Clothing Styles We Will Hate to See Come Back

Fashion comes and goes, moving in an almost cyclic manner where the old becomes the new and eventually fades away back into the past that will one day also be tagged as vintage clothing.

Many vintage inspired styles we see today have appeared a number of times over the decades albeit modified to suit the trends of the time.

Silk Gown with Hobble Skirt

While some of these clothing styles still maintain some detailing features, not many possess the meticulous attention detail which made their designs great, neither are they made with such gorgeous fabrics, common elements of the past. For those who absolutely love vintage style clothing, they’ll find that such unique beauty and finery is rarely present in modern day designs.

But then, fashion hasn’t always been that impressive and though we might have thought some of them cool during their era, in all honesty, some of them were not!

9 Styles We Hope Never Make a Reappearance 

So which styles were the worst of the ‘pack’ and what is the reason why we’d rather not see them in today’s fashion houses and shopping malls? Which fashion trends do we hope never ever make a re-appearance in our clothing collections?

Hobble skirt (the 1910s) – A terribly restrictive skirt with a narrow hem that seemed intentionally designed to impede a woman’s stride. Wearers actually walked funny . . . hobbling to and fro. Luckily, wearing this item of clothing was a short-lived fashion trend.

Paper dress (the 1960s) – This is another short-lived clothing style of the 60s. Whoever first created this must have meant to create some market stunt. However, paper dresses, made completely out of paper was short-lived. Utterly quirky and often featuring eye-catching patterns and shapes including Yellow Pages and newspaper type prints, this trend never really took off (of course!), for practical reasons

Paper Dress

Go-Go boots (the 1960s) – Adopted by teen dancers, they looked so plastic and utterly cheap! Presumed to have been named after a certain dance style (go-go dance), go-go boots were the perfect discotheque boots . . . remember Top of the Pops? They were created by famous fashion designer André Courrèges; came in white, were low heeled and mid-calf-high, and generally described as sexy boots.

Sailor dress - A sailor dress is a vintage dress style that is fashioned after a sailor’s suit, particularly its bodice and collar design. It not only looked a tad childish it was not so becoming and it made women look as if dressed up as little girls. Sailor dresses were popularly known as Peter Thomson dresses (the naval tailor credited with designing the style).

Hammer pants (parachute pants) – I used to have a couple of pairs of these styles and thought they were actually hot! Today, will I wear a recreated copy?
Nah!
Certainly, this clothing style also referred to as Aladdin pants (or drop-crotch pants) has to take the cake in terms of absolute ugliness. Come to think about it, I can’t remember getting any compliments when wearing these pants! Don’t they remind you of diapers on toddlers? Well, those certainly look cute on the little tots but not so good looking on an adult woman.

Aladdin Pants (Parachute Pants)

Poke bonnets (the 1800s) – Many variations of the poke bonnet existed through much of the 1800s but now, a couple of centuries after, why would any woman want to wear a reproduction of this clothing accessory? You’ll barely see her face; not unless you stand directly in front of her, but even then...

Poke Bonnet - French Satire "Les Invisibles en Tête-à-Tête"

Crinoline skirt (19th Century) – This is a hoop skirt made from thread, steel, and horse hair and worn as an inner wear (underwear) beneath a dress or skirt to make it spread out like a cone. But this fashion trend can be aptly called a ‘fashion death trap’, that is if today's woman had to put a description to it. Built like a cage of sorts, the crinoline skirt is narrow at the waist and wide as can be at the hem with many variations so wide, ladies had to lift them askew to pass through very wide doorways. If this vintage fashion trend has to make a comeback, it’ll be a hazardous piece of clothing.

1860s Ball Gowns Worn Over Crinoline Skirts

Cone bras (the 40s) – They are also referred to as conical bras and were the rave when it was first made famous by the pin-up girls of the 40s. So, contrary to general opinion, Madonna wasn’t the first woman to wear cone bras. An unbecoming item of lingerie, in my opinion, I doubt enough women of today will even give it a second glance if it resurfaces in the stores. A cone bra is not the same as a bullet bra. One thing about the cone bra; it may look eye-catching under your sweater, pointing ahead of you like two arrows, but it certainly doesn’t look sexy.

Silk corset with cone bra made by Jean-Paul Gaultier