Just a few cringe-y trends from the 80’s to now we wish never happened.

 

The 80’s

The 80’s were an iconic era that brought dramatic socioeconomic change, extreme technological advancement, and of course… spandex. Of all the things we love from the 80’s, here are a few fashion flashbacks that make us cringe.   Overdone Neon Makeup   Grabbing the brightest, pinkest, boldest blush and slathering it all over your cheekbones and eyelids was all the rage in the 80s. Check out any music video, ad, or hip teen mag and you’ll see the same sharp neon streaks on all the girl’s faces.Overdone neon blush was todays overdone contouring. Not to mention the blue "garage door" eyeshadow that took over your whole face.   Miles and Miles of Tulle   Madonna did it, Cindy did it, and you all did it for sure. Grab the crimpers and hair spray. The 80s came out with tones of trends, but the most recognizable is huge hair and big fluffy skirts filled with tulle.   Layered Polo’s   Because nothing said “Totally Rad” and "80s movie jerk" like layering on the polo’s and popping all the collars up. (Honestly was this really a thing? I was born in the 90s so part of my soul hopes this is just some ridiculous myth.)   Whatever this is…   I just… I don’t know man…  

The 90’s

Grunge, Girl Power, boy bands, frosted tips... Oh the 90’s were a mixed mashed time of reaching into the future while still carrying over the weirdest parts of the 80’s.   Tiny Colored Sunglasses Did they protect your eyes from the sun? No. Did they even cover your whole eyeball? Also no. Tiny colored sunglasses were all the rage in the 90s, and seem to be making a bit of a comeback amongst hipsters today. Can we please let these stay in the era of the Olson twins straight-to-VHS movies?   Jnco Jeans   What cha hiding in there? The world may never know…   Tommy Tommy Tommy Tommy Hilfiger was a staple in the 90s. You'd be hard pressed not to find that classic Tommy boxer band peeking out of someones baggy denim pants. All the celebs rocked their Tommy. From Snoop to N'Sync - even a young Elija Wood too. Tommy knew how to brand and brand well, especially with 90s icon Aaliya.  Additionally Tommy sponsored Britney Spears' first tour "Baby One More Time" featuring his name larger than her own. Today you'd be hard pressed to find someone rocking the classic head-to-toe red blue and white stripes.

 

Platform Sneakers I had a pair almost exactly like these. They were Sketchers and when I first tired them on my mother said “getting a nose bleed up there?” They were my pride and joy… today looking back I wish I still had a pair to hit myself with. These clunky hunks of plastic were so uncomfortable… but the spice girls wore them so… we suffered.  

The 2000s

We touched on 2000s fashion choices in our past Throw Back Thursday. The 2000s had a lot of… questionable trends attached to it. Now in the late 2010s we look back at our past decade and promptly face palm ourselves.   Long Skinny Scarves Wrapped up as tight as they could go and dangling down to your feet. Long long skinny scarves were all the range in the 00s. The perfect way to hide hickies from your parents with the guise of “Just wanting to look like Lindsey Lohan!!”    UGGs I just… I can’t with UGGs. Never liked them. I don’t care how comfortable they are/were. UGGs made you look like you had abominable snowman feet, and after a while, made them smell like you had abominable snowman feet. UGGs were named UGG for a reason… They were UGLY.   Ed Hardy   Tattoo and graffiti-inspired clothing were all the rage in the 00s. Celebs loved it, and us normal people ate it up. What do you do when you want rhinestones, Japanese classical tattoo style, rhinestone studded, cheaply made t-shirts and trucker hats? Ed Hardy. Needless to say the brand fizzled out rather quickly.   Rapper Brands Back in the day rappers having a clothing line was pretty rare. Naughty By Nature was ahead of the curve, having a shop in New Jersey where they sold clothes with their signature logo on them. Wu-Wear by Wu-Tang Clan shortly followed suit then it all EXPLODED. Jay Z and Puffy had Rocawear and Sean John (which they are still thriving off of). LL Cool J had painful knock off Todd Smith. Lil’ Bow wow had Shago (lmao). Nelly had Vokal (above), which did not last very long at all… the horrible horrible list goes on.    *Sigh* its always nice to look back and realize how dumb you and everyone else looked. Many of these trends we still hold dear, but locked away safely in the way back of our closets and memories.

Did you partake in any of these regrettable trends? What were some of your (least) favorite?