40 Fashion Faux Pas That Can Ruin Anyone’s Reputation
By Jhoana C
The world is overflowing with fashion faux pas. No matter how popular, rich, or kind you are, nobody is exempt from committing fashion faux pas that has the power to destroy your reputation. Plenty of these serious style blunders have been discussed and dissected online, but there’s always more for everyone to see. So, to lighten up the mood, make you smile today, and perhaps convince you to stay away from disasters, we have compiled 40 fashion disasters. You’re going to see everything here, from banana flip-flops to overly ripped jeans and the shoes of a swamp monster. They will make you laugh, cringe, and swear to everything holy that you won’t be a victim, just like these people here.
#1 Would your feet like to wear jeans?
Jeans are one of the most versatile and durable textiles. Once worn only by the working class, it has found its way to the top of fashion that nowadays, even royals and the richest of the rich wear jeans. But would your feet like them too?
This fashion monstrosity is something that shouldn’t have even made it to the production line. You could consider this footwear a pair of shoes or boots, but we are sure of one thing, that pair of atrocity is not going to make it anywhere near our feet.
#2 Now comes the hideous socks
After discussing a hideous pair of shoes, let’s move on to an unappealing pair of socks. We understand the popularity of boy bands or singers in general. We understand these good-looking men deserve some adoration now and then, but everything has its limits.
Do you really want to see their faces on your feet? We don’t because that will make it more difficult to pair your socks with anything at all. If your socks will be concealed, then perhaps it will make things easier for you but that’s still a hard NO for us.
#3 Watch out; there’s a new car model out there
Move over Maserati, Lamborghini, James Aston, and the likes. There’s a new automotive brand in town, and it will give significant brands a run for their money. Everyone meet Procshe, the latest kid on the block, and people are excited about what they have to offer.
People would be proud to wear shirts that say Balenciaga, Gucci, and Dolce & Gabbana, to name a few, but we doubt people would want to wear anything that says Procshe. This is an apparent misspelling of a popular brand and a blatant imitation, too.
#4 He must have worn the shirt wrong
Some people do the wrong things to get noticed, and some do them accidentally and without any malice. We are not sure if this guy is doing it to get attention or if he doesn’t know that he is wearing his shirt the wrong way.
Look at him with his collared shirt backward. People may have noticed what he is wearing, but he doesn’t mind because he is too busy enjoying the game. He must have bet quite a lot of money on his favorite team.
#5 Wearing a ‘dirty’ clean shirt
When going out, the last thing you want is to wear a dirty shirt and have people staring at you. Unless your short is a ‘dirty’ clean shirt, but the problem is, you might know it’s clean, but other people won’t. They’ll be very busy talking about you and why you came to the office dirty.
Why did designers even think of this? Didn’t they even consider how awkward it would be for the person wearing the shirt, regardless if the brand is DKNY, Calvin Klein, or Guess? We wouldn’t wear this even if it had a trendy name on the label.
#6 Why don’t you just go out naked?
One look at this ‘distressed’ pair of jeans and we only had one thing in mind, what’s the purpose of wearing them? If you’re going to wear them, you might as well go out in public naked because they’re pretty much going to see everything with those pants.
Sometimes we think that designers have run out of ideas. How is it that this weird design came to mind when they thought about art and fashion? We get the ripped jeans style, but this pair isn’t ripped at all, it’s been decimated!
#7 If shoes could kill
We aren’t sure when pointed-toe shoes started appearing in the footwear scene, but we have to admit that it looks great on a particular group of people. It gives your feet much-needed shape and elongation. However, some people dislike it.
Maybe because some pointed-toe shoes are so pointy that you could actually hurt people with them. A case in point is the Balenciaga pair above. It looks like a pair that could inflict serious danger so better keep it in the shoe box.
#8 Another pair of footwear we wouldn’t be caught dead wearing
Since we were on the topic of footwear, let’s continue with one more pair we wouldn’t be caught dead wearing. This is a literal monstrosity because it looks like a swamp monster’s feet. Wear this, and you’ll look like you belong in Shrek’s swamp.
Wear this in the urban jungle, and we guarantee that people would stop in their tracks and stare at you and, of course, say unpleasant things. Our primary concern is that it will be quite the challenge to look for an outfit that would match these shoes.
#9 The muddy cowboy
The word cowboy came from the Spanish word vaquero, defined as ‘a person who managed cattle while mounted on horseback‘. Cowboys and cowgirls have a broad appeal, which is evident in people who love anything and everything about The Wild Wild West.
