It's funny what a decade can do to your feelings around clothes. You might have been all about the Marissa Cooper-approved low-rise flares and pointy pumps in the mid-2000s, but there's a reason you untagged all your photos from that era. You also might have been swept up in the American Apparel gold lamé Disco Pants, Carrie Bradshaw-esque adult tutus, and trainer wedges — and while you looked fresh to death then, hindsight has provided you with a little more clarity into the meaning of timelessness.
Trends aren't meant to last forever — hell, having an expiration date is built into the definition — and getting a kick out of our clothes in the moment is a good enough a reason to wear them. But there were a handful of fashion trends that made it big this year that should probably show themselves out at this point. You've served us well, £300 sweatshirt, but it's maybe time to retire.
Overpriced Athleisure
Normcore might have started out as a joke, but there were enough people to take it seriously that clothing items that are known for being affordable — sweatshirts, leggings, plain crewnecks, joggers — began skyrocketing in price. Kanye West’s Yeezy collections might have been the apex of this movement. The construction, quality, and consideration that went into the £300 cotton sweatshirts were on par with anything you’d find inside high-end department stores. But at the end of the day, that’s £300 you’re spending on something that looks remarkably similar to your sick-day PJs.
Photo: Courtesy of Farfetch.
Unnecessary Fur
Fur is one of the world’s most practical textiles for keeping warm, but it also has one of the more complicated and oftentimes problematic harvesting methods. But, fur is also luxury, which made it the go-to add-on this season when designers wanted to create something really, really expensive. Colourful fur adorned everything from earrings to shower shoes, and the more irrelevant it was to actually protecting you from the cold, the more it seemed to cost.
Photo: Courtesy of Saks.
Absurdly Small Micro-Bags
This year, it wasn’t enough to own a recognisable It bag. Anyone serious about her handbag game also had to flaunt a shrinky-dink-ified micro-bag, too. Just large enough to hold your Oyster card and a Tom Ford lipstick, these bags are made to either hang off your larger bag (in a surreal babies-having-babies sort of way), or to be carried on their own, since you keep the rest of your stuff in the car with your driver.
Photo: Courtesy of Designer Vault.
Low-High Homages
High-end brands have always swapped symbols with mass culture, but in 2015, the inspiration got very literal, with runway designers remaking fast food, toy shop, and grocery store logos in their own image. To be fair, this also happened in the other direction, with affordable high street and streetwear brands flouting trademark laws with their own plays on luxury logos. When the first few emerged (that first fountain soda cross body, that first non-Phoebe Philo approved Céline Dion shirt), it felt like a great inside joke we could all get. But these days, it’s obvious shorthand for “We’ve got a sense of humour!” And when everyone's telling the same joke, it stops being funny.
Photo: Courtesy of Moschino.
Mid-Calf Boots
If you can zip your way into them, mid-calf boots can look ridiculously great — they make your legs look longer, and create that photographer-bait silhouette when paired with a stiff pair of culottes. But being able to zip into them is the key. The shaft of the boot extends well into your leg, so if you’ve even got a hint of a calf, this style will introduce you to a new, less welcome body part — the mid-leg muffin top.
Photo: Courtesy of Zara.
Pseudo Profound Graphic Tees
From the bon mots that seem to come ready-made for Pinterest ("All I Need Is Mascara and Coffee") to the bizarrely aggressive ones ("SORRY, I’M NOT LISTENING") to anything involving the word “Unicorn,” a French word, or one of those woo-girl rap lyrics, graphic tees are now the sartorial equivalent of a Fat Jewish Instagram post.
Photo: Courtesy of Question Air.
Straitjacket Sleeves
The off-the-shoulder trend was one of our favourites this year. Subtly sexy and comfortable (once you figure out how to keep those shoulders in place), it was awesome most of the time. The trend turns sour when it pins your arms against your sides. Happening more often than you'd think (seriously — check out a few clubwear e-commerce sites; they're everywhere), this kind of sleeve relegates you to one dance move, straws-only drinks, and absolutely no high-fiving, bear hugs, or cab-hailing.
Photo: Courtesy of Forever 21.
Pelvage-Baring Pieces
From the red carpet to the sandbar, clothes that showcased your bare hips became one of those daredevil trends that really made an impact. For non-celebrities, this trend was somewhat of a stretch, especially when you accidentally tried on a one-piece swimsuit and realised that the leg holes were made for a '90s-era Pam Anderson.
Photo: Courtesy of Nasty Gal.
Bad Wearable Tech
The best kind of technology changes the way that you experience the world. Useful tech improves the way you already do something. Bad tech doesn't actually add to your life in any meaningful way, is more clunky to utilize than doing things the old way, and, frankly, is ugly. We saw a lot of the latter come to market in 2015 as part of the wearable tech boom, but only a handful have lasted on our fingers, wrists, and necks for more than a week.
Photo: Courtesy of Amazon.
Cheap Fringe
When fringe is done right — when it's heavy, substantial, and moves with you — it can instantly transform you into a rockstar. But when retailers skimp on the good stuff, which happens far too frequently, fringe can become a staticky, unraveling, knotted, ramen-noodle-looking nightmare. Admit it: You've used a flat-iron to attempt to course-correct before a night out this year.
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