Look Your Age
Every one of us will eventually reach old age, and there is nothing wrong with mother nature taking its course. As time passes, it just naturally occurs. Nevertheless, it's vital not to age too rapidly.
There are plenty of things that people like to do that actually make them appear older than they are. We're here to pick on a few, whether it is done intentionally or not..
Big Hair
Back in the 80s, having the biggest and poofiest hair was all the rage. Hairspray helped keep the volume up, but nowadays, it's quite easy to go overboard.
Volume in moderation can have positive results. Going overboard results in ten years of age you didn't want to pick up. Instead of using hairspray, try drying it upside down. This will add a lot of natural mass to your hair.
Extremely Long Hair
While having locks flowing past your shoulders can leave you looking younger, on the other hand, having it very long can have the opposite effect.
When your hair starts to fall past your waist, it weighs you down. This flattens your hair and can leave you with the notorious "Cat Lady" look and not with your desired "Fairytale Princess" look.
Big, Loud Jewelry
Jewelry is for pairing well with your fashionable attire, but when the jewelry itself is standing out more than your outfit, then it can be a bad thing. "Loud" jewelry can cause an unflattering, aged look.
It's been many years since jewelry was a status symbol -- where the most extravagant jewelry would make someone the most noticed. Nowadays, it's better to accessorize in moderation and leave flashy jewelry to the elderly.
Too Much Fake Tan
I think there's at least one thing most people can agree on when it comes to fashion choices. But still, it seems there are a few people who need to be told. Spray-on fake tan does not look aesthetically pleasing.
A natural tan can create a beautiful "at the beach" look, but a fake tan just looks, well, fake. It's unflattering and can make you look more withered -- which means older, too.
Over-Plucked Eyebrows
Over-plucked Eyebrows scream of the early 2000s. Our favorite stars had them, think Pink or Christina Aguilera. It may have inspired people 20 years ago, but please don't try to revive this trend today.
In this day and age, people prefer thick, natural eyebrows. Not everyone likes it, but that's fine. Just don't overpluck your poor eyebrows, they'll leave you looking a lot older.
Pastels From Head To Toe
Don't think we hate pastels, in fact, pastels can look incredible if matched with the right attire. The subtle colors can complement anything, and it's all the rage now.
But that doesn't mean you can't kill the look. Dressing in pastels and only pastels will leave you looking washed out and subsequently older. The best outfit with pastels is strongly contrasting dark colors, like dark jeans.
Floor-Length Skirts
We understand not wanting to show too much skin, not one of the worst ways to cover up is by wearing a skirt that goes down to the ankle. On shorter people, they can really make your legs look disproportional to your body.
If you're set on these skirts, there are methods that can improve the way they look. They are complemented by a pair of heels and a fitted top. Just no baggy tops or running shoes.
Cakey Makeup
Makeup is amazing because it can really complement our existing attractiveness and bring it to a whole new level. But too much of a good thing can really leave a different effect on the face.
Smearing makeup on your face in high quantities won't hide your spots. In fact, it will only make them more visible instead of your beauty. It can also leave your face looking rough, with your pores more visible. A moderate amount of foundation can really make a difference.
Covering Your Neck Up
When it's chilly out, we know turtlenecks are almost a necessity, but don't let them become a daily occurrence. Leaving your neck exposed can go a long way!
There are still ways of making an exposed neck look great or make you look older. Having your hair up and a bit of makeup will look great. Having a lot of makeup and an enormous amount of volume (remember volume!) can have an aged effect on your face.
Never Changing Your Hair
Many people believe in the phrase, "if it's not broken, don't fix it", but this shouldn't apply to hair. Hair is actually our most important accessory, and if it always looks the same, it gets old and uninteresting.
Not only that, but wearing your hair in the same style for years is typical of older people, while experimenting with your look is associated with youthfulness. Even doing something as simple as putting it up in a ponytail one day and in a bun the next day and then wearing it down after that can make a big difference in how you present yourself.
Dark Lipstick
Dark lipstick can either make or break a look. If you manage to pull it off, you'll look absolutely incredible, but if you don't know how to do it, you'll do more harm than good. The first thing you have to do is make sure you choose a shade that looks good with your skin tone.
Dark lipstick looks the best with cool tones such as grey, white, and black. Also, it tends to be the focus of your whole look, so having flashy clothes with patterns and too much jewelry will derail the look right away. Keep it simple!
Wearing Too Much Jewelry
Like we've said before, jewelry is meant to complement you, not take over the spotlight. Wearing big, chunky jewelry is just as bad as wearing too much jewelry. As Coco Chanel once said:
“Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.” Choose your accessories carefully and pick whatever enhances your outfit the best. Wearing a bracelet, earrings, a necklace, rings, and sunglasses all at once is probably going to backfire.