However, this is one clothing article related to cowboys that we wouldn’t want in our closet. Why anyone would design dirt on a shirt is beyond us because we’re part of a generation that thinks you should wear clean clothes all the time.
#10 Teddy bears on your jacket
Wildly and weirdly popular from 2019 to 2020, teddy bear jackets were commonly seen worn by regular people on the streets and on public transportation. Teddy bears are and will always be cute, so maybe that’s part of the appeal.
But we think teddy bears, along with other plush toys, belong next to little ones who can’t sleep without their arms around these soft creations. They ought to leave the jackets and teddies alone because they don’t go well together.
#11 We’d rather freeze to death than wear this jacket
A jacket is meant to protect you from the cold and keep hypothermia away, but we’d rather freeze than wear it if the coat looked like this. What does orange peel have to do with keeping you warm? We know the value of recycling and we’re all for it.
No matter how much we try to like this jacket, we just can’t bring ourselves to admire it. Orange peels belong with other food leftovers to fertilize the soil and not on any article of clothing. Sorry, but it’s a big NO from us.
#12 Poor Santa
First off, it’s a little too early for Christmas, and secondly, Santa Claus might be injured and might not be able to go around the world to sneak the presents to little boys and girls who have been nice all year? Why do we say that?
Just look at the photo! We have to tell you this, folks, but it seems that Santa is caught between a literal rock and a hard place. He’s struggling even to breathe at the very moment. Hopefully, someone can take over his work with the same enthusiasm.
#13 Where’s the letter K?
Looking at this shirt, it seems that there is a scarcity of the letter K nowadays. Regardless of whether you are a huge fashion brand or just a startup, you ought to have a quality assurance check before putting your designs into mass production.
Because what you see in the photo is bound to happen. This misspelling is an embarrassment. You will waste all your effort, time, and money because you’ll only be scraping by instead of reaching or surpassing your sales target.
#14 We’d rather be awesome
We don’t know about you folks, but we’d rather be awesome. We haven’t met anyone yet who would rather be average or mediocre. The person who designed this must be a disgruntled employee who didn’t get proper compensation for his work.
We are not saying that it’s wrong to be average, but if you have a chance to stand out and achieve things, we’re pretty sure you would rather be an achiever than someone who fades into the background and goes through life doing nothing remarkable.
#15 Again, with the quality assurance issue
This is yet another example of just how important it is to have a quality assurance officer in the company and a good case of how vital word order is if you’re going to produce something with a written message.
Instead of being ‘Always remembered, forgotten never,’ Bella and Edward ended up being ‘Always forgotten, remembered never.’ There’s a very big difference between the two messages, and quite harsh! All because of a matter of word placement. How did not one person in the company catch this?
#16 What’s up with these sandals?
We have seen quite a few atrocious shoes on this list, and we guarantee you will see more. Here’s another one that will make you cringe and shrivel in footwear fear. The way this sandal was constructed defeats the purpose of wearing something on your feet in the first place.
How can it protect your feet when it only covers one toe? Sandals don’t necessarily cover your toes but they look sexy and alluring, but this pair, meh, it does nothing for us. We can’t quite put our finger on it, but we know we don’t want it.
#17 Short arms are going to be a problem
Here we are with yet another jacket that we will not wear, even if it means shivering in the cold. We know that children love dinosaurs at one point in their lives and would want their clothes to have dinosaurs on it.
But we know that this jacket is for adults, so why the T-rex with the very short arms? And why is the short arm sticking out from where your boobs would be if you were a woman? They didn’t think about how this would look if a woman wore it.
#18 Something for the cat lovers
We have space on our list for cat lovers because no fashion faux pas compilation is complete without mentioning something that involves cats. Don’t get us wrong. We have nothing against the cute felines. As a matter of fact, we love them.
At times, they may be moody, but they make great companions, and we would be lost without them. They just don’t belong on t-shirts, though, and the fact that they are depicted as space cats? Well, maybe that explains why sometimes they are so difficult to understand.
#19 Wow, that’s so inappropriate!
Elephants! We love them because they are some of the kindest creatures in the world. Seeing them roaming wild and free in their natural habitat fills our hearts with joy as we have often heard and read horror stories about enslaved elephants in circuses and zoos.
These pants for children, though, are an entirely different story. We are aware that fashion for children should be fun and nothing serious because children don’t even understand the majority of things around them, but putting the elephant’s trunk in that placement is just wrong on so many levels.
