History Main / IWasQuiteAFashionVictim

Sometimes it's the character acknowledging how dumb they looked, but just as often it's their friends laughing at how dumb they used to look and that character not denying it, or we see the character back then and get a good laugh out of it.

* In 2010, when Creator/SigourneyWeaver hosted ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' for the first time in nearly 24 years, she showed a still of herself when she hosted in 1986 (on the first episode featuring a new cast after the season 11 fiasco that almost got the show canned for good), [[http://barbarism.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/sigouneyweaver_snl.jpg wearing this outfit]]. Things have changed a lot since then, she acknowledged; she "wears a bra now."

Compare OldShame, FashionDissonance, DeaderThanDisco, OutdatedOutfit, ImpossiblyTackyClothes.

* In ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11's'' story mode, which involved time travel. Several older human characters had their younger selves brought into the present day, and present!Johnny Cage is mildly embarrassed by his younger self's 90's day-glo attire. What makes this odd though is that Johnny didn't actually dress that way in the older ''Mortal Kombat'' games--he wore basic kickboxing pants--whereas the other past counterparts had on the outfits they debuted in.

* On ''Series/BlackLightning'', Jennifer is trying out ideas for her own superhero costume with Gambi helping. Gambi shows off Jefferson's first Black Lightning suit (which [[MythologyGag looks just like the one from the comics]] with everyone laughing.

* ''Series/{{Bones}}'' has one episode in which Cam is revealed to be an actress on an old B movie, that she acted on to pay for med school while she was in New York. On the movie, she uses an afro and tainted top.

-->--'''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2'''

->''"Lookin' back now, I can see me\\
Oh man, did I look cheesy."''
-->-- '''Music/MarkWills''', "Nineteen Somethin'"

* In the Disney ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' series finale, Hercules gets a hold of Meg's yearbook which we don't get to see...

[[caption-width-right:300:TheGrimReaper in TheSeventies[softreturn][-"I can't believe I thought that looked good. I must have been high."-] ]]

People can get caught up in the fashions of a certain time, and just cringe thinking about it later on. This can be any time, but usually it's about the decades immediately before most present day works. So in TheNineties and [[TurnOfTheMillennium the early 2000s]], TheSeventies and TheEighties were the most popular subjects for this, but now those later decades are slowly becoming this.

Sometimes it's the character acknowledging how dumb he/she looked, but just as often it's their friends laughing at how dumb he/she used to look and that character not denying it, or we see the character back then and get a good laugh out of it.

* Nowadays Superheroes tend to do this, although how much of it is the characters or the writers is up to debate. An especially famous case happened to ComicBook/BlackCanary, who, after a stint with a cringe-worthy costume, actually ''set it on fire'' on [[http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3332/3620592838_166b9e21be_b.jpg the cover of an issue]]. In an issue of ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'' she and Oracle go to a mall. Upon seeing a display of dolls featuring her 80s costume and having the clerk explain that they can't even sell the things, she buys up all of them so that no one else can see how bad it looked.

* Discussed in ''Savage Wolverine'' #12: ComicBook/KittyPryde is teaching a class on costume design at the Jean Grey institute, and shows off her old costumes, including the {{Impossibly Tacky|Clothes}} Sprite costume ([[RummageSaleReject gold lame, leg warmers, and roller skates!]]). One student, [[{{Jerkass}} Quentin Quire]], razzes her for it, and she simply notes "It was a more innocent time." Mind you, Quentin's pink fauxhawk isn't exactly [[HypocriticalHumor timeless...]]

'''Bob''': Yeah, but--a mohawk?\\

* In ''Literature/TheBerenstainBears and the Dress Code'', most of the students are trying stranger and stranger clothing styles, including one wearing a tiny miniskirt that prompts Miss Glitch to send her home to change. This prompts vice-principal Mervyn "Bullhorn" Grizzmeyer to try to institute a school dress code, which the students promptly rebel against through LoopholeAbuse, up until Mr. Grizzmeyer sets the rules as "If I don't like your outfit, you go home and change". The matter is ultimately settled by a public debate with Mr. Grizzmeyer, Miss Glitch and Papa Bear on one side and the cubs on the other, which the cubs (Brother in particular) win without saying a single word: they simply show three slides they got from Grizzly Gran (Papa's mother), Mrs. Grizzmeyer (Mr. Grizzmeyer's wife) and Miss Glitch's mother of the adult trio in various bizarre outfits, including Papa in bellbottoms and Mr. Grizzmeyer in a zoot suit and a wide-brimmed hat. The dress code is promptly discontinued, and having made their point, the students largely abandon their stranger outfits for more normal ones.

* ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'' has a field day with this one whenever it shows the incredibly stoic Cpt. Holt in the 80's, it's almost always an excuse to put Andre Braugher into the most ridiculous costumes imaginable.

* In the first episode of ''Series/TheChrisRockShow'', Creator/ChrisRock claims he's actually the second Chris Rock, much like how [[TheOtherDarrin there were two Lionels on]] ''Series/TheJeffersons''. He shows a picture of "the original Chris", which is a picture of himself with [[EightiesHair a jheri curl hairdo]].

* In ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' the whole family sees Phil and Vivian on an episode of ''Series/SoulTrain'' sporting Afros and Bell bottoms and other wacky 70s styles.

** Ross spent much of his time in college looking like Lionel Richie.

** Robin takes the cake with this one -- as it's revealed that she was a TeenIdol in her youth. She sported poofed up blonde hair, a bedazzled denim jacket and other stereotypical '80s fashions. What makes this double is that this was ''the 90s'', and she claims the 80s got to Canada a little later than everywhere else.

* In ''Series/{{Lost}}'', during a round of "I Never" Kate gets Sawyer to admit that he once wore pink. Sawyer just replies with "It was the Eighties!"

* ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'': Most people tend to look back on what they wore during the 80's with embarrassment. Mickey Pierce on the other hand, averts this by ''never'' changing his look at all... leaving his wardrobe stuck TwoDecadesBehind by the end of the series.

-->"You can tell it was the 80s due to [[EightiesHair the volume of their hair]]."

* There's an ongoing story in ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic'', concerning a time-traveling younger version of the Mythbusters-crew... from the 80's. Complete with ridiculous big hair.

* A ''Webcomic/NothingNiceToSay'' strip has a group of teenagers looking in an old yearbook belonging to one of their fathers, making fun of his striking a Disco pose, in full DiscoDan regalia, sometime in the 70's. The final panel then shows them [[NotSoDifferent being modern day hipsters, with all the ridiculous haircuts, accessories and clothes]] that entails.

** Another episode has a flashback about the gang (minus Joe who hadnt moved to Quahog yet) hanging out at the Drunken Clam in the '70s, '80s and finally in 1999. They all wear stereotypical clothing in the '70s and '80s, such as Cleveland having a huge afro and bellbottom pants in the '70s, Quagmire wearing a ''Series/MiamiVice'' outfit in the '80s, etc. Also, Cleveland's catchphrase changes in each scene.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Call of the Cutie," Cheerilee shows a class of young ponies a picture of herself when she got her cutie mark, and her 80s clothes and hair gets a laugh.

** "The Secret Origin Of Denzel Crocker" has Timmy travel back to the 80s to figure out why Mr Crocker is so unhappy in the future. He looks for a college-age Crocker in 1984, and remarks that the whole decade is a fashion disaster. He has Cosmo and Wanda poof him up a ''Series/MiamiVice''-outfit with gaudy sunglasses so he'll blend in.
* Done in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Birdz}}'', with Mr and mrs Storkowitz (Mr. Storkowitz is far more embarrassed).

** One episode involves Odd publishing in the school newpaper an old picture of Yumi dressed in a ridiculous pink fairy costume for a party (in her defense, she was forced to dress like that by her parents). Yumi is not amused.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/ClerksTheAnimatedSeries'' where Dante and Randall get locked in a freezer, and remember the first time they met each other at the Quick Stop, with Randall commenting on how he still can't believe how they looked back in the day. The flashback clearly takes place in TheEighties so you'd expect them to be wearing some ridiculous 80's clothes, but they're dressed exactly the same as they are in the present day.
* The second "DC Comics Special" of ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' has The Scarecrow stumble across footage of an old talent show at Smallville High that Lex Luthor participated in as a teenager...as a glam rock act named "Sex Luthor", complete with ridiculous 80s hair.
* ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' usually has everyone dressing in over-the-top 90s styles in the scenes set in the 90s, but really took this to extremes with a whole episode set in 2007. From Todd's emo hair, Diane's stacked bob, PB's Ed Hardy tattoo shirts, Princess Carolyn's acid-washed denim skirts and Emily's Uggs, every detail is painful.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/AaahhRealMonsters'' has Simon the Monster Hunter piloting [[HumongousMecha a giant robot]] until a police woman pulls him over and asks for his license. The photo in the license presented to her has him in an afro, a leisure suit and gold rimmed glasses with jewels encrusted in them. The police woman then laughs uncontrollably for a bit.

