i agree with the square toed shoes, also platform shoes look dated to me. tank tops layered under sweaters with the tank untucked, not totaly dated, but getting there quickly.

I was just writing about my horribly outdated, square toe boots on another thread. Yes, they are dated but I'm keeping them for practical purposes.

Ruffles: I developed a poison eye for them over a year ago. But I have held on to them, thinking I just needed a rest.

Long cardigans: my eye has become poisoned to these lately. I don't know what it is, or why, but every time I reach for one of these, I wind up taking it off again and choosing a shorter one.

Silver: sigh. I've slowly adjusted to gold instead. Silver just doesn't look right, right now.

Jewelry, in particular, statement necklaces: what looks right to my eye now is much more minimal. I am often leaving the house without any jewelry whatsoever. The only bling might be the hardware on my bag, and the gold buttons on my cardigan.

Otherwise, to me, it's less about any individual item, and more about overall effect. A few years ago fashions boldly combined lots of pattern, colors, textures, all in one outfit. I'd wear a paisley top with a bright cardigan with contrasting pop of color in the bag and different color for the shoes, textured hose, velvet and snake and leather... LOTS going on in one outfit! The more the better!

That looks dated to me now -- it seems more fresh & modern to have an understated outfit, with neutral colors for core pieces, and coordinating colors for bag and shoes.

For those of you who mentioned short tops, to my eye, it seems tops are getting shorter, not longer. Yet looser, to skim rather than cling.

P.s....

We should start a companion thread on what looks fresh to you now?

One of the reasons I took a break from YLF for awhile is that I saw the fashions turning back towards minimalism, and a lot of the styles seemed boring to me. Just did not get my juices flowing. But now I'm turning around on that. Surprising how that happens. I can't believe I'm hankering for black footwear, for example... who'd have thought??

My Coach "baguette/hobo" handbags. I loved them for a long time, and will keep them, but they seem outdated with all of the crossbody and satchel bags.

I would have said shorter, boxy tops ala the 80s, but they have started
to make a resurgence in the last few months. The fabrications are more
flowy than in the past, though. I still don't think they work that well
for most of us, only the slender rectangles. Re the ruffles, I don't see a lot of those classic ruffles, i.e. along the front of a button front shirt, very much right now. But asymmetric ruffles and things along the 'ruffle continuum' are still around and look fresh to my eye.

Those platform heels look dated to me, the ones that have a platform at the ball of the foot and also a classic heel.

Like MaryK, I lost weight fairly recently so the vast majority of my wardrobe is newish (granted, some of it is thrifted, so). Hopefully none of it is horribly dated. I think it does have to do with not only your style but your figure type. Everyone keeps on talking about higher-waist jeans but that's all relative to your body proportions - I'm short between waist and hip so anything that's supposedly 'natural waist' will fall above my natural waist on my body, up on the ribcage like Urkel. So medium-rise will look more like higher-rise on me, and probably vice versa on someone else.

Oh yeah, Mo - I love the "rock and roll cowgirl" phrase. Maybe I should become one of those.

I love fast fashion. But I equally love everything that looks good on me! Don't care if its dated! Its so hard to find something that looks good on me ... And to chuck it out thinking its dated is like suicide! Lol!

Then there are things that are so on trend now ..... But I am over them! Hi-lo hems ..... I won't touch them now! I have used and abused that trend so much that I no longer wish to buy anymore of it .... And also peplums. But I won't chuck away the ones I own because they look good on me!

I 100% support what Mo said. That's just how I feel about it.

• Things can absolutely be "in style" but not fashionable or on trend
• What is dated on one person is not dated on another

Ruffles aren't dated at all. You may not like them, but they aren't dated - especially not in waterfall cardigans and romantic blouses. And architectural ruffles - like Valentino's couture - is not dated by any stretch of the imagination.

I guess I find body con fits and high, high platforms *a little* on the dated side - but not quite DATED. Fluid fits, pointy toes and refined footwear look so much fresher to my eye. That said, I do wear a body con black turtleneck with baggy bottoms (full skirts and trousers) because the proportions are very flattering. But I have also updated my black turtlenecks to include very fluid fits. Modern Classics must be updated too.

Oh, I thought of another one - exposed zippers. That's been around for several years now and I'm just so tired of it, especially on more formal wear. All it's gonna do is date the garment and mean that you can't wear it for many occasions, which is what most of us want from our formal wear.