#20 Our condolences to Mickey
We envy Mickey being able to live in Disneyworld for his entire life and being able to do all sorts of fun things. However, this is the one rare instance when we are happy we didn’t have his life because look at him fighting for his existence in there.
It looks like Mickey got himself in a compromising position, with his head stuck in someone’s crack, or at least that’s how the design of this sweatshirt looks. Sometimes we can’t help but shake our heads at how people think up creations.
#21 Logo, you say?
Perhaps someone should have printed the actual logo on this shirt instead of spelling the word logo there and the things that were supposed to go around the logo. We are shaking our heads with this one!
Someone is undoubtedly getting fired, or someone got fired over this disaster. Was everyone in the design team so busy with their phones that no one noticed this? Was there even a design team to begin? It makes us wonder.
#22 Going down the rabbit hole
Alice in Wonderland has to be one of the most popular stories in the world. Millions of people have read it, and millions of people have seen the numerous movie adaptations too. It’s a story of a girl who went down a rabbit hole to a place full of bizarre creatures and adventures.
One of the most popular characters from the story is the Cheshire cat, which is known for its mischievous grin. Here is the cat being worn by someone in the supermarket, and it doesn’t look pleasant at all. It seems as if it’s struggling.
#23 Again with word placement
Here is another case of a word placement problem. In the race to create and sell a product, some companies don’t pay attention to the details of their designs and this can be the ruin of many otherwise great products.
This bag looks great, and the colors are pretty sweet, but the inappropriate letter placement ruined it. It’s hard to make out the bag’s message, and it ruins the aesthetics. Folks, always pay attention to the details of your products.
#24 Yes, all these are size 12
One look at this photo, and you will see that even if clothing tells you a specific size, there’s still a big difference in how it may fit. This photo also tells you that society expects people to be a specific size to be considered sexy or appealing.
You are no longer attractive or ideal if you’re over or under that size. All the pants you see in the photo are all size 12. Does the difference surprise you? It’s hard to believe, but yes, you can be size 12 and not have the same body type and size as other people who are also size 12.
#25 Why would you print gibberish on a shirt?
After seeing this photo, the first question that came to mind was, why would anyone print gibberish on a shirt? And why did they have to involve God in their undecipherable message? That’s not only one but two sins right there.
Yes, we get it; some messages make strong statements and get people to notice you, but some statements are just not worth printing, such as this one. We can only understand a single word there, and that is God. Everything else is just confusing.
#26 What happened to Naruto?
Naruto is one of the most popular animes out there. It’s just one of the many successful imports from Japan because it’s one of the biggest manga titles in the world. It tells the story of a character named Naruto, a young ninja, who seeks recognition from his peers.
The popularity of the character has resulted in various articles of clothing with Naruto’s face on it, including this jacket. But something terrible must have happened during production that we can’t even tell why his face looks devilish. How many noses are we counting here?
#27 This shoe is just too colorful for our taste
Not only do we not want to wear any kind of fruit on our feet, but we also think that this footwear is much too colorful. It has green, pink, brown, yellow, and gold, so we think it will be a nightmare to pair with any dress or shirt unless its plain white or black.
Designers should stop trying to use fruits or vegetables to fit our feet because they are not meant to be there. The colors are too much, and the rhinestones are even more over the top. We might start looking at watermelon differently after this.
#28 Hey, what’s up, doc?
Bugs Bunny is one of the most popular cartoon characters in the world. He is the 9th most portrayed film personality in the world and a fun fact for fans is that the first voice actor who voiced Bugs ate carrots while recording his lines. Talk about dedication!
There are countless Bugs Bunny merchandise today, but we reckon that what you see in the photo is one of the least popular because it has pretty much dismemebered the carrot-loving cartoon character. We pity Bugs for what happened to him.
#29 Crustaceans on your feet?
‘Under the sea, Under the sea. Darling it’s better, down when it’s wetter. Take it from me.’ Those are the lyrics that first came to mind after seeing this abomination. Yes, there is no better word to describe this crustacean footwear.
It is nothing less of a disaster. It boggles our minds why anyone would like to wear shoes like this. Well, maybe this would be fun for children, especially for a day out at the beach, but even if we had kids, we wouldn’t let them wear this.
#30 Shoes to keep your feet warm
Yakutsk is one of the coldest places on Earth. A part of Russia, it is entirely built on permafrost. At first glance, we thought that this pair of insulated shoes would work well there, but you’ll only probably get frostbitten. It won’t give much protection.
