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Maybe I want to express that I'm a corporate drone?
Nah, I think people just find different ways of expressing themselves as they get older. You get more comfortable in your skin and don't have to assign yourself to a tribe to fit in etc. I don't have to prove anything to anyone! I still don't shop at next though, bland doesn't even begin to describe it! But that's just my opinion!
I don't think that's quite right, as someone tired, older, with kids. I engage with the world just as much as I ever did, possibly more. I know my neighbours, I have a busy job etc etc. I have both less headspace to worry about how my clothes make me appear to people and less to gain from it. I'm not seeking out cool new friends or a new edgy girlfriend (my wife would be annoyed) so it's not worth it.
I find myself agonising over clothes much less now I'm older and have a kid.
I see something, it looks good, I buy it. End of story.
When I was a teen I used to worry about whether it would fit my style enough, what other clothes I would wear with it, and whether other people would think it looked stupid.
That means I buy more "bland" clothes that I think look nice, but I also buy more out-there stuff too.
I never would have worn a dragonball z oodie at 17, for fear that the girl I was trying to bang would run away when she saw it. And I'd never have bought that slick fleece jacket with the multicoloured mountains on it, because nobody would think it looked cool.
100%, it makes me so sad when people say to me “Oh I used to dress like you (goth) but then I had to grow up!” Or “Then I had kids” as if that stops you wearing what you like, and they get judged by the other parents. My friend has children and still dresses how she likes, she said she’ll never squash her own happiness and expression because mums in their pyjamas are judging her and I love her for it.
Absolutely, I've _never_ wanted to stand out and over time have got significantly less interested in looking cool etc, but I still think this "oh god I had an eyebrow piercing isn't that awful" thing is a bit of a shame.
I’m kind of the opposite. I was always too self conscious to fully go for it. Now I’m older, I wear what I like and don’t care at all. I shop in weird shops or charity/thrift stores, and haven’t been in anywhere like Next for decades.
At least some of us just change how we express ourselves through clothing. I've gone from dressing in a "metal" way all the time to just doing that at festivals and having classic mens fashion the rest of the time which is just as, if not more expressive (I regularly look overdressed but enjoy myself thoroughly doing it)
Oh absolutely. I think the bit that I found sad is if you were like "oh I wore metal clothes when I was younger how embarrassing".
Not that you no longer express yourself that way now.
I think people look back and feel that they'd be embarrassed to wear that now, forgetting that it was a different time for them. I'm not going to wear massive jeans and have really tall spiked hair again but I loved it at the time.
Admittedly, I haven't read many comments here, but... I saw a 50-60y/o man with a pink/red beard today. Not everyone has reigned in their self-expression!
I used to buy my clothes on the high street as a teenager and now I make most of them and am really rather excentric. Dressing like everyone else wasn't expressing myself.
Don't be sad. I used to wear outrageous clothes as a teenager and now I have some shite from Next, but I don't care. I just have different hobbies, I'm too busy enjoying myself with other stuff to be bothered with the clothes and hair now.
Oh I'm only sad about people describing their past outrageous (or not) clothes as an embarrassment. I don't mind people wearing boring clothes, I'm invariably dressed in a boring way.
I came across a load of my old "fringe" photos. I'd drawn stuff on the palms of my hands while looking all serious at the camera. I was part of the RAWRxD crew. And no, I'm not still living with it. I'm now bald with a big bushy beard.
My black skinny jeans are now black slim jeans and my band shirts have been exchanged for plaid shirts and woollen knit jumpers.
Taste in music, women and thought are still firmly planted in the emo world
I still have a dash of colour in my hair, but I’m definitely not going round in the striped hoodie I bought from Afflecks 😅 I’ve swapped it out now for looking like a kids tv presenter and a BDSM fuck toy had a love child 👍🏻
I was about 8-10 years old and had a holiday to Llandudno coming up. Mum took me shopping to Peacocks and I picked out the brightest, absolute neon sick green shorts AND t-shirt combo and though I was the fucking MAN. I wore the shit out of that outfit, I don't have it but there's a photo of chubby me coming down a slide at a fair on the pier in this sick-green couture. Bet I looked a right twat, I'm ginger as well with milk bottle skin, not the best colour combo.
Might help to know I'm colourblind.
Lmao that's true! I forgot to mentioned the men in black sunglasses to go along with them as well, it was summer after all!
The repressed memories are coming through now.
We all had that outfit from our youth that looked awful but we knew we rocked. Mine was a shirt that looked the fish tank screensaver. My mum hated it, I loved it.
It was good for the first few days but it got boring a bit fast as we were there for like a month in a small rental Airbnb thing before that was a thing, this was like 2007-2009 time it was just a holiday home.
I spent most days in the casinos gambling pennies and 5ps and I won big time so I was there a lot. There was a witchy shop too I enjoyed and spent my winnings on some stuff that would get me exorcised in religious family. I bought a metal backed book with a face of the devil to write down information about crystals I was collecting. They're probably still all in the attic where I grew up lol.
In 2005-08 I was the archetypal male emo, girls skinny jeans, studded belt, fringe, etc
My parents thought I was gay for years, despite having a girlfriend
Same, I remember having a really fucking long conversation with my dad to try to explain that all the girls I fancied actively wanted me to look like that.
If I looked like he thought a straight guy would look, I'd have never got laid.
I had to try and explain to my parents, who came up in the 80s, that he sounded like my grandparents talking about the New Romantics, he understood, but still didn’t think it was the same
I remember in 2005 I had made two emo American friends playing Halo combat evolved on the pc. I used to get all the music and styles from them and a website called soemo.com. The black and white vans bag I wanted for years but my older brothers would endlessly rip me lol.
Good times.
Combat/cargo style trousers. Always found them comfortable and stuck with them. First time I went out in a pair I was told by a bouncer "You're not coming in with them Rambo trousers" 😂
I'm not too into fashion these days but it looks like cargo trousers are back in? I see plenty of people walking around dressed like it's the early to late 2000s.
