# The UGLIEST Decade For Men's Clothing?



## Chase Hamilton

I'm going with the 1970s:




























Need I display more?

Kind Regards,

Chase


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## JLibourel

As a survivor of the 1970s, I would agree. At least these days, you can get decent, classically styled menswear and won't be ogled as a wierdo when you wear it.

Most of the 1970s clothes really looked clownish. Gad, I suddenly feel I should go shoot myself just for having worn it!


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## ksinc

70s for sure!


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## TennesseeTuxedo

I voted for the 70's. I still have nightmares about denim "leisure suits" worn with silkprint shirts (oversized shirt collar worn outside, on top of the coat collar).


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## Acct2000

There was some really AWFUL stuff in the 1970s.


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## CCabot

Since I was not alive during the '70's :icon_smile_big: I will have to go with the '80's. I cringe whenever we have an '80's party here...


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## satorstyle

The 70's hand down. Have mercy did everything need contrasting stitching. And what of the enormous bow tie, in velvet of course


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## mafoofan

I voted for the 70's. However, I'd argue the 90's were almost as bad. 

Between the 80's and 90's, I'm of the impression the 90's were worse. There may have been many questionable fashion trends in the 80's, but to me they didn't seem to impose too much on the domain of more classic or traditional style. On the other hand, the business casual movement and general blandness of the 90's combined with that decade's own questionable fashion trends made it much worse: the suit died an abrupt death in the workplace only to be replaced by khakis and polo shirts, what suits remained were horrible wool crepe concoctions (often in black) with three-buttons buttoned to the top, and the square-toe 'dress' shoe thrust itself on the market. Oh, and if there is one word that definitively sets aside the 90's as the second-worst decade for men's clothing of the 20th century: monochrome.


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## english_gent

the 70s was shockingly vulgar with kipper ties and lapels on suits like stunt kites. bell bottom trousers hahahaha 

the 80s was when the rot set in for the mainstream with nylon sportswear being the uniform of the sartorial ignorant.

for myself nothing beats the early to mid 60s for sheer style.

as for the current style climate... its way too bland with no-one making any kind of statement whatsoever , its office worker chic at the mo , blah.


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## Howard

The 1970's.


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## outrigger

I think we're all agreed on the 1970's, platform shoes and bell bottoms truly hideous, who on earth thought those up?


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## Chase Hamilton

outrigger said:


> I think we're all agreed on the 1970's, platform shoes and bell bottoms truly hideous, who on earth thought those up?


Well according to Wikipedia, platform shoes were first worn by the Ancient Greeks...

--Chase


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## meister

*Hideous Era*

The 1970s and I had the (dis)pleasure of wearing some of that junk!


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## Trenditional

Its hard to believe how far from "classic" the 70's fashions got to. Some of the clothing was just down right awful. I look at some of my old photos and wonder how some men didn't fly away with those airplane wing collars they wore.


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## KenR

I would have voted for the 70's but having come of age in that decade I have too many fond memories to trash it. So I voted for this decade. Dress casual.....ptui!


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## thinman

The '70s: leisure suits, polyester, and platform shoes. Need I say more?


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## Isaac Mickle

I'd vote the 80s. If you thought the 70s stuff looked bad when it was new, well, it did not look better when it was old, and it was still being worn in the 80s. In fact I'd say that most of what people remember as "the 70s" was actually late 70s and early 80s. And the 80s was doubly cursed. First, with the growing awareness that the 70s stuff was bad and still being worn, and second, with a real inability to do anything better. You had the 70s hangover and the 80s horror in the 80s. Things went from really bad to a different kind of really bad. 

The 70s were better, on the whole, because a lot of people still wore 60s clothes well into that decade.


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## guitone

The '70's with the leisure suit (was that called double knit), knic knic ( or was it nik nik) shirts, high heels on mens shoes (disco fever)...oh boy, I sure do not miss those days....the early '70's were ok, still in college and in my jeans and hippie wear.


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## KenCPollock

A close call. The 70s' look was the worst, but IMO, it only captured 50-60% of the public. Now 98% dress terribly.


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## Brooksfan

Double Knit Suits. 

Geometric Print Suits. 

Qiana scenic shirts. 

Leisure Suits. 

White belts and shoes. 

Need I go on? I have an Esquire Wear & Care Guide c 1971-2 that contains all these and more. Anyone who wants it PM me and I'll send it to you so you can share in the travesty that was early 70's "style". Compared to the Good Grooming Guides I still have from 1966-68 it's apalling how out of control menswear got in a few short years.


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## StevenRocks

The '70s are easy to pick on. People were at least creative. People still cared about what they wore, even if it was butt ugly.

Personally, I thought the '90s were about as bad or worse. Gap-powered "fashion basics" and loads of grunge wasn't exactly the height of fashion.


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## Sator

KenCPollock said:


> A close call. The 70s' look was the worst, but IMO, it only captured 50-60% of the public. Now 98% dress terribly.


