Shake your head at these old fashion trends

These old–school trends range from wonderfully wacky to downright dangerous

We have all seen our fair share of stupid, uncomfortable and irrational fashions. But, are any of them as bad as these pioneering trends?

BLACK TEETH & RUFFS

The house of Tudor, in power throughout the end of the 15th century and the start of the 17th century, may just have been the Kardashians of their age.

They inspired numerous questionable fashion trends and somehow ended up on our TVs.

If the Tudors were the Kardashians, Queen Elizabeth I (the last of the Tudor monarchs) was Kim.

She was responsible for the famous Tudor ruff — a layered collar of suffocating linen meant to frame the face, with some versions requiring metal lining to keep the ruffs puffed.

Lizzy’s trend–setting didn’t stop there, unfortunately.

She had a sweet tooth and, as a result, a horrifying mouth filled with black teeth.

Of course, this look became a symbol for wealth, with many ladies of court dying their teeth black to show they too can afford to buy sugar.

CODPIECES

Again, the Tudors claim a terrible fashion statement for their own.

King Henry VIII (the second Tudor monarch) famously wore his codpiece in his portraits and life.

Codpieces were designed to draw praise by emphasising the wearer’s manhood — a trend followed by the King and countless other men of the 15th and 16th centuries.

MACARONI

Yankee Doodle went to town, a–riding on a pony. He stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni.

Raise your hand if you just sang along in your head.

Made popular by young men who placed exaggerated emphasis on dressing fashionably, the macaroni is a trend of wearing teeny–tiny hats or elaborate feathers atop massive wigs.

BUSTLES & BOMBASTING

When news of Kym Kardashian’s butt implants hit the tabloids, the world lost their minds. If she’d lived in either the 16th or

19th century, she’d have been right at home, with the nobility going through great pains to exaggerate their arms, calves, midrifts and posteriors.

In the earlier era, the men and ladies of court would stuff their clothes — with anything from wool to sawdust — to seem more muscular and plump (this was called bombasting).

At the turn of the 19th century, women began wearing bustles (cushions stuffed with straw) to create the ‘big booty’ look.

CHOPINES & CRAKOWES

From the extreme platform shoes called Chopines to their flat and elongated counterparts, Crakows, the nobles of yore had a sense of humour when it came to fashionable footwear.

CRINOLINES & PANNIERS

Some trends were akin to women wearing the superstructure of a building around their petite waists.

Panniers (popular in the 17th and 18th centuries) were boxed petticoats made of whalebone, wood or metal, designed to expand the width of skirts to stand out on either side of the waist.

Pushing this trend to an extreme degree in the 19th century, women wore the Crinoline (a bell–shaped device made of anything from stiffened horse hair to a steel cage).

ARSENIC DRESSES

During the Victorian era, bottle–green dresses were all the rage but came at a great cost.

To get that killer look, copious amounts of arsenic was used to dye the fabric — leading to ladies suffering from nausea, impaired vision, and bad skin reactions.