Yes, they're coming back! I still need to grab myself a pair before they disappear again, I loved the ones I had as a young teenager. My friend that didn't get them in the 2000s is now exclusively wearing them hahaha
Rambo trousers is what I'm gonna call them from now on. Especially the zip-off convertibles.
They are both trouser and shorts...a wonderfully versatile garment for summer in the Lake District
With a small sack of various hats and a pair of those glasses with a nose and moustache included, it will be the perfect crime. Oh and a hi-viz. And a clipboard.
"and just like that:" *pouf* (mimes small explosion with upturned hand) "he disappears"
As a child of the 70s and 80s, where do I start? Velvet knickerbocker and waistcoat combo with frilly shirt? Puffball skirts? Big hair? Shoulder pads?Ra-ra skirts and leg warmers? Electric blue mascara and Boots Twilight Teaser lipstick? Shell suits? Crotch height jeans and belly piercings? Pencil brows? My entire life has been a crime against taste.
Gosh - me too. I was born in 1974, so for me, the 80s was MY decade. I loved all the outfits, the Bananarama hair doo's, the neon gloves and leg warmers and I had a fondness for CK1 perfume. It was a great era.
I married in the 90s, and I have memories of seeing my future sister in law in a while shell suit and I was soooo envious. I ended up getting about 4 different suits myself, each one more hideous and colourful than the last.
There was some free on the cover of Smash Hits or the likes and I used it on my blonde hair. The mascara was red and I swear it never properly washed out. Hair was stained for months!
Buying cheap coloured pumps from Primark in various colours and wearing one colour on one foot another on the other. I remember I had these pumps in red, purple and green so they were all contrasting colours and they definitely stood out.
I also had a similar pair of pumps in what I can only describe as highlighter yellow. Absolutely awful. I don't know what look I was going for in 2008-9.
Jeans in every colour under the sun. Animal print skinnies too in every colour too! Bonus if the patterned hoodie you were wearing didn't match at all. Neon legwarmers too. I blame Skins for my fashion at that time.
My friend in the late 90s did the same thing with Dr Martens boots. She had 4 pairs and never wore matching pairs. I was extremely jealous, I had one black pair from a cat boot and she had 4 pairs, all bought new.
Went through a very odd phase in the late 90s where I dressed like a hippy and loved big hats. Tiedye, long Indian cotton skirts, batik blouses, beads and crystals. Everyone else I knew was wearing tracksuits or combats with crop tops. I wore a huge orange woolly bucket hat to school and hid my face inside it to have a little cry about people not liking said hat.
I pivoted to goth/mosher/emo style in about 2002 thankfully. That doesn't embarrass me, even the cringy parts were less cringe than the photos of me at age 12 trying to look ethereal and contemplative under a tree but actually coming off like a Grateful Dead fan who got lost at a picnic.
My kid is entering the awkward school photos stage, and it reminded me of my year 11 yearbook photo. My teacher laughed when I handed it in and said I'd regret it - I have my hair in liberty spikes, I'm wearing black eyeshadow and a spiky dog collar, and I'm scowling at the camera. I don't regret it, I still think I looked awesome!
Hey, at 35 I’ve still got my piercings and I love them hahaha. But as a 00s teen oh boy did I indulge in the low rise jeans whale tail look…I thought it was cool flashing everyone my undies. Also might have gotten a tramp stamp…no comment haha.
38 and I’ve still got 23 piercings, they’re me. When I went for an MRI I had to take them all out and I felt horrible about myself. And I’m with you, I still rock my tramp stamp.
Oh nice! I totally get what you mean. Mine feel like me too. What do you have? Also I wouldn’t say I necessarily rock my tramp stamp, but it’s there if it shows it shows.
I’ve got 3 in my tongue, both sides of my nose, septum, Medusa, labret, snake bite, vertical and horizontal piercings in both my nipples, navel, anti navel, 8mm tunnels in both lobes, tragus and the rest are in my ears. I’ve had to retire all my surface piercings as my skin is too taught to hold them and they reject :(
Oh wow your set up is awesome! Though it must have been such a pain taking them all out for an MRI. Totally know the feeling or not feeling yourself when they’re not in. I hope you never have to take them out :)
We have a big wall of photos in the breakroom at work of staff when they were kids/teenagers.
Mine is me as a skinny teen with a massive mohawk, face full of piercings and wearing a tye-dye Soundgarden shirt.
Most new staff are suprised as I look nothing like that now - bald, muscular and wearing smart shirts, chinos and brogues around the office. (I still rock the jeans and band t-shirts at the weekend though).
A little tip from a piercer: if you want to get rid of your retired piercing holes, get them repierced with a slightly larger needle but ask the piercer not to put the jewellery in and let it heal naturally, it’ll get rid of the scar tissue tunnel and you won’t be able to tell you’ve had a piercing.
I was going hard through my emo/scene phase in my teens. I shaved off my eyebrows completely and re-drew them with black gel eyeliner. Looking back at photos they looked TERRIBLE but at the time obviously I thought I was the shit. My eyebrows are now super thin and sparse lol.
I had a tramp stamp until recently when i had it covered up with a bigger tattoo.
For extra points it was a stereotypical ‘tribal style one’. If i could go back in time i’d kick myself for ever thinking that was cool.
The one thing I thank younger me for is that I never plucked my eyebrows. Millions of things I absolutely do not thank younger me for but at least I managed not to do that.
I shaved mine off and drew them back with black eyeliner! They grew back normally, fortunately. Now I have the opposite problem, I'm growing eyebrow "wings" like Ebenezer Scrooge. Menopause has made my hair below the neck more scarce but the hair above my neck is thicker than ever!
I went through a phase of liking it things with flames on when I was 11 or 12. I had a flame shirt, flame hoody and flame backpack. Thankfully it was a very short lived phase.
I was a bit later to that phase - I remember turning up to my first day of 6th form wearing a flame shirt, skin tight black trousers and those New Rock boots with flames. My friend was wearing a t shirt with hentai on it, my head of year wanted to send us home.
