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Oh, the bad choices we've made

By Catherine Toth Fox • April 7, 2011 • Musings, The Daily Dish

There’s really no one to blame by ourselves.

Well, unless you want to blame the media for hyping all the things we ended up buying, sharing, quoting, storing, flaunting and raving about a decade (or more) ago.

I was having lunch the other day with Danielle Scherman, founder and president of Social Wahines — about a more serious subject, of course — when the topic of bodysuits came up.

Oh, you remember those. They were such the thing back in the ’90s, when we were all sporting high-waisted pants that required tucked-in shirts.

Well, someone — some genius, to be honest — invented the bodysuit, a form-fitting garment similar to leotards except there were snaps or hooks at the crotch. Meaning, easy bathroom breaks.

The beauty of the body suit was that it didn’t ever get un-tucked or look disheveled. It was awesome — back then. Now, I don’t think anyone would be admit to owning one.

While we had a good laugh about this brief fashion trend, it did make me think of all the bad, bad choices we’ve made in our youth, from perming our hair at home to buying Milli Vanilli’s album.

Then, it didn’t seem so bad. Everyone else was doing it, so how bad could it be?

But in hindsight — and you know how clear that can be — these look like bad choices.

Made me think about the choices I’m making right now — and how bad they’ll seem later. Like spending more hours than I’d like to admit watching marathons of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” or wolfing acai bowls because they’re supposed to be healthy.

I remember when eggs were good, then bad, then good for you. I remember when jelly sandals were all the rage. I remember parachute pants and crop tops (which are making a comeback, by the way).

Anyone got a faux pax you’d like to admit?

80s90sacai bowlsbad choicesbodysuitDanielle Schermanfashionfeatured_blogs_offledeHawaiiMilli VanilliSocial WahineThe Real Housewives of AtlantaTothtrends
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About the Author

Catherine Toth Fox

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34 Comments

  • Reply matti2d April 6, 2011 at 8:17 pm

    luckily ( I guess), I’ve never been “in style”. always been a jeans or shorts and t shirt or polo kind of guy.

    some things that I saw were kind of lolo, even back then. girls pumping up their bangs in Hawaii’s humidity…guys wearing fleece lined jeans jackets…cosby sweaters

  • Reply jaydee April 6, 2011 at 9:21 pm

    My frind made the mistake of wearing “short-shorts” to the gym last week. He had no idea they have been out of style for about 20 years now…maybe 15. Anyway, his 13 year-old son read him the riot act when he got home. “Dad, I’ll never be seen with you in public again!”

  • Reply Panini April 6, 2011 at 10:14 pm

    Remember these:

    jams

    z-cavarichis

    overalls with one side unhooked

    flojos with socks

    acid wash jeans w/ matching jacket

    the comb over/reverse mullet on guys (long bangs flipped to the back)

  • Reply Panini April 6, 2011 at 10:14 pm

    Remember these:

    jams

    z-cavarichis

    overalls with one side unhooked

    flojos with socks

    acid wash jeans w/ matching jacket

    the comb over/reverse mullet on guys (long bangs flipped to the back)

  • Reply Cat April 6, 2011 at 10:29 pm

    @matti2d I heard there’s another meaning for “Cosby sweaters.”

  • Reply Cat April 6, 2011 at 10:30 pm

    @jaydee Yikes! But you never know… it might come back into style! These things always do!

  • Reply Cat April 6, 2011 at 10:30 pm

    @Panini Hey, acid-wash jeans made a comeback! Scary!

  • Reply bumper April 6, 2011 at 10:51 pm

    Victoria’s Secret still sells those “professional” attire bodysuits, and I own some! They’re not only good for staying in place, they’re perfectly form-fitting too. I admit I love them!

  • Reply matti2d April 6, 2011 at 11:05 pm

    @Cat do tell…or, on second thought, don’t tell. it sounds like something my brain is better off not knowing.

  • Reply jaydee April 6, 2011 at 11:10 pm

    @Cat Well hopefully not in my lifetime! Hah! The same friend bought a pair of those “skinny-leg” jeans and thought he looked good in them (he’s 50+ years old). Uh no, not a good look for you brah!

  • Reply matti2d April 6, 2011 at 11:43 pm

    @jaydee @Cat “skinny jeans” aka “motel 6 pants”: no ballroom

  • Reply Ynaku April 7, 2011 at 12:32 am

    bad choices? I remember agreeing to having my hair permed. I da shame. I’m Filipino with straight hair walking around with tight curls AIYAH da things I allowed my fiance do to me those days. We’re married 29 yrs and I refuse to even color my hair. NO TOUCH ME 🙂 hee hee

  • Reply Panini April 7, 2011 at 1:07 am

    @Cat Yeah, it’s kind of scary that things we used to wear in our youth are now coming back as fashionably retro. Isn’t the next generation supposed to learn from the mistakes of their parents? 🙂

  • Reply johngarcia April 7, 2011 at 1:31 am

    hehe looks like an ad for American Apparel. Seems like those items are going through a throwback, no?

