Retro Fads Once Admired That Seem Embarrassing Now

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Retro Fads Once Admired That Seem Embarrassing Now

MC Hammer reportedly needed about 14 yards of fabric to make a single pair of parachute pants. That is more material than many modern suits use for an entire outfit, and he was far from the only person to choose something that impractical on purpose.

The examples below show six more trends that were once fully embraced in their time, before hindsight changed the way they look.

The mullet began with a rock star, not a stylist’s experiment

David Bowie wore the look first as Ziggy Stardust. It was short in front and long in back, and not long after, the Cars and Guns N’ Roses were also wearing it on stage. At the time, nobody treated it like a joke, which is what makes it so difficult to explain now.

Two chemicals, one curl pattern

A sodium hydroxide relaxer went on first, followed by a separate curling solution. Michael Jackson helped make the style famous in the early 1980s, and without the daily activator spray, hair could wake up brittle instead of glossy.

A standard curling iron could not create this look

Crimped hair required its own tool and reached its peak in the mid-1980s. It also tended to come with bold makeup, since the style rarely appeared alone.

Shoulder pads originally came from football equipment

Designer Elsa Schiaparelli adapted the shape from athletic padding in the 1930s, and then the trend sat quietly for years until Joan Collins on Dynasty gave it new life for a different audience. In one decade, extra width signaled authority. In the next, it looked like a costume.

Fourteen yards of fabric

The same pants, the same number, and still worth repeating. MC Hammer preferred the name “Hammer pants” rather than “parachute pants,” though almost nobody used that version at the time. They were baggy, pleated, and loud with every step, doing little besides helping with breakdancing. That was exactly the point.

A shirt that changed color where the body actually heated up

Hypercolor used thermochromic dye developed with a Japanese chemical company and stored in microcapsules woven into the fabric. The first time someone lifted their arms in public, handprints and underarm marks could appear in a totally different shade from the rest of the shirt, and they would stay visible.

The bottom line

Each of these trends made sense in its own era, shaped by a song, a celebrity, or a particular idea of what looked impressive. Over time, that context faded away.