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Deal-breaker styles

Joan Joplin

Is there one style you just really can't stand, either on you or on everyone? For me, it's pin-up style clothing. Loathe. But I like it on others, just not for myself. I think part of that is because so many companies that cater to busty girls have mostly retro or pin-up influenced clothing. I understand why, as it's a style that shows curves off brilliantly, but my little hippie heart can't take the pin curls and makeup. Maybe it just reads more high matainance/less casual than I like? Some people do it well, but it seems too costumy for me as a style. What about you guys?

Dressing

33 replies

Latest reply was from FlorenceFearne

ironkurtin

Veteran

- embellished Granny-style tops with bobbles and sequins and kittens in baskets
- sweaters with ruffled shoulders from the 80s
- scrubs worn by people who are not doctors
- overalls
- harem pants
- blouses with bow fronts.
- huge ear gauges (aaaaiiigh)
- pleated-front pants on women and men who don't need pleat fronts
- bralessness on women who really, really need a bra
- uncared-for, cracked, and scaly feet with overly long toenails in sandals

I could go on...

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Lots of people who are not doctors have to wear scrubs because they work in hospitals - like Vet Techs, Hospital Techs, Paramedics, Nurses, and the like. Is that what you mean, Dana? And what's an ear gauge?

I have an intolerance for the wearing of sports gear or yoga gear as casual wear. That means people who are not engaging in a sport or working out are wearing gear as everyday clothes because it's comfortable and easy.

ironkurtin

Veteran

Angie, I mean people who are absolutely not associated with health care. Like kids in college. It was big when I was at Berkeley and ugh.

This is an ear gauge. An extreme one, to be sure. This charming fellow also has nose ones. A big yuck from this gal.

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FlorenceFearne

Ooh, I'm with Angie on the workout gear as daily clothing look. Especially if it involves the sweatpants with the elastic in the ankle, with tube socks and grubby sneakers. Ack. I feel the same way about pajamas worn outdoors. I think if you're planning to leave the house, the least you can do is put on some real pants.

Most of my peeves aren't related to clothing styles, but to fit. The teeny tiny low rise pants and the muffin top that accompanies them, the leggings I can see your business through, the VPL so severe I worry the wearer's rear will soon be cleaved into pieces by the elastic, etc.

As styles go, the one other thing I can think of that I really dislike are the pre-made outfits that are often pushed on older women. You know, the sweatshirt with the kitten painted on it, and the matching pants? The dress with the matching vest? Almost anything sold as a set. It just robs the wearer of personality. And that makes me sad.

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Laurinda

Veteran

Since it was mentioned... I get weirded out by scrubs on medical folks as street wear -- aren't they supposed to be for clinic/hospital use? It makes me wonder if they are picking up 'street germs' or bringing 'hospital germs' outside.

Anonymous

There is a lot in the name of fashion and expression that I dislike and yet I am very often amazed that in every example of my dislike I"ll see someone pulling it off and looking amazing.

Joan Joplin

That happens to me too, Tracina. That's why I mentioned that I dislike pin-up stuff on myself but sometimes like it on others. I think part of it is how well something fits your personality, and thus, whether or not it feels like a costume. How it fits your body is another important part - it works if it looks like it was made for you, if the fit is off, it looks like you're playing dress-up. I think I dislike pin-up styles out of stubbornness - "they highlight your waist! They look great on hourglasses! If you have a big bust you 'fill it out' well!" And it also doesn't work with my personality - I'm casual, I'm earthy, etc

dizzys

Wow, I did not realize pinup vintage gives people such a stink eye. I wish I could wear pinup better.....I would love to shoot for Joan Holloway but my personality is more June Cleaver so I go for sweet over bad ass... I love the look on my self as I feel like I dont belong in this era.....the rockabilly stuff is fun, but I don't like wearing scull/bones.

Style that are a no go for me...extreme neon. It hurts my eyes and reminds me of the '80's

rachylou

Veteran

I actually hate Newport News styling. I mean, I love the catalog, but somehow the styling drives me nuts. It's like it's always almost there, but just misses the mark. They do something to make sure there's not a trace of character left behind. I hate it in real life, on others and myself. It's kinda... chico-tastic but without the personality.

Vildy

Veteran

I really have an aversion to skin tight stretch skinny jeans and particularly in colors. It's not that I think anyone looks bad in them, just that I can't get over the idea of how vulgar they look to me. The way people feel about leggings as pants is how I feel about these. Skin tight pants or catsuits seem better suited to skin diving or other sports where they're practical.

dizzys

^ I can second the hate for skin tight colored stretch skinny jeans....they never look appropriate.

jlyns

Funny how one person's dislike is another's love. I've been watching the Bletchley Circle series on PBS and have been longing for pleated Katharine Hepburn pants....

shedev

Veteran

Everything on IKs list, pajamas in public, sagging, very undersized clothing on very oversized people.

Day Vies

Veteran

I really can't stand matched denim outfits, jacket +jeans in the exact same color (turquoise anyone????). It is so unimaginative and juvenile. The guy that I had my second to last first date with wore a matched denim outfit in tan with a coordinating sweater and skull cap. Needless to say there was no second date. Grunge looks come in a close second although that was all the rage as I graduated from high school.

dlb1960

Hmmmm. Safari suits. Are they still around?

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

Safari suits - unless your'e on a Safari. And only if you're like Princess Anne.

Wendi1984

I don't care for pajama pants in public, either. Or any kind of pants that are so long they drag on the floor and get ratty-looking. I also don't like bra straps showing (not an accidental glimpse, but an outfit where there's no way the straps were ever hidden and it's being worn like that on purpose). (Does that make me sound like an old fogey?)

