thought it was fabulous. Like most people, I went through years of cringing at my 80’s style and vowed I would never wear fashions like that again. But I’m blown away with how creatively and successfully designers have re-interpreted the good elements of 80’s looks and I’m embracing them with loyalty and enthusiasm.

At the end of the day revisiting old trends makes me smile because they are nostalgic and current at the same time. Over to you. Do you wear trends that you’ve worn before? If not, why not?

Individual Style

31 comments · Add a comment

Laura

Absolutely, I’ll wear styles I wore in their previous incarnation. Bring on the stirrup leggings!

The 80s are being reinterpreted in really creative ways that make me excited for fall. On the other hand, I can’t think of any item I wore as a child in the 1970s that I would be willing to wear again, no matter WHAT changes designers made.

June 5, 2009 at 7:09 am

Melanie

I would totally wear the same styles again but as you noted; it needs the contemporary spin. In the late 90’s and 2000’s bell bottoms and elephant bell pants came back with a vengeance in high school everywhere. I think that gave way to our now permanent staples: the boot cut, the flare leg or the wide leg pants. And before it was all about the “super low waist” and anything higher was considered a “mom jean.” Now the “high waist” can be found everywhere and it looks fabulous!

I guess we should just never get rid of clothes, just wait for them to come around the circle of fashion again!

June 5, 2009 at 8:00 am

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Laura, I’m SO with you. I bought my stirrup leggings a week ago and have worn them three times. In fact, I’m wearing them RIGHT NOW. I haven’t been that excited about an item for a long time. I am duplicating.

As for the maxi dresses I wore between the ages of 5 and 10 (in the 70’s), no way I am ever wearing those types of frocks again. But I think 70’s fashion will be big next year (judging by the amount of boho that is in stores now). Because boho is not my thing, I choose to be happily stuck in reworked 80’s looks.

June 5, 2009 at 8:24 am

Jaime

As long as they don’t bring back those 70’s frilly-sleeved shirts with the high collars, high shoulders and side buttons! I have so many class pics sporting those and I look like a linebacker!

June 5, 2009 at 8:31 am

Danja

(website)

I definitely revisited some of the old trends like the gladiator sandals, platform shoes (this is my second round of platforms, the first being in the early to mid 90’s), high-waist jeans and leggings. I can’t think of any other old trends that I am wearing right now.

June 5, 2009 at 8:32 am

Susan D

(website)

Angie – please, please, pretty please…can you post more photos????? I love to see photos of your outfits and how you work these styles into your wardrobe.

I am a visual person and need to see these stir up pants in action, well, not in action, but in a photo of you and of course your sweet pups too!

Come on………PLEASE!!!!!!!!
Susan D

June 5, 2009 at 8:43 am

Ele

(website)

I’m probably a touch too young for this to affect me. I was a kid in the ’80’s and have loved some of the re-worked trends from that decade. (Um, except the leggings- see my post on the forum today!)

Lately, however, I’ve been finding myself drawn to things that look exactly like stuff my Mum used to wear when I was little. My sister and I used to make fun of her “fashion sense” all the time, but now when I look back at photos, I just think how utterly fab she looked. She, of course, thinks I’m crazy for liking her late-70’s-early-80’s style, which she now proclaims to be ugly!

June 5, 2009 at 8:50 am

Sal

(website)

I think you’ve encapsulated my own feelings perfectly: Yes the trends come around again, but not in the exact same form. And the reinterpretation is what makes implementing them a second or third time creative and exciting.

June 5, 2009 at 8:59 am

Joy

I find myself looking at prints like those big geometrics that I rejected the first time around. There are some trends that I doubt I’d embrace again. They include maxi dresses and long tiered skirts, greatly oversized knit tops with shoulder seams hanging over the shoulder, any type of one piece garment with pants, hot pants (yeah I wore them in 1968-69, even the dressy version with matching open long top in silky polyester!), and mini skirts. I hope the big shoulder padded look will not resurface.

June 5, 2009 at 9:08 am

Chenine

(website)

I never wear the same things as a few years ago.. It’s just not right. If the same trend comes back it’s like u said, modernised. Same as haircuts.. They look like they are the same as in the sixties but are (slightly) modernised.

June 5, 2009 at 9:19 am

Chris

I was a kid in the 60’s but can’t think of too many trends from that era I’d sport now – maybe a very updated batik boho top but even then only to a resort vacation. Gladiator sandals, woven leather and huaraches sort of come out of late sixties hippie attire.

70’s revivals – the mod look (Angie does this in a very updated and impeccable way) and boho come out of those years. I will incorporate those in updated manner. In the 70’s I wore a lot of flared denim (bell bottoms) and floral prints but also Western inspired shirts and embellishments. I would wear Frye boots!

