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Tube tops and neon socks
By AprillBrandon in Pop Goes the Culture
October 3, 2007

As much as I like to think I'm above all the fashion hype, I have been a "Fashion Don't" more times than I'd like to count (Hello tube top).

In fact, I'd grant that most people have at one time or another worn something simply because it was in style (don't lie...we know you wore those mismatching neon socks too). However, in our defense, almost everything looks good on a 6-foot-tall, exotic looking Brazilian model who weighs approximately as much as my left forearm.

But no matter how many horrendous fashion mistakes I've made (even including teased bangs) I take comfrot in the fact that someone made those same fashion mistakes first. Like Carrie Bradshaw said, fashion and politics are both about taking old, worn-out ideas and trying to make them seem fresh and new again.

Take for instance pointy high heels (you know, those kinds of shoes you can only wear standing up for about 15 minutes before you do irreversible damage to your feet). Those were actually first worn by men around the 15th century (a nice little tid-bit to know the next time your boyfriend calls you ridiculous for wearing those shoes as you're limping home from a party, ladies).

And take the bronze tan look everyone is trying to achieve (although for most people, in order to do it in a healthy way, you now end up with the dazzling tan of a carrot). The tan look was actually made popular by Coco Chanel after she returned home from a vacation on the beach . Before then it was the pale look that was all the rage, because it meant you didn't have to work outside and you were wealthy. Now the look of the wealthy is those who have enough leisure time to hang out on the beach all day (or spray themselves down with gunk that makes bunnies look at you longingly).

But I can't take credit for all these fascinating tidbits of information. They are actually from an article by Martha Brockenbrough. To read a more in-depth look into the history of some of today's trends, click on the link below:

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/departments/CareerTraining/?article=weirdfashion5

To check out the weirdest trends from 2007 Fashion Week, click on this link (my personal favorite is the poufy skirt layered over a full-length dress).

http://lifestyle.msn.com/beautyandfashion/fashionweek/staticslideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=5427922

And just remember, no matter how many ridiculous outfits you have worn to appease the fashion gods, we can always look forward to younger generations wearing something even more insane (I'm looking at you, Hannah Montana).