All too true I am afraid


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## Deke Lucas

If we're talking about suits, it's the 70s. If we're talking about men's attire in general, I certainly hope it can't get worse than it is right now.


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## Artisan Fan

I went with the narly 70s but I remember the dot com years of polo shirt, chinos and black square toe shoes (always black no matter the rest of the outfit).

I still have nightmares.


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## hroark

1970's are the obvious pick, but don't underestimate the 80's: lots of day-glo, parachute pants and big hair.


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## Tom72

The question is what is the ugliest decade, not what is the worst decade. The current decade may be the most banal, but it doesn't hold a candle to the 1970's fallout from the Peacock Revolution, at least not when it comes to Ugly. 

I was there. I participated. I am sorry.

"Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly is to the bone".


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## yachtie

Definitely the 70's:crazy: . The sad thing is that I'm seeing more and more of that "style" clothing being worn NOW!


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## acidicboy

At first I would say the 70s. But thinking about it, at least there WAS an attempt to be stylish back then. If you compare it to the present decade, where it has finally become "acceptable" to dress down to flipflops, 'distressed' shirts, torn jeans, fugly shorts- in other words, dressing like the outside world is your bedroom and there is absolutely no desire for a lot of people to look stylish, then this decade wins for me.


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## guitone

You guys are making a really good case for this decade, ,the flip flop thing, yea, that is pretty bad.


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## Beresford

As further support for the Seventies being the ugliest, remember the awful uniforms major league baseball teams were wearing then? Technicolor, rainbow, baby blue road unforms?

Proper baseball uniform etiquette is easy. Home: white with team name. Road: grey with city/area name. 

Unfortunately, recently I've noticed disturbing signs teams are moving back towards the Seventies excesses.


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## Matt S

I think the 70's was the worst for all the reasons said before. Men's clothes in the 80's wasn't really all that bad from the TV shows I watch nowadays. The men's clothes on 80's television sure beats 70's. The women looked terrible in the 80's.


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## bimmerzimmer

I think it's too easy to pick the 70's. I vote for today. Yes, the suits and jackets of the 70's were often loud and garish and polyester; at least they tried to have style. To me there is absolutely nothing worse than the all-too-common pleated khakis with a blue button down or polo shirt (usually all of the above un-pressed, too tight, and some sort of wash 'n' wear.) It's not only an ugly look, it's a lazy look and an attempt to avoid any style. many of today's suits - yes, I mean Thom Browne and others - also really suck.

I'm afraid today's style will be remembered in future years for nothing which to me is far worse than the flamboyance we recall from the 70's.

Bimmerzimmer


The 90's, which started the downfall, were awful as well.


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## indylion

With some reservation I voted for the 70s. I started looking at some GQs and Esquires from the 70s to refresh my memory. I think I still have 90% of the GQs from the late 60s to this month. For those that wanted classic good quality shoes and clothing, there was lots available. Not everyone had bells and platforms.


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## upr_crust

*I have to vote for the 1970's as well . . .*

. . . though the 1980's had it bad moments as well - exaggerated proportions, strange colour combinations, and grotesque materials.

What will be even more entertaining is when the fashions of today are picked apart as awful - the fashions of one generation ago are generally considered to be horrors, whereas the fashions of two generations ago are considered to be visionary. Let's see when the 1970's are revived


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## Frederick Chook

The 70s were hit and miss, sure, but at least people were shooting. I vote the 50s: no shape, no colour, terrible patterns and far too short hair.


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## Nantucket Red

The 70s are the only real choice. That decade must represent some sort of watershed in sartorial history. Sure standards have slipped further overall at present, but the 70s were a failed experiment of gigantic proportions. To paraphrase Stendahl, never were beauty and fashion more distant.


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## LondonFogey

The seventies were bad, yes, but in their defence I would say:

a. At least there was a nod to traditional form and elegance. A lot of seventies style was a sort of bastardised Edwardian dandyism. 

b. There were at least a few 'stylish' seventies characters - Roger Moore as Lord Brett Sinclair in the Persuaders, Jon Pertwee as Dr Who, for example. 

c. Although the styles were often outlandish, there were still 'standards' in dress, especially in formal situations. Many places had jacket and tie dress codes, and the lounge suit was nearly always worn for office jobs and social events such as parties. The bowler hat and pinstripe suit was still common in London. 

So I would agree that the worst decade is our current one, or more specifically the years since the mid nineties. From about 1985-1995 'power dressing' was popular and was emulated outside the formal office environment; but once grunge set in there was no looking back - there is simply very little 'style' now in any sense - shapeless, ill fitting, cheap clothes in lurid colours with logos, plastic shoes, baseball caps, 'designer' nonsense and greasy, asymettrical hair 'styles' are now the norm even in formerly smart environments such as offices and restaurants, and what is worse, those detracting from that look are considered 'buttoned up' or 'anal'...


