Every year brings us a slew of fashion fails from across the world, but how about those fashion fails from the past? What crazy fads did people make up back then that came to light and quickly died off soon after because they were stupid, dangerous, or just too much trouble to bother with?
1. Wearing Baby Alligators
What better way to be trendy than to wear a baby alligator as a necklace until it dies from hunger and mistreatment?
It’s true. In 1916 there was a fashion trend for wearing a live, baby alligator, tied to a pink ribbon, around one’s neck. There it would hang until its life expired. The wearer would then discard it and buy a new one to wear the following day.
2. Boyfriend’s Name on Silk Stockings
For some strange reason, women in the early 1900s liked putting their boyfriends’ names on just about everything. They would wear cut out pictures of their boyfriends glued to their faces, paint names on their arms and cheeks, and, of all things, embroider the name of a fiancé on a pair of silk stockings.
Fresh out of London, named silk stockings were all the rage in 1914. The name was done in “startling colored embroidery” and it must have been an absolute nightmare to work with the delicate material because the fad was, thankfully, short lived.
3. Knee Watch
Miss Verna Elliott of Ohio was so afraid of pickpockets stealing her watch that back in 1915 she began wearing her watch around her knee. According to her, “It isn’t such a handy place for me, but this knee-pocket is very unhandy for the pickpocket.”
While having to lift up one’s skirt to check the time was certainly not convenient, the fad did take off in Ohio and young ladies took to the style for the simple reason that they wanted to do something a little different.
4. Bare Painted Ankles
By 1915, many women were doing away with stockings and were beginning to wear, of all things, sandals. It caused quite a stir in the newspapers at the time, until yet another fashion fad arrived on the scene: painted ankles!
That’s right. Women wanted to go out in public with bare ankles, but still felt that they had to pretty up the bare flesh. One lady solved the problem and began painting her feet, ankles, and the lower parts of her legs. She said, “I find that the use of paint instead of stockings is much cooler and healthier.” Of course, she did not know about the negative health effects of the lead present in the paint at that time.
5. Pierced Dog Ears
While most of us realize that our family dogs should not be treated like fashion accessories, people from the past thought of their furbabies a bit differently.
In 1910, newspapers told the trendy folks across the United States that getting their dogs’ ears pierced was the in thing to do. According to one report, “to be a right-up-to-date fashionable dog, he must have rings in his ears.”
Sure enough, a Duchess had her Dachshund’s ears pierced and he is seen here wearing a pair of his $10,000 enamel and diamond earrings.
6. Cigarette Veil
Anything for a cigarette, right? Even if it means the risk of lighting yourself on fire.
As more society women were smoking in 1915, they had to come up with ways to make the habit easier to do in public. Since many women wore veils, one woman’s simple solution was to have a hole in her veil so that she could insert her cigarette inside of it instead of having to lift her veil off of her face.
7. Canary Hat
Carrying around little bird cages while out on a stroll was a popular trend in 1920, but some ladies must have gotten tired of carrying around the little cages because by 1922, the canary bird hat became all the rage.
The canary hat was a regular hat with a tiny bird cage attached to it. A live canary was placed inside it so that the lady could walk about and listen to the bird sing by her ear. The only problem was bird poop probably getting on the hat and shoulder of the lady because the cage did not sit upright.
To counteract this, some women placed fake birds inside the cage just to fit into the fad, but keep their hair and clothes free from poop.
8. King Tut Doll
An Egyptian pharaoh doll would be pretty cool for kids to play with, but for grown women to buy for themselves? Yes, in 1923, it was the fashion trend among adult women to carry dolls around with them. It was all a part of the King Tut craze and women could be seen walking through the city streets carrying pharaoh dolls as a fashion statement.
9. Belled Hats
In 1916, London, it appeared as though people were taking the Robin Hood story a bit too seriously and they began wearing caps on their heads. What was worse was that they were putting bells and strands of pompom on their caps, as well, making them look less like Robin Hoods and more like court jesters.
10. Lover’s Knot Stockings
As even more women did away with stockings, they felt the need to decorate their bare legs. One of the ideas that became a quick fad in 1916 was the “Lover’s Knot” stocking. It was not a true stocking, however. Instead, it was embroidered silk ribbons tied around the legs, just above the calf muscles.
With the bows no doubt getting in the way and the ends of the ribbons tickling the tops of the feet, this fad hit the scene fast and quickly fizzled out again.
