Even the most fashionable folks make a sartorial slip-up now and again. However, there are some fashion trends that are not only so bad, but so pervasive, that they've become iconic in their own right. Some of the worst fashion trends out there, from the leisure suits of the '70s to the light-up sneakers of the 1990s, are so ridiculous by today's standards that we can't help but laugh—and wonder what we were thinking.

Take a trip down memory lane as we recall the worst fashion trend from the year you were born, starting back in 1940. And for more blast from the past style, This Is the "It" Hairstyle the Year You Were Born.

1940: Popover Dresses

By 1940, both England and France had entered World War II, which made way for American designers to dominate the wardrobes of the world. Some, including Claire McCardell, helped to fill the void of new designs coming out of Paris; in the early 1940s, she introduced the popover dress. Originally meant as a ready-to-wear utility garment, this wrap dress became a go-fashion staple across the country. What makes it so ridiculous, you ask? Well, every $7 dress was sold with an oven mitt that attached via button, according to an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

1941: Mini Bowler Hats

In the early 1940s, bowler hats—which were already wildly popular with men—were downsized for feminine sensibilities. The result? Miniaturized bowler hats that women would wear askew. It's a trend that Vogue noted, in 1941, was "definitely not for the unselfconfident." Basically, it was a more polite way of saying few could pull this off and thank goodness more didn't try. In their look back at embarrassing style trends over the years, Harper's Bazaar deemed it one of the worst of the 1940s, adding, "Miniature hats flatter very few heads."

1942: Siren Suits

In the early 1940s, bowler hats—which were already wildly popular with men—were downsized for feminine sensibilities. The result? Miniaturized bowler hats that women would wear askew. It's a trend that Vogue noted, in 1941, was "definitely not for the unselfconfident." Basically, it was a more polite way of saying few could pull this off and thank goodness more didn't try. In their look back at embarrassing style trends over the years, Harper's Bazaar deemed it one of the worst of the 1940s, adding, "Miniature hats flatter very few heads."

1942: Siren Suits

The zoot suit was a baggy, oversized ensemble that made any man who wore one look like he was draped in, well, drapes. (Traditionally, zoot suits were made by buying a suit that was several sizes too large and then tailoring it to fit.)

And the zoot suit was not without controversy. As reported by Smithsonian magazine, in June 1943, white U.S. armed forces personnel spent a week assaulting "unpatriotic" men in Los Angeles who championed this trend. The ostensible reason for this spate of violence was to punish those who went against wartime rationing, but the majority of the victims were Mexican-American men. The riots didn't dampen the style's popularity, however; it rose through the rest of the decade, before fading into obscurity in the 1950s.

1944: Painted-on Stockings

Wearing makeup on your legs in lieu of stockings dates back to the 1920s, but, according to the National Museum of American History, the style hack really took off during World War II, when nylon—the material used to make pantyhose—was rationed. Women would paint their legs with makeup to make it look like they were wearing stockings. (Some creative-minded ladies even went so far as to draw on black lines with eyebrow pencils to simulate seams.)

In the 1940s, there was no better way to keep your hair out of your face than with the hair snood. These were typically crocheted (like a fancy hairnet), but a headscarf could also be tied like a snood, as the working woman pictured here proves. For wives working in factories while their husbands were at war, this was the look. (Thank goodness for the invention of ponytail holders.)

1946: Aloha Shirts

You've seen them on everyone from Elvis to Brad Pitt over the years, but Hawaiian-style floral print shirts—also called Aloha shirts—have roots that date all the way back to the '20s. However, their true ascendancy took place in the late 1940s and carried into the 1950s (as you can see from this example on Montgomery Clift in the 1940s-set film From Here to Eternity). According to Racked, members of the U.S. military stationed in Hawaii before, during, and after World War II brought these shirts back as a "badge of honor," and they quickly became a casual wardrobe staple. And today, they still seem to be the vacation uniform for men of a certain age, no matter what state they're visiting.

1947: Propeller Beanies

As the story goes, in the summer of 1947, science fiction writer and cartoonist Ray Faraday Nelson drafted up a propeller hat as a joke for one of his space-dwelling characters. Soon after the cartoon and his helicopter hat were presented at a sci-fi convention, others took the design and ran with it. Various entities, including legendary toy company Mattel, sold versions of it (like hotcakes) around the country in the late 1940s. Nelson never secured a patent for his "invention," and, as a result, didn't see a penny from the sales of this very popular and embarrassing trend.

Source: BestLife