A History of the Worst Fashion Trends

Blogger: Amber Lemus

Oh, the things that women will do for fashion. From the time we were little girls, the phrase "you must sacrifice comfort for beauty" was drilled into our heads. But it has been that way for quite some time, and not always was it only women who fell prey to the worst fashion trends. Today we will explore several of history's worst, and then you can let me know in the comments which one YOU think is the worst of them all. 

Lotus Shoes - Ancient China

Lotus Shoes circa 1911
Photo by: Daniel Schwen CC

In ancient China, small feet were considered to be a mark of beauty among women. In order to facilitate this look, many extreme measures were taken to make the feet appear, or even be, smaller. These "Lotus Shoes", so named because their shape was supposed to resemble the lotus flower, required women to tightly bind their feet in order to fit in them. This process ended up being torturously painful and ended in broken bones, mobility issues and deformities. However, even with these terrible consequences, it seems women were willing participants in the practice. Anything to look and feel like a beautiful, high class lady. 

Lotus shoes were made of expensive materials such as silk with elaborate designs and embroidery. The designs would even continue onto the sole of the foot, which is interesting, because in modern times, we don't imagine anyone paying attention to the bottoms of our soles. Young women typically wore brighter colors like purple and green, whereas older or middle-aged women would wear blue or blue green. Black was avoided, as it was associated with bruising, and red was only for special occasions such as weddings, new year, etc. 

The foot swaddling process involved forcing the four smaller toes under the big toe and encasing the foot with a high arch. It sounds painful even describing it. This method was often started when the woman was young and took years to complete the re-shaping of the foot. Regardless of the terrible side-effects of such binding, Chinese women continued to use these shoes until the 1950's. But I suppose some could argue that heels are just about as bad!

The Ruff of the 16th -17th Century

Queen Elizabeth I with her Ruff Collar
Public Domain

We all know what a ruff is, because we've seen it in pictures of Queen Elizabeth, Pocahontas, and other historical figures. It's the stiff, white collar that was ruffled and unmistakable. 

The ruff, besides being fashionable for more than a decade, was worn by all, men, women and children. It was intended to be practical in that it could be detached from the clothing and washed separately, thus reducing the need to wash the gown or shirt it was attached to and catch the perspiration that would undoubtedly arise along the neckline. Anyone who has had to launder the neckline of dress shirts can relate. Originally, they were made of linen cambric and more discreet but as time went on, they became bigger and made with more fancy materials. Eventually, you had huge ruffs made of lace. These large ones became even more impractical and even dangerous. The heavy starches used to make them stiff caused discomfort and irritation of the skin. Head movement was restricted. Eating became difficult while wearing them. Some of the more elaborate ones had wire to reinforce the shape which could even lead to breathing difficulties. 

Hobble Skirts of the Early 20th Century

Hobble Skirt Postcard
Public Domain

Some believe this style may have been inspired by the Japanese kimono. Another theory is that it was inspired by the first female to fly in an airplane. As the legend goes, Mrs. Edith Ogilby Berg asked the Wright Brothers for a ride at a demonstration in 1908. She tied a rope around the bottom of her skirt to keep it from flying up during the flight. The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum claims that a French designer was inspired at the way the woman walked away from the aircraft, with her skirts still bound, and designed skirts with a tight loop near the calves or ankles. Some postcards from this era jokingly refer to the skirt as the "speed limit skirt" because it limits the wearer's stride. Some ladies even engaged in hobble skirt races to further this joke. 

However, this trend was rather short-lived as it was popular right at the time that women became more physically active. For obvious reasons, this skirt made that difficult. This skirt was also directly responsible for several deaths, including one where a young lady was walking on a bridge and stumbled, tumbling over the railing into the water below where she drowned. The popularity of the skirt quickly declined, especially as WWI erupted and the restricted movement didn't suit wartime needs. 

Lead-based Makeup

An 1889 Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec painting
of a woman applying facial cosmetics
Public Domain

In ancient times, lead was used as a foundational ingredient in cosmetics. We now know how dangerous this is, but it took centuries before that was discovered. Queen Elizabeth I is considered to have been one of the victims of lead poisoning due to cosmetics, as many of her health problems may have been related. Also Maria Gunning, Countess of Coventry, is considered to have been a death related to lead based cosmetics. However, it wasn't until the early 1900s that lead bases became less common, and unfortunately, we still occasionally encounter lead in cosmetics today. 

Arsenic Dyes

Bright green clothing in the Victorian era was usually accomplished using arsenic. We now understand that is a poison, but at the time, it was used in fabrics, wallpapers, home furnishings and more. Not only were the workers creating these items at risk, but the eventual consumer also suffered from exposure to this toxic material. Even worse, it was sometimes used as a food dye also. In 1858 the deadly Bradford Sweet poisoning killed 21 people with green hard candies. The effects of arsenic are horrific, causing ulcers, vomiting, hair loss and the failure of the liver and kidneys. Yet still women continued to use arsenic base items for a long time.  

Which of these fashion fails do you think is the worst?

 

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Two-time winner of the Christian Indie Award, Amber Lemus writes enthralling non-fiction for children and adults alike. She has a passion for travel, history, books and her Savior, so her writing is centered around faith, family and history.

She lives near the Ozarks in her "casita" with her prince charming. Between enjoying life as a new mom, and spinning stories out of soap bubbles, Amber loves to connect with readers and hang out on Goodreads with other bookish peoples.

Amber is a proud member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association. Visit her online at www.AmberLemus.com/ and download a FREE story by subscribing to her Newsletter!