80’s – here’s my first adult decade. I was too old luckily for the things people
associate with the era – the neon, rubber bracelets, stirrup pants, Madonna look. I was in college in those years and had gone from my Preppy Handbook high school days to the Euro hippie/boho look. But my sister and cousins did those looks! Huge earrings and Salt n Peppa/Push It outfits (bomber jackets, skinny jeans, ultra color coordinated).
I would wear stovepipe jeans if they suited my body. Not against leggings in updated way on right body type.
Pass on true neon, stirrups, rubber jewelry or shoes (Jellies??), hyper prep.

As for the 90’s, I hope the huge shoulder pads and power suits never make it back! I am much happier with new incarnations of workplace dressing – women have so much more freedom.

Thanks for the journey back in time!

June 5, 2009 at 9:19 am

shiny

What I want to know is whether it’s the trends that have been improved and become more wearable with the designer’s interpretations – or us that have improved our own personal sense of style, and wisdom at how to wear the trends so that they are most flattering on us?

This has been on my mind a lot lately. I have to wonder if I was mid-40s back in the 80s would I have adopted the trends differently, and had the wisdom to keep looking for, say, a shoulder-padded suit jacket that fit just right (i.e., was still “huge” but scaled to my petite frame)? Or had the wisdom to incorporate just a few trendy details instead of dressing head-to-toe in the trend?

June 5, 2009 at 9:28 am

Allie

The emergence of 80’s trends this season is quite refreshing. Although some may scoff at power blazers paired with leggings, I think the look is a nice change. Fashion hasn’t seen such a shift in shape for years now, and I for one welcome designers like Alexander Wang, and Elizabeth & James.

June 5, 2009 at 9:46 am

Joelle

I do wear platforms, long narrow skirts, and bootcut jeans/pants that became popular in the 90’s when in high school and college but I don’t really see this as revisiting trends because I have been wearing these continually since the 90’s. They have become a (so far) permanent part of my style.

However, I did also experiment with a more boho look when I was younger and am not sure whether I want to go there again. I’m just not into full tiered skirts or peasant blouses anymore. And anyway that casual look no longer fits my lifestyle. But if designers show us a more modern interpretation to it, I might be convinced to try it again occasionally.

June 5, 2009 at 10:11 am

Melody

I’m not opposed to reworked trends, but there are many, many I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole. I’m in my 30’s and have a good sense of my personal style now, instead of buying into every trend that goes around like I did in my teens. Unless a trend blends seamlessly with items I already have (example, some of the less gaudy statement necklaces), I’ll skip it. I will be skipping leggings this go ’round, like I did gaucho pants that was out a couple of years ago.

June 5, 2009 at 10:26 am

Maya

Well I for one am glad the 80’s came back because I was too young to truly enjoy them at the time (which could either be a blessing or a curse). I am not sure how to answer the question though since I am still a bit too young to know. I keep wondering if I will be enthusiastic about a 90’s comeback, but it’s hard for me to say because the things I wore in the 90’s might not have necessarily been “adult” fashions. I started the decade at 6 years old, and ended it at 15, so most of the things I wore were meant for kids, preteens, and young teens. I don’t even remember what most adults wore at the time, but I see no reason why I would reject anything unless it wasn’t flattering or didn’t suit my personality and style.

Interesting that a 70’s comeback is coming first. I guess the 90’s were just really not that interesting stylewise.

June 5, 2009 at 10:38 am

Cricket

I have fond memories of my mom’s clothing in the 70s. I was a very small child and I liked how she looked. So maybe my recollection of a grown woman’s put-together wardrobe is fonder than someone who may have dressed themselves as a child or teen during the 70s.

I’m wondering this because I do not have fond memories of my own clothing in my childhood and early teens during the 80s. Now that I think of it, I don’t like my outfits I wore in the 90s much either.

June 5, 2009 at 11:58 am

Taylor

(website)

Oh goodness, this will be the 3rd go round for me if the 70’s come back again. I was a teen in the 70’s, my kids relieved them in the 90’s(long hair parted down the middle and stick strait, bell bottoms) …and perhaps again YIKES:)

My daughter used to laugh at my 80’s clothes, and shoes…now she raids my closet whenever she comes over:) mostly shoes!

June 5, 2009 at 12:20 pm

Maria

There is NO WAY I’m ever going back to the 70s looks I sported as a teenager. The bell bottom pants and hippie looking tops were hideous then and, even recreated now, they remind me too much of that horrid look.

However, I do have a pair of Vuarnet black frame cat eye style sunglasses that I have saved from when they were popular in the 80s. I see they are back! And I’m SO glad I saved them because they are a favorite. The glass is so true, yet dark and sharp that I could not part with them. They were the perfect sunglasses for skiing then and now work to wear anywhere sporty and casual.