For me, it's all about the shoes: round toes, nudes, kitten heel mules.

I'm going to continue wearing my exposed tanks under sweaters until they fall apart. This is a signature look for me, after all. *shrugs*

Teeny tiny bean shaped purses.

I find this concept also quite relative to each person's body shape, proportions, and personal style. And many "dated" pieces can be mixed with current ones and look incredible. However, that strategy might be best used with things that have been "out" for longer than 5 years (or maybe even 10)?

That said, there are things that look dated to me even when they're on trend, like--ugh--blouson tops with banded bottoms, or dolman sleeves. I thought they were ugly the first time around in the late 70s. (I'm so amazed sometimes at the horrors peddled to juniors every season. Some of the ugliest items for girls who could wear wonderful things so easily!)

Growing up, I learned to dread my mom's pronouncement: "It's the latest!" That meant I would usually hate it. Early fashion trauma FTL.

This is so interesting. I think it all depends on the person. There are numerous more recent trends that I got over really quickly. Lesson learned. Anything that's different but kind of busy or loud, I love at first but then tire of (brocade print jeans, neons). I still see the printed jeans coming out for Spring 2014, but personally I'm done.

The only things that look really dated to me are not necessarily short tees, but short fitted tees. Short BIG BOXY tees are on trend again. Also empire waists look dated to me. Both of these have already been mentioned.

I agree with Ambergreen, that a lot of this has to do with individual body shape as well as individual style. Several people have mentioned short T-shirts as being dated, but I am very short waisted, and those hip-length tees look good on me, while I swim in the long ones, which pull unflatteringly over my wide hips. Likewise, ruffles also look very good on me, as I have a small bosom. I think that ruffles also differ greatly in style--the ruffled tops I have were bought within the last year, one from Loft and one from Ralph Lauren. They don't look like the ruffled tops from the 80s. Although now that I've said that, I think that even a ruffled top from the 80s could look very sharp if paired with really streamlined, fashion-forward pieces--it would provide that unconventional "edge."

I don't know if there's anything that I honestly consider really dated. My dad had a dark-olive polyester suit from the seventies--*that* was dated! LOL. I also think that bell bottoms that flare out really wide at the bottoms and are worn so close to the ground that they're all ratty are also dated--I'm thinking of the "sloppy" look. I guess I'm just picking on the seventies here... :^)

Empire waist tops and dresses, esp. the knit ones. That look so does not flatter me so I never bought it and saved a mint!

Ah, very interesting. Perhaps this is why shirt-dresses, something I'd thought was a timeless classic, felt fab as a utilitarian free-time garment in 2007 or so, yet look so sack-like and bland on me now. Looking back, shirt/utility dresses were sort of a thing at some point.

Cap sleeves that are gathered at the shoulder point.

It sounds like some of the things that are seen as dated in England are different to what is seen as dated in the US, which surprises me as I thought the fashions would be the same. ie. low slung jeans and bootcut or wide leg jeans are seen as 'uncool' here.

Definitely agree on the square toed shoes/boots.

Other items which seem dated are peplum, heels with a large platform in the sole (especially in peeptoes), lace up boots (like Doc Martens and wedge ankle boots) and on a beauty note, nails with white square tips.

Oh no, say it isn't so! Not square toed shoes! I have a pair of red kick-a** slightly square toed booties that DH gave me quite a few years back that I adore. I've kept them in pristine condition and they'll have to pry them off my hopefully 100 year old feet someday.

I think a lot depends on the quality of the item. That pair of checkered skinnies I bought at F21 will undoubtedly be out of style in a season or two. But a 50 year old Chanel jacket? That's never going out of style.

Leggings/tunic tops....they just remind me of having my babies and dealing with the extra weight for quite a few years. As happy as that time was, I was not happy with my tired, under-exercised body

My square-toed suede booties are one of my favorite footwear items, and I will continue to wear them under my boot cuts Having said that, it seems to me fashion moves so quickly that as soon as I purge things from my closet, they come right back in vogue. My head is frequently spinning here...

A dated feel depends so much on cut, colour and fabrication to me. Prints outside of the classics seem to have a short best before date.

Everything I think of is probably more a matter of a personal poison eye than outdated. If it looks great on you, why not continue to wear it?