I took my niece to her swimming class at the University gym today and while I was waiting for her to come out of the changing room a woman came up to the counter to ask a question. She was a bit on the heavy side and was wearing faded mom jeans, a hot pink puffy cotton-looking jacket with a wide elasticized bottom at mid-hip height and a sort of mule shoe in black with a chopped off pointy toe. If that isn't scary enough, she was wearing white sports socks in the backless shoes and a few inches of the sock was visible between the narrow jean leg and the start of the shoe (backless shoe). It was 0 degrees Celcius and snowing out.

quote:

Originally posted by cheryleb99:
I took my niece to her swimming class at the University gym today and while I was waiting for her to come out of the changing room a woman came up to the counter to ask a question. She was a bit on the heavy side and was wearing faded mom jeans, a hot pink puffy cotton-looking jacket with a wide elasticized bottom at mid-hip height and a sort of mule shoe in black with a chopped off pointy toe. If that isn't scary enough, she was wearing white sports socks in the backless shoes and a few inches of the sock was visible between the narrow jean leg and the start of the shoe (backless shoe). It was 0
degrees Celcius and snowing out.

This sounds frighteningly similar to the scariest thing I saw on Saturday, which was ME! We had a parent/tot swim class with my son, so I was wearing my swimsuit under yoga pants and a fleece mandarin-collar cardigan, with socks and my Crocs!

Elly there is a huge difference between mom jeans and a puffy hot pink jacket and yoga pants with a fleece. The woman I saw wasn't getting ready for a swim class either.

No comment on the crocs. LOL

quote:

Originally posted by cheryleb99:
Elly there is a huge difference between mom jeans and a puffy hot pink jacket and yoga pants with a fleece. The woman I saw wasn't getting ready for a swim class either.

No comment on the crocs. LOL

LOL, yeah, my Crocs are normally my gardening shoes, but they look less silly with socks (it was cold out) than Tevas do, and they're easier to slip on my feet while I'm escorting a rambunctious 2-year-old to the locker room after class.

I just thought it was funny because as I was walking out the door, I was thinking, "This is not my best look."

gosh, i confess i have an aversion to any backless shoe (too many episodes of 'the golden girls', blanche devauraux wearing hose with backless sandals?) but mules, clogs, backless high heel sandals (especially worn with a dress or heel), i don't know, i think they detract more than upgrade; with dresses/skirts because they look too casual, and to boot they mess with the leg line when wearing pants, but of course i also confess to being a fanatic about pants doing their job to lengthen, not shorten my leg.

Ok, so I had to post about the 2 scary things I saw last night at chorus practice with my son.

1. A woman sat next to me, and she was wearing a very pretty green argyle sweater and nice brown trousers. The outfit looked great until I saw her feet and ankles. She was wearing light tan loafers that were a perfect rectangle and saggy flesh-toned hose. The pants were too short so that the saggy hose were clearly visible.
2. There was another mom who was wearing faded tapered jeans that were way too short with white socks and gray wool clogs. To top it all off, she was wearing a blue wool poncho with red/green polka dots the size of baseballs. The poncho was also adorned with baseball sized red/green pom-poms at the neck. I don't know if the size of the poncho was made even worse by the fact that she was very tall and big boned, and the point of the poncho ended at her belly-button.

quote:

The outfit looked great until I saw her feet and ankles.

'tapered jeans that were way too short with white socks and gray wool clogs.'

ayyy bernermommy! prime example of how shoes can make or break an outfit.
i remember the time i understood the potential/importance of shoes: it was an advertisement for shoe polish. it had a man in a nice nice suit interviewing for a job and the interviewer was looking disapprovingly at his shoes, which were cuffed and worn/dirty looking. the man in the suit looked sheepish and he was trying to cover up the shoes. that one image a few years ago hit me right between the eyes, and it made me realize i was doing the same thing. at the time my kids were younger, in private school, so any 'fun money' was spent on clothes and makeup, not shoes. that advertisement changed it all for me.

I have an unlimited number of these examples, since I am on a university campus, and many students dress with whatever is handy and passes the "sniff test". LOL!

Yesterday, though was a classic: pajama pants and each of the quadrants was a different wild print, topped with a neon yellow puffy jacket. The pants were tucked into high top Converse sneakers, and he was wearing a jester-style ski hat---with jingle bells on the tips.

Could have been a costume, I guess. LOL!

quote:

Originally posted by garnetsue:
I have an unlimited number of these examples, since I am on a university campus, and many students dress with whatever is handy and passes the "sniff test". LOL!

Yesterday, though was a classic: pajama pants and each of the quadrants was a different wild print, topped with a neon yellow puffy jacket. The pants were tucked into high top Converse sneakers, and he was wearing a jester-style ski hat---with jingle bells on the tips.

