When it comes to classic fashion, people have done some truly odd things in the name of style. From early risers staring at mirrors to spending fortunes on outfits, history is packed with trends that would make today’s designers cringe.
Why Classic Fashion Can Be So Strange
The desire to look good has driven societies to extremes, turning ordinary objects into statements of status, beauty, or rebellion. Below, we count down ten of the most baffling fashions ever recorded.
10 Gluing A Unibrow On Your Head
In ancient Greece, a split‑between‑the‑brows look was considered a blemish. To achieve the coveted sleek line, women would coat the hair gap with black powder, turning it into a caterpillar‑like stripe that stretched across the brow.
If a lady was born without any hair in that spot, she improvised: some rubbed soot between the brows, while others crafted faux hair from dyed goat fur, glued in place with tree resin.
9 High Heels That Were 0.6 Meters (2 Ft) Tall
During the Middle Ages, Florence reigned as the world’s fashion capital, and its ladies took platform shoes to a literal new height. Known as chopines, these wooden‑heeled wonders could tower over 0.6 meters (two feet) above the ground.
The craze spread to men, too, turning city streets into a sort of stilts‑walk. To manage the wobble, the Florentine elite resorted to canes for support. Outsiders called the style absurd, and even the church begrudgingly tolerated it—largely because the towering heels kept women from dancing, which the clergy deemed a sin.
8 Dropping Poison In Your Eyes
Renaissance Italy had a deadly beauty secret: women would apply a few drops of nightshade (belladonna) directly to their eyes. The toxin dilated pupils, giving the impression of perpetual arousal—a look that earned the name “belladonna,” or “beautiful lady.”
The effect also blurred vision and quickened the heartbeat. Over‑application could lead to blindness, but the trade‑off was deemed worthwhile for the alluring stare.
7 Penis Bulges
Across England, a fashion battle raged over the size of the male crotch. It began with practical codpieces—small flaps covering gaps in men’s tights—but soon morphed into exaggerated bulges meant to showcase a man’s virility.
By Edward IV’s reign, codpieces resembled oversized penises, and by Henry VII’s time they had ballooned to cartoonish proportions. Though Elizabeth I eventually put the trend out of favor, the obsession resurfaced in later centuries, with tight trousers accentuating the male anatomy.
6 Blackening Your Teeth
In Japan, a striking dental fashion emerged known as ohaguro. Women (and later men) deliberately blackened their teeth, believing a dark smile signified maturity and elegance.
The concoction involved boiling hot water, sake, and red‑hot iron for five days. A black scum rose to the surface, which was scraped off and rubbed onto the teeth. The practice endured for nearly a millennium before being outlawed in 1870.
5 Cutting A Gash In Your Cheek
Late‑19th‑century Germany saw dueling become a fashion statement. Young men would purposefully expose their faces, allowing opponents to nick them during swordplay. After the bout, they’d deepen the wound themselves to ensure a dramatic scar.Some enthusiasts amassed dozens of facial cuts; one recorded individual boasted fourteen distinct scars, each a badge of toughness and style.
4 Wearing One High Heel With One Low Heel
When Princess Alexandra of Denmark contracted rheumatic fever, she walked with a pronounced limp. Fashion‑forward women mimicked her by pairing mismatched shoes—one towering heel with a modest one.
Seeing the trend’s popularity, cobblers began producing “Alexandra Limp” shoes, complete with a cane to accentuate the uneven gait. The look turned a physical limitation into a glamorous statement.
3 Wearing A Lightning Rod On Your Head
Benjamin Franklin’s kite experiment inspired Parisian ladies to fashion lightning‑rod hats. Women attached metal rods to their heads, allowing the metal to draw any strike safely to the ground.
Some even carried umbrellas fitted with conductive wires to complete the circuit. No records confirm a successful lightning hit, but the elite wore the hats proudly, valuing the striking silhouette over practicality.
2 Wearing Seven Shirts At Once
During Mao’s Cultural Revolution, a quirky trend emerged among youth: layering multiple shirts. The belief was that the more shirts you wore, the smarter you appeared.
According to writer Jung Chang, a record‑setting boy donned seven shirts simultaneously, topping the look with lace‑less sneakers. The layered fashion became a badge of intellectual pride amid the political upheaval.
1 Socks With Sandals
Ancient Rome introduced perhaps the most bewildering footwear combo: socks paired with open‑toe sandals. Archaeologists uncovered knitted wool socks that reached the knee, worn beneath sandals for comfort—or perhaps status.
Years of scholarly effort finally produced “unequivocal evidence” of the practice, proving that the modern fashion faux pas has roots that stretch back millennia.