The Worst Fashion Trends of the 2010s
The 2010s were an interesting time for fashion. We had just survived the style trends of the 2000s, and some of us were still channeling that aesthetic (as you'll soon see). But it was also a decade of the Kardashians and their body-con stylings, which sometimes worked and sometimes absolutely did not. Regardless of your individual aesthetic, we were making things oversized (see: our hats and jewelry) and adding studs and spikes to everything. The bootie and the fedora were our constant companions, not to mention the white sneaker and the peep-toe platform.
Because the decade wasn't all that long ago, some of the trends popular in the 2010s are still popular today, especially on the red carpet. So consider this a polite request that we filter some of these out of our collective style, and instead choose trends that are more comfortable and less exhausting.
Fancy Athleisure
Helen Lasichanh is pulling this off as well as a person possibly can (and she's always been a style innovator ready to try new things). But sweatpants and sweatsuits in incongruous settings—like the red carpet—feel conspicuously dated now, particularly with high heels.
Bike Shorts
This photo wasn't taken all that long ago, and Noodles is giving it her all in these bike shorts and exercise socks with heels. But exercise shorts are the kind of surprise that's less fun and more just confusing. (To be clear, bike shorts absolutely work when we're talking about street style. Just not here, in my opinion.)
A Crop Flare
To the dismay of all us short girls in the world, the crop flare pant made an appearance in '10s trends. On Alexa Chung, who's quite tall, they look fine. But for just about everyone else, they made us feel very, very short and stumpy. I might be harboring a personal grudge here.
Platforms
This might just be a case of Paris Hilton taking her personal aesthetic (honed in the '00s) and taking it with her no matter what decade we're in. However! The platform heel was a staple in the '10s, not just on her. So I think we can deem it a regrettable '00s/'10s trend that I'm excited to see disappear.
A Big Tote
This was an '00s holdover that now feels particularly dated—specifically, when it looked like celebrities were lugging around tons of stuff in big couture tote bags. A commuter bag is fine, to be clear! It just looks weird unless the celeb in question is running to catch a flight.
Big Graphics
When it came to logos and patterns in the '10s, the bigger the better. Emma Roberts' bold heart print (and matching oversized sunnies) isn't even the most egregious instance of it, but we really loved being on the nose with our messaging. Note: The '10s big tote bag actually makes sense here.
Cropped Jackets
We enjoyed layers in the '10s, but those layers didn't always make sense. For example: For some unknown reason, we really loved pairing a long tunic-length shirt with a short, studded, usually leather jacket. Nowadays, we'd probably tuck the shirt in, or wear a crop top—just in case you happen to love your short jackets as much as I do.
The Random Bootie
Ah, yes. The bootie and dress combo! Short women everywhere tried the style and felt...even shorter as a result. (Alexa Chung is not short, so she's nailing it more than most.) Should this style be of interest to you, the trick is to put opaque tights underneath to make the look feel cohesive.
Short Shorts and Heels
Jennifer Lopez is always taking trends and boldly experimenting with them (which is why we love her and which is why she makes it to a lot of our "best outfits" lists). But I think we can leave the logo-adorned short suit and white knee high boots where they belong...in the '10s.
UGGs
More like ugh! (Sorry, bad millennial joke.) Seriously, though, the UGG had a grip on our culture for decades—still does, in fact—but in the '10s we especially loved what I'm calling the "incongruous UGG." Meaning: The UGG boot we broke out in warm weather, for no apparent reason.
The Big Fedora
Take all the hats of the '00s, then supersize them. That's what we were rocking in the '10s! Then add in some ultra-ripped skinnies, booties, and crop top, and you've got the '10s in a single outfit. Vanessa Hudgens has great style, to be clear, but we all fell into this trap.
The Peep Toe
The peep toe was the ubiquitous '10s shoe style that got so overused we basically retired the style at the end of the decade. Even Margot Robbie, our Barbie Queen herself, tried a peep-toe mule. (Presumably she's on her way to a flight, where she kicked these shoes off immediately.)
White Sneakers With Everything
To be clear: White sneakers are great. And sneakers with a formal outfit lends a fun element of surprise. The problem was that we paired our white high-tops with just about everything in the '10s. This outfit has one too many things going on, and a simple black shoe would have made it feel less cluttered.
Midriff Accessories
Just in case you thought the crop top was a distinctly '20s trend—it is not! We were loving the naval-baring style for decades before this. But instead of the complementary metal chain or fringe-y belt, we decided to make it look fancy with random matching pieces of fabric.
Pixie Cuts
I don't feel bad about calling Jennifer Lawrence out for popularizing this style (which looks good on her and only her), because it turns out she also did not like this hairstyle. Pro tip: Always check with a very good, very honest hairstylist before you chop off all your hair for a trendy cut.