Could have been a costume, I guess. LOL!

You saw my brother?!! Tell him I said "hi!"

This was a few months ago, back in summer, but a girl (probably mid-20s) came into the store where I work wearing an honest-to-goodness romper. You know, with the short shorts hem and ruffles at the sleeves. It always looks silly trying to look much younger than your real age, but trying to look 4? That's proabably how old I was when I wore things like that. All she was missing was a sandpail and shovel to complete the outfit. I won't lie, she was a pretty girl and had the body for it but it was still funny. Another girl who works at the store and I were giggling about it.

Pink pageboy hat, red coat, (different colour) red mitts and the kicker (different colour again) RED LEATHER pants! (and damaged hair, sun damaged skin with the darkest fake tan, scary clownish makeup - but hey that's the only way she could have pulled off those pants...as a clown)!

the bailiff at the court where i had to go this week was in her mid-latter twenties. she was not thin, had long curly hair and she wore a short sleeve shirt with a bit of cleavage and a short black skirt. backless sandals with a heavy wedge heel (like the ones popular in '99-2000). i was really shocked. a bailiff??? no uniform?
short skirt? but there you have it.

Yesterday in the store where I work a heavyset woman came in wearing a red satin blouse with supertight black jeans and beat-up white sneakers. I mean..a red satin blouse is kind of hard to pull off but at least it's an attempt to look dressy. At least make the rest of the outfit coordinate.

During my monthly shopping at Walmart yesterday I saw a heavy set woman in her pastel print pajama bottoms with lime green crocs and her messy hair up in clips. Looked like she got out of bed, just threw on any old coat and ran out to the store. One of the worst things I've seen in a while (and I have seen some doozies!). I suppose if you're going to see it anywhere it might be at Walmart!

Okay, scary thing I saw was not the shoes themselves, in fact I loved these shoes - snakeskin, peep toe with cutout sides but COMEON it's Febrauary! My feet are getting wet with snow, and I'm wearing boots! Okay it was kind of shovelled, but wwhhhhhaaaattt??

On the way to work this morning I saw a young woman walking on the sidewalk ahead of where I was. She was pear shaped and was wearing a fitted black winter jacket belted at the waist. The bottom of the jacket was at the widest part of her hips which were considerably wider than her upper torso and shoulders. She was also wearing bright green pants that were narrow at the ankles. The black line across the wide part and the neon green on the hips emphasized her worst features. To top it off, she was wearing some kind of knit cap with fake animal ears. EGAD

Well, I am only 14 and go to a public high school, so you can imagine that I see the most horrid of outfits on a general basis (students AND staff). This one comes from the teacher I'm with during study hall.

-Too tight sweater with her huge [fake, she told us] boobs screaming to be let free
-WAY too tights dElia*s colored jeans (she told us she stole them from her 13 year old...)
-Lime green crocs with white socks

I felt a strong need for Pepto Bismal that entire class period.

Not only is that scary jadore, it sounds like that teacher wants to be a student more than a teacher and doesn't really understand where to draw the boundaries.

oh man, i used to have a teacher like that in HS (taught home economics~ she wore low cut tight sweaters, and was having a thing with the Dof boys of the school, who by the way~ was a hunk and with whom i shamelessly flirted as well,
neither of them were married).
anywho (is it getting hot in here?) speaking of authority figures that are HOT, today while i was running i saw a car that had been pulled over by a policeman in a motorcycle; he was wearing a dark navy uniform, pants tucked into high boots, he had his helmet on, standing very manly like and i thought 'hot dayuuum'. he was tall and lean and that uniform fit absolutely perfectly. i see a lot of people on the road, but few make this kind of a reaction, LOL
it was a fun run. ;p

Walking through the sky tunnel downtown, I saw a middle-aged woman carrying a nice, new-looking Coach purse. She also had on the classic Mom Jeans, a bulky sweater, and beat-up white sneakers. Just goes to show you that no one item can "make" an outfit if everything else is lousy.
I also saw this girl in the store I work wearing this black, shiny short-sleeved mock-neck shirt made out of heaven knows what. It looked practically like trash bag material. It's kind of funny when people try to pull off such cheap schmattas as if they've got something cute going on.

You've seen those sweaters that have battery operated lights on the secret footage. Well about about an entire smock top?

Yesterday we had a family in picking up their tuxedos for a wedding this weekend. One of the women was wearing a top covered with rhinestones. Initially I thought what I was seeing was just the shifting of light as the young lady was walking. But when she was standing I noticed the lights kept shifting. I finally got close enough to realize the lights on the top were shifting. It was one of those lighted tops, but it went over the entire blouse, not just a segment. IN fact, the section I noticed was hanging below her jacket.

2 cases of showing a little too much.

