Finding a great clothing gem to bring back a nice touch of nostalgia can truly make an outfit; however, we equally recognize that some trends die out for a reason. If on the off chance you are out there somewhere in the present still trying to revive one of the following faux-pas of our nation’s past, just stop please, stop.Hammer Pants This unique style of pants are fitted from the knee down but allowed to balloon out in baggy form throughout the loose crotch and thigh area. Taking their name from M.C. Hammer, the rapper popularized the style throughout the United States in the late 80′s and early 90′s, with out-of-this-world dance moves that were complemented by his wild attire. Taking Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” lyrics quite literally, when wearing hammer pants, members of the opposite sex will have no problem with no touching, so go ahead and quit the pants, no matter how legit you are.Platform Shoes Unless you live in Spice World, that’s right, the Spice Girls‘ movie, there is simply no justifiable reason lace up a pair of lifted leg-extensions. Aside from the fact that they look ridiculous, platform shoes also pose a legitimate health hazard, breaking more ankles per calendar year than Philip “Hot Sauce” Champion (of And 1 Mixtape fame). Read more on this Article!
While the 1950′s has been historically perceived as a relatively boring decade by our nation’s young people (in this instance young people may refer to anyone born later than 1959), AMC’s hit TV series Mad Men has single-handedly brought the decade back with a new found vengeance. Between the boozed-up office atmosphere, scandalous affairs carefully kept under wraps and say what you want to say attitude at the expense of political correctness, all portrayed in the show’s extremely well-written script, suddenly the 1950′s are hip, arguably for the first time in history, including the 1950′s. With an entire generation of young men striving to emulate Don Draper, for better or worse depending on your perspective, the first place to start is the throwback 50′s attire. Skinny ties are most notable comeback from a fashion standpoint, though no study has ever been conducted to directly correlate decreasing tie width with rise in Mad Men’s popularity. Considering its mainstream success, the show likely, at the very minimum, accelerated an already rising trend. Read more on this Article!
Maybe it’s the way you fly, you know, “ice cold, no mistakes.” On the other hand, maybe you’ve never even sat in a cockpit. After all, you don’t have to be Iceman to enjoy the perfect pair of aviator sunglasses. Though there’s no pilot’s license prerequisite to purchase a pair, this actually wasn’t always the case. In 1936, when aviator sunglasses were first released, the special model shades were only available to fighter pilots. Finally, after 2 years of deliberation, the large-lensed, thinly framed spectacles made their way onto the market for the general public to purchase. Ray-Ban, who originally concepted and created the aviator design, was soon emulated by fellow sunglass producing companies as the style grew into a nationwide fad.While Top Gun is perhaps the aviator’s most memorable pop-culture appearance to date, the movie actually marked a resurgence in the style’s popularity, having already become somewhat of a fashion staple decades earlier. Before Tom Cruise donned the shades as Maverick, real life war hero, General Douglas McArthur, was seen wearing aviators in newspapers across the country in 1944, after landing on the Filipino beach during World War II. MacArthur can be credited with put initially putting the Ray-Ban aviators on the map, while Cruise gave the brand a much needed reboot decades later. By the time Top Gun was actually released, however, Randolph Engineering served as the United States Armed Forces exclusive aviator supplier. Still, Ray-Ban remains the best selling brand of aviator sunglasses to this day, often among the higher end models carried by most sunglass shops. Read more on this Article!
The cast of Grease While it’s hard to classify any sort of musical as “badass,” the cast members of this movie broke the mold for traditional leather jacket wearers, also opening up the fashion statement as a choice for both men and women. Released in 1978, the film centers around two classmates at Rydell High in the year 1959. Amid 110 minutes of choreographed song and dance, the plot tells a love story between Danny Zuko, played by John Travolta, and Sandy Olsson, played by Olivia Newton-John, who had a fling after meeting on vacation the summer before Sandy would unknowingly enroll at Rydell. Zuko’s rough and tough clique, the T-Birds, all sport black leather jackets throughout the entire movie, while Sandy put in her good girl place, at times ridiculed by other students. In the final scene, Sandy shows up in her own all black leather ensemble, flipping the script on Zuko and the fashion world.James Dean James Dean, best known for his lead role in the film Rebel Without A Cause in which a red leather jacket was displayed prominently as part of his ward robe, will forever have a tinge of leather associated with his lasting image. Though he died in a car crash at the young age of 24, Dean’s legacy lives on in Hollywood to this day. Believed by many reports to be bisexual, Dean helped popularize the look among those of all orientations. Read more on this Article!