Those Bloomers Look Sexy…And Other Things People Used to Find Attractive

Sometimes you read about how awful looks are coming back into style – skinny jeans, gauchos, even pleated jeans – but no matter how bad it gets, it could be worse. We’ve given a little thought to the matter, and we’ve decided that we’ll take a few stray pairs of skinny jeans over these vintage styles any day:

Hoop Skirts – These were skirts for an era when people figured that things like bicycles and comfortable apparel gave women too much freedom to run off and get themselves into trouble. Back then, few things were more attractive than a woman with a massive steel cage under her dress. If you had enough room to host a welterweight cage fight down below, you were HOT.

Bloomers – Named for activist Amelia Bloomer, bloomers were not well liked in the beginning. They let women ride bikes and walk around easily, which was a big fashion DON’T at the time. Eventually, though, men took a liking to saucy wenches in bloomers, brazenly baring their ankles like it was their wedding night. That turned out to be a pretty slippery slope.

Bustles – Long before Sir Mix a Lot waxed poetic about the joys of large posteriors, women were creating ample silhouettes with a little help from their seamstresses. The general idea of the bustle was to make the fullness of the front match the fullness of the back. Couple that with a corset, and it becomes pretty obvious that the Victorians weren’t as stuffy as they’re often portrayed to be.