# Stupid things you've done in the name of fashion. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 6, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702 "2008-10-06T17:35:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![N.Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@N.Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N.Sane)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/41 "2008-10-08T14:16:11Z")
> [@Katriona](#): > > - A couple of years ago I tried that L’Oreal 2-part thing, where you do the base color and then put in your own highlights. For some reason the top of my hair just drank in the highlight stuff, and the ends didn’t take any. My hair turned orange at the top, and stayed dark the rest of the way down. My stylist still refers to the fix very clinically as the “corrective procedure.” Though it is in her “book” as some of her better work. katriona, I tried that, too. It turned my hair orange and black. I took one look in the mirror and ran screaming for my stylist, who miraculously managed to fix it, 4 hours and $250 later. I didn’t care–it was worth it so that I wouldn’t have to walk around looking like a Halloween experiment gone wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Lily\_Milliner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8edcca/32.png) [@Lily\_Milliner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lily_Milliner)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/42 "2008-10-08T14:46:57Z")
ETA–I just remembered a popular trend in Salt Lake City in the 80’s. Girls would wear loose-fitting men’s boxer shorts (with the opening sewn closed or pinned closed) over long underwear in the winter. I never went out of the house in that get-up, but my 8-yrs-younger sister went to school dressed that way. [/QUOTE] I had forgotten that trend until you posted this! It swept through Maryland too. Wow. I often went off to junior high wearing leggings or stirrup pants with one of my dad’s shirts with the sleeves rolled up. And I have to say that while much of '80s fashion was totally ridiculous, that outfit was very comfy and I think you see that silhouette (big or long top over skinny lower half) pretty perennially in fashion. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/43 "2008-10-08T17:11:29Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > Male, 38. Parachute pants. The louder the pattern the better. I had a pair that were black with neon yellow skull & crossbones all over 'em. Oh, say it ain’t so! It’s like a pirate mated with a post-it and barfed on your pants! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/44 "2008-10-08T17:46:29Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > Male, 38. Parachute pants. The louder the pattern the better. I had a pair that were black with neon yellow skull & crossbones all over 'em.\ Were you a bodybuilder? It seems like bodybuilders just can’t seem to stay away from these pants. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/45 "2008-10-08T17:48:45Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > Oh, say it ain’t so! It’s like a pirate mated with a post-it and barfed on your pants! It’s so, kid. I must have looked like the bastard offspring of Sammy Hagar and a personal trainer from an LA gym. **featherlou** , they certainly were comfortable workout clothes, I’ll grant that. ---
**Author:** ![N.Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@N.Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N.Sane)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/46 "2008-10-08T17:52:38Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > It’s so, kid. > > I must have looked like the bastard offspring of Sammy Hagar and a personal trainer from an LA gym. > > **featherlou** , they certainly were comfortable workout clothes, I’ll grant that. Kinda reminds me of the outfit Diedrich Bader wore in _Napoleon Dynamite_. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/47 "2008-10-08T18:21:31Z")
I was a banana clip queen! I went to fifth grade one day in leggings that were lime green with black splatters all over them, with a denim miniskirt over it. My shirt was about 5 sizes too big, and it had that plastic circle that you pulled the bottom hem of your shirt through to bunch it up. And leg warmers. Two pairs, alternating colours. Not matching colours, mind you…but maroon and yellow. I loved it! ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/48 "2008-10-08T18:48:25Z")
Wasn’t Cyndi Lauper nominated for “worst dressed woman”? I found her style oddly appealing-sort of like what a menatl patient would pick out at a goodwill thrift store. She was kinds attarctive , dressed that way\> ---
**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:** [October 8, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/49 "2008-10-08T18:57:42Z")
Y’know, when I look around at the fashionable younguns of today (and even when I don’t)…I’m not really seeing the problem with some of the getups described here. And Cyndi was a goddess. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/50 "2008-10-08T19:13:56Z")
Yeah. The “Tight jeans halfway pantsed ugly too-small hoodie with lawnmower hair” trend that’s going around here now looks just as silly as parachute pants. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/51 "2008-10-08T19:18:34Z")
I am guilty of just about every 80’s fashion faux pas, except parachute pants. Those on a chick with an ass end like a Clydesdale mare are DOUBLEUNPLUSGOOD. ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/52 "2008-10-08T19:35:51Z")
Ah yes, the t-shirt clip. Such fond memories I have of those. 🙂 A coworker and I were just talking about how silly it was that you’d go out and buy this contraption that served no purpose except to bunch up one side of your ginormous t-shirt… except that the alternative was to tie a knot said humongoid t-shirt, which would immediately let everyone know you weren’t cool enough for a clip (well, either that or your mom refused to buy one). I always colour-coordinated my t-shirt clip with my hair scrunchie. Totally awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/53 "2008-10-08T19:37:05Z")
Ah, but did you coordinate it with your scrunched-up socks? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nikki\_Tikki\_Tavi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@Nikki\_Tikki\_Tavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nikki_Tikki_Tavi)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/54 "2008-10-08T19:42:50Z")
And was your scrunchie in your hair or on your wrist? 😛 Did anyone else wear construction boots? Those were big one year. Cos you need heavy duty foot protection in the halls of junior high. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/55 "2008-10-08T20:29:16Z")
I remember the look that I dubbed “the layer cake”: The shoes matched the pants and the scrunchie, and the socks matched the shirt. So you’d be all “red-yellow-red-yellow-red” or whatever. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/56 "2008-10-08T20:30:35Z")
> [@Lissla\_Lissar](#): > > Ah, but did you coordinate it with your scrunched-up socks? 😃 Shhhhh. We don’t speak of the slouch socks, or the fact that some outfits required that you double up with two different colours of socks for maximum coordination. _cringe_ ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/57 "2008-10-08T20:32:56Z")
Ooh, yeah! Sometimes the layer cake had two or three pairs of slouch socks thrown into the mix. Sometimes the socks would be in different orders on each foot. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/58 "2008-10-08T20:47:09Z")
Well, in 1979 I wore rainbow suspenders to a lighted-dancefloor disco. I was trying to score. ---
**Author:** ![N.Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@N.Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N.Sane)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/59 "2008-10-08T20:49:18Z")
Oh my goodness–I just remembered this outfit I wore in '80 or '81. White pleated-front shorts with a cuff, white suspenders, and a crisp blue-and-white striped tube-top. I’ve mercifully forgotten what shoes I wore with it. I probably looked like a hooker, but I thought I was hot stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702/60 "2008-10-09T01:50:17Z")
> [@Susie\_Derkins](#): > > The shoes matched the pants and the scrunchie, and the socks matched the shirt. So you’d be all “red-yellow-red-yellow-red” or whatever. Good times. It took a lot to get me to ditch my coloured socks. I had socks that matched some tops! Then I realised that no one coordinated their socks and their tops any more, as it was no longer 1983. And I realised I was 42 years old. I’m still… trying… to let the… scrunchies go… Not succeeding. I don’t like elastics, even thick ‘safe’ ones, and the scrunchies… they’re smaller than they used to be… I have very plain beige, black and dark green, and… and… I’m not ready. Not yet. I have also worn suspenders in the 80s, and I’m a girl. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-youve-done-in-the-name-of-fashion/466702.md?page=4)