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## eagle2250

It appears I am with the clear majority on this one. However, in my own defense, I was not much of a participant...the non-uniform portion of my wardrobe in those days consisted mainly of OCBDs and chinos, with my "dressy" outfit consisting of a navy blazer and khaki or charcoal gaberdine trousers. I was given a "shiney," powder blue liesure suit (a gift), that hung in my closet, with the tags still attached, until we recieved orders for our next Base, at which point it was gifted to the Salvation Army! 

Did any forumites wear "Earth shoes?" I am mildly embarassed to say that I did...briefly!


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## rsmeyer

KenCPollock said:


> A close call. The 70s' look was the worst, but IMO, it only captured 50-60% of the public. Now 98% dress terribly.


Agreed-you could still get away with the daily wearing of a suit and tie in the (otherwise hideous) 70's. Best decades: The 30's and 1955-64.


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## english_gent

lets not forget the 1920's was one of the MOST STYLISH decades , FLAPPER GIRLS with bob haircuts , short fringed dresses and bare legs ... ooh err , polite society had a fit !


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## outrigger

rsmeyer said:


> Best decades: The 30's and 1955-64.


I agree with you on that, the 30's set the standards for dressing properly, but I prefer the mid 50's to mid 60's styles.


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## outrigger

english_gent said:


> lets not forget the 1920's was one of the MOST STYLISH decades , FLAPPER GIRLS with bob haircuts , short fringed dresses and bare legs ... ooh err , polite society had a fit !


Good point


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## Frederick Chook

Best decades of the twentieth century? 1900-1914 for the interesting evolution from free-form and rather dramatic Victorian garb (big coats, high collars and button your jacket however you please) to a more ritualised, modern aesthetic: meaning, big dramatic coats as part of seaside sporting garb, for instance. Intersting! The 20s were great if a leeeeetle predictable... then, the 1960s, again with the return to the trim, tight Edwardian look, complete with experimentation and innovation. Brilliant!


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## Howard

outrigger said:


> I think we're all agreed on the 1970's, platform shoes and bell bottoms truly hideous, who on earth thought those up?


You also forgot the afros worn by African Americans and white guys.


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## Howard

thinman said:


> The '70s: leisure suits, polyester, and platform shoes. Need I say more?


and afro hairdos


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## guitone

eagle2250 said:


> Did any forumites wear "Earth shoes?" I am mildly embarassed to say that I did...briefly!


That would be an affirmative, but also for a very short time..never found them particularly comfortable, and they sure were ugly. I also had one double knit suit....man was I anything but stylish in those days...it took the late '70's and early '80's to wake me up to fashion....I am much happier with what has been happening to me personally for the past 20 years, but the past 5 to 10 have seen the most growth. It was in 1981 that I discovered Armani, that was really the beginning for me...


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## LondonFogey

I would agree with the period 1955-1965 being the best for mens' clothing. It was formal and traditional without being as stuffy as the pre-1918 period, and it did not have the outlandishness of a lot of 1920s and 1930s clothing, nor the austerity of the war years.


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## Trenditional

guitone said:


> You guys are making a really good case for this decade, ,the flip flop thing, yea, that is pretty bad.


You can't make me get rid of my flip flops =)


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## Nantucket Red

Earth shoes. Good lord, I'm going to have nightmares now!


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## PJC in NoVa

Anyone who's inclined to doubt the nomination of the 70s as Worst Decade in menswear should catch the recent college-football film _We Are Marshall._

It's set in 75-76, and painstakingly re-creates the awful clothes. Even the college president, played by the very dignified and understated actor David Strathairn, looks goofy in his huge collars, wide lapels, and trophy-trout-sized ties.

Matthew McConaughey looks like a geek (in truth, the character he plays was kind of a geeky and eccentric small-town football coach). Only Ian McShane, whose character is a no-nonsense steel-mill foreman, makes it out of the film with any sartorial dignity, but even his ties are suspect.

I myself was playing high-school ball at around that time, and was impressed at how the filmmakers got details such as the helmet facemasks and the fleshtone Johnson & Johson "J-Pad" armpads worn by the linemen right. They got the coachingwear and the streetclothes down just as precisely.


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## mpcsb

Nantucket Red said:


> Earth shoes. Good lord, I'm going to have nightmares now!


I think they're call flashbacks - :devil:

Oh - and I did have a pair for about one year - the same year I wore jeans - no embarassment here - I was a rebel - :icon_smile_big:


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## duster

I agree--in the 70s the designers all went mad for a few years. Sanity did not reign until the 90s. I like that big flowery shirt, though.

An advantage to the present decade (now three-quarters over) has been that, however awful the clothing worn by most in public, it's far easier to buy upper-end clothing. Go back twenty years and the designers many of us admire either didn't exist or didn't have outlets. It was Filene's basement in Boston or nothing.

At the very high, bespoke end, things are perhaps not what they were; but we owe Ask Andy and other forums a debt of gratitude. The interest generated there may help keep some very fine bespoke and MTM manufacturers in business.

