Which decade had the worst fashions? 80s or 90s?

[Handbag Lady]

80s hands down. For the hair alone- not to mention the MC Hammer pants.

I'll never forget the time I went to the sub shop for a sandwich and the counter girl had this long fluffy hair and her bangs sticking straight up vertical. It was like a weird wall of hair on the front of her head. I just looked at the counter and held my laughing inside until my purchase was done and I was back in my car.

The sad thing is that she was probably considered very stylish by her peers for her hair's amazing, gravity-defying verticalness.

I'll have you know that is REALLY hard to do. I mean, I heard it from a friend it was really hard to do...

 

[dislaney]

80's.

 

[tvguy]

I'd say today's fashions are far worse than the 80's or 90's.

 

[mefordis]

80's were the worst! The feathered, poofy hair and shoulder pads! Come ON!

 

[CaliBear]

I was totally grunged out in the 90s. Doc Martins with baby doll dresses, the flannel shirts and overalls. Loved it. In the 80s I had the crunchy bangs that we sprayed and then pressed into place with the curling iron, blazers with jeans and fuzzy black boots. That's not something I want to relive, but I don't think it's the worst either. I'd take either back over people wearing pajama pants in public or pants so baggy you can see someone's drawers.

 

[ILUVALASKA]

80s. I am a clotheshorse, and I can clearly remember buying virtually no new clothes in the 80s because they were so hideous!

 

[StephMK]

As someone who came of age in the late 80s and early 90s, I can definatively state it is the 80s by a MILE. They aren't even in the same discussion...though I would say as well that the 70s was the worst.

Agreed!

I'll have you know that is REALLY hard to do. I mean, I heard it from a friend it was really hard to do...

And who's knocking the big jacket & jeans phase? I loved my boyfriend style black blazer and rolled up jeans, that was my look!

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

To me, the 90's had no look.....just a mish mash of BLAH!!!! At least the 80's (and 70's) had a definite look.

I agree with this.

 

[Geoff_M]

Oh yea because ORANGE and GREEN were all the rage.

That would be "burnt orange" and "avocado"... I agree the 70's beat both the 80's and 90's. If you want a look at how bad tastes were in that decade, see this web site for the book "Interior Descecrations": http://www.lileks.com/institute/interiors/

I gave it to my Mom for Christmas and she laughed so hard she cried.

 

[cybrkitn]

Are you sure about that?

Oh come one Their hair wasn't that bad except for the lead singer of Flock of Seagulls and the huge glasses of the one on the right. (I absolutely hated those huge glasses of the early 80's.)

The 80's had a defined style. Although there were some items that were borrowed from the 60's like the tight jeans (what we now call skinny jeans) and high heel pumps. But other than that, the style was unique.

I'm curious. Besides myself, how many on this thread were either in their teens or 20's during the 80's?

 

[suzimar57]

the 70s - lived it, have the embarassing photos to prove it....

yep.

must have been the drugs.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

At least there was a definitive style to the 70's and 80's. The 90's seemed to have been mainly, well, mainly boring. When the first word to describe a decade is "plaid" and the next two are "worn jeans" that doesn't bode well for it in fashion history.

 

[Jaya]

80s hands down. For the hair alone- not to mention the MC Hammer pants.

I'll never forget the time I went to the sub shop for a sandwich and the counter girl had this long fluffy hair and her bangs sticking straight up vertical. It was like a weird wall of hair on the front of her head. I just looked at the counter and held my laughing inside until my purchase was done and I was back in my car.

The sad thing is that she was probably considered very stylish by her peers for her hair's amazing, gravity-defying verticalness.