Floral Patterns
If floral patterns could talk, they would scream, "Grandma!". While there are some patterns that do work and can make you look delicate and classy, the rule is that most floral patterns make you look older.
The key to doing them right is to keep them simple and not overdoing it. The colors of the patterns also play a big role in how they look, so that you can test them like this: if the pattern looks like it works on a tablecloth, then don't wear it.
Shiny Pantyhose
Pantyhose used to be one of those things that women did not leave the house without. It used to be unthinkable to wear a dress or a skirt without pantyhose, but times have changed, and quite frankly, people look better without them.
Because it is an old trend that mostly elderly women continue to follow, tan, shiny pantyhose just age you. If you really like tights or you want to fight the cold while wearing a dress, opt for opaque styles or dark tights such as black or blue.
Heavy Eyeliner
Eyeliner is one of the best inventions of humankind. It makes you look awake, sexy, and fearless. However, too much eyeliner actually makes you look more tired and older, and here's why.
Too much eyeliner weighs your face down. Not only that, but after a few hours, it starts to smudge, and nothing looks worse than having faded, smudged eyeliner on your face. Unless you are Avril Lavigne, this look is not for you.
Grandma Handbags
While there is no definition for it in the dictionary, we all know what a grandma handbag looks like: small, stiff, sometimes with a loud floral pattern or just a neutral color. There is a very thin line between a chic purse and the infamous grandma handbag.
If you're willing to walk that fine line, tread carefully. Relaxed styles tend to be more youthful, but if that's not really your thing, just avoid stiff handbags with patterns at all costs. Also, make sure the rest of your outfit is youthful, at least.
Brooches
Much like pantyhose, brooches used to be a staple of every woman's wardrobe. They used to be statement pieces that made someone look classy, but nowadays, they just make people look old.
It is good to bring back vintage stuff every once in a while, but brooches have not made a comeback since the dinosaurs roamed the Earth. You can keep them in a jewelry box in case they miraculously make a comeback someday, though.
Capris
High-water pants and capris are pretty trendy right now, but that does not mean they are flattering. When the weather gets warm, many people go for these kinds of pants rather than shorts because they don't want to show their legs.
Your legs are not something you should be ashamed of, no matter what they look like. At the end of the day, these types of pants are unflattering and do not really help you out when you're burning up in the middle of the summer. Don't be afraid to show your legs!
Wearing Colors That Don't Suit You
We all have to face the harsh truth at some point that we can't rock every color on the rainbow, and this has a lot to do with our skin tone. Through trial and error, your should figure out which colors bring out your beauty and which ones cause the opposite effect.
One way you can determine your skin tone is to see how your skin reacts to the sun. If you get sunburned easily, then you may have cool undertones, and if not, then you may have warm undertones. Cool skin looks better in blues and greens, while warm skin goes better with reds and golds.
Tweed
While tweed is trying to make a comeback, it makes most people look old and washed down. If you're one of the very few people who look good in it, then congrats! But in reality, there's a high chance that you belong to the general population.
While it gives a chic, elegant vibe, this fabric is too heavy to look youthful. Flowy, relaxed fabric is far more flattering and, most importantly, comfortable. Remember, you can look elegant and young at the same time.
Too Much Blush
Blush is meant to brighten your look, especially if you're really pale. Unfortunately, many people forget that they are only supposed to use a little bit of blush to create a subtle, rosy look and end up looking sunburned.
Too much blush is usually associated with looking older because older people love packing on the blush - and we can't blame them because they are following the trends of their time! If you want to stay current and youthful one the blush down and grab the highlighter instead.
Outdated Eyewear
Look, just because you need your glasses every day for probably the rest of your life, it doesn't mean you must stick to the same frames forever. Eyewear also evolves with time, and trends come and go, so a good way to stay youthful is to stay up-to-date with the trends.
Nowadays, simple, thin frames are totally in because they don't take much attention away from the rest of your face. Big, colorful glasses with rhinestones used to be a total hit… 15 years ago. If yours look like that, throw them away!
Using The Wrong Foundation
This mistake is nowadays considered almost unforgivable with the rise of beauty and makeup techniques on the internet. The very first thing you have to make sure of when you're doing your makeup is that your foundation matches your skin tone.
Not only does it have to match, but it has to be blended! Make sure you blend it into your neck so that it looks natural. The key to looking youthful is to go for a natural look, and this definitely does not look natural.
Tracksuits
It is true that there was a time when tracksuits were the hottest fashion trend around, and that time was over in 2004. Those who still wear matching tracksuits are either gym teachers or people stuck in the past.
Not only are they outdated, but they weren't even flattering in the first place. Unless you are 2002 Paris Hilton, ditch the tracksuit right now. And especially, don't pair it with high heels.