A cheer, then for AA.


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## Brideshead

As has been said, it is difficult to pinpoint a style phase to a decade. The 1970s crimes referred to above emerged in the late 60s. By the end of the 70s the Designer Decade of the 80s was already well under way (at least here in SE England). So for me the 70s is a mixed bag sartorially. Ugly in parts, yes, but not at all unattractive in others.

Mainstream style (if that's what we are considering here) is much, much worse now that at any previous time in last 100 years (as far as I can tell). Not until the mid 90s would it have been acceptable to go out in little more than a bunch of tatoos in January! Obesity is now an epidemic here and that creates ugliness all around - especially when the sufferer is sporting dirty white tee shirt and jogging bottoms.....

IMO there is no competition.


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## Isaac Mickle

Reconsider the 1980s when it comes to ugliness. Think acid-wash jeans, for example. The 80s could not even do blue jeans in a non-ugly way. And consider sweatshirts. It was the 80s that found The Gap opening all over the country with wall-to-wall piles of sweatshirts and sweatpants. And are there any items of clothing more ugly than sweats? I think not. Are wide collars and poly blend suits uglier than sweat suits? I think not. And finally, consider what they did to the sweats ... am I the only one that remembers the splatter-painted "hoodies" that so many mall moms bought for $50 and up? Sweatshirts with paint splattered all over them? Matched with acid-wash jeans?

And surely the shoes were much more garish and ugly in the 1980s as well. Sneakers in the 1970s were more or less Converse All-Stars, which are regarded today, by some Sartorialists, as a part of a classic style. Sneakers in the 1980s ... Air Jordans.

The 70s may have achieved great heights of ugliness here and there, but it was the 80s that found ugliness more or less instituitionalized everywhere. And this 80s ugliness had less claim than the 70s to artistry or daring or experimentation.


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## Mitchell

StevenRocks said:


> The '70s are easy to pick on. People were at least creative. People still cared about what they wore, even if it was butt ugly.
> 
> Personally, I thought the '90s were about as bad or worse. Gap-powered "fashion basics" and loads of grunge wasn't exactly the height of fashion.


That's a good point.


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## The Gabba Goul

I'd say that the 80's were worse than the 70's...but any era in which hats were commonly worn would have to be stupider than any era in which they were not...


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## mafoofan

The Gabba Goul said:


> any era in which hats were commonly worn would have to be stupider than any era in which they were not...


Are you referring to any kind of hat? I understand if you mean baseball caps. But it seems men were much more elegantly dressed in decades where wearing a proper hat was required by decorum, which applies to pretty much every decade prior to, and including some of, the 60's. All that's left would be the 70's, 80's, and the 90's through the present . . . are these decades really preferable to the decades before?


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## The Gabba Goul

no...I mean...I deffinately dont care for ballcaps, beanies, etc...but I also find that most hats (though they had their place in history) like fedoras or whatever unless worn for some specific purpose shield your eyes from the sun, etc...are...pretty stupid...

although...I must admit...I've always wanted to be in a situation where a top-hat would be considered appropriate...


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## Frederick Chook

When outside, hats are ALWAYS practical. See also: skin cancer.


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## mafoofan

Frederick Chook said:


> When outside, hats are ALWAYS practical. See also: skin cancer.


I'd definitely wear a hat if they didn't look ridiculous on me. Everyone says I just need to find the right hat, but I'm pretty sure my head is just too large for it. Oh well.


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## Chase Hamilton

mafoofan said:


> I'd definitely wear a hat if they didn't look ridiculous on me. Everyone says I just need to find the right hat, but I'm pretty sure my head is just too large for it. Oh well.


Matthew, you gotta rent a 1961 movie titled _One, Two, Three_. James Cagney plays a Pepsi Cola Executive in Berlin who performs a make-over an a Communist lad, played by Horst Bucholtz.

Bucholtz's character complaints of the _exact_ thing when Cagney tries hats on him! :icon_smile:

Kind Regards,

Chase


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## mafoofan

Chase Hamilton said:


> Bucholtz's character complaints of the _exact_ thing when Cagney tries hats on him! :icon_smile:


Thanks for the tip! Does Bucholtz wind up findind a suitable hat, or will I have to watch the movie to find out?


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## Chase Hamilton

mafoofan said:


> Thanks for the tip! Does Bucholtz wind up findind a suitable hat, or will I have to watch the movie to find out?


90% of the way into the movie, he finds a grey Top Hat that everyone agrees looks perfect on him.

--Chase


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## The Gabba Goul

Frederick Chook said:


> When outside, hats are ALWAYS practical. See also: skin cancer.


Ummmm...might I suggest sunscreen...I realize that the tradly duke-duke-duke duke-of-earl might frown on anything invented in the past 200 years (or did they have sunscreen back then???)...it actually works better than a hat at preventing skin cancer...