We’d like to call this puffer shoes because it looks like puffer jackets worn when it’s cold. Perhaps it would be more appropriate for cold spring days but we won’t be wearing it outside, it would just get the wrong attention.
#31 Spaces and commas between words are important
When you design something, you need to double, triple, or even quadruple-check something to make sure that there are no errors. If you are printing messages, you need to read the statement over and over again to spot the mistakes.
This is an example of an error that could have been easily spotted and corrected if only someone had paid attention. Or did they do this deliberately because they knew that an error as glaring as this would get people to notice?
#32 When you want to party and do business at the same time
It can be confusing to know what to wear if you’re going to party and work simultaneously. Should you wear something glittery, or should you be more formal? Should you go in a dress suit and closed shoes or strappy heels with a short dress?
What would be the most appropriate footwear? Perhaps you’d like to go with this if you’re a guy—a pair of serious loafers with holes in it. Just pray hard that it won’t rain because if it does, your feet will get soaked.
#33 Did someone fall over a massive pile of poop?
Wear this pair of pants, and people will think that you fell over a pile of poop. There’s nothing wrong with falling over a pile of poo, as sometimes we get so unlucky, but deliberately making it seem as if you have fecal matter on you is beyond us.
It’s a no-brainer, but you should avoid pants or dresses with this kind of design at all costs unless you want people to avoid you or cover their noses when they are near or around you. Have mercy on yourself, and don’t buy these pants.
#34 If you want to wear sneakers and heels at the same time
Mutations happen for plenty of reasons, and it is defined as a change in the DNA sequence that affects an organism. It can be caused by exposure to mutagens, errors in the DNA during cell replication, and a viral infection.
If shoes were live organisms, we’d probably guess that this pair had undergone a mutation. How else can you explain the cross between sneakers and heels? These would make good options for people who can’t decide between going casual and formal.
#35 South Park on your legs
South Park is another popular Canadian animated show that is about four foul-mouthed friends who have various misadventures, both supernatural and ordinary, around town. Fans of the show surely have a few souvenirs with images of the characters on it.
But this is a pair of South Park socks we wouldn’t recommend, even to die-hard fans. It might look nice before you wear it, but once you do, you’re going to regret buying it for sure. Why? Because it makes the character look funny when worn.
#36 Someone failed their geography class
Some adolescents ask why it’s essential to show up for their classes. We have here a concrete answer why. So you know exactly where a country is located and what it looks like on a map. It would be such an embarrassment if you called one country another name.
Well, that’s exactly what happened on this jacket. Someone put a flag of Norway on a map of Australia. This just makes us cringe. It’s such a bummer because the coat looks like it has excellent quality, and it’s nicely done.
#37 Thinger? What does that mean?
Do you also have the same question on your mind? What is thinger? Is that a new word? Because we certainly haven’t come across it previously and we have read plenty of books and articles. We’re pretty sure this was supposed to refer to the Netflix series Stranger Things.
We’re fans of the show, we are stoked for the new season, and we would be more than proud to show off our fan merchandise, but this is a shirt we won’t be proud of. We don’t even want to start discussing the holes and slits there.
#38 We demand pockets too!
Ah, pockets! We want them, and we need them. They make our lives easier. We want to be able to put our phones, change, and keys somewhere and be able to grab them as soon as we need them, and a handbag is not always that convenient.
However, some designers don’t think women want or deserve pockets in their clothing. Look at that tiny thing that designers want to call a pocket. What can you put there? We bet even keys are going to need more space.
#39 Fancy some banana on your feet?
Summertime is the perfect season to wear light and airy fabrics, eat loads of ice cream, and of course, wear flip-flops. It does not even matter if you’re not headed to the beach. Summer justifies wearing flip-flops anywhere and everywhere.
But this is a pair of flip-flops which we don’t want anything to do with. It looks as if someone threw a banana peel, and it happened to land on your feet. Folks, we’re not going to judge you if you like this, but we can do better.
#40 Did someone forget to change their shirt?
If you wear this when you go to the supermarket, the office, or when you meet your friends, they will think that you forgot to change your dirty clothes. Wear this and people are going to assume that you were busy fixing something at home.
You should just bury this shirt in the depths of your closet, never to see the light of day again because no one will appreciate it. You wouldn’t want anyone to think you are a filthy sort of person, right?