Today we’re going down memory lane, remembering our worst fashion moments. It’s all in good fun. And for me, these moments were an important part of learning about myself and evolving my personal style.
For context, I was born in 1970, which made me a ‘70s child, an ‘80s teen, and a ‘90s young adult.
I enjoyed the ‘70s and fondly remember my party dresses, corduroy culottes, and kilts when I wasn’t wearing a school uniform. I also remember wearing very scratchy wool tights with the items that were extremely uncomfortable. To this day I will not wear tights. I stick to delicate sheer hosiery and that’s that.
I loved the ‘80s, and have very fond fashion memories of the era. That said, I took the oversized look too far in my first year of University in 1988 when I combined Greg’s untucked gigantic red button-down shirt with a long red flowing skirt, white ankle socks, and tan flat oxfords. I buttoned the shirt to the top of the collar so that it wouldn’t fall off my narrow shoulders. I drowned in the look, although I tried to create structure with shoulder pads. Greg, ever tactful, said something like, “I’ve noticed you’re wearing a relaxed look lately …”
My worst fashion memories are from the ‘90s, which was my least favourite fashion era. First there was the bodysuit, which wasn’t too bad when the rises of pants were high, but became disastrous when rises lowered later in the decade. I spent the day pulling my bodysuit down and my pants and jeans up. Bending over and reaching up was a nightmare. Second was some of the footwear from that era. Ill-fitting mules and heavy platform sneakers that didn’t flex were equally bad on my feet. Third was some of the silhouettes. I wore long, shapeless midi dresses with wide necklines that were very unflattering, and stiff linen drawstring pants that were too short and looked worse than cardboard pyjamas. To top it off, I spent 1995 wearing black from head to toe, which my Mum said looked awful and didn’t suit my colouring. I refused to believe her, but she was dead right. I saw the light in 1996 and have seldom worn black from head to toe since then.
I don’t have any particularly unpleasant fashion memories since the nineties. Or perhaps I just need some more time to process the last two decades.
Your turn. What are your worst fashion memories?
