As years come and go, so do fashion trends. Fashion reinvents itself in new decades, representing the highs and lows of the time period. People use clothes to express themselves and show their true personality. While several fashion trends will go down as iconic, others will not. Cancel these four fashion trends. 

Number one: shoulder pads. In 1877, Princeton football player L.P Smock invented shoulder pads. In 1931 designers Marcel Rochas and Elsa Schiaperelli decided to incorporate protective football gear into the fashion industry. The look slowly crept into mainstream Hollywood fashion. As World War I overpowered society, gender roles began to switch. With men fighting at war, women took their places in the workplace. For women to make themselves appear more masculine, they wore shoulder pads underneath their jackets, borrowing aspects of the men’s military uniform. 

The creation of shoulder pads stands for all the right reasons: power and equivalating men and women. Unfortunately, in everyday fashion, shoulder pads look awkward, clunky and unflattering. Clothes that make shoulders appear boxier must disappear immediately. 

Number two: fanny packs. Australians appropriately call these bum bags. Destinations associated with tourism attract people that love to use fanny packs. While fanny packs serve as the perfect size to hold phones, passports and other essentials, they add nothing but a kangaroo pouch to an outfit, sitting like a blob right below one’s stomach.

Numerous fashion brands spend way too much of their time creating horrendous fanny packs. eBay sells fanny packs that look like a hairy stomach for just under $12. This epitomizes a waste of money. The Australian MelbaStone created a variant of the fanny pack in 1962: however, the bags did not shine in the fashion industry until the late 80s. While fanny packs serve an adequate purpose, the ugliness in them does not make them worth it.

“Wearing fanny packs is just goofy. They add nothing to outfits and just take up space. It’s not like that much stuff can fit in them anyway so it’s just better to put things in your jacket pocket or pants pocket. We should definitely get rid of fanny packs because they are so ugly,” sophomore Zachary Addison said. 

Number three: fur coats. From the early 11th century fur served as a symbol of wealth in social classes. Fur equaled money. As time advanced, fur became cheaper and designers learned how to make fake fur. Fur coats make people look like wooly mammoths coming out of deep hibernation. They add absolutely nothing to an outfit but unappealing looks and stares from strangers. 

“I don’t like fur coats. As a guy, I wouldn’t actually wear one but my cousins used to wear them. I just don’t like how they look and I could imagine they get super hot even in the cold. A normal jacket would look much better than a fur coat because they don’t make people look hairy,” junior Brandon Clendenon said. 

Number four: bell bottoms. While several jeans leave an iconic history, such as lowrise and boyfriend jeans, bell bottoms live on the opposite side of the spectrum. For starters, they take attention from the waist to the knees, making them seem closer together. Bell bottoms also drag against the floor as someone walks. Flares became popular in the 19th century while United States sailors served in the navy. They wore bell bottoms because they did not use a uniform. Decades passed and slowly fashion designers used bell bottoms in their runway looks. While these pants obtain a political past, society must not bring them into the future.

As the world heads into a more diverse future, trying out new fashion must occur; society must remember that certain fashions just can not make a return. All four of these fashion trends reside in the group that should never return to the face of the earth.