Sunday afternoon, on a trail in the park. Man 30's with decent hair walking his dog dressed super casually: tshirt, plastic athletic sandals, old faded Levis with a big hole in the cr0tch. Flash of white -- briefs I think, or white boxers or long white T tucked in....

Yesterday on campus. Young woman riding bike. Short jacket, sheer knit pants dark grey, underneath outline of black lace bodysuit?

Since I work at a Walmart I see all kinds of examples of bad dressing on an almost daily basis from both customers and coworkers.

One I've mentioned in a previous post was a girl in her late teens or early 20's and obviously plus size. She was wearing a bikini top (I think it was a triangle top) with a cover-up skirt (I assume she was wearing the bikini bottom underneath).

One of my male coworkers who has an obvious gut wears shirts too short to cover the gut up. One of my friends refers to him as "belly dancer". Thing is management never says anything to him yet if I were to show even a tiny bit of mid drift I'd get sent home to change my shirt.

And of course I've lost count of how many times I've seen customers wearing pajama pants, crocs, stained clothing, clothes that are obviously too small on them (mostly younger women), and clothes with holes.

I saw the usual sweat pants that have become all too normal but paired with the cutest pair of flats (dressy). What's up with that?

I can't remember what thread it was in but someone mentioned that they had once seen someone wearing pajama pants with cowboy boots.

A couple days ago when I was heading into the store to go to work I saw one woman wearing a printed t-shirt, cropped sweatpants, and cowboy boots. Uhgh!

Also, I couldn't help but notice that one of my male coworkers doesn't seem to own a shirt that doesn't have holes in it.

sweatpants--waistband rolled down to hip level, hems rolled up to just below the knees; red patent pumps (!) and a message T Shirt cut off just about br@ band level.

eeek!

3 pc set - skirt, top, and maybe you could call it a cardi. Synthetic fabric. Put together in several sort of strips with many diagonal seams down the front and uneven hems. Looks like she went through the shredder!

Oooh, I've been waiting for a chance to post this. At the commuter bus stop Friday morning - a rather stout woman in too-tight fuschia capris with an orange leather jacket. But wait, there's more - she was matching her outfit to the stripes on her sneakers!

I saw someone in some fushia sweatpant type pants, white pajama-y tee, denim jacket, and black and white sneakers getting some milkshakes late at night at a restaurant. Oh, wait, that was me going through the drive-through

Bad enough people wear their pj's in public, but I've seen several women who'd come in the store with curlers in their hair.

Miltonia17:

quote:

getting some milkshakes late at night at a restaurant. Oh, wait, that was me going through the drive-through

LOL!

Shykitty, the curlers in the hair is not new, unfortunately. I remember women when I was growing up doing that, and they always tied a scarf over it.

Maroon coral and white striped wrap skirt (looked like woven), beige and white striped polo, blue and grey striped hoodie, neon green foam and plastic th0ng sandals. Yikes! That's a lot of different stripes!

Amethyst, sounds like a teacher I had seen when I was in 7th grade.

garnetsue, yeah I've seen the curlers in public thing for years but it still amazes me that women would wear curlers in public.

This isn't necessarily a scary thing, but I couldn't think of where else to put it. (I just got home from work.) And, besides, I wanted to move this thread up to the top again.

Yesterday while grocery shopping with Mom, I saw a young couple throughout the store, and they were dressed relatively well, but on the grungy side of it. The girl/woman (somewhere between 18 and 25) was wearing skater pants: regular long length, black, and wide legs on them. It had fair degree of silver on it, and her belt was black with the holes running around most of it.

As they proceeded us out, I really expected to see her wearing something like Doc Martens. You could have knocked me over with a feather was I saw she was wearing 3 to 4 inch, black stiletto pumps. It was such a surprise.

I'm a fairly new member and I had fun reading this thread. Now for some of my worst sightings.

1. A woman wearing athletic shorts over a one piece bathing suit while dining in the Olive Garden.

2. A woman in a gas station store wearing an orange shirt with a large cut out in the back. The back of her beige bra went straight across the center of the cut out.

3. I saw an elderly woman in the supermarket wearing beige shorts and a fairly neutral top which matched. However, she was wearing those ocean shoes made out of nylon in the colors of magenta and teal.

4. I was at a meeting for work and couldn't help but to notice a woman sitting in front of me. She had very long hair that was in a high pony tail and was dyed a pretty shade of dark red. The problem was her gray roots were at least six inches long.

You guys have it EASY. I go to an art school (I'm a design major) and I've seen things that haunt me.

Best examples:

One girl I know wears floor length skirts under dresses. Another girl wears glittery fake eyelashes and clips thick, synthetic, rainbow dread locks into her hair.