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## mafoofan

The Gabba Goul said:


> Ummmm...might I suggest sunscreen...I realize that the tradly duke-duke-duke duke-of-earl might frown on anything invented in the past 200 years (or did they have sunscreen back then???)...it actually works better than a hat at preventing skin cancer...


But sunscreen won't keep the sun out of your eyes and you can't tip sunscreen to kindly acknowledge a stranger.


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## The Gabba Goul

mafoofan said:


> But sunscreen won't keep the sun out of your eyes and you can't tip sunscreen to kindly acknowledge a stranger.


touche (sp?)...


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## indylion

The Gabba Goul said:


> no...I mean...I deffinately dont care for ballcaps, beanies, etc...but I also find that most hats (though they had their place in history) like fedoras or whatever unless worn for some specific purpose shield your eyes from the sun, etc...are...pretty stupid...
> 
> although...I must admit...I've always wanted to be in a situation where a top-hat would be considered appropriate...


I love my fedoras. Could you post a picture of yourself in a hat? You may not really look that stupid. :icon_smile_wink:


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## Anthony Jordan

Is the person who voted for the 1930s prepared to stand up and be recognised?? I showed a sad lack of individuality by voting for the 1970s, although the 1980s made a very strong showing...


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## Frederick Chook

The Gabba Goul said:


> Ummmm...might I suggest sunscreen...I realize that the tradly duke-duke-duke duke-of-earl might frown on anything invented in the past 200 years (or did they have sunscreen back then???)...it actually works better than a hat at preventing skin cancer...


But you can't wear both, or you'll DIE. Come to Australia sometime.


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## Sator

The 70's got my vote because even if the widespread proliferation of slobwear has become increasingly rampant since, it was the 1970's that set the ball in motion. Here is some Pierre Cardin: 



Admittedly however, many of the garish elements of 70s style have their roots in the late 1960's.


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## LondonFogey

I don't think it's fair to overly attack the 80s. The Miami Vice look, if a little naff, did at least have a certain elegance and reinstated the linen suit; and the later eighties, in the UK at least via the Young Fogies, Sloane Rangers and Yuppies, saw a return to formal dressing which led some, including myself, to believe, that the vulgar excesses of the 60s and 70s had been consigned to the dustbin of history. Alas it was not to be...


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## NewYorkBuck

The 70s was the horrific climax of what began in the late 60s.


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## english_gent

second thoughts .. i think the 'roaring 20s' out does the 60s for style.

thats one american export i apreciate.

modettes of the 60s never got as good as this ... and oh how they tried.

louise brooks was outside of time.

https://imageshack.us

:icon_cheers:


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## english_gent

true male elgance and panache !

https://imageshack.us

https://imageshack.us

https://imageshack.us

https://imageshack.us


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## rsmeyer

english_gent said:


> true male elgance and panache !
> 
> https://imageshack.us
> 
> https://imageshack.us
> 
> https://imageshack.us
> 
> https://imageshack.us


I think that these are much too tight and constricting looking.


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## outrigger

english_gent said:


> second thoughts .. i think the 'roaring 20s' out does the 60s for style.
> 
> thats one american export i apreciate.
> 
> modettes of the 60s never got as good as this ... and oh how they tried.
> 
> louise brooks was outside of time.
> 
> https://imageshack.us
> 
> :icon_cheers:


She looks fantastic, oh and modette is an 80's plastic mod term.


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## english_gent

a nice potted history of fab chicks.

why does everyone look far more interesting in B&W ?






her most famous film 'pandora's box' given the OMD treatment.


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## outrigger

english_gent said:


> why does everyone look far more interesting in B&W ?
> 
> I suppose black and white leaves something to the imagination,
> and is also a bit mysterious.


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## Isaac Mickle

B&W also looks better because color is so hard to do well. And then the image is much less stable. If the color print is not fading, the digital image is looking strange on half the monitors of the world.


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## Howard

I would also say the 80's were pretty ugly on occassions.


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## Beresford

This is exactly what killed off the bowtie for the next 30 years.


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## Brideshead

I do take the various points that have been made about the many style crimes of the 1970s. But I am not convinced it is the UGLIEST decade. By the late 70s there were a number of exciting movements that soon consigned that Pierre Cardin look to the dustbin. The Mod revival here that was exemplified by the 'ska' and '2-Tone' bands of the West Midlands was one such positive step IMO.










Admittedly very late 70s (1979) The Specials recaptured the former Mod style and anticipated some of the 1980s trends.

So I still say the 70s was a mixed bag - where this decade is universally ugly (present company excepted of course)!