I also still have a problem with sequins on tank tops. Don't ask me why.

Anonymous

Sexually suggestive slogans on tops.

Betti

Words on butts.
Pajamas as clothing.
Matchy-matchy old lady outfits.

FlorenceFearne

@Betti - Words on butts are bad enough, but I went to school with a girl when that look was at its trendiest, and she had a pair of pants that made my flesh crawl. She had skin-tight pink stretch pants, and scrawled right across her rear in metallic script were the words, "Daddy's Girl." Ick.

cciele

Veteran

I guess it depends on what you mean by style. I guess I see some peeves not so much as a style issue (style, meaning bombshell, urban, country, a particular style of dress) but more of a hygiene/fit/appropriateness issue.

That being said, I enjoy all clothing styles from all eras but like to see them worn in the appropriate setting with the appropriate fit

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

I'm with Tracina--I think I dislike certain fashions, and then suddenly I'll see one done in a way that makes me realize I actually don't dislike it. Can't think of an example off-hand, but I hesitate to dismiss entire classes of styles.

I was standing in line at the coffee shop yesterday behind a woman wearing a little black pullover knit dress in a chic style. It had a ballet neck in front and a low cowl in back, with a strap across the back neck to hold the shoulders in place. It looked so nice, except she was wearing a plain old worn-out looking bra, with back strap and hooks highlighted back-and-center framed by that otherwise lovely cowl. I kept feeling like I needed to look away, because I was seeing something I shouldn't be seeing at 9 a.m. in the coffee line!

DonnaF

Veteran

Stiff elastic waist mom jeans with stitching outlining the front pockets. My mom had at least three or four pairs hanging in her closet, new with tags, so maybe even she couldn't bear to wear them or have them hemmed. I snuck them out of her house before I gagged too much. Even 88 year olds shouldn't be allowed to wear such things. I would get her ponte pants, but she doesn't seem to wear black any more.

Echo

Veteran

"Lolita style" in public. Yes, I realize it is often done in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way or for cosplay purposes, but the whole idea is just a little twisted to me. People are SO hyper-sensitive about an actual little girl wearing anything that might be viewed as intended for adults. Remember the thread about the photo of the little girl wearing her mother's high heels? People go to extremes not to sexualize little girls (for good reason, might I add).

However, it is somehow okay to dress a grown woman up to LOOK like a little girl, sexualize her to the extreme and see that as okay? Of course it is different, as a grown woman can make choices for herself and presumably any interaction would be mutually consentual, but the idea that someone wants to sexualize being a little girl disturbs me. And wouldn't that person prancing around in public conceivably excite a pedophile in a similar way as an actual young girl wearing high heels or makeup or some such?

Look at it this way. Beating puppies to death - everyone would agree - is a horrid thing to do. To take pleasure from it would be monstrous. But what if someone didn't ACTUALLY hurt any REAL puppies, but instead enjoyed relaxing/having fun by using a very realistic video game to beat puppies to death. Would that suddenly make it okay?

Let me make clear that I am mostly okay with whatever makes a person happy behind closed doors. Fetishes are none of my business, and whatever goes on between consenting adults is fine by me. But crossing some of those lines in public - especially when the "real thing" is so extremely tabboo - is disturbing to me.

dizzys

^ don't think I have seen the lolita look in public.... Although, maybe I have and I did not realize that is what I was seeing.

Joan Joplin

Cciele, I originally meant style as in "boho" or "rocker." Preferably a little more specific, for example not all retro is pin-up, which was my example. You could wear red lipstick, a skirt, and a nipped-in waist and not be pin-up IMO. But add pin-curls, the complete makeup look, and so on and you veer into pin-up territory. But people seem to need a space to vent about their pet peeves, styles or not, so I say let em!

Gaylene

Veteran

Good point, Joan. A pet peeve, like showing bra straps, or wearing gear or scrubs constantly, isn't quite the same as recoiling from a defined style category.

For what it's worth, my least favorite style is definitely punk/grunge, but, like you, I've seen some of the forum members embrace this style and look great in it. For me, however, I disliked this look when it first came out in the 90s and, after seeing its various incarnations for the past few decades, I still find it unappealing. My dislike probably means no one on the forum should ever take my comments on an outfit with distressed jeans without a huge grain of salt, because, despite what I write, inside I'm really begging them to take off those ugly jeans.

FlorenceFearne

@Joan J - I feel like part of the problem with saying I don't like a style is something you touched on in your most recent reply. A lot of style descriptors are broad. Like in your example of retro vs pin-up. To an outsider, it might all look similar, where people wearing these things are thinking, "I'm totally wearing classic 50s - nothing like that rockabilly girl over there."

Example: I've heard a lot of people say they don't like goth fashion. Images #1-2 are of someone I consider a personal fashion hero; VictorianKitty. Her Sophistique Noir blog is to me proof positive that goth can be elegant and beautiful and grown up. Images #3-5 turned up on a google search for "goth." So which of these is someone referring to when they say, "Goth fashion is ugly?" I'd assume #4, which I can't say anything good about either, but my point is that it's tough to dislike a style when there are so many nuances.

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Vildy

Veteran

Looking at the goth photos - I could totally do #5 - and thinking about the various full blown retro looks, I think it's often the hair and makeup that drive the styles home. I would have my usual hair and makeup as a counterpoint to all the black textural stuff. But that's how I wear ladylike looks, too. I'm not polished so I wear them in a thrown on, offhand way - these are just my clothes I have in my closet. Or maybe for me part of the draw is exactly working against them.

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