Fashion: Top clothing items & top fads

Some of the top iconic fashion items for the Le Tote survey.

Have you noticed how some fashions never go out of style, while others are quickly dismissed  as fads and are gone in the blink of an eye?  Fashion designers and magazines may suggest styles and trends, but ultimately, the women who buy fashions decide which items stay fashionable and which are out.   A new survey from fashion rental site Le Tote asked 2,000 American women to name the top clothing items of the past years.

Some of the top trends by decade include:

•  Bell-bottoms, miniskirts, and skinny jeans are the most iconic clothing items of all time.
•  The cat eye sunglasses, pencil skirt, and petticoats are the most iconic clothing items from the 1950s.
•  The mini skirt, go-go boots, and tie-dyed shirts made top headlines in the 1960s as survey respondents ranked these items as the most iconic of that decade.
•  The 1970s were the decade of the bell-bottoms, platform shoes, and hot pants, as these were ranked as the best wardrobe items.
•  The 1980s is when shoulder pads, leg warmers, and acid washed denim jeans made their mark in the fashion world – and survey participants agree these are the most iconic fashion items of the decade.
•  Flannel shirts, cargo pants, and doc marten boots were the best fashion items of the 1990s. Skinny jeans were voted as the most iconic wardrobe item of the 2000s.

“Trends may come and go, but one thing all of these style icons have in common is confidence,” Ruth Hartman added. “Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what you wear. What matters is that you feel beautiful and strong every time you step out the door. Confidence is at the core of what we do at Le Tote. We strive to make fashion accessible and approachable. Because every woman deserves to walk out the door feeling like an icon every day.”

Following are the full survey results.

Top ten iconic clothing items of all time from the Le Tote survey

• Bellbottoms
• Mini Skirt
• Skinny Jeans
• Shoulder pads
• Leg Warmers
• Platform shoes
• Go-go boots
• Cat eye sunglasses
• Pencil skirts
• Acid Washed denim

Whale tail (exposed thong) was voted as the greatest fashion faux pas of the past decade, followed by Ugg boots, Crocs, and people wearing leggings instead of pants.

Top ten fashion fad faux of the past decade of all time from the Le Tote survey

• Whale tail (exposed thong)
• Ugg boots
• Leggings as pants
• Crocs
• Super Skinny Jeans
• Ultra-low-rise jeans
• Harem pants
• Lens less glasses
• Grills
• Juicy Couture loungewear
• Trucker hats