  • Reply EdW April 7, 2011 at 3:04 am

    lets see..Nehru jackets wild print bell bottoms, liesure suits, super wide neckties, and the opposite super thin ties.and on and on…

  • Reply turkfontaine April 7, 2011 at 5:04 am

    easter egg colored polo shirts, collars popped / madras jackets with pushed up sleeves / big white Ray-Bans (back again in 2005) / pleats / shoulder pads / mommy jeans / leg warmers, (back again, gone again).

    the thing i keep noticing is that now, you pick your decade and go with it, like everything retro has been recycled, like everything that we ever wore then, someone is wearing now. we’ve got alexander Mcqueen and thom browne occupying the same space. there are buttoned down mad men, and psychedelic new agers catching the crosstown bus together.

    rockers, mockers, gothers, emos, hipsters, gutterpunks, geeks, nerds, dweebs and spazzes. anything goes and everyone is having fun.

    if anything will fossilize, peg and preserve our current sartorial slip ups, my money’s on those little narrow brim ‘clubster’ hats, maori tattoos (on white guys from omaha), and that stance everybody whose getting their pic snapped in a nightclub takes; you know, the one where you turn one quarter sideways and point at the camera with some nonspecific gang like hand sign?

    btw, as far as i can tell, the only woman still wearing pants is hillary clinton. everyone else has tights,

  • Reply Cat April 7, 2011 at 5:52 am

    @bumper Hey, I still think those bodysuits are genius! But they don’t work with the low-cut waistlines. The snaps are what’s key. Who wants to get naked in a public restroom! (Sorry I asked.)

  • Reply Cat April 7, 2011 at 5:52 am

    @johngarcia American Apparel is the vortex of bad fashion. I walked in there the other month and had to immediately leave. Bad flashbacks.

  • Reply Cat April 7, 2011 at 5:53 am

    @EdW What are Nehru jackets…? I guess I could Google it…

  • Reply Cat April 7, 2011 at 5:53 am

    @turkfontaine Maori tats on white guys from Omaha — we must run in the same circles! 🙂

  • Reply dbjack April 7, 2011 at 6:39 am

    @Panini @Cat Supposed to but good luck with that one… never understood taking perfectly good denim and doing acid wash or destruction but if people are willing to pay more for less then who are we in the denim business to argue? Actually I refuse to do a destruct or acid wash. Helping people wear out their clothes and then selling them to them for $300 is great for business but I think long term not.

  • Reply nonstopmari April 7, 2011 at 6:57 am

    crop tops are back??! thnx for the heads-up. i have no fashion sense. do u pair those w/ long tees or tanks?

  • Reply M April 7, 2011 at 9:27 am

    Hello Cat, I just wear board shorts and t-shirts.

  • Reply CodyZamboni April 7, 2011 at 10:05 am

    in 1983, after Flashdance came out, all the chicks cut holes in their tops ( which I didn’t mind ), and wore leg warmers, which I thought was silly

    but then I thought Members Only jackets were cool

    so much for my fashion sense…………

  • Reply NSDGR April 7, 2011 at 12:57 pm

    I don’t care what people think. But, I rocked the Kajagoogoo mullet.

    And I looked hot.

  • Reply sunshinebaba April 7, 2011 at 2:15 pm

    Beautiful post. I am not sure how I follow this in the future.

  • Reply MaxMaxMax April 8, 2011 at 3:16 am

    @Cat @matti2d OMG Cat… Uuuugh! A quick trip to urbandictionary.com just ruined watching reruns of the Cosby Show for me, LOL!

  • Reply MaxMaxMax April 8, 2011 at 3:20 am

    @Cat @Panini I remember wearing totally ripped up acid wash jeans in 1990 or so that had more ripped/exposed area than actual jeans area… I can’t BELIEVE I walked around like that.

  • Reply MaxMaxMax April 8, 2011 at 3:26 am

    One of my mantras from very early adulthood was to never do anything permanent. That’s why I have NO tats and NO piercings! Some people (girls mostly) are reeeeeeeally gonna regret some of those tats when they get older. Anyone ever see this SNL skit?

    https://www.noob.us/humor/funny-snl-skit-the-tattoo-remover/

  • Reply Cat April 8, 2011 at 7:52 am

    @MaxMaxMax God, if I got a tattoo when I really wanted one, I’d have Fido Dido on my forehead.

  • Reply Cat April 8, 2011 at 7:53 am

    @CodyZamboni I wonder if someone sells those Members Only jackets…! I’ve seen lookalikes.

  • Reply Cat April 8, 2011 at 7:53 am

    @nonstopmari I have no idea. I’ve seen them over long camis (layered), then wore with jeans. I still can’t rock ’em.

  • Reply WildeOscar April 10, 2011 at 11:17 pm

    My wife complains that all her clothes are so old that the labels say: “Made in USA.” I tell her that isn’t so, and I pull out one of her blouses with a label that says: “Made in West Germany.”

  • Reply tyfferz April 12, 2011 at 11:12 pm

    Leg warmers with mini skirts when valley girls were so in..I thought it was pretty hot but NOT. Another thing that I noticed back in the days…were fleece jackets. I didn’t wear this but I do remember that alot of girls used to wear these jackets with SHORTS and slippers. And the horrors of all horrors…I had a tail with my short layered hairdo! Why did I do that… I have no idea but I peroxided the tail. BLEH

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About Me

About Me
Born and raised on O‘ahu, Hawaiʻi, Catherine Toth Fox has been chronicling her adventures in her blog, The Cat Dish, for more than a decade. She worked as a newspaper reporter in Hawai‘i for 10 years and continues to freelance—in between teaching journalism, hitting the surf and eating everything in sight—for national and local print and online publications. She’s currently the editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine.

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