Trends that you just can't "do" because of the fashions of your youth

[EoinMcLovesCakeJumper]

Not a very snappy thread title, but I shall try to explain! I was a teenager throughout most of the 90s and all the fashion magazines I read during my impressionable years said that:

Slim, properly shaped eyebrows are as good as a facelift
Bootcut jeans balance out a pear shape or heavy thighs
Tucking in your top emphasises your tummy
Ankle boots with skirts make your legs look shorter and chunkier

Consequently, I will never be able to embrace thick, drawn-on eyebrows, skinny jeans and jeggings, tops tucked into high-waisted trousers, or ankle boots with skirts. I am aware that this probably dates me pretty accurately to within a couple of years and probably makes some people think of me as frumpy, but I still can't do it!

I do think, though, that the principles I was told still hold true, but people now are just less concerned with "hiding" things like heavy thighs and tummies than they were when I was growing up. I wish I could feel similarly, but I guess it's just ingrained in my thinking now.

What recent or current trends have you struggled with because it went against advice you were given when younger?

I do actually think boot cut (or maybe kick flare?) jeans are very flattering when worn very long over heels but they are so out of style that no-one wears them now.

I do. I also wear low waist combats and, shock horror, I'm not afraid to occasionally reveal my tum

My mother stopped in the Kath & Kim 80’s sparkly/shiny/synthetic heyday

An Australian man recently described me as a "complete hornbag" to my DH. I had to look it up. In the context, I think it was meant as a compliment. I think.

Boot cut jeans do balance out a big tumny/hips though!

Chokers - I wore these as a teen in the early noughties.
Plaid dresses with white turtle necks underneath - remind me of being a kid in the 90s - most of the 90s fashion tbh. Jelly shoes are so uncomfy, how are they back.??
HEADBANDS - although I feel like they have always been a schoolgirl thing.

I do hope the thong poking out of your jeans thing never comes back though....

God, no, the whale-tail always looked trampy and awful. I did wear low waisted jeans but I made sure my tops were long enough to cover everything! I think thongs are a bit out of favour anyway so hopefully that trend won't be coming back any time soon.

Chokers will always remind me of the mid-90s, especially if teamed with a skinny rib t-shirt under a cord pinafore dress and some big clompy Kickers. It could look cute in someone very young, but I shall be giving it a miss.