Which decade had the most tacky fashion?

Cargo shorts with a wife-beater. Special.

 

The last couple decades seem to not carry a single trend, so we gotta go with the roaring '70s. In with bell bottoms, out with parachute pants. Oh, and the stretch-denim leisure suit. Thank god for Dolfin shorts, at least.

Great hair decade, however!!

 

I wrote our 'dress & appearance' standards, and it includes a prohibition on "visible tattoos", pierced jewelry other than on the ear lobes, and "faddish or distracting" hairstyles.
It also contains the "generally accepted professional standards" catch-all... which has been used to prohibit male employees from wearing skirts & dresses to work, as well as requiring male employees to remove lipstick & eye make-up/mascara.

But I have to point out that, when it comes to ink, we have become far more tolerant over the past 10 years or so. The "rule" is still in place, but visible yet non-distracting ink has been looked at with a blind-eye.

 

Hey, given time, every fashion trend will come back. (Except for electric blue eyeshadow, that is, and even that may come back eventually.)

 

Just watch a Starsky and Hutch or any 70's cop show, then come back and vote.

 

All I know is that 90% of girls 25 and under dress and act like pigs since around 2000. Whenever the era was that women stopped showing off their legs and started sticking out their bony ugly knees and calves for display without hosiery. Instant DS.

 

{grab can of worms, walk toward can opener} In several jurisdictions (IANAL, this is what our HR folks have drummed into our minds) this may be illegal. (IIRC, Las Vegas is one) Things like "gender expression" and "gender presentation" are now protected in some cases.

Along the same line is the awkward-at-best case of someone who decides to transition from one gender to another on the job. This is again protected in some jurisdictions. It has not happened yet in any of my immediate working groups, but I know cases of it happening with one of our clients.

But anyway, dress in the office has become less and less strict over the years. Casual Friday has evolved to casual M-Th and "shirt and shoes suggested" on Friday! Business dress is pretty much reserved for the more formal client encounters.

Dress has also become more and more androgynous. Most of us seldom wear skirts or dresses anymore. Business dress, in these days, is more like slacks, a coordinated top, and a jacket or blazer. As for business casual, more and more items are less gender specific.

 

'70s. Even then, I knew I was poorly dressed!

 

Yeah...we had one about 25 years ago (if you can believe that). We made him pick a date when he would begin presenting himself as a female, and then held 'her' to the dress & appearance standards for female employees beginning on that date. It went pretty well, actually.
Restrooms & showers became the only issue for a short time, as he/she was permitted to use either/both while transitioning, but we fixed that too... we created a sign for him (later her) to use which informed others when he/she would be in the restroom/shower.
You could go in if you wanted, or use another one if you didn't.
(Most guys didn't care...female employees, in general, had more of an issue with it until he "officially" became a 'she'... [let the reader understand] and at that point, the "caution sign" was no longer necessary).

 

The 1970's wins hands down...or should I say, FEET down! Take a look at this vintage photo and tell me that the 1970s were not the absolute tackiest decade for fashion ever:



And yes, the goldfish were LIVE!!!!

 

Reminder, this poll will close next Monday. If you have not voted, please do so. Let's get enough data points for a conclusion!

 

1970s Elton John





I rest my case.

 

70's had some awful stuff, but you still could see cute disco dresses. Even the guy suits are bad now, but were at least tailored looking and could look good for the time period. (Think Saturday night fever )

80's? Neon. MC Hammer pants. Splatter paint shirts, fringe Jean jackets, huge shoulder pads, over the top ruffles and taffeta, crimped hair. Everything was about looking plasticky, fake and frivolous.

I think if you ask a woman "find a classic x generation dress you still think is elegant, you can probably find one in almost every decade. (Again, 70's had some CUTE club wear!)

80's? I can't think of one dress that shouts 80s that can hold up. Blech. (And before someone quips Michelle Pfeiffer in the fabulous Baker boys, that was a timeless slinky dress, not something that shouts "80's"!)

So for me, 80's by far!

 

I had a pair of these in the 70’s.

 

ROFL! (And you actually admit it!)

 

I know!! It was all the rage. For about 1 year. I hardly got to wear them. I went to a private school. Girls had to wear dresses. No pants. Then church- girls had to wear dresses. I could only wear them on Saturdays. I must have been about 11 years old. So my window to actually wear them was very small.

I thought I was cool.

 

There are a number of things I did in the 1970s that I don't share. Just sayin'.

 

I can’t remember the 70’s clearly. But I know when my jeans got worn and frayed / split, I cut them into shorts instead of packing them away for resale in the 2010’s. What a dolt!! Now when I'm mowing or doing outside work in my worn jeans with holes and splits all about (I figure I can’t ruin them in their present state), the youngsters speeding by honking and waving are only acknowledging my fashionable taste.
I’m backasswards, I buy them off the rack and over a number of years make them fashionable. Figure the garage sale upon my death will make some skinny kid turning cartwheels for 5$ a pair.

 

The 70s were a STYLE. If anyone has some of those outrageous clothes kicking around...I’m talking top dollar. That’s how cool that decade was for fashion. Heck, even the pumps. Men’s and women’s.

Tacky....easily the 80s. They couldn’t decide WTF they wanted. POOF and PADDING. That’s all the 80s could come up with. That’s pretty sad. Guys with parachute pants. Women with padded shoulders Not to mention acid washed jeans. Little tiny leather belts for guys. Cmon....you all remember how bad the 80s were...definitely tacky.

 

The 70s. I feel like my mom set me up in my childhood pictures.