Which just goes to show, some trends returning CAN be recaptured and work years later, while others I will “pass” on!

June 5, 2009 at 2:03 pm

sinead

I graduated from high school in 1975, and some of the tops I remember wearing then, (peasant tops, we called them) are in my closet now in a slightly different version. I love boho looks, but at this point, I think I can only do them in small doses or risk looking too unpolished.

I am dying for a pair of platform shoes- which I wore as a teenager. Now, instead of wearing them with mini-mini skirts as I did then, I’d wear them with jeans.

June 5, 2009 at 3:29 pm

Gina

I will totally do trends over again. If I loved them the first time around, I’ll probably love them this time too!

I was still a preteen when the 80’s ended, so I didn’t get to fully enjoy the 80’s styles the first time. I love leggings with jackets! I love legwarmers coming out of boots over skinny jeans or with short shorts or skirts. I love the neon colors, although back them I’d wear multiple neon colors and/or neon head to toe, where as now, I would just wear one neon color at a time, and in much smaller doses per outfit.

Even trends I didn’t love the first time around, I’d try now. Partly b/c I am a bit more creative and experimental with fashion now than I was 10 years ago and I have more confidence to wear whatever interests me, and partly b/c I have a different body now than I did as a teen/preteen (obviously), so things that didn’t work on me then, might look better now.

June 5, 2009 at 4:51 pm

Sher

(website)

You know what I wish would come back again? The romantic poet blouse. It came back a short time with lace or floral versions. But I would like the simple cream or white blouse.

fashionafterforty.blogspot.com

June 5, 2009 at 5:07 pm

cciele

I would totally wear some trends that I’ve worn before (leggings, stirrups, bellbottoms, boho), but avoid others. Our tastes change through time, so I can see incorporating whatever is “on trend” that works with our style–at that moment.

shiny, you bring up an interesting point. I think our fashion ideals change through time, and whether a trend is “improved” or not is really up to the eye of the beholder.

June 5, 2009 at 5:11 pm

Wanderlusting

(website)

Did my comment just get eaten? Anyway, I was going to add that there are SOME things that are trendy that you grow past, such as shiny polyester clubbing clothes…if you have evolved past the trend, then why would you wear it again?

June 5, 2009 at 6:20 pm

Wanderlusting

(website)

Well that’s annoying – comment was TOTALLY EATEN!

Anyway, what I was saying before the above comment was that I just touched on this briefly today in my blog: I wear what I like, whether it’s passe, trendy or what have you. I like what I like, and if I still like old trends, of course I will where them…I probably never stopped.

June 5, 2009 at 6:22 pm

Meream

(website)

I can answer that in 20 years. But I’ve worn clothes these days that my mom has worn decades ago.

June 6, 2009 at 7:01 am

Phoebe

Fashion is all about fun, isn´t it? So – the perfect way of expressing a little irony is revisiting trends you´ve already worn when you were young!
A young girl wearing 80s fashion and a 40-year-old wearing 80s fashion: both do look fab, but the message is completely different: our generation wears the looks with a wink of the eye, with a certain seen-it-all-before-attitude:
This time it´s all about the fun and the great memories we have:
Look at us, fifteen years later and still looking fab!!!

June 7, 2009 at 7:39 am

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I really enjoyed everyone’s road down memory lane.

Shiny, good question and I’ll devote a blog post to my thoughts on that one.

Allie, you are spot on. We have seen watershed changes in fashion over the last three years and it all started with the resurgence of leggings and skinny jeans. It’s refreshing.

SusanD, I’ll see what I can do. I’m warning you though! When I post my outfits in stirrup leggings they shan’t be everyone’s cup of tea

June 7, 2009 at 10:15 pm

Not so fab neon | youlookfab

(website)

[…] enough neon clothing, footwear and jewelry as a teen in 1983 to last me a lifetime. So this is not a trend I’m revisiting. As much as I adore saturated bright colours, blindingly fluorescent items get my thumbs down […]

June 12, 2009 at 6:58 am

Fringe trend: Slouchy 80’s inspired trousers | youlookfab

(website)

[…] trouser has been an integral part of haute couture collections for the last year. Very 80’s. The revived silhouette trickled down to a few high fashion chain stores, but it’s by no means a mainstream […]

June 30, 2009 at 6:49 am

Mamavalveeta03

Veteran

I think society is much more accepting of a woman wearing styles that have “come around again” if she’s slim. If not, I think we’re seen as a “joke.” (just watch TV and you’ll see what I mean). Do I think it’s fair? Nope. But it is the world we live in.

April 24, 2013 at 9:17 am

About the Author

Revisiting trends we’ve worn before

Recent Ensembles

Recent Trends

About the Author

Share this Post

Recent Ensembles

Recent Trends