# Biggest Fashion Mistake **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 29, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-fashion-mistake/247696 "2004-05-29T19:50:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-fashion-mistake/247696/81 "2004-06-03T00:03:34Z")
> [@Lamar Mundane](#): > > Seems we are focusing on clothing here, but what about hair? Since I saw it again yesterday - dying your hair the same (or approximately the same) color as your scalp is simply not a good idea, especially when you dye only chunks of your hair that color. From a distance, the skin-color dyed hair looks like there’s no hair at all. I have a feeling it’s supposed to look “cool” or “edgy” - it ends up more like “I pull my hair out by the roots.” ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-fashion-mistake/247696/82 "2004-06-04T17:22:14Z")
> [@START](#): > > In my opinion one of them for guys is wearing shorts that come above your knee…atleast shorts should cover up half of your knee. > Any other opinions? If shorts come above my knee standing up, chances are they show more leg than anyone wants when I sit down. That said, there’s nothing stupider-looking than those shorts that go halfway down your calf. Any guy who goes out wearing those should be reminded that he’s wearing baggy capris and thoroughly ridiculed and/or publicly flogged. (Oh, and ladies? Capris make your legs look shorter, and a little trunkier as well. Cut it out. They look terrible.) Geezus. Remember when high-water pants were considered a _bad_ idea? Ahh, for the good ol’ days. Now as for hair. Big, dramatic, chunky highlights have gotten old! For a couple years they were popular, and that was ok, since it was a fairly edgy look that we weren’t used to. Well, folks, we’re used to 'em now. If you get your hair highlighted (highlit?) (which is not, on the whole, a bad idea. Highlighting adds depth to one’s haircolor.) then get it done properly, with foils, in a color that doesn’t contrast so damn sharply with your normal hair color. The goal of highlighting is not to have dark brown hair with big yellow streaks in it, it’s to have subtle strands that make your hair look like it’s been slightly bleached by the sun. It takes real expertise to do well, so if you have a friend who offers to do it for you, or you normally get work done at a fairly cheap salon, reconsider. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-fashion-mistake/247696/83 "2004-06-04T17:30:14Z")
> [@START](#): > > As one of those people I must say there is a right way and wrong way to sag your jeans…for one never wear briefs and sag and secondly wear a belt so you don’t need to keep pulling your pants up. It’s not like sagging can never look good if done the right way unlike short shorts on guys which always is a mistake. (Sorry, I’ve been replying as I read through this.) **START** , dear, it most certainly is the case that sagging never, _never_, _ **never** _ looks good. It does not look good. It looks sloppy, to put it mildly. It makes you look as though you have no idea how to dress. It makes you look like a pathetic teenager who doesn’t have the sense God gave pomegranates and dresses the way all his similarly stupid friends dress. Pants are not meant to fall off; they are not meant to show your underwear; they are not meant to hang a foot below your crotch. It looked stupid when I was in high school, and I agree with your parents: now that I’m a few years out of high school, it looks so amazingly stupid that it makes me cringe on behalf of the boys who are embarrassing themselves by dressing that way. And don’t get me wrong - I’m a pierced, purple-haired freak. I just have enough natural taste to know when to follow a trend and when not to. And honey, the skater-boy look is many years out of date and it was a terrible idea even when it was new and different. Pull your goddamn pants up to your waste because no matter what you may think, no one wants to see your boxers. Guys’ underwear only looks good on my bedroom floor. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-fashion-mistake/247696/84 "2004-06-04T17:54:48Z")
**Excalibre** , while I agree it is true that sagging pants are ugly, stupid and just all-around bad, I try not to say that directly to rebellious young droopy-drawered men for fear of encouraging them! I remember how delighted I was as a teenager when my black fingernails and extreme eye makeup pissed off my grandma. ---
**Author:** ![Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phedre_no_Delaunay)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-fashion-mistake/247696/85 "2004-06-04T18:28:15Z")
Yes, **Dung Beetle** , but that was the reaction you were hoping for! Do you suppose these guys are _hoping_ to be a laughing stock? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-fashion-mistake/247696/86 "2004-06-04T18:33:07Z")
> [@kalex](#): > > I’ve kind of become the Margaret Mead of the Metro - I ride it every day here in DC, and I have ample opportunity to observe. > I’ve noticed a new trend among the young women here, maybe you’ve seen this - a skirt which looks like the inspiration was a cheerleader or tennis skirt, short, with pleats. But these poor gals have been suckered into wearing them low, so the waistband falls at the widest part of their hips. So voila! You’ve instantly got two waistlines! Ghastly, even the thinnest girls look deformed. > I saw one poor thing wearing one of these - she was on the Metro escalator in front of me, and I had no choice but to gaze at her rump for 90 seconds. It was sheer fabric and her thong panties were clearly visibly. It made her look like her ass crack was more of a chasm. Truly unfortunate. Good god I hate these skirts too. I have seen many teenagers wearing these, and they are way too short…the hem is barely an inch or two from the crotch. It’s obscene. I was at the mall yesterday and went past the junior’s section, and I just can’t help but think today’s teen fashions make them look like HOOKERS! Really! Has anyone else noticed sluttiness and skankiness of these fashions? > [@gum](#): > > I forgot: Now in fashion [and I’m waiting eagerly for it to dissapear - I need new shoes]: Those pointy shoes with those silly, tiny, pointy heels. > I mean; wear high heels, or don’t. These heels look like you have thumb-tacks under your feet. Oh god I hate these shoes. They are horrid. I saw these at the mall yesterday too. The toes are sooooo pointy and make your foot look huge, because the pointy part goes out like 2 inches past your toes. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-fashion-mistake/247696/87 "2004-06-04T18:43:47Z")
> [@Phèdre nó Delaunay](#): > > Yes, **Dung Beetle** , but that was the reaction you were hoping for! Do you suppose these guys are _hoping_ to be a laughing stock? They probably just think we’re laughing to be mean, because we’re clueless old geezers who don’t like to see anyone looking so young and cool. Besides, we’ve been laughing for years, and they _still_ don’t pull their pants up! ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-fashion-mistake/247696/88 "2004-06-07T01:19:17Z")
After seeing the French Open, allow me to add that women’s athletic apparel needs to rethink the lycra trend. If the #7 ranked woman (Jennifer Capriati) looks like a sack of lumpy potatoes in HER designer duds, what hope do I have? And while I just adore Serena Williams, it’s one thing to kick your opponent’s ass while wearing a hot pink, belly baring, skin-tight outfit, complete with an “S” headband. It’s an entirely other thing to lose. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-fashion-mistake/247696/89 "2004-06-07T04:20:14Z")
Okay–I tried to buy a new pair of summer pants at the mall last weekend, and failed. WHAT IS UP WITH THE CARGO LOOK? HelLO, I do NOT want extra padding on my thighs! GAAAAHHHH!!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-fashion-mistake/247696.md?page=4)