# What historical fashions are too archaic to ever return? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 13, 2009, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262 "2009-05-13T06:49:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/1 "2009-05-13T06:49:11Z")
Fashions have a way of returning after a generation or two. But there are some that should just be forgotten forever. I think #1 on my list is the [bustle](http://www.denisenadinedesign.com/images/Bustle-Side-View.jpg). I know they are sometimes used in formal-wear and wedding gowns, but it’s hard to believe that women once wore them on a daily basis. How many of today’s women would go out of their way to make their butts look bigger? A runner-up would be those [tall pointy hats](http://www.craftycostume.com/images/41.jpg) that medieval “maidens in distress” wore. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/2 "2009-05-13T06:55:28Z")
Codpieces (men) and ruffs (both) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/3 "2009-05-13T07:45:38Z")
Loincloths Spats ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/4 "2009-05-13T08:15:00Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > A runner-up would be those [tall pointy hats](http://www.craftycostume.com/images/41.jpg) that medieval “maidens in distress” wore. Hey, [tall pointy hats](http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/12/25/world/25pope.xlarge1.jpg) are still all the rage. ---
**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/5 "2009-05-13T09:38:58Z")
anything from the eighties ---
**Author:** ![I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19adc/32.png) [@I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Am_The_Lorax)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/6 "2009-05-13T09:50:03Z")
> [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](#): > > anything from the eighties Too late, unfortunately. My mom has a few bad pictures of me. One she displays prominently in her home; it involves scrunch socks(two pairs, different colors), shiny neon bike shorts, a tied at the waist off-shoulder New Kids on the Block T-shirt, and big ass bangs with a high side ponytail. She will never get me again. I’ve noticed that the only people who are into ‘80’s redux’ are the kids too young to remember it or even be born yet. /hijack Togas and poodle skirts are two I can think of that will only ever be costumes, not clothes. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/7 "2009-05-13T10:06:53Z")
The Puffy Shirt, for that pirate look. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/8 "2009-05-13T12:22:06Z")
Nehru jackets. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/9 "2009-05-13T12:39:21Z")
Nothing screams “eighteenth century” like periwigs and knee breeches. They’re now frozen in time as a historical costume forever. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/10 "2009-05-13T12:44:13Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > The Puffy Shirt, for that pirate look. I’d wear one. (Point in fact, I have.) > [@JohnT](#): > > Nehru jackets. Would also wear one. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/11 "2009-05-13T12:46:11Z")
The Pith Helmet has, alas, had its day and is no longer _de rigueur_ for the discerning explorer, adventurer, or traveller to exotic locales. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/12 "2009-05-13T12:54:27Z")
Weapons as jewelry. The small sword was the most evolved form. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2009, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/13 "2009-05-13T13:00:57Z")
Hoop skirts and farthingales - Much too cumbersome for the average woman to wear on a regular basis (the exception being wedding dresses, but they’re purposely designed to be anachronistic). Togas - except for drunken frat boys, for whom a bedsheet toga will always be the garment of choice. Puffy breeches - as popularized during the Elizabethan period, when poofier was better. Bonus points if they’re slashed to reveal a second, even poofier, layer beneath. PS - 18th C style knee breeches did make a comeback a few years ago - albeit in the form of women’s capris (few men are willing to wear their pants that tight any more… such a pity). I have a couple of pairs in my wardrobe, actually. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/14 "2009-05-13T13:40:42Z")
> [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](#): > > anything from the eighties Everything from the '80s is back in fashion. It’s like my nightmares are throwing up. For men, bits of the '20s to '40s (I’m not expert enough to be more specific) also appear to be back, at least around here. British judges aside, I don’t think powdered wigs are ever coming back. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/15 "2009-05-13T14:01:23Z")
> [@I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](#): > > Too late, unfortunately. My mom has a few bad pictures of me. One she displays prominently in her home; it involves scrunch socks(two pairs, different colors), shiny neon bike shorts, a tied at the waist off-shoulder New Kids on the Block T-shirt, and big ass bangs with a high side ponytail. She will never get me again. I’ve noticed that the only people who are into ‘80’s redux’ are the kids too young to remember it or even be born yet. /hijack > > Togas and poodle skirts are two I can think of that will only ever be costumes, not clothes. I think your username was throwing me off. I could have sworn you were much older and male (with, in my mind, a big walrus mustache…sort of Wilford Brimley like). ---
**Author:** ![Nom\_de\_Plume](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85f322/32.png) [@Nom\_de\_Plume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nom_de_Plume)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/16 "2009-05-13T14:26:18Z")
Chastity Belts ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/17 "2009-05-13T14:36:11Z")
Chain mail. Puritan hats (for men) and bonnets and collars (for women). Gargantuan [Marie Antoinette](http://blog.craftzine.com/marieantoinette_back-1.jpg) wigs. 15th century [pointy shoes](http://www.costumes.org/history/kohler/225Medieval.JPG). Fig leaves. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/18 "2009-05-13T15:20:29Z")
> [@Nom\_de\_Plume](#): > > Chastity Belts Someone needs to do a Google search. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/19 "2009-05-13T16:01:13Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Everything from the '80s is back in fashion. It’s like my nightmares are throwing up. For men, bits of the '20s to '40s (I’m not expert enough to be more specific) also appear to be back, at least around here. Yeah, my friend and I were talking to some 20-something year old guy in a bar a few weeks ago and he was telling us about how [this](http://www.membersonlystyle.com/shop/shop.php/mens-core/c_23.html)horror has come back. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262/20 "2009-05-13T16:16:36Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Yeah, my friend and I were talking to some 20-something year old guy in a bar a few weeks ago and he was telling us about how [this](http://www.membersonlystyle.com/shop/shop.php/mens-core/c_23.html)horror has come back. Why are those jackets a “horror?” I had one ca.1983 or thereabouts. It’s not something I would wear now, because it would look silly on a 47 year old man; but I don’t see why a young man would look particularly bad in one. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-fashions-are-too-archaic-to-ever-return/496262.md?page=2)