Which decade is the worst in terms of style?

[Forgotten Man]

This is all fun, but perhaps there's some overindulgence in hyperbole and apples to oranges comparisons going on?

I think we can find some pretty outlandish outfits from each and every decade without too much trouble. But what if we eliminate college kids, movies, entertainers, obvious costumes, clothes intended to push the boundaries and such from the comparisons?

Instead, how about comparing how normal middle and upper class adults dressed - informally, for business and formally - in each decade? What decade would you consider the worst then? Or the best?

I agree.

The standard dress I recall wearing while growing up in the 1980s I could easily say that for me were the worst ever! I was a very thin kid and my mother always insisted that I get "Slim fit" jeans... and any other kind of pants for that sake had to be "slim fit".

Polyester is one of the worst fabrics... it itched, it didn't breathe and just made my skin crawl! I recall wearing these tight dark blue polyester dress pants as a kid to church... couldn't wait to get them things off!

I remember just about everything my friends wore, as kids we mostly wore snug fitting jeans, t-shirts with some logo or popular caricature on it like the Muppets, Snoopy, Transformers or HE-Man. lol Shoes were either Nike's, Puma's Vann's and or Chucks. Most Vann's had checker prints. All shirts had very short sleeves! Most kids had longer hair, (think bowl cut) most men had typical comb-over’s and polyester suits. Powder blues and dark browns still held a place with the adults.

Eye glasses I would have to say were the worst ever... huge, bug eyed smoke tinted things... Made any honest man look like a child molester. Lots of earth tones, orange, yellows, browns, tans and avocados... golly, those colors did last well into the mid 80s.

I remember the Dukes of Hazard... loved that show! Had a set of PJ's with the General Lee on it! Also had a set of PJ's with Return of the Jedi stuff on it... C-3PO and R2-D2 on it with a sand cruiser... gosh, ugly stuff!

Then my parents had this dark olive green carpet... and these dark olive green and gold curtains... and this orange/red hanging lamp in the corner of the living room... tacky!

Looking back at those fashions, they were daily fashions of the late 70s-mid 80s... mild to what most saw on TV or in movies but, I still didn't like them even when new.

 

[Paisley]

Great points, JimWagner. With all that in mind, I stick with my nomination of the 2000s for the following reasons:

For many, there is no clear distinction between work and off-duty clothes, office and clubbing clothes, workout and evening out clothes, junior and adult clothes, etc. It's common to adopt a uniform and wear it everywhere.
It's hard to find well-made, attractive yet modest clothes for women. The well-made stuff is almost always dowdy, and pretty clothes are often skin-tight or revealing. The way they're cut, it doesn't necessarily help to go up a size.
The fashions of the 2000s--low-slung pants, crop-tops, narrow-cut suits, etc.--weren't suited to an overweight population.

 

[Paisley]

Forgotten Man, all that stuff except for the glasses and shoes sounds more like the 1970s than the 1980s.

 

[Fletch]

But it was sooooooo "fly"

Funny word to convey style. The fly is perhaps the most repulsive of God's creatures, known mostly for its extreme ugliness and its habit of eating filth.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Funny word to convey style. The fly is perhaps the most repulsive of God's creatures, known mostly for its extreme ugliness and its habit of eating filth.

Yes indeed, that is why it belongs to the decade of polyester clothing...

 

[Forgotten Man]

Forgotten Man, all that stuff except for the glasses and shoes sounds more like the 1970s than the 1980s.

Well, I'm going on 32 now, born in 1978. What I mentioned is exactly what I remember growing up in the early 80s. Pre 1986; by that time mostly pastels started to become normal. That's the way it was in my neighborhood.

 

[HadleyH]

...... I was addressing HadleyH in my last post since she has a very sincere distaste for the fashions or culture of early 20th Century.

FM FM FM ! I never said i had a distaste for all fashion of early 20th century and if you must know, culture of early 20th century is very,very close to my heart! OK?


What I said is that i dont like hobble skirts in women and that i find those huge hats ...those hats in which they used ornaments like birds and nests and cats , the kitchen sink ( sometimes the Hoover too ) well i find those hats grotestque.


That's what i said. Hope is clear now!

