What items don't date?

[candykane25]

My first thought was a sixties style shift dress. Something simple, sleeveless, round neck, a line ish and above knee.
A black polo neck doesn't date.
On another camel coat thread there are opposing views about whether they date. I think buttons and detailings date but some cuts don't.
What would you say doesn't date?

[shins]

I remember buying a pair of Converse high tops in 1994 and the shop assistant telling me they were going out of fashion -ha!

[MorrisZapp]

Look at charity shops. Whatever jeans they have in, have dated. I'm currently wearing boyfriend /straight type jeans but the chazzer is rammed with 'the essential boot cut' etc.

When I see boyfriend jeans as the default in the charity shop, I'll know I'm officially out of date :)

[BuntyFigglesworthSpiffington]

Converse did drop out of fashion a bit in the mid 90s, then they came back in with The Strokes around 2001, then the breton top mums held on to them for dear life. They're always around but can look a bit dated.

[BuntyFigglesworthSpiffington]

The Jigsaw leather jackets looks very like the collarless Gucci leather jackets that were all the rage circa 2000.

[DelicatePreciousThing1]

Camel costs are always I otherwise they would not be available year on year. They add class.

[DelicatePreciousThing1]

Camel coats are always IN...

[DelicatePreciousThing1]

Breton tops or striped navy or black long-sleeved t shirts always look current. They are classy, too.

[DelicatePreciousThing1]

Floisme

I know exactly what you mean about artificially straight hair. I cannot understand why people would want that look. It rarely looks good and usually looks "curtainy" and endy. Natural straight hair sways properly.

[candykane25]

It's about what is useful and easy to wear too isn't it. A uniform.
Converse are easy (if you don't mind laces - which I do, too much faff).
Simple plain tees and jumpers are easy.
Bikers are easy. Warm, waterproof, not too heavy, do t take up much room, go with dressed and jeans. Easy to layer.
Some silhouettes are easy.

[andintothefire]

I was thinking the other day how badly most of Princess Diana's wardrobe has dated. I think it is partly because the 80s look was not actually about being flattering - shoulder pads are not something that most women would wear (at least to the 80s extent) in a bid to enhance their figure. The look was partly about power dressing and women being strong, masculine and in control in a way that has perhaps become less important now that social expectations have shifted. Women don't need to wear masculine inspired clothing to be taken seriously. I wear colourful dresses and my hair loose to work in a serious professional environment, and also don't feel the need to wear much makeup on a daily basis. The 80s look seems to encapsulate a different social period.

[candykane25]

I think the 80s was about abundance. Excessive material, big ounces.men wore the shoulder pads too.
There was disposable wealth and champagne Charlie's and it was ok to display that wealth. Hair was big, make up was big. Jewellery was big.
Fabrics were rich and thick.
In today's austerity it's much more sleek and refined. Fabrics may be rich but it's understated.
If you look at duchess of Cambridge now, there's not much excess material, it's fairly sleek.

[BuntyFigglesworthSpiffington]

Diana's 1980's clobber was bloody awful. She redeemed herself with some of her streamlined 90's frocks though.

[candykane25]

It is in retrospect but at the time it was seen as wonderful. As a child I had a book just if Diana and her outfits. Lots of photos of her greeting crowds around the world in emerald silk and cobalt suits and taffeta gowns.
Before her it had been the queen and princess Anne so all this colour and fashion forward detailing was amazing. She worked closely with British designers and collaborated to highlighted. It was much copied (especially the hair) but the high street wasn't like urbis now m. My copies of her stuff came from the market, not the high street.
It was so of its era. It was a phenomenon, a was her fame and popularity.

[candykane25]

• it is now, not urbis (?)

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

Speaking of Diana, those bows at the neck of blouses seem to be making a bit of a come-back this year.

I think while cotton shirtwaister dresses, probably with a revere neckline, can look a bit frumpy they never really look wrong. It's the shoes/cardi that date it I think.

I was looking at some old photos of mum's and I was surprised that the men's shorts were all shorter than the women's!

[W8woman]

45 and have seen just about everything come and go. After graduating at the turn of the 90s I was a fully fledged yuppie and totally bought into 'investment dressing'. Armani, Prada, Gucci, Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo etc.

What a piss poor investment that was (and why was I taking investment advice from fashion journos anyway?) Nearly everything has gone to the charity shop over the years and I could weep for the loss of that capital outlay, never mind what it would have earned me in property equity or a pension over the last 25 years.

Someone mentioned jumpers not dating, but even they do. Lengths change, sleeves change, sometimes they're baggy and sometimes they're fitted. Even the depth of the v neck changes. But my mother has kept all her old Vogue and House and Garden magazines and it's fascinating going through them to see which looks have dated more than others.

[Floisme]

See I don't remember 80s fashion that way at all. Yes all that power dressing was dreadful and poor old Diana looked a fright. (The clothes wore her, rather than the other way round). But the alternative scene was great. You'd go to clubs and see the most amazing outfits and make up - and often the men were as flamboyant as the women.

Sadly, a lot of it's probably lost - most people were too busy having a good time to take photos. But the likes of Madonna and Boy George picked up on some of it.

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

It's a bit later (and American) but reading the Sweet Valley High books is quite interesting - a lot of the very fashion forward outfits there sound very dated now (black bootleg jeans with a red bustier and a red and black bolero jacket spring to mind).

[Trills]

black bootleg jeans with a red bustier and a red and black bolero jacke

Sounds great, sign me up.

[cressetmama]

WHen I lived in NY (80-85) and had no money, I bought marked down items, and shopped in thrift shops for quality classics. Then wore plain clothes with atmospheric accessories: so, a beaded cocktail dress with a pillbox fur hat and riding boots for a gig, or a brocade tuxedo and jeans for cool Saturday shopping. But there were a lot of lurid colours.......... thank you Princess Di. Hated her Sloane clothes, but she improved with age.

[Floisme]

I always thought Diana's best looks were when she wasn't trying so hard e.g here:

I know, I know, she was campaigning about landmines and I was checking her outfits That's how shallow I am.