Haha, not trying to be vicious here. These people are fine people to talk to, but their styles make me wonder.

I saw one last night that had people looking.

She was at least 40's but likely pushing 50, wearing skin tight jeans and a white beater. Not too bad so far. My partner described the jeans as looking like a bedazzler threw up on them they had so much sparkle and embellishment including a cross on the butt. She had very obviously had work done. The bra wasn't big enough for the implants and they were pressing out the top. She had long platinum bleached hair that looked very dry. Oh, and I almost forgot the fake tan. White tan and fake bake.

Oh my, we took the kids to the zoo the other day, and I saw a few myself. There were MORE than the average bra-straps peeking out from camis and too-tight, too-short shorts... but that's pretty typical.

The ones that scared me though, were:
* The lady with so much flesh popping out the top of her deep-cut cami that it created a wobbly crease at the top... It was disturbingly similar to soft-set flan.
* The lady wearing hot pink mini-shorts with the words "Hot Mama" on her tush in HUGE silver sparkly letters. They were at least 3-4 sizes too tight, and there was black-panty VPL clearly shining through.
* And someone wearing a terry beach coverup as a dress! Might not have been QUITE as bad - but it had a flap at the front that kept blowing open... uh, and my 13yo son didn't need to see her black thong!

Yesterday we went to Target and in the parking lot walking towards the cars was a very heavy-set black woman with a tube top that was barely hanging on, and her too tight shorts were pulled so low there were at least 4 inches of bu*t cra*k showing!! eewww.....

In the winter, a lady I work with wears the button up cardigans (the ones with the large gold buttons)buttoned all the way up and with nothing underneath them.

I just saw this today. This lady has always been known to be a classy dresser. She is involved in the community in many different aspects. This morning I was shocked and had to look twice to see if it was actually her.
This lady has bright red hair. She was wearing a bright turquoise wide brimmed straw hat, a black button down shirt with brown and white giraffes on it, white linen capris, red and white striped ankle socks and purple mary janes.
Like I said usually she is very pulled together.

Good word, this thread makes me feel like a full-blown fashionista. (Yay? )

Every day, as I drive to work, I see crimes of fashion. Today's was especially bad.

The [slender] girl was wearing a classy turquoise top with brown shorts and nice shoes...with a GIGANTIC, matching turquoise hobo that hit straight at her midsection. The bag added at least 50 pounds to her full-length profile. The bluish-green blob walking in front of me blinded me to the (much smaller) bluish-green light... Thankfully, someone behind me lay on the horn, and soon the nightmare was half a mile behind me.

Note to self: Choose accessories wisely...

Here is another one from the mall: A 50-60ish man wearing a long, bright green, basket ball style jersey, dark gray knee-length shorts, black dress socks that came up to the knees, black sneakers and a bright blue baseball cap.

at my DH's high school reunion this past weekend (the attire is Cocktail):
-- maxi dress, or sundress with flip flops
-- many day dresses
-- casual office wear
-- a chiffon-ish dress with flat flip flop sandals and a hobo
-- a full gown with matching wrap
-- only about 1/3 of the women wore "little black dress" or evening dresses; including ones that are 2-3 sizes too small, or too short...

-- and one for the guys: blue (wrinkled) oxford shirt, with jean shorts, flip flops, and of course, beer in hand

Wow, geekstyle. People really are confused these days! Everyone should be required to take "Fashion 101" in school as part of the regular curriculum lol.
In Target the other day, I couldn't help but rubberneck a bit at an older gentleman sporting what must have been his attempt at a "snazzy" getup: Purple multi-striped button-down shirt, bright yellow shorts, canvas belt, black sandals, a fedora and, the perfect finishing touch, a gold chain around his neck. It was...interesting.

I cannot stand going out and seeing all these people in pajama bottoms and flip flops. Enough already!

Had to post this...gave me a much needed laugh coming home from the Dr.... bright sunny day and I was nearly blinded by a 20ish girl wearing a flourescent orange tube top, shiny gold lame'(?) leggings and marshmellow white huge tennis shoes! OY.....

Yellow cami under yellow and black plaid shirt, yellow pants and yellow and black plaid shoes...yikes!

I wish I had my camera handy. I swear I am going to start a "best and worse fashion of the city" album!

ooh, that would be fun

i bet you'd see both at the James North Art Crawl, actually... lol. Some very beautiful artsy outfits.. and some real messes.

The university students are back too, which is a whole other pile of "exciting clothing choices."

Speaking of exciting student clothing, the fall 2009 trend at the local university campus seems to be thong bikinis.

Never mind that the temperature just dropped down to the 60s. They're all over the main building lawn. (And, unfortunately, not all the girls are as "well-manicured" as the grass.)

I have the urge to ask if they're all pledging "I Felta Thigh".