True One Hit Wonders that never came back - YouLookFab Forum

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True One Hit Wonders that never came back

Sal

Veteran

Sorry to be a forum hog today. This is just my opinion - feel free to challenge me!

I was thinking about trends that came once and haven't come back.

There are things that trend up and down but never really go away - you could probably always buy them at retail.
- flared jeans
- cowboy boots
- wedge sandals
- mini dresses
- maxi dresses
- pastels etc..

Some years these are everywhere - sometimes they are edgy - sometimes they are less so.

But some trends are very short lived and never return.

I was thinking of leg warmers - I wore these in the 80s as a teen - for dancing, for school disco nights, and over my jeans. But I don't think I have seen them since outside a dance setting..... but I could be wrong?

What do you think - will leg warmers come back? Or have they and I missed the memo?

Anything else you can think of?

50 replies

Latest reply was from Kathie

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Since we are the same age Sal - 1970 babies - I wore leg warmers EXACTLY the same way you did. Early '80s.

And almost everyone wore them! I had gaudy striped ones, neon ones, and burgundy ones. I tucked them into ankle boots, or wore them over skinny jeans with flats. Or wore them with dresses and oxfords. I wore them again in the 00's with too wide boots. Friend gave me a fun pair! I see some people wear them every year, but very few people on the whole - apart from in dance settings as you mentioned.

Sal

Veteran

I had some striped ones that matched a hat and scarf!! It was such a fun trend when you were 12-13.....

kellygirl

Veteran

I think leg warmers made a brief appearance recently. I remember knitting a pair not that long ago, in fact. They were popular as boot toppers, as I recall. I can't think of anything else - even gauchos and flight suits/boiler suits/overalls came back! Striped tube socks and fanny packs are cool again too!!

Anonymous

I have two pairs of leg warmers, one in black and one in ivory. They help me wear skirts and dresses in the cold winter months. I wore them back in the day too

https://www.macys.com/shop/pro.....1haWwuY29t

Echo

Veteran

While I did not wear leg warmers, I did wear the closely related slouchy socks! But you're right that they've never made a resurgence the way they did in the '80s.

As far as one-hit wonders, I think neon has never been popular the way it was in the '80s. Bright pink is having a moment, and I remember neon green or orange t-shirts being popular for young people attending summer camps, neon has never come back the way it did back then.

Sloper

Veteran

I haven't thought of legwarmers since I wore them myself back in the early 80's - the Flashdance craze I guess!

Trying to think of other one-hit-wonders...
Maybe some disco era stuff like polyester print shirts?
Also Minnetonka moccasins - very big on the US East Coast in the late 70's.

slim cat

Veteran

I’ve got one pair from CK I think sometime around 2006 maybe. Grey, loose fitting to wear over short boots. They survived as an occasional home warmers - when we lived in a house in Seattle ( sometimes I use them when I’m not well and shivering ).
Not sure about cowboy boots as never going away trend - probably depends on the location .

Bijou

Veteran

Knickerbockers have not hit the mainstream since the 1980's, but have an interesting fashion history. I had them in velvet.

knickerbockers | Fashion History Timeline (fitnyc.edu)

Peri

Veteran

How about stirrup pants? I wore them for a year or so when they were big...early 90s??...and haven't seen them since.

Vildy

Veteran

wellll, I see you leg warmers and raise you White Lipstick 60s.
All the girls wore it in junior high.

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Sal

Veteran

I had some burgundy knickerbockers in velvet Bijou. Worn with Scottish style socks and I think lace ups….,

And I can see when leg warmers would work - they are practical!

Yes neon was big the 1980s too - I don’t think it has hit those heights again. Yes also to moccasins!!

Brooklyn

Veteran

I had burgundy knickerbockers too!

I also remember a trend for headbands in the early 80s (around the time of ONJ’s “Physical”). The headbands had feathers or other embellishments that would fall down the side of your face.

Echo

Veteran

Knickerbockers! I hadn't thought of them in ages. I think I wore them for the first day of school in... fifth or sixth grade? That must have been the very early 1980s. Mine were olive green, and it was popular to wear them with argyle socks. We must have all looked like little Payne Stewarts (RIP, my favourite golfer).

Jessikams

(website)

Veteran

I see legwarmers sometimes in yoga classes….usually paired with tiny shorts, oddly enough!

Sal

Veteran

Yes that’s the style of socks I meant
- argyle!!

Yes those headbands were great - a perfect little accessory.

Cee

Veteran

Hyper colour T-shirts from the 1990s !

Cee

Veteran

...and COWLNECKS !!

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Enough people bought these leg warmers at Anthropologie that they are sold out. Not sure that makes them a trend though. https://www.anthropologie.com/.....quantity=1

Cee, those evil things will be baaaaaaack, lol.

I never thought I’d see bib overalls be fashionable again, but they’ve been spotted recently.

I didn’t realize knickers had been fashionable, but am glad to hear they were. When I moved to Switzerland as an exchange student in 1980, I saw my host dad wear them as part of his mountain-climbing gear. For my sister’s birthday that fall, I got her some in dark blue corduroy. She was in college and said she wore them on campus.

The Cat

Veteran

I loved (and happened to look great in) the knickerbockers I had in the early 80's. I own several pairs-- in corduroy, wool and velvet. They were practical and could be styled for lots of occasions/purposes year round.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Definitely remember wearing leg warmers briefly in the 80s. I think these things may have become fringe trends here and there but I have not noticed them catch on since then. I see certain shoe shapes in the thrift store that I don't think ever returned - but never say never, they are ripe for the pickin'!

anchie

Veteran

Leg warmers are back. Mom of a teen girl obsessed with 80’s

Star

Veteran

I loved leg warmers in the 80s. Wore them above the knee (not slouchy) with high heels over skinny jeans and knickerbockers. Sounds weird but they looked fabulous. Remember those skirts that used to hook-up at one side? They were kind of one hit wonders.

Staysfit

Veteran

Mood rings, stick pins, and pet rocks (not really a wardrobe item).

April

Veteran

SF, I was just about to mention stick pins! Early early 80s, often jabbed into a cowlneck or the neck of a chunky turtleneck. Often the ornament was one's own first initial - you know, in case you forgot it.

Around the same time, those thin double belts were big too - one half wrapped tightly around your true waist, the buckle half dropped lower.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

April & Staysfit, were you in my school? We also had cuddly koala bears—you pinched their shoulders to open their arms, and clipped them on your collar.

RobinF

Veteran

Peri, I was thinking of stirrup pants too! I also remember when I had to have painter pants (which I guess are pretty similar to cargo pants now so maybe have been back). And remember Candie's sandals? They hurt my feet so bad but I had to wear them. I think they tried to come back a few years ago but I never actually saw anyone wearing them.

Brooklyn

Veteran

Yes to stirrup pants. Late 80s.

And those little clip things you used to wear behind your dress to nip it in at the waist. Late 80s or early 90s?

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I can join Team Corduroy Knickerbockers! I had a navy pair in 1980.

Brooklyn, YES! Those clip things! Do you remember those A-line skirts we used to hitch up with a canvas strap or hook-thingie? And lace fingerless gloves. Fluorescent lipstick...

Runcarla

Veteran

Around the time I joined YLF (2013) bubble necklaces were trending hard! I’ve never seen them before…nor since!

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