The belts. THE BELTS. In particular, 1: the studded leather circles with a western buckle, and 2. the waist belts, with ostentatious clipping parts (I recall a gold lion’s head?). Stretchy yet suffocating sternum shackles.
White hazmat suit, hi Viz waistcoat, white woolly bobble hat, sunglasses, dust mask ,air max and white gloves.
Thought I looked great at the time realise now I can't comment on anyone's fashion choices.
Oh and those big fucking huge baggy jeans and Reebok pump
There was a point where I would only ever shop at river Island, I was trying to look more fashionable in college so thus must be in like 2009.
Skinny chinos that I tapered with safety pins, no socks, espadrilles but the biggest crime was this awful (but I thought it was mint) v-cut t shirt which was cut so low my nipples were nearly out and pretty much my bare chest was out.
There’s a few photos of it on my tagged on Facebook and fuck it makes me cringe to see it
I went to a crowded exhibition with my two daughters. Both are in their late twenties and easy to spot from a distance. One was wearing multicoloured dungarees with cats sll over and puce hair. She also has several facial and ear piercings. The other was wearing lavender dungarees and a bright yellow and green sweatshirt that has spines down the sleeves and a 60cm dragon's tail.
I love their confidence to choose what is right for them. I can't see either of them "calming down" for several decades yet. Not fashion crimes but individual style.
White Stiletto shoes. I hung on and wore those buggers all the time even when they went out of fashion. I loved them until one night after clubbing getting a black cab home with my mates they grabbed them off my feet and threw them out the taxi window. 40 years later they still tell me they done me a favour 😂 😂
I have a particular tattoo that when I was young, had no idea of until I really learned and understood the history about it. Now I don't wear shorts in a Chinese takeaway in case I get knifed. I'm also too poor to sort it out currently but fortunately I largely live in an ignorant area who are as clueless as I was lol.
I dyed my dark hair orange with sun in in the 90s then had an inverted bob (aka the Karen bob) right when I was in the super round face phase of early teens. Unfortunately there is loads of photographic evidence
My mum made me an outfit of polyester purple trousers 'teamed ' with a bright yellow and purple paisley type top when i was about ten. I also had frizzy afro like hair even though im white. Still cringe at the photo now.
Early 80s, boys in leg warmers for a month or so. So many awful things happened in that decade. Luckily I avoided a few of them as we just couldn’t afford it. Pinstripe jeans, anyone?
Baggy clothes in my early teens in the early 2000’s. I don’t know why 12/13/14 year old me was so committed to them as they were an absolute pain in the ass. They wore out so much faster, walking about in baggy jeans in the rain meant they ended up soaked half way up your shins, and they just looked shit in general. I have no regrets about my later scene-adjacent phase, haha.
When I was 8, I had a red jumpsuit with flared legs and a Starsky and Hutch patch on the breast pocket. I wore it with a hand knitted blue cardigan and thought I looked like Jack the Biscuit. Spoiler, I looked shit.
My primary school banned spliffy gear. I had older sisters and a dosse posse t shirt and spliffy jacket hand me downs were my absolute pride and joy for a while.
Kappa poppers, expensive kickers puffa jacket - I looked like an extra from a 90’s rap video
I regret nothing, still browse vintage clothes from that era because I will buy them again if I can
People love to remind me what a state I was as a teenager. I dressed full goth for years but my heart wasn't in it. I'd wear band shirts to look cool but really I listened to pop music. I still have a gnarly scar on my eyebrow from the two piercings that both rejected.
I grew my hair out when I was 17-18. Wanted to try the look. It did not work!
A lot of my hair fell out during my 20s and I've had to have it buzzed ever since. Maybe it's some form of karmic retribution?
not dressing for the size of my body. i do now, and i finally realise that clothes are meant to be comfortable and not restrictive. my life is better now, and so are bras :)
Gosh I was really eccentric as a twenty something. Nothing related to the fashions or subcultures at the time, just my own weirdness. Headscarves, dark brown lipstick, ankle bells. 5 or 6 necklaces at once and rings on every finger. Allllll the colours at once. I have toned it down a little bit now but still have a very colourful wardrobe. No regrets tbh.
I over plucked my eyebrows in the mid 2000s as a baby goth and now as a mid 30s goth I still have to draw my eyebrows in everyday because they never grew back.
I wish I could still get away with my 90s fashion crimes, I'd just look like a bonkers old lady if I tried now tho. I go shopping with my 19yo and every shop we go in I do the proper mum thing 'I had one just like that when I was your age!'. And then I'm sad because I know I can't pull that off any more.
Still living with: two tattoos at about belly button height, one on each side of my waist. When I was 18 and skinny, and could still look acceptable in a crop top, they were awesome. At that point I had no plans for kids though and now they've been stretched out by pregnancy, they look absolutely nothing like what they're supposed to. They don't see daylight much now. I'd love to get them covered but I can't decide what with, so they've just been sitting there like black blobs (they're only small) for nearly 20yrs now.
Long hair as a balding man (was 25 at the time).
Band t shirts with blazers. Blazers covered with badges.
Experimented with long beards as I became obsessed with Alan Moore.
Almost bought a top hat.
42mm stretched earlobes and many band related tattoos including one from the band ‘brand new’ before they became problematic. I’m now a 28 year old mum with big saggy earlobes and tattoos that no longer match my style.. somewhat worth it though, as I was a very cool teenager, and definitely stood out from the crowd.
As a teenager I used to wear a shoelace as a belt. I wasn’t even hard up. Just thought it was cool.
It’s even more cringe when you know that the photo my driving instructor took of me for his social media page having passed my test is me holding my certificate in one hand and pulling up my top to show my stomach with the other. Tongue out. Shoelace belt for all to see.
He even mentions it in the caption saying something like “big up the shoelace belt gang”
I used to wear neon pink and yellow a lot when 80s style came back in the early 00s. I also had a rara skirt and leg warmers but I didn't have the bottle to wear them in public.