Around here they called them "MALL BANGS". My daughter went through the whole gamut of 80's fashions in junior high and high school....from the neon colors to parachute pants to the Madonna stage (six crucifixes around her neck, black lace gloves) and Michael Jackson stage to wearing a dozen watches at the same time to tri-colored hair to really loud Vans shoes and a whole lot more I can't even remember now (thank goodness). As long as she dressed reasonably for school, church, etc., I let her look as crazy as she wanted on the weekends for concerts, dances, parties. I figured that if I gave in on the things that didn't really matter in the long run, I had leverage to "hold fast" on the important things. One day she came home and announced that she was going to shave stripes on the side of her head. I told her she had another think coming. Of course, the old "you never let me do anything" started up. I just gave her "that look" and she sputtered out.....she knew better and I never heard about THAT idea again. She was a good kid, made straight A's and was reasonably easy to live with, so why not let her have a little fun? She turned out pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.

 

[KristaTX]

That picture is just kids now trying to dress '80s-ish, but it doesn't look right. They should all have perms and big bangs, and the clothes are not quite right. It's like the daughter on the show The Goldbergs. Her look, and especially her hair, just isn't quite right. I suppose we all looked the same wrong way to our parents in the '80s when we tried to dress '50s-ish.

I've been re-watching all of the Beverly Hills 90210 episodes on the Soap Network over the last few months. I watched them all originally, but I am really surprised at the clothes. The '90s were terrible, but also kind of non-descript. The only person on there with any sense of occasional style was Donna/Tori Spelling. But she always had the WORST dance dresses and Halloween costumes .

 

[luvmy3]

I was a big 90210 fan, even named my ds the same as one of the characters but I can't for the life of me figure out who Steve's arm is around

 

[eh24fan]

That's Scott, David Silver's best friend that accidently killed himself with a gun.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

That picture is just kids now trying to dress '80s-ish, but it doesn't look right. They should all have perms and big bangs, and the clothes are not quite right. It's like the daughter on the show The Goldbergs. Her look, and especially her hair, just isn't quite right. I suppose we all looked the same wrong way to our parents in the '80s when we tried to dress '50s-ish.

You're probably right. I couldn't really find a picture of tru 80's style fashions, though, since most television shows didn't dress the kids in what we think of as 80's fashion (Growing Pains, Family Ties, etc. really didn't capture the ugliness of that decade). Then it hit me: Degrassi! I knew that a gis of that wouldn't disappoint. Darned if I wasn't correct!

You are correct about the original pic not being accurate. It sort of reminds me of The Carrie Diaries. They don't look truly 80's on that show, either. Just like they are trying to dress 80's, but not so 80's that they alienate their audience by looking as truly ridiculous as they would have to look if they stay true to the fashion.

 

[DizBelle]

80s hands down. For the hair alone- not to mention the MC Hammer pants.

I'll never forget the time I went to the sub shop for a sandwich and the counter girl had this long fluffy hair and her bangs sticking straight up vertical. It was like a weird wall of hair on the front of her head. I just looked at the counter and held my laughing inside until my purchase was done and I was back in my car.

The sad thing is that she was probably considered very stylish by her peers for her hair's amazing, gravity-defying verticalness.

I knew a hair stylist that called those the "mall hook". From the side, it looks like a hook - straight up a few inches and then curled back.

 

[barkley]

You're probably right. I couldn't really find a picture of tru 80's style fashions, though, since most television shows didn't dress the kids in what we think of as 80's fashion (Growing Pains, Family Ties, etc. really didn't capture the ugliness of that decade). Then it hit me: Degrassi! I knew that a gis of that wouldn't disappoint. Darned if I wasn't correct!

You are correct about the original pic not being accurate. It sort of reminds me of The Carrie Diaries. They don't look truly 80's on that show, either. Just like they are trying to dress 80's, but not so 80's that they alienate their audience by looking as truly ridiculous as they would have to look if they stay true to the fashion.

you're making me want to listen to 'the zit remedy' about now

 

[mantysk8coach]

So here's some food for thought. Now that we are several years removed from the 00's (2000-2009), what are people going to remember about the fashions of THAT decade?

I seriously can't think of a thing that stands out.