If you grew up in the 90s, or really any decade before then, you’ve probably seen the fashions you once wore circle back around to being trendy again. And yes, those of us that are still traumatized by low-rise flare jeans, are shaking in our high-waisted skinnies for what is about to come. Now, we might be thinking “ugh! Kids today actually WANT to wear that crazy stuff?!” But fashion trends have been far more peculiar than multi-colored butterfly clips, button-down mini skirts, and Doc Martens. Today we’re looking at a few highly questionable fashion trends throughout history.
Bombasting
Think 1980s shoulder pads but 10x worst. Throughout the 16th century, upper classes would stuff cotton, wool, sawdust, even horsehair into their clothing to make certain body parts, such as legs, arms, and sometimes even stomach, appear larger. It wasn’t unheard of for folks to be walking around with upwards of five pounds of stuffing in their clothes.
The Alexandrea Limp
Yes, it’s exactly what you think. Alexandrea, the Princess of Wales in the 19th century, who also served as a fashion icon, as most royals do, made many fashion statements in her time, but perhaps the most interesting trend she started was physical. Due to rheumatism, Alexandrea walked with a very pronounced limp, and for one reason or another, people just thought it was really cool and began walking with one too.
Macaroni
The macaroni trend actually clears up a question we’ve had for a hot minute. First, macaroni fashion consisted of donning a huge wig, with a tiny hat or feather on top, flashy textiles, and big buckled shoes. This trend originated with French men that took their Italian fashion very seriously. And because you understand what macaroni is, you now know why in the song Yankee Doodle Dandy, Yankee Doodle stuck a feather in his cap and called it, you know, macaroni. The ditty was of course making fun of the trend, like a modern diss track, if you will, but we can’t say we hate the idea of referring to ourselves as valuable as macaroni.
Bullet Bras
The story is simple, for some reason designers in the 1940s thought it would be a great idea to make women’s bosoms appear cone-shaped. By the 1950s this was just kind of the look, but luckily we saw this trend die out soon after. Sure Madonna briefly brought the trend back in the ‘90s as only Madonna could, but we have yet to see this become mainstream again.