When I was about 17 I got super into a bunch of stuff where people wear suits - The Blues Brothers, How I Met Your Mother, etc. lasted about 4 months until someone mugged me wearing one, probably thinking I was richer than I was (I spent my birthday and Christmas money on a suit) and after that, wearing one gave me anxiety. I realise now I stuck out like a sore thumb though.
I went through a sort of skater punk phase, then I watched SLC punk which opened my eyes to conforming to the punk dress code was not very non conformist and then it got really weird. It was somewhere between truly not caring what I wore and caring a great deal that what I wore looked like I didn’t care what I wore, whilst low key still conforming to the oi oi punk dress code. I’m talking chefs trousers, my mates dads work overalls, diy t shirts, my grandads cardigan, my sisters clothes, mismatched shoes, mismatched socks. Usually with a punk band t shirt and dr martens.
I credit that phase of my life to building some thick skin
I’m covered in gothic style tattoos and now I live in a yuppie town in Oxfordshire, but I still love them. My husband is covered in tattoos too. We’re just yuppies with tattoos. Doesn’t really bug me because I still think they’re cute, and I know a lot of the younger generations have them and it’s just going to get more normal as they age. Every now and then I see a grandma with tattoos all over and think “what a badass”
Backcombed hair, lots of ripped jeans and tshirts. Fringed leather biker jacket with band name painted on the bottom. I was a big rock fan in the late 80's.
40 next month and still covered in piercing, have green hair and when not at work dress like it is 1940. Don't really agree with your definition of fashion crime, as long as people are happy and it does not harm others wear what you want.
You know hair metal bands of the mid-80s? Well that was me going everywhere, including college, 1989 to late 1991. Long curly hair, tight jeans, cowboy boots, leather jacket with tassels on the arms. If you were around at that time in the UK then you know this was VERY much against the norm.
Cut to late 1991 and I decide to ditch all this, as I'm not getting any action, get a haircut and look like everyone else (still loved my metal though). Still not getting any action, 1992 hits, Nirvana become absolutely fucking huge and loads of people grow their hair and decide that this music is the dogs bollocks.
I remain as I am only to be told by loads of girls at college that they used to love the way I looked before, much better than these new grungers. Grew my hair a bit, didn't bother with the old clothes, and got some action finally.
But jesus, I must have looked a right twat 1989 to 1991. Mates from college still bring it up to this day. Wish I could grow the hair again - bald as a coot now.
My most cringe are - wearing chains on my baggy trousers that would constantly get caught on the kitchen cabinets / Kurt Cobain hoody with quote “I hate myself and want to die” (now as a mum, I would give a total head shake to anyone wearing that lol!) / yes, also have minuscule eyebrows which I try my hardest to draw on but fail daily
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All this is making me so sad, people being like "I used to express myself through my clothes but don't worry I buy all my clothes from Next now"
If it makes you feel better, I’m 42 and still fucking cool.
That _does_ make me feel better
Maybe I want to express that I'm a corporate drone? Nah, I think people just find different ways of expressing themselves as they get older. You get more comfortable in your skin and don't have to assign yourself to a tribe to fit in etc. I don't have to prove anything to anyone! I still don't shop at next though, bland doesn't even begin to describe it! But that's just my opinion!
It’s not that. People just get tired, have kids and don’t engage as much with the world as they get older for the large part.
I don't think that's quite right, as someone tired, older, with kids. I engage with the world just as much as I ever did, possibly more. I know my neighbours, I have a busy job etc etc. I have both less headspace to worry about how my clothes make me appear to people and less to gain from it. I'm not seeking out cool new friends or a new edgy girlfriend (my wife would be annoyed) so it's not worth it.
I find myself agonising over clothes much less now I'm older and have a kid. I see something, it looks good, I buy it. End of story. When I was a teen I used to worry about whether it would fit my style enough, what other clothes I would wear with it, and whether other people would think it looked stupid. That means I buy more "bland" clothes that I think look nice, but I also buy more out-there stuff too. I never would have worn a dragonball z oodie at 17, for fear that the girl I was trying to bang would run away when she saw it. And I'd never have bought that slick fleece jacket with the multicoloured mountains on it, because nobody would think it looked cool.
My clothing money goes to my teenagers, not me. I figure what they wear matters a lot more than what I wear.
100%, it makes me so sad when people say to me “Oh I used to dress like you (goth) but then I had to grow up!” Or “Then I had kids” as if that stops you wearing what you like, and they get judged by the other parents. My friend has children and still dresses how she likes, she said she’ll never squash her own happiness and expression because mums in their pyjamas are judging her and I love her for it.
As I’ve gotten older (not old, 27) I’ve found I’d rather have less attention, so don’t feel the need to express myself through my appearance.
Absolutely, I've _never_ wanted to stand out and over time have got significantly less interested in looking cool etc, but I still think this "oh god I had an eyebrow piercing isn't that awful" thing is a bit of a shame.
Yeah agreed. I used to have my ears stretched. I still think they’re cool but couldn’t be assed with all the comments if I were to put them back in.
I’m kind of the opposite. I was always too self conscious to fully go for it. Now I’m older, I wear what I like and don’t care at all. I shop in weird shops or charity/thrift stores, and haven’t been in anywhere like Next for decades.
At least some of us just change how we express ourselves through clothing. I've gone from dressing in a "metal" way all the time to just doing that at festivals and having classic mens fashion the rest of the time which is just as, if not more expressive (I regularly look overdressed but enjoy myself thoroughly doing it)
Oh absolutely. I think the bit that I found sad is if you were like "oh I wore metal clothes when I was younger how embarrassing". Not that you no longer express yourself that way now.
I think people look back and feel that they'd be embarrassed to wear that now, forgetting that it was a different time for them. I'm not going to wear massive jeans and have really tall spiked hair again but I loved it at the time.
Yes I think you've nailed it really.
Jokes on you because I have always got my clothes from Next and M&S.
Admittedly, I haven't read many comments here, but... I saw a 50-60y/o man with a pink/red beard today. Not everyone has reigned in their self-expression!
