Fashion can be a great to way express your individuality, and each season, designers bring us new items to update our looks. However, sometimes they try to create trends that are impractical, unflattering or simply incomprehensible. Here I explore some of the most bizarre ideas to have floundered and died- and rightly so!- on the catwalk.

Sportluxe

As seen from DKNY, Burberry and Marc Jacobs, this trend was meant to have taken off in a huge way, if you were to believe the way the magazines kept mentioning it. The fact of the matter is, though, clothes that have some nod towards the sporty, even if executed in a more haute couture way, still look like you’re on the way to the gym…albeit slightly better dressed. Nobody, apart from joggers and chavs, would willingly wear hooded tops, baggy nylon trousers or tops with ridiculous zips outside the front door. Though, Durham does have a high number of students who wear joggers as everyday wear…

Turbans

Dries Van Noten's model looks less than impressed at her headgear...

Surprisingly enough, these used to be popular back in the 1940s, with the iconic designer Poiret utilizing them in his sketches. Prada- and other designers- failed to relaunch the turban in spring/summer 2008. Surprisingly enough, people weren’t exactly willing to make themselves even hotter in summer by putting a rather insulating hat. Apart from the fact they looked ridiculous with whatever outfit the designers paired them with! Not even celebrities took to this trend; it’s not often when designers fail to influence anyone.

Circus

This trend did diffuse through into the high street shops; TopShop was the most notable, with harlequin patterned skirts, top hats and oversized bows. However, nobody actually wore any of the clothes; though I could be wrong, seeing as I don’t live in London (the city where you can get away with anything). Again, the basic flaw of this trend was the fact that nobody actually wants to look like a clown, juggler or out-of-work French street artist. A more diluted version of this trend could perhaps have worked well- perhaps in more muted colours and in more wearable day-to-day pieces, like tshirts. Thankfully, this trend remained stuck in the back of Katy Perry’s wardrobe.

One bad outfit can make even the beautiful look laughable

Equestrian

Again, I fail to see how anyone can get away with this trend without people either thinking you’re on the way to the stables or making jibes at you all day. Jodhpurs, fitted shirts…and I have unfortunately even seen riding hats on the poor models. Only the super-skinny and ridiculously tall can get away with wearing jodhpurs; this trend was doomed to die on the catwalk simply because the majority of people aren’t built like models and actually have some form of fat on them! Admittedly some have tried to make the trend more wearable, for example with horse-printed scarves, but I think Caroline Herrera had better throw her equestrian clothes in the charity bag; this is one look that will remain unworn.

I could add many more trends to this list- pyjamas as daywear (though I’ve seen some in Durham doing just this…), mod-goth, dominatrix… I can imagine how hard it is for designers to keep coming up with new ideas each season, but some ideas are just blatantly absurd. I’m all for people looking individual, but some looks are just ridiculously bad. It is slightly entertaining to see the fads that will clearly get rejected by the general public though. Here’s hoping the catwalks for autumn/winter 09 bring both fab, and horrendously bad clothes!

Hannah Shekle