* The [[UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball Tampa Bay Buccaneers]] would prefer everyone forget their uniforms during their first twenty years. An exceedingly [[https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--LQQCgdbU--/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/190h3570xfuo3jpg.jpg bright orange]] (Dubbed "Creamsicle" by fans) , with [[http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/7/176/full/1041.gif Bucco Bruce]] plastered on their helmets.

* ''Series/{{Community}}'': In an election for school president, Jeff runs against Annie for the sole purpose of showing her what a hollow sham politics is -- on the last debate she holds him up to ridicule by showing his audition tape for MTV's ''Series/TheRealWorld'' where he dresses up, sings, and dances like GeorgeMichael.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* Briefly mentioned in ''Literature/AMurderIsAnnounced'' -- Miss Blacklock's niece Julia mentions being amused by pictures of Miss Blacklock as a young woman in the fashions of TheRoaringTwenties. Julia's brother remarks that in [[TheEighties thirty years' time]], it'll be Julia's turn to cringe at [[TheFifties what she's wearing now]].
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'' did this any time (mainly with Chandler and Ross) there was a flashback to when they were teens or in college:
** Ross spent much of his time in college looking like Lionel Richie.
** Chandler sported Music/AFlockOfSeagulls hair and once entered a Music/VanillaIce look-alike competition and ''won'' (Ross entered too, but he only came in fourth).
** And in one of the Thanksgiving flashback episodes, Ross and Chandler turn up dressed like [[Series/MiamiVice Sonny Crockett]], complete with nonsensical posing and rolling up their sleeves. They also acknowledge their previous looks as embarrassing, [[HypocriticalHumor failing to realize that they still look ridiculous.]]

* In 2010, when Creator/SigourneyWeaver hosted ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' for the first time in nearly 24 years, she showed a still of herself when she hosted in 1986 (on the first episode featuring a new cast after the season 11 fiasco that almost got the show canned for good), [[http://barbarism.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/sigouneyweaver_snl.jpg wearing this outfit]]. Things have changed a lot since then, she acknowledged; she "wears a bra now."

* Cordelia from ''Series/{{Angel}}'', while studying her own photo album to get over her amnesia:
-->'''Cordelia:''' Hmmm. Cute... [flip] cute... [flip] hot... [flip to JustForFun/{{egregious}} afro haircut] Yikes!!
** Angel himself sported a rather horrifying ''mullet'' (yes, ''mullet'') in the seventies. He's still a residual fanboy of Barry Manilow.
* In ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'', Kira sees a picture of [[CoolTeacher Tommy]] in his ''Series/{{Mighty Morphin|PowerRangers}}'' days and makes fun of his long hair. Tommy counters that in the '90s [[LampshadeHanging everyone thought it was cool]].
* In ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' the whole family sees Phil and Vivian on an episode of ''Series/SoulTrain'' sporting Afros and Bell bottoms and other wacky 70s styles.
* ''Series/TopGear'''s tribute to the now-defunct Saab includes a clip from the old format of the show, featuring a much younger Jeremy Clarkson, complete with atrocious '80s hair and clothing.
-->'''Clarkson:''' We would like to apologize for the music... and the shirt, and the jacket and the hair...
* In ''Series/TheNanny'' episode "The Kibbutz",the '70s flashback scenes show Fran Fine wearing ''10''-esque cornrows, Maxwell Sheffield wearing a leisure suit and PornStache, and C.C. Babcock with long, black Music/YokoOno-esque hair.
* In the first episode of ''Series/TheChrisRockShow'', Creator/ChrisRock claims he's actually the second Chris Rock, much like how [[TheOtherDarrin there were two Lionels on]] ''Series/TheJeffersons''. He shows a picture of "the original Chris", which is a picture of himself with [[EightiesHair a jheri curl hairdo]].
* Tim and Jill on ''Series/HomeImprovement'' dig up some old photos out of the basement. Their kids are shocked to learn that that one picture of a very attractive young woman is actually of [[IWasQuiteALooker their mother]], and the attractive young man she's with is... some guy who isn't Tim. The picture they eventually dig up of Tim has him wearing a dorky '70s mustache.