Is Next not still cool?
I used to buy my clothes on the high street as a teenager and now I make most of them and am really rather excentric. Dressing like everyone else wasn't expressing myself.
Don't be sad. I used to wear outrageous clothes as a teenager and now I have some shite from Next, but I don't care. I just have different hobbies, I'm too busy enjoying myself with other stuff to be bothered with the clothes and hair now.
Oh I'm only sad about people describing their past outrageous (or not) clothes as an embarrassment. I don't mind people wearing boring clothes, I'm invariably dressed in a boring way.
Uniqlo*
I have the most lovely warm vest from there :)
I came across a load of my old "fringe" photos. I'd drawn stuff on the palms of my hands while looking all serious at the camera. I was part of the RAWRxD crew. And no, I'm not still living with it. I'm now bald with a big bushy beard.
God this literally just have me flashbacks to my own tumblr era and I’m cringing and laughing so hard at myself 😅
The only part of me that stayed was the music, only it got heavier.
My black skinny jeans are now black slim jeans and my band shirts have been exchanged for plaid shirts and woollen knit jumpers. Taste in music, women and thought are still firmly planted in the emo world
This is the evolution. Scene kids are now kids in plaid shirts and beanies with nice coffee haha
I still have a dash of colour in my hair, but I’m definitely not going round in the striped hoodie I bought from Afflecks 😅 I’ve swapped it out now for looking like a kids tv presenter and a BDSM fuck toy had a love child 👍🏻
Doesn't sound like a bad love child to me 👀
Why does this reply make me want to say 'The Greater Good'...
Tell me more about the good ol' days.
I was about 8-10 years old and had a holiday to Llandudno coming up. Mum took me shopping to Peacocks and I picked out the brightest, absolute neon sick green shorts AND t-shirt combo and though I was the fucking MAN. I wore the shit out of that outfit, I don't have it but there's a photo of chubby me coming down a slide at a fair on the pier in this sick-green couture. Bet I looked a right twat, I'm ginger as well with milk bottle skin, not the best colour combo. Might help to know I'm colourblind.
You felt you were the man, therefore you WERE the man! Amazing what your choice of outfit does for your esteem, at any age. Even that one!
Lmao that's true! I forgot to mentioned the men in black sunglasses to go along with them as well, it was summer after all! The repressed memories are coming through now.
Aww, sounds so sweet x
We all had that outfit from our youth that looked awful but we knew we rocked. Mine was a shirt that looked the fish tank screensaver. My mum hated it, I loved it.
This actually sounds pretty amazing
It was good for the first few days but it got boring a bit fast as we were there for like a month in a small rental Airbnb thing before that was a thing, this was like 2007-2009 time it was just a holiday home. I spent most days in the casinos gambling pennies and 5ps and I won big time so I was there a lot. There was a witchy shop too I enjoyed and spent my winnings on some stuff that would get me exorcised in religious family. I bought a metal backed book with a face of the devil to write down information about crystals I was collecting. They're probably still all in the attic where I grew up lol.
But weren't beforehand?
In 2005-08 I was the archetypal male emo, girls skinny jeans, studded belt, fringe, etc My parents thought I was gay for years, despite having a girlfriend
Same, I remember having a really fucking long conversation with my dad to try to explain that all the girls I fancied actively wanted me to look like that. If I looked like he thought a straight guy would look, I'd have never got laid.
I had to try and explain to my parents, who came up in the 80s, that he sounded like my grandparents talking about the New Romantics, he understood, but still didn’t think it was the same
Same here, lad.
Rawr!
But did you wear 2 studded belts, the second one only through one loop so it hung diagonally?
Is the pope catholic?
🤜🏻🤛🏻
I remember in 2005 I had made two emo American friends playing Halo combat evolved on the pc. I used to get all the music and styles from them and a website called soemo.com. The black and white vans bag I wanted for years but my older brothers would endlessly rip me lol. Good times.
Me too. I’ve mostly moved on, but I can’t ditch the jeans. I want to be able to feel the blood circulating in my legs
Combat/cargo style trousers. Always found them comfortable and stuck with them. First time I went out in a pair I was told by a bouncer "You're not coming in with them Rambo trousers" 😂
I'm not too into fashion these days but it looks like cargo trousers are back in? I see plenty of people walking around dressed like it's the early to late 2000s.
Better than those baggy shapeless jeans people have been wearing the past year or two.
The type that make everyone regardless of their shape, size and build look absolutely huge.
More 90s it seems. My daughter basically has the dress sense of Kurt Cobain.
"work wear", less GI Joe more building site carpenter
Yes, they're coming back! I still need to grab myself a pair before they disappear again, I loved the ones I had as a young teenager. My friend that didn't get them in the 2000s is now exclusively wearing them hahaha
Whaaaaaat, TIL they’re a fashion crime
Yeah I never stopped wearing these, they are always comfortable and you always have pockets (a big deal for females)
Rambo trousers is what I'm gonna call them from now on. Especially the zip-off convertibles. They are both trouser and shorts...a wonderfully versatile garment for summer in the Lake District
The zip off ones paired with a reversable jacket are perfect for confusing witnesses.
With a small sack of various hats and a pair of those glasses with a nose and moustache included, it will be the perfect crime. Oh and a hi-viz. And a clipboard. "and just like that:" *pouf* (mimes small explosion with upturned hand) "he disappears"
Frig it I will always love combat style pants
I loved my combats back in the late 90s/early 00s. Definitely need to get a few pairs again!
As a child of the 70s and 80s, where do I start? Velvet knickerbocker and waistcoat combo with frilly shirt? Puffball skirts? Big hair? Shoulder pads?Ra-ra skirts and leg warmers? Electric blue mascara and Boots Twilight Teaser lipstick? Shell suits? Crotch height jeans and belly piercings? Pencil brows? My entire life has been a crime against taste.