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## UTVol085

Isaac Mickle said:


> Reconsider the 1980s when it comes to ugliness. Think acid-wash jeans, for example. The 80s could not even do blue jeans in a non-ugly way. And consider sweatshirts. It was the 80s that found The Gap opening all over the country with wall-to-wall piles of sweatshirts and sweatpants. And are there any items of clothing more ugly than sweats? I think not. Are wide collars and poly blend suits uglier than sweat suits? I think not. And finally, consider what they did to the sweats ... am I the only one that remembers the splatter-painted "hoodies" that so many mall moms bought for $50 and up? Sweatshirts with paint splattered all over them? Matched with acid-wash jeans?
> 
> And surely the shoes were much more garish and ugly in the 1980s as well. Sneakers in the 1970s were more or less Converse All-Stars, which are regarded today, by some Sartorialists, as a part of a classic style. Sneakers in the 1980s ... Air Jordans.
> 
> The 70s may have achieved great heights of ugliness here and there, but it was the 80s that found ugliness more or less instituitionalized everywhere. And this 80s ugliness had less claim than the 70s to artistry or daring or experimentation.


+1

How can anyone not remember the way people dressed from the 1980s? Hammer pants, high top sneakers, huge boxy suits (atleast the 1970's suits fit!), neon colors, horrible perms, mullets, jeans that were too tight or way too baggy. Women had those horrible manish haircuts and guys the opposite.

While I am only 22, I remember the late 1980's and you can't get much tackier. If there was any style left in Men's Wear in the 1980's it trickled down from the 1960's and 1970's. It's not like it went from amazing in the 60's to 70's horrible and then improved in the 1980's and then got bad in the 1990's again. It's progressively gotten worse. I'd rather see someone wearing a suit with a large lapel (you guys put up extreme examples) that actually fits than something that is huge and baggy like the 1980's. Like someone said earlier, the 1990's were actually bad overall. Most kids my age really do think that a tucked in button up shirt is dressing up. Bell bottoms were bad but never got that popular. What's worse: flared high quality denim or baggy jeans with tons of pockets that get narrow at the ankle to go over your pump up high tops?

Even the cars of 80's were horrible. The 1970's were the end of the old era and the 80's were the infancy of the new age. Led Zeppelin vs. Duran Duran, Twisted Sister vs. Lynrd Skynrd. The 1980's are just ugh. Acid washed jeans and a neon pink t-shirt that's too large with high tops and a baggy ventless sack suit? Driving a Corvette or Ferrari that's about as fast as a modern Honda? No thank you...


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## Alexander & Overcharge

Howard said:


> You also forgot the afros worn by African Americans and white guys.


Oh-so-classy Brooklynites derogatively called it a Jewfro.


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## Rossini

Come on, guys.

Don't lapse into easy cliches.

The 70s were inventive, colourful, creative - style was paramount even if new materials and cuts didn't quite hit the mark. Glam, rock, disco... not ugly: just different, forward-thinking, and vital.

The 80s weren't far off that either. Lots of expression. New wave, pop, metal. Fresh with ideas. At least it had personality.

The UGLIEST decade, the one with the least to recommend it, the one which was so devoid of anything to spark interest or create a buzz in fashion terms, was the *1990s.

Ick! *Just plain awful!


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## pkincy

No contest...the 70's.

And I really wore this stuff and combed my hair with an angel food cake cutter (wore an afro and am caucasian!)

Perry


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## Alexander & Overcharge

english_gent said:


> true male elgance and panache !
> 
> https://imageshack.us


Very elegant doll toys. Woody's ancestors?

.


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## brokencycle

I dislike the styles of the 70's, but I wasn't alive to witness them, and this ghetto fabulous stage we are seeing now is God-aweful.


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## UTVol085

Can't beat the 1920's. People who were wealthy blew money like water back then before the depression, all clothing had to be made by hand and was durable. Must have been nice when all tailors were like those in londoon.


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## Scoundrel

The '90's committed despicable fashion crimes against humanity.

At least the '70's revived facial hair.


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## emk

Don't kill me, but I actually like the black and white flower shirt the OP posted, for parties and suchlike.


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## Rossini

LondonFogey said:


> The seventies were bad, yes, but in their defence I would say:
> 
> a. At least there was a nod to traditional form and elegance. A lot of seventies style was a sort of bastardised Edwardian dandyism.
> 
> b. There were at least a few 'stylish' seventies characters - Roger Moore as Lord Brett Sinclair in the Persuaders, Jon Pertwee as Dr Who, for example.
> 
> c. Although the styles were often outlandish, there were still 'standards' in dress, especially in formal situations. Many places had jacket and tie dress codes, and the lounge suit was nearly always worn for office jobs and social events such as parties. The bowler hat and pinstripe suit was still common in London.
> 
> So I would agree that the worst decade is our current one, or more specifically the years since the mid nineties. From about 1985-1995 'power dressing' was popular and was emulated outside the formal office environment; but once grunge set in there was no looking back - there is simply very little 'style' now in any sense - shapeless, ill fitting, cheap clothes in lurid colours with logos, plastic shoes, baseball caps, 'designer' nonsense and greasy, asymettrical hair 'styles' are now the norm even in formerly smart environments such as offices and restaurants, and what is worse, those detracting from that look are considered 'buttoned up' or 'anal'...





