The top trendsetters: Quirky Fashion Trends And How They Began

Trends come and go over the years, while some more eccentric than others. If we look at double denim for example, sported by Justin and Britney at the 2001 AMAs or the infamous platform trainers worn by girl bands of the nineties like the Spice Girls! We investigate quirky fashion trends from over the years and how they began thanks to the help of Trilogy Stores – retailers of Rixo Clothing. 

On the top

It was Madonna who made underwear as outerwear famous in the nineties with her cone-shaped corset designed by Jean Paul Gaultier (thankfully, this garment never met the high street). I actually remember this back at school with the art pieces we were making for our GCSE's. Lindsay Lohan was also once seen on the catwalk with a black corset top layered over a white shirt which was paired with a bootcut jean of course. Then in 2018 the Kardashians bring the trend back with a ‘mini corset’ worn around the waist to show off curves over a loose shirt dress. Other celebrity influencers have also taken on the trend, although they’re not as big as some of the trends we’ve seen and obviously some were more memorable than others.

Another quirky fashion trend were the denim overalls. A low-maintenance look made famous by the Fresh Prince and other nineties celebs. If you wanted to look uber cool, you’d wear it with one strap undone.

Cropped pants

In the nineties and the mid-noughties, a cropped trouser leg was a top trend, which seems to have made a come back this year. For a jeans the good old "pedal pushers" if you remember them being called this (yes I do!) were definitely in and they were either denim or a pale pastel shade. This denim trend was rocked by fashionistas at the time including the Spice Girls and Christina Aguilera. It seems this one is coming back around too, with many celebrities sporting their designer cropped jeans – Jennifer Lawrence wore them with heels and a sheer top for Dior’s SS17 Paris show and Selena Gomez has been spotted in a pair, teamed with patent loafers and a casual white shirt. 

Cropped combat trousers were also big. British girl band, All Saints, was a fan of this fad and rocked cargo pants, crop tops (having your midriff on show in the 90s was compulsory too, apparently) and trainers with the tongue out of the trouser leg. I saw them at a Festival last month and all those nineties memories came flooding back.

Two-piece tracksuits were also worn a lot  think velour Juicy Couture and footballers wives / Essex. It was Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez and Paris Hilton who started this trend off. Britney even had her bridal party dressed in two-piece tracksuits ahead of her wedding to Kevin Federline. Then, they became slightly over-worn by more Z-list celebs and fell off the radar…

Footwear

Platformed trainers were a big trend, again started by every girl’s fashion icons — the Spice Girls. Whether they were white tennis shoes, lace-up boots or sandals, they had to have a huge platform to allow you to stomp around. We’ve seen this trend return with Rihanna’s range of Puma platformed trainers and (for something more alternative) Gucci’s rainbow platform metallic sneakers that are currently on sale.

How could we forget jelly shoes? I actually brought my daughter a pair this year for the summer as they are really piratical for toddlers. It is thought that they were invented due to a leather shortage during World War II, leading to a French shoemaker creating shoes from plastic. This is one of the trends that has come and gone throughout the years, with a surge of the shoes in 2002 and another rise to popularity in 2009.

As with all fashion trends, it’s likely that we won’t have seen the back of these unforgettable fashion trends. And, there’s bound to be many more fads to come that we’ll cringe at before buying into.