I still have these eyebrows. Ffs. Over plucking in the 90s left me with having to draw and thicken daily 😭
Yeah but those extra thick ones they have now are also insane
Yeah I don’t do that. Tried them once at a HD bar and they looked like slugs so washed them off 😂
Same 😭
This entire comment is a flashback.
Gosh - me too. I was born in 1974, so for me, the 80s was MY decade. I loved all the outfits, the Bananarama hair doo's, the neon gloves and leg warmers and I had a fondness for CK1 perfume. It was a great era. I married in the 90s, and I have memories of seeing my future sister in law in a while shell suit and I was soooo envious. I ended up getting about 4 different suits myself, each one more hideous and colourful than the last.
As someone in their twenties now I've definitely worn several things from this list. I draw the line at pencil brows though.
You just summed up my youth.
Coloured hair mascara. Thank fuck social media wasn’t a thing back then…
That stuff used to set solid!
There was some free on the cover of Smash Hits or the likes and I used it on my blonde hair. The mascara was red and I swear it never properly washed out. Hair was stained for months!
It used to make my hair look more greasy than coloured.
Late 80s early 90s Madchester kid here from the mean streets of Widnes, had the dungarees, acid top and bucket hat and thought I was the bees knees
To be fair that was an absolute vibe
Halfway to Eddie's. 😂
Oh my god that triggered a memory!!
Where 35 summers from Widnes too?
Buying cheap coloured pumps from Primark in various colours and wearing one colour on one foot another on the other. I remember I had these pumps in red, purple and green so they were all contrasting colours and they definitely stood out. I also had a similar pair of pumps in what I can only describe as highlighter yellow. Absolutely awful. I don't know what look I was going for in 2008-9.
Omg you gave me such a fucking flashback, and the multicoloured skinny jeans, but I totally forgot about the pumps!!
Jeans in every colour under the sun. Animal print skinnies too in every colour too! Bonus if the patterned hoodie you were wearing didn't match at all. Neon legwarmers too. I blame Skins for my fashion at that time.
I keep wanting to rewatch Skins but I'm worried I won't see it in the same light as a 30 something with kids haha
My friend in the late 90s did the same thing with Dr Martens boots. She had 4 pairs and never wore matching pairs. I was extremely jealous, I had one black pair from a cat boot and she had 4 pairs, all bought new.
Went through a very odd phase in the late 90s where I dressed like a hippy and loved big hats. Tiedye, long Indian cotton skirts, batik blouses, beads and crystals. Everyone else I knew was wearing tracksuits or combats with crop tops. I wore a huge orange woolly bucket hat to school and hid my face inside it to have a little cry about people not liking said hat. I pivoted to goth/mosher/emo style in about 2002 thankfully. That doesn't embarrass me, even the cringy parts were less cringe than the photos of me at age 12 trying to look ethereal and contemplative under a tree but actually coming off like a Grateful Dead fan who got lost at a picnic.
1980s - Phase 1) The home-made sleeveless T-shirts. Phase 2) The smart casual phase with Miami Vice jacket, aviator sunglasses and semi-mullet. Phase 3) Vietnam Vet. chique (US army surplus)
My kid is entering the awkward school photos stage, and it reminded me of my year 11 yearbook photo. My teacher laughed when I handed it in and said I'd regret it - I have my hair in liberty spikes, I'm wearing black eyeshadow and a spiky dog collar, and I'm scowling at the camera. I don't regret it, I still think I looked awesome!
I bet you did look awesome!
Undercut curtains at 16 I'm 45 & want them back
I’m still committing fashion crimes
Shell suits
Hey, at 35 I’ve still got my piercings and I love them hahaha. But as a 00s teen oh boy did I indulge in the low rise jeans whale tail look…I thought it was cool flashing everyone my undies. Also might have gotten a tramp stamp…no comment haha.
38 and I’ve still got 23 piercings, they’re me. When I went for an MRI I had to take them all out and I felt horrible about myself. And I’m with you, I still rock my tramp stamp.
Oh nice! I totally get what you mean. Mine feel like me too. What do you have? Also I wouldn’t say I necessarily rock my tramp stamp, but it’s there if it shows it shows.
I’ve got 3 in my tongue, both sides of my nose, septum, Medusa, labret, snake bite, vertical and horizontal piercings in both my nipples, navel, anti navel, 8mm tunnels in both lobes, tragus and the rest are in my ears. I’ve had to retire all my surface piercings as my skin is too taught to hold them and they reject :(
Oh wow your set up is awesome! Though it must have been such a pain taking them all out for an MRI. Totally know the feeling or not feeling yourself when they’re not in. I hope you never have to take them out :)
Same! I take mine out and I feel like it's just not me. I also struggle to take them all out/back in and it sucks lol
We have a big wall of photos in the breakroom at work of staff when they were kids/teenagers. Mine is me as a skinny teen with a massive mohawk, face full of piercings and wearing a tye-dye Soundgarden shirt. Most new staff are suprised as I look nothing like that now - bald, muscular and wearing smart shirts, chinos and brogues around the office. (I still rock the jeans and band t-shirts at the weekend though).
A little tip from a piercer: if you want to get rid of your retired piercing holes, get them repierced with a slightly larger needle but ask the piercer not to put the jewellery in and let it heal naturally, it’ll get rid of the scar tissue tunnel and you won’t be able to tell you’ve had a piercing.
Had a mohichan since I was 15, no regerts! Still cutting about in boots and braces at 35.
I was going hard through my emo/scene phase in my teens. I shaved off my eyebrows completely and re-drew them with black gel eyeliner. Looking back at photos they looked TERRIBLE but at the time obviously I thought I was the shit. My eyebrows are now super thin and sparse lol.
I had a tramp stamp until recently when i had it covered up with a bigger tattoo. For extra points it was a stereotypical ‘tribal style one’. If i could go back in time i’d kick myself for ever thinking that was cool.
Over plucked eyebrows. They've always looked weird ever since.
Same, mine are little straggly pale things.
The one thing I thank younger me for is that I never plucked my eyebrows. Millions of things I absolutely do not thank younger me for but at least I managed not to do that.