 

[Paisley]

It might have taken the 80s awhile to catch up to you, FM. But at some point, the god-awful autumn color scheme of the 70s gave way to pastels, cooler colors and crisp white. The bowl hairdos got a shampoo and a cut. Sideburns, pant legs, skirt lengths, earrings and afros took on more sensible proportions. Alas, eyeglasses didn't.

 

[Forgotten Man]

It might have taken the 80s awhile to catch up to you, FM. But at some point, the god-awful autumn color scheme of the 70s gave way to pastels, cooler colors and crisp white. The bowl hairdos got a shampoo and a cut. Sideburns, pant legs, skirt lengths, earrings and afros took on more sensible proportions. Alas, eyeglasses didn't.

Well, I'd like to make known that the difference between 1979-1980 didn't change overnight. Much like 1929-1930 were very much the same. Fashion always seems hit it's true stride mid decade and I grew up near LA. I know my grandparent’s house is nearly the same as it was in 1976... same carpet too!lol

FM FM FM ! I never said i had a distaste for all fashion of early 20th century and if you must know, culture of early 20th century is very,very close to my heart! OK?


What I said is that i dont like hobble skirts in women and that i find those huge hats ...those hats in which they used ornaments like birds and nests and cats , the kitchen sink ( sometimes the Hoover too ) well i find those hats grotestque.


That's what i said. Hope is clear now!

Well, most of the fashion of the early 1900's were huge hats with birds and all sorts of feathers and decoration. And when someone agrees that the fashions prior to the teens were even more unpleasing, then I get the feeling that one doesn't seem to appreciate the era. For myself, I truly appreciate diverse fashions and trends of those early days; I try and understand how or why something was popular before I stick my tongue out in disgust at a fad that happened nearly 100 years ago.

Sorry for misunderstanding your original aim.

 

[HadleyH]

.....I try and understand how or why something was popular before I stick my tongue out in disgust at a fad that happened nearly 100 years ago.

Sorry for misunderstanding your original aim.

[bad]

Stick your tongue out? you do that often? we want to see!

lol

 

[Forgotten Man]

[bad]

Stick your tongue out? you do that often? we want to see!

lol

Only when I see 70s fashions *yucky*

 

[Miss 1929]

Those darned hippies!

Sure, we may not have liked the way they looked.

But, if it weren't for them breaking the rules of fashion, none of us would be able to dress retro without great scorn and possibly loss of our jobs, being put in the asylum, etc.

Before the 60s, everyone knew if you were wearing the wrong year of clothing, and judged you accordingly.

It's one thing to be an eccentric the way we are, and quite another to be ostracized by all of society for not fitting in.

So cut the hippies a little slack - they boldly went forth and wore (gasp) vintage clothing, which no one had done before!!!

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Eye glasses I would have to say were the worst ever... huge, bug eyed smoke tinted things... Made any honest man look like a child molester. Lots of earth tones, orange, yellows, browns, tans and avocados... golly, those colors did last well into the mid 80s

The glasses I hate are those skinny granny-type glasses that became popular starting in the '90s.

 

[Forgotten Man]

Sara, I have to agree with that... Most of us forget that if we lived in the 40s and still wore 20s clothing or lived in the 50s and wore 30s clothing, we'd be looked at as either poor people or those who had a mental condition.

For the most part, most average Americans of those eras weren't the most open minded in relations to fashion.

 

[Forgotten Man]

The glasses I hate are those skinny granny-type glasses that became popular starting in the '90s.

Skinny granny types? Like the streamlined black framed take on the traditional "nerd" type that have swept the nation?

Those are blah too.

 

[Miss 1929]

I also despise those glasses. And between them and the prevalence of hair straightening, I can't tell half the girls apart! BORING!!!!

 

[HadleyH]

Folks, is this the sort of 1960s granny type eyeglasses you are talking about? surely it can't be...... please say it ain't so.... post a pic of the eyeglasses you are talking about. TY




COOL COOL COOL and COOL :eusa_clap

 

[Miss Crisplock]

Before the 60s, everyone knew if you were wearing the wrong year of clothing, and judged you accordingly.

Like they do now. And in the 70's, 80's, 90's and aughts.

Two places: High School and High Society

 

[Paisley]

I liked those granny/John Lennon glasses. I'm not fond of the rectangular, thick-framed glasses that are in now.

 

[Miss 1929]

Like the kind Sarah Palin wears.

Seriously ugly on everyone.