OTT Festival Style
Even if we weren't at, on the way to, or coming from Coachella, in the '10s we were always channeling festival style. But not just the "cute flower crown" side of it: The bare feet, the skirt that felt like we were inches away from a wardrobe malfunction, the random bicep accessories. Cool.
The Slouchy Boot
If you wanted to take your '10s festival style up a notch, you should pair it with some knee-high winter-appropriate boots! Diane Kruger, whose style I enjoy, sort of looks like a pirate from the knees down (and also, aren't her feet hot? These are the questions I ask myself.).
Fancy Skinnies
The ongoing debate about skinny jeans remains a thing (are they out? are they in? will they be back? what happens if I only have skinny jeans??). My two cents is this: These tight coated cropped skinnies are such a specific look, and so uncomfortable, that I would prefer we not resuscitate them.
Studs
We really loved metal adornment on our clothes and shoes in the '10s. The spiky heel was big, but Alessandra Ambrosio is really kicking it up a level by extending the trend to her whole outfit. Bonus points if your skirt had a random non-functional zipper, as we see here!
Fancy Crop Tops
The crop top is not a new thing. But I'd like to think the Kardashian/Jenner-inspired formal suede crop top is a thing we don't have to do again. My primary question here is: Aren't you hot? Isn't a crop top supposed to be a warm weather outfit? Think of us sweaty girls!
Fancy Loose Pants
The harem/hammer pant experienced its heyday in the '00s, but we weren't quite ready to give it up in the '10s. I support that J. Lo is making a musical reference (see also: MC Hammer, who popularized the pants) but I get tired of comparing our '10s fashion icons to pirates.
Wild Sunglasses
When you think of the '10s, you probably think of those regrettable tiny sunglasses (which were absolutely still a thing in the '20s). But I think I might hate the huge sunglasses even more. I tried them, I realized we all looked like very fashionable bugs, and now that's all I can see.
'Nude' Heels
The '00s and '10s saw the ascendence of the very beige shoe that (I think) was meant to make our legs look longer and actually made us look like we weren't wearing shoes at all. And these have the added "bonus" of being a peep toe. Just in case our eyes weren't confused enough.
'Nude' Outfits
Nude shoes were one thing, but making our whole outfit the color of tanned skin was a bridge too far, for me. The ruching and extra fabric and straps really just added to the confusion—like, imagine this in a color. Any color. Even black! Make it blue like the shoes! Anything but beige!
Normcore
I will maintain that it's not the normcore trend itself I have a problem with (in case you missed it, it's deliberately dressing casually and plainly with no designer labels). I probably dress normcore accidentally every day of the week. I think it might be the random workboots on Rihanna, here—or perhaps it's the fact that her style is so non-normcore that's tripping me up here. Ri Ri, you deserve nicer shoes.
Intermittent Sheers
The Kardashians gave us a lot in this decade, but one of the most baffling ones is the sheer paneling on all their beautiful lace dresses. Like, wherever the fabric could be sheer, it was sheer. So, like, there was a lot of lace around the important parts, and then...sheer everywhere else.
'00s Cosplay
As much as we sought to distance ourselves from some of our bad '00s fashion choices, sometimes we were possessed with a compulsive desire to relive it—only somehow bigger and bolder. Miley Cyrus gave us a lot of OTT fashion in this decade, but this might be every regrettable '00s trend at once.
Huge Jewelry
We didn't just supersize our hats in the '10s, we also supersized our jewelry. Whether it was a lot of chains at once, one enormous pendant, or the ever-popular studded necklace, our shoulders were probably heavy from the weight of our enormous pieces. No thanks.
Straps Straps Straps
I don't miss the tie-up sandal in my everyday life, and I really don't miss the ones that tie up to your thigh and take 45 minutes to put on. Rihanna may be the only person who can pull them off (although many a starlet has tried). Can our trends be just a little easier to emulate?
STRAPS
Oh yes. I forgot. We loved straps in the '10s. The logistics of these outfits are giving me a headache (how did we get these on?? Is it more than a single shirt? Did we have to cut it off our bodies?), but the real problem might be the haphazard vibe to all of it.
The 'Cage' Trend
In probably the wildest, wackiest, most over-the-top iteration of the straps trend, Kim Kardashian gives us...the cage dress. It's like a sheer bandage dress, but somehow so much more exhausting. Plus grannie panties and booties to really make sure we knew it was the '10s.
Latex
The wretched older sister to the bandage dress, wrapping ourselves up in stretchy rubber and then leaving the house seems, in hindsight, to be a terrible decision. The sweat! The discomfort! Bonus points if you got on the "plastic shoes and/or clothing" trend. Please, never again. I beg you.
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