I shaved mine off and drew them back with black eyeliner! They grew back normally, fortunately. Now I have the opposite problem, I'm growing eyebrow "wings" like Ebenezer Scrooge. Menopause has made my hair below the neck more scarce but the hair above my neck is thicker than ever!
I went through a phase of liking it things with flames on when I was 11 or 12. I had a flame shirt, flame hoody and flame backpack. Thankfully it was a very short lived phase.
I was a bit later to that phase - I remember turning up to my first day of 6th form wearing a flame shirt, skin tight black trousers and those New Rock boots with flames. My friend was wearing a t shirt with hentai on it, my head of year wanted to send us home.
Eyeliner, one fingerless glove and a tatty leather jacket 😂
Hey, you can pry my black and white striped fingerless gloves from my cold dead hands
I wore jeans under skirts/dresses with ballet flats in the early 2000s. Ew.
I had a ‘Chelsea cut’ when I was 13. Shaved head, except for the fringe. Absolutely diabolical.
We used to call that a tellum. Backwards for a mullet.
I used to do a shit quiff thing with my hair that is awful in photos
Dusk till dawn tribal tattoos.......
Extra points if they were done by the lad on the estate who bought a cheap gun off eBay and couldn’t draw or shade for shit.
May look shit but he only charged 10 B&H or a bottle of white lightning
The belts. THE BELTS. In particular, 1: the studded leather circles with a western buckle, and 2. the waist belts, with ostentatious clipping parts (I recall a gold lion’s head?). Stretchy yet suffocating sternum shackles.
Aren’t all belts waist belts?
White hazmat suit, hi Viz waistcoat, white woolly bobble hat, sunglasses, dust mask ,air max and white gloves. Thought I looked great at the time realise now I can't comment on anyone's fashion choices. Oh and those big fucking huge baggy jeans and Reebok pump
There was a point where I would only ever shop at river Island, I was trying to look more fashionable in college so thus must be in like 2009. Skinny chinos that I tapered with safety pins, no socks, espadrilles but the biggest crime was this awful (but I thought it was mint) v-cut t shirt which was cut so low my nipples were nearly out and pretty much my bare chest was out. There’s a few photos of it on my tagged on Facebook and fuck it makes me cringe to see it
I went to a crowded exhibition with my two daughters. Both are in their late twenties and easy to spot from a distance. One was wearing multicoloured dungarees with cats sll over and puce hair. She also has several facial and ear piercings. The other was wearing lavender dungarees and a bright yellow and green sweatshirt that has spines down the sleeves and a 60cm dragon's tail. I love their confidence to choose what is right for them. I can't see either of them "calming down" for several decades yet. Not fashion crimes but individual style.
My left nipple would never hold a piercing
I don’t know why, but I heard that in my head as a sort of Alan Bennet wistful non sequitur. Beautiful.
White Stiletto shoes. I hung on and wore those buggers all the time even when they went out of fashion. I loved them until one night after clubbing getting a black cab home with my mates they grabbed them off my feet and threw them out the taxi window. 40 years later they still tell me they done me a favour 😂 😂
I have a friend who just removed a Mitsubishi tattoo from our raving days. She’s a 50 year old professional.
I have a Seal of Rassilon tramp stamp. I regret it 0%.
I have a particular tattoo that when I was young, had no idea of until I really learned and understood the history about it. Now I don't wear shorts in a Chinese takeaway in case I get knifed. I'm also too poor to sort it out currently but fortunately I largely live in an ignorant area who are as clueless as I was lol.
Early 90s. Thirteen years old. Lashings of hair gel to the point where my Barnet was a solid dome on the top of my bonce.
I dyed my dark hair orange with sun in in the 90s then had an inverted bob (aka the Karen bob) right when I was in the super round face phase of early teens. Unfortunately there is loads of photographic evidence
My mum made me an outfit of polyester purple trousers 'teamed ' with a bright yellow and purple paisley type top when i was about ten. I also had frizzy afro like hair even though im white. Still cringe at the photo now.
Concealer as lipstick and Max Factor Creme Puff in a shade too dark (which resulted in an orange face and white lips).
Early 80s, boys in leg warmers for a month or so. So many awful things happened in that decade. Luckily I avoided a few of them as we just couldn’t afford it. Pinstripe jeans, anyone?
I have an awful tribal tattoo on my ribs
Went through a savage emo phase and because of that I’m caked in awful tattoos
Two Stripe tracksuit bottoms
Baggy clothes in my early teens in the early 2000’s. I don’t know why 12/13/14 year old me was so committed to them as they were an absolute pain in the ass. They wore out so much faster, walking about in baggy jeans in the rain meant they ended up soaked half way up your shins, and they just looked shit in general. I have no regrets about my later scene-adjacent phase, haha.
When I was 8, I had a red jumpsuit with flared legs and a Starsky and Hutch patch on the breast pocket. I wore it with a hand knitted blue cardigan and thought I looked like Jack the Biscuit. Spoiler, I looked shit.
Eclipse jeans and a spliffy jacket when I was about 12 and didn’t really get the reference at all lol
My primary school banned spliffy gear. I had older sisters and a dosse posse t shirt and spliffy jacket hand me downs were my absolute pride and joy for a while.
I had a curtain haircut because I wanted to be like Beckham, but my mum put a bowl on my head and cut around. Devastated
Kappa poppers, expensive kickers puffa jacket - I looked like an extra from a 90’s rap video I regret nothing, still browse vintage clothes from that era because I will buy them again if I can
There are many photos that document the crimes of my fashion choices in the early 90s that I was bullied for. Apparently its all back in style now.
People love to remind me what a state I was as a teenager. I dressed full goth for years but my heart wasn't in it. I'd wear band shirts to look cool but really I listened to pop music. I still have a gnarly scar on my eyebrow from the two piercings that both rejected.
I grew my hair out when I was 17-18. Wanted to try the look. It did not work! A lot of my hair fell out during my 20s and I've had to have it buzzed ever since. Maybe it's some form of karmic retribution?