Scoundrel said:


> The '90's committed despicable fashion crimes against humanity.
> 
> At least the '70's revived facial hair.


Yes! I'll say it again, clothing in the 90s was dull, boring, ill-fitting, soulless, generic, and drab!


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## eagle2250

Rossini said:


> Come on, guys.
> 
> Don't lapse into easy cliches.
> 
> The 70s were inventive, colourful, creative - style was paramount even if new materials and cuts didn't quite hit the mark. Glam, rock, disco... not ugly: just different, forward-thinking, and vital.





emk said:


> Don't kill me, but I actually like the black and white flower shirt the OP posted, for parties and suchlike.


Actually, if we are seeking comment on the positive sartorial aspects of the 70's, there was a shirt style that incorporated alternating vertical columns of floral prints with broad (approximately 1/2" wide), white stripes. The columns of small floral prints were in burgandy, navy, purple, and I suppose others. My wife called them wallpaper shirts and loved the design. I called them my "flower power pop-ons"...or gifts! Looking back, those "wallpaper shirts" were pretty conservative, given the design standards of the decade, and could be considered attractive...wonder if they still make such a beast these days? Hmmm!


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## bd79cc

Isaac Mickle said:


> I'd vote the 80s. If you thought the 70s stuff looked bad when it was new, well, it did not look better when it was old, and it was still being worn in the 80s. In fact I'd say that most of what people remember as "the 70s" was actually late 70s and early 80s. And the 80s was doubly cursed. First, with the growing awareness that the 70s stuff was bad and still being worn, and second, with a real inability to do anything better. You had the 70s hangover and the 80s horror in the 80s. Things went from really bad to a different kind of really bad.
> 
> The 70s were better, on the whole, because a lot of people still wore 60s clothes well into that decade.


Mickle, this is exactly what I observed at the time. The late 70's and early 80's was a time of limitations and relative scarcity, and the clothing seemed to reflect this.


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## David V

70's...is it my faulty memory or was plaid the official color....in burnt orange.


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## alphadelta

This 1977 JC Pennys ad compilation says it all.

AD

https://15minutelunch.blogspot.com/2007/10/strap-in-shut-up-and-hold-on-were-going.html


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## Edmund Blackadder

C'mon, look at the leather jackets and the beauty of the Mk III Ford Cortina.

The 70s weren't _that_ ugly.

I voted the 90s. Ill fitting baggy rubbish that was too bad even for the 80s


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## SuitUP

alphadelta said:


> This 1977 JC Pennys ad compilation says it all.
> 
> AD
> 
> https://15minutelunch.blogspot.com/2007/10/strap-in-shut-up-and-hold-on-were-going.html


Alphadelta: Oh my, I was on the floor laughing after reading that.


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## KenR

UTVol085 said:


> +1
> 
> How can anyone not remember the way people dressed from the 1980s? Hammer pants, high top sneakers, huge boxy suits (atleast the 1970's suits fit!), neon colors, horrible perms, mullets, jeans that were too tight or way too baggy. Women had those horrible manish haircuts and guys the opposite.
> 
> While I am only 22, I remember the late 1980's and you can't get much tackier. If there was any style left in Men's Wear in the 1980's it trickled down from the 1960's and 1970's. It's not like it went from amazing in the 60's to 70's horrible and then improved in the 1980's and then got bad in the 1990's again. It's progressively gotten worse. I'd rather see someone wearing a suit with a large lapel (you guys put up extreme examples) that actually fits than something that is huge and baggy like the 1980's. Like someone said earlier, the 1990's were actually bad overall. Most kids my age really do think that a tucked in button up shirt is dressing up. Bell bottoms were bad but never got that popular. What's worse: flared high quality denim or baggy jeans with tons of pockets that get narrow at the ankle to go over your pump up high tops?
> 
> Even the cars of 80's were horrible. The 1970's were the end of the old era and the 80's were the infancy of the new age. Led Zeppelin vs. Duran Duran, Twisted Sister vs. Lynrd Skynrd. The 1980's are just ugh. Acid washed jeans and a neon pink t-shirt that's too large with high tops and a baggy ventless sack suit? Driving a Corvette or Ferrari that's about as fast as a modern Honda? No thank you...





Rossini said:


> Yes! I'll say it again, clothing in the 90s was dull, boring, ill-fitting, soulless, generic, and drab!


Wrong and wrong. The 80's were a much better decade than the 70's sartorially. As for the music, I'll certainly give the edge to the 70's, but the 80's were ok. UTV, if you are only 22 then all you have is second hand opinions.

If you are considering Twisted Sister an 80's band, that is not completely correct. During the 70's they were a Long Island bar band with a repertoire that focused on the Stones and Mott the Hoople's music. They were fantastic unit until they got a measure of local success, then they descended into mediocrity for a time, substituting smashing disco records for tight musicianship. Dee Snider was the only original member left when they were reconstituted into the group that is known today. Ahh, the good old days....