* In ''Series/TorchwoodMiracleDay'', Jack, when approached about a picture of him with a bushy PornStache, simply responds "The Seventies". His clothing, however, averts this trope as [[AwesomeAnachronisticApparel he still wears his World War II greatcoat.]]
* ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'': Most people tend to look back on what they wore during the 80's with embarrassment. Mickey Pierce on the other hand, averts this by ''never'' changing his look at all... leaving his wardrobe stuck TwoDecadesBehind by the end of the series.
* In ''Series/{{Lost}}'', during a round of "I Never" Kate gets Sawyer to admit that he once wore pink. Sawyer just replies with "It was the Eighties!"
* ''Series/{{Community}}'': In an election for school president, Jeff runs against Annie for the sole purpose of showing her what a hollow sham politics is -- on the last debate she holds him up to ridicule by showing his audition tape for MTV's ''Series/TheRealWorld'' where he dresses up, sings, and dances like GeorgeMichael.
-->'''Jeff:''' ''[defensively]'' I was, like, ''nineteen!''\\
'''Annie:''' We've ''all'' been nineteen, Jeff; we didn't do ''this!''

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' Buffy says when seeing her mother's yearbook photo:
-->'''Buffy:''' Mom, I've accepted that you've had sex. I'm not willing to accept that you had [[Creator/FarrahFawcett Farrah]] [[SeventiesHair hair]].

** In "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIIITimeslides Timeslides]]", the crew go back in time and meet a young Lister ([[TimeshiftedActor played by Craig Charles's younger brother Emile]]) who's trying to become a singer. The Cat finds his outfit hilarious.
--->'''Lister''': It's what everyone was wearing. It was called sham-glam.
--->'''Cat''': Look at that collar! You could go hang-gliding!

* ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'' has a field day with this one whenever it shows the incredibly stoic Cpt. Holt in the 80's, it's almost always an excuse to put Andre Braugher into the most ridiculous costumes imaginable.
* In the ''Series/MidnightCaller'' episode "City of Lost Souls," Jack and Laurie look at some pictures of Jack during his high school years in the early 1970s.
-->'''Laurie''': You're a lot better looking without the sideburns.\\
'''Jack''': Ooh, look at that. That's the last time I'll be a slave to fashion.\\
'''Laurie''': I can see why.

[[folder:Theater]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* The [UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball Tampa Bay Buccaneers]] would prefer everyone forget their uniforms during their first twenty years. An exceedingly bright orange (Dubbed "Creamsicle" by fans) , with [[http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/7/176/full/1041.gif Bucco Bruce]] plastered on their helmets.

-->'''Helen''': There's a lot of things you don't know about me.\\

'''Helen''': Eh, you didn't miss much.

-->'''Buffy:''' Mom, I've accepted that you've had sex. I'm not willing to accept that you had [[Series/CharliesAngels Farrah]] [[SeventiesHair hair]].

** In "Timeslides", the crew go back in time and meet a young Lister ([[TimeshiftedActor played by Craig Charles's younger brother Emile]]) who's trying to become a singer. The Cat finds his outfit hilarious.

** In "Pete", the time wand is accidentally used to regress first Cat and Kochanski's hair and then their clothing to an earlier time in their lives. Holly thinks they look like the Turkish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest.

* ''Guitar World'' magazine had a monthly feature where guitarists would answer reader-submitted questions. Alex Lifeson of Music/{{Rush}} was questioned on the band's stage clothing in their early years, and he responded, [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome "We're hardly the only band to regret what we wore in]] TheSeventies."

** Another episode has a flashback about the gang (minus Joe who hadnt moved to Quahog yet) hanging out at the Drunken Clam in the '70s, '80s and finally in 1999. They all wear stereotypical clothing in the '70s and '80s, such as Cleveland having a huge afro and bellbottom pants in the '70s, Quagmire wearing a MiamiVice outfit in the '80s, etc. Also, Cleveland's catchphrase changes in each scene.