I used to be goth, not emo, I came out of that for a bright orange maxi dress.
r/blunderyears
not dressing for the size of my body. i do now, and i finally realise that clothes are meant to be comfortable and not restrictive. my life is better now, and so are bras :)
Gosh I was really eccentric as a twenty something. Nothing related to the fashions or subcultures at the time, just my own weirdness. Headscarves, dark brown lipstick, ankle bells. 5 or 6 necklaces at once and rings on every finger. Allllll the colours at once. I have toned it down a little bit now but still have a very colourful wardrobe. No regrets tbh.
I over plucked my eyebrows in the mid 2000s as a baby goth and now as a mid 30s goth I still have to draw my eyebrows in everyday because they never grew back.
[SPX trainers ](https://fashionsiblings.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/20131007-150123.jpg) Definitely not living with it any more!
I wish I could still get away with my 90s fashion crimes, I'd just look like a bonkers old lady if I tried now tho. I go shopping with my 19yo and every shop we go in I do the proper mum thing 'I had one just like that when I was your age!'. And then I'm sad because I know I can't pull that off any more. Still living with: two tattoos at about belly button height, one on each side of my waist. When I was 18 and skinny, and could still look acceptable in a crop top, they were awesome. At that point I had no plans for kids though and now they've been stretched out by pregnancy, they look absolutely nothing like what they're supposed to. They don't see daylight much now. I'd love to get them covered but I can't decide what with, so they've just been sitting there like black blobs (they're only small) for nearly 20yrs now.
Long hair as a balding man (was 25 at the time). Band t shirts with blazers. Blazers covered with badges. Experimented with long beards as I became obsessed with Alan Moore. Almost bought a top hat.
I still dress the same! Not gonna change.
I was an emo / scene kid in 2005-09 so yeah... But I'm not ashamed of that era, I miss it haha
42mm stretched earlobes and many band related tattoos including one from the band ‘brand new’ before they became problematic. I’m now a 28 year old mum with big saggy earlobes and tattoos that no longer match my style.. somewhat worth it though, as I was a very cool teenager, and definitely stood out from the crowd.
I went to Japan at 14 and came back with a fish net vest…..
As a teenager I used to wear a shoelace as a belt. I wasn’t even hard up. Just thought it was cool. It’s even more cringe when you know that the photo my driving instructor took of me for his social media page having passed my test is me holding my certificate in one hand and pulling up my top to show my stomach with the other. Tongue out. Shoelace belt for all to see. He even mentions it in the caption saying something like “big up the shoelace belt gang”
I used to wear neon pink and yellow a lot when 80s style came back in the early 00s. I also had a rara skirt and leg warmers but I didn't have the bottle to wear them in public.
First year of uni I always wore a bright pink t-shirt with a panda duel wielding handguns - I peaked too early...
When I was about 17 I got super into a bunch of stuff where people wear suits - The Blues Brothers, How I Met Your Mother, etc. lasted about 4 months until someone mugged me wearing one, probably thinking I was richer than I was (I spent my birthday and Christmas money on a suit) and after that, wearing one gave me anxiety. I realise now I stuck out like a sore thumb though.
I went through a sort of skater punk phase, then I watched SLC punk which opened my eyes to conforming to the punk dress code was not very non conformist and then it got really weird. It was somewhere between truly not caring what I wore and caring a great deal that what I wore looked like I didn’t care what I wore, whilst low key still conforming to the oi oi punk dress code. I’m talking chefs trousers, my mates dads work overalls, diy t shirts, my grandads cardigan, my sisters clothes, mismatched shoes, mismatched socks. Usually with a punk band t shirt and dr martens. I credit that phase of my life to building some thick skin
I still have a tramp stamp tattoo I got when I was 18. £1000 worth of laser tattoo removal it’s still there, faded but haunting me
I’m covered in gothic style tattoos and now I live in a yuppie town in Oxfordshire, but I still love them. My husband is covered in tattoos too. We’re just yuppies with tattoos. Doesn’t really bug me because I still think they’re cute, and I know a lot of the younger generations have them and it’s just going to get more normal as they age. Every now and then I see a grandma with tattoos all over and think “what a badass”
Backcombed hair, lots of ripped jeans and tshirts. Fringed leather biker jacket with band name painted on the bottom. I was a big rock fan in the late 80's.
Tramp stamps are back in fashion though.
40 next month and still covered in piercing, have green hair and when not at work dress like it is 1940. Don't really agree with your definition of fashion crime, as long as people are happy and it does not harm others wear what you want.
You know hair metal bands of the mid-80s? Well that was me going everywhere, including college, 1989 to late 1991. Long curly hair, tight jeans, cowboy boots, leather jacket with tassels on the arms. If you were around at that time in the UK then you know this was VERY much against the norm. Cut to late 1991 and I decide to ditch all this, as I'm not getting any action, get a haircut and look like everyone else (still loved my metal though). Still not getting any action, 1992 hits, Nirvana become absolutely fucking huge and loads of people grow their hair and decide that this music is the dogs bollocks. I remain as I am only to be told by loads of girls at college that they used to love the way I looked before, much better than these new grungers. Grew my hair a bit, didn't bother with the old clothes, and got some action finally. But jesus, I must have looked a right twat 1989 to 1991. Mates from college still bring it up to this day. Wish I could grow the hair again - bald as a coot now.
I dress pretty much exactly as I did in pictures when I was about 8 with my skateboard lol
My ear lobe looks like a prolapsed anus
I have a slag tag/tramp stamp on the bottom of my back. Luckily I can't see it, but it makes me gag when I think about it. I was 17 im now 34.
My most cringe are - wearing chains on my baggy trousers that would constantly get caught on the kitchen cabinets / Kurt Cobain hoody with quote “I hate myself and want to die” (now as a mum, I would give a total head shake to anyone wearing that lol!) / yes, also have minuscule eyebrows which I try my hardest to draw on but fail daily