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## UTVol085

I usually go from pictures, films, and things from that period. Maybe some films that seem to be correct like _Casino. _Granted I got to see the late 80's, but living in the 1980's gave you guys a certain affection that isn't there when looked at objectively. Watch the series Columbo or the movie Scarface. Columbo always had wealthy, bad guy murderer characters in great bespoke clothing...Those are some good examples of 1970's fashion (which carried into the early 1980's; to say "the 1970's would be like 73-83, because of past decade carry over). The worst of the 1970's can't hold a candle to those god awful neon colors, acid wash jeans, and frizzy hair.










How can you even start to forgive mullets, horrible patterns (atleast the stuff from the 1970's had some form of "organic" look, not unnatural colors and computer-styled prints). The early 1980's weren't bad, but the worst of the 80's definitely beats the worst of the 70's... People didn't wear clothes that fit. The 1990's took the poor fit from the 80's and just left out any personality at all. Was watching Seinfeld the other day and that just epitomizes how bad it got....tight jeans with high top sneakers, an oversized sport coat, plaid shirt, and print tie? Ugh... and mullets. Who shaves their sideburns off parallel to the top of the ear, and then grows a mustache with a side parted short haircut? 1980s style. They were two decades of extremes; the counterculture got credibility in the 1970's and square in the 80's.

Personally I'll wear a well-fitted wide collar dress shirtand burnt orange plaid pants over some baggy purple and yellow silk dress shirt and baggy pleated dress pants.

Judging solely on high end men's dress wear, and ignoring disco suits or extremes of that nature, the 80's seem to have seen a proliferation of badly fitting and colored clothes.


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## Rossini

KenR said:


> Wrong and wrong. The 80's were a much better decade than the 70's sartorially. As for the music, I'll certainly give the edge to the 70's, but the 80's were ok. UTV, if you are only 22 then all you have is second hand opinions.
> 
> If you are considering Twisted Sister an 80's band, that is not completely correct. During the 70's they were a Long Island bar band with a repertoire that focused on the Stones and Mott the Hoople's music. They were fantastic unit until they got a measure of local success, then they descended into mediocrity for a time, substituting smashing disco records for tight musicianship. Dee Snider was the only original member left when they were reconstituted into the group that is known today. Ahh, the good old days....


But... you didn't say why my bit was wrong?!!


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## Rossini

UTVol085 said:


> I usually go from pictures, films, and things from that period. Maybe some films that seem to be correct like _Casino. _Granted I got to see the late 80's, but living in the 1980's gave you guys a certain affection that isn't there when looked at objectively. Watch the series Columbo or the movie Scarface. Columbo always had wealthy, bad guy murderer characters in great bespoke clothing...Those are some good examples of 1970's fashion (which carried into the early 1980's; to say "the 1970's would be like 73-83, because of past decade carry over). The worst of the 1970's can't hold a candle to those god awful neon colors, acid wash jeans, and frizzy hair.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> How can you even start to forgive mullets, horrible patterns (atleast the stuff from the 1970's had some form of "organic" look, not unnatural colors and computer-styled prints). The early 1980's weren't bad, but the worst of the 80's definitely beats the worst of the 70's... People didn't wear clothes that fit. The 1990's took the poor fit from the 80's and just left out any personality at all. Was watching Seinfeld the other day and that just epitomizes how bad it got....tight jeans with high top sneakers, an oversized sport coat, plaid shirt, and print tie? Ugh... and mullets. Who shaves their sideburns off parallel to the top of the ear, and then grows a mustache with a side parted short haircut? 1980s style. They were two decades of extremes; the counterculture got credibility in the 1970's and square in the 80's.
> 
> Personally I'll wear a well-fitted wide collar dress shirtand burnt orange plaid pants over some baggy purple and yellow silk dress shirt and baggy pleated dress pants.
> 
> Judging solely on high end men's dress wear, and ignoring disco suits or extremes of that nature, the 80's seem to have seen a proliferation of badly fitting and colored clothes.


Saved by the bell is primarily a 1990s show. Abominable!


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## KenR

Rossini said:


> But... you didn't say why my bit was wrong?!!


Actually, I was mistaken. I thought you said the 80's was the worst also. When I went back I realized you voted for the 90's. Apologies. :icon_pale:


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## Midnight Blue

I came of age in the 1970s and I still remember that no matter what I tried, my clothes always looked like crap. (The polyester felt that way too!) Say what you will about the 80s but when I saw Timothy Hutton playing an upper class boy in Ordinary People in 1980 a lightbulb went off in my head. I immediately went out, got my hair cut and bought my first "preppy" clothes. I got mocked for it for about a year then EVERYONE was on the clean-cut bandwagon.


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## Beresford

The Seventies. Without question. Just look what they did to baseball.


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## haruki

Beresford said:


> The Seventies. Without question. Just look what they did to baseball.


Good point. I live in San Diego, and those uniforms were hideous.


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## Martinis at 8

70's, but this trash really started in the late 60's.


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