Shoulder Pads
Shoulder pads are proof that just because something is trendy, it doesn't mean it is a good idea. While they were a huge trend a few decades ago, shoulder pads make 90% of people look like robots trying to pass off as humans.
If our shoulders were meant to look like that, they would. There's nothing flattering about having your shoulders be the center of attention, so it is time to leave this awful trend in the past - unless you want to look like a grandma.
Suits That Don't Fit
Wearing a suit can really give you a chic, elegant, classic look, especially for work. However, this comes with a price. Suits must fit your body; otherwise, they just make you look aged and sloppy, and all the chicness is thrown out the window.
This does not mean that relaxed suits don't work and that all suits have to be tight. The thing is, only one piece has to be relaxed. If the pants are looser, pair them with a fitted blazer and the other way around.
Kitten Heels
Kitten heels were huge back in the day, but now they are the ultimate grandma shoes. These short heels don't make your legs look longer and just make them look shorter, and the only person who should be allowed to wear them is the Queen of England.
There are more comfortable options out there for those who don't like stilettos. For example, a blocky, square heel is perfectly comfortable and much more in line with current fashion trends.
Rhinestones
Much like matching tracksuits and flashy glasses, rhinestones need to be left in the early 2000s. While they used to be a "fun" way to brighten up an outfit, now they look outdated and tacky.
If you want to sparkle up your outfit, don't bedazzle it. Wear a sparkly top that has glitter instead of rhinestones, or just wear delicate, sparkly jewelry to bring some light into your outfit.
Blue Eyeshadow
OK, this one may be a little controversial, but stick with us. Like many of the items on our list, there's a right and a wrong way to do blue eyeshadow. First, make sure that the color actually suits you. Second, don't wear bright lipstick with it because it will be too much.
And most importantly, don't do it if you don't have experience with makeup because bright-colored eyeshadow needs to be blended properly. Also, the eyeshadow will be the main attraction of the look, so keep the rest simple.
Chunky Highlights
Chunky highlights are the ultimate Karen look. Their name itself is contradictory because the word "highlights" implies a subtle, bright area to bring light to the rest of the hair. If your highlights are bigger than the rest of your hair, then you just have two-colored hair.
Don't believe us? This is what an expert at L'Oreal said: "Look at any celebrities these days and you’ll never see a stripy highlight; everyone has balayage because it’s painted in exactly the right place to suit you."
Sweatbands
A common trend of the ’80s was that people loved to wear sweatbands and headbands. They seem pretty ridiculous today, but they were once extremely popular with the music of the time.
It went straight across their forehead. Most of the time, the people that were wearing the sweatbands weren’t even working out.
Acid-Washed Denim
If you were a teenager in the ’80s, then you probably had 3-5 pairs of acid-washed jeans in your closet. It’s a trend from the ’80s that came back into fashion recently.
Some people were actually excited to have this trend come back. Although we bet, most could no longer fit into their jeans from five decades ago. A few people are happy, while others are cringing.
Iron-On Patches
Buying a denim jacket and then ironing patches onto it was a common practice. Patches of everyone’s favorite bands, sayings, brands, etc., were readily available in stores.
If you had a denim jacket without patches, you were considered weird. These days almost all denim jackets don’t have any patches on them, and people don’t even bat an eye.
Fanny Packs
Even though fanny packs are coming back into the fashion scene, it still remains one of the worst trends of the ’80s. People couldn’t get enough of the extra space.
It doesn’t make sense to have a purse hanging off your waist! Pockets are nearly just as good and way more convenient - no wonder they fell out of fashion so quickly!
Suits With Pastel Shirts And Ties
One program, in particular, inspired many to wear these shirts -.When Miami Vice was on the air, it inspired an entire generation of women to start wearing pastel shirts and ties.
t’s embarrassing, but the actors in Miami Vice looked cool! Some people may be tempted to wear them out of nostalgia but trust us on this one - it’s a bad idea!
Neon
Bright colors are great, but always glowing in the dark is not ideal. These eyesores came into fashion but thankfully quickly went back out in a decade. These trends died in the 80s and should never come back.
If you are going to wear neon, you might wear it from head to toe! But you won’t be a very popular person for it.
Big Plastic Earrings
Since you are wearing neon, you might as well wear big plastic earrings to match, right? These kinds of earrings quickly gained traction when people saw them on their TVs. Soon they couldn’t get enough of them.
The earrings appeared on most TV and movies in the ’80s, and it seems to be one of the worst decisions!
Stirrups
This outfit covers so many ’80s trends: spandex, pastel colors, leggings, exercise clothes, and stirrups. It’s really a standout item!
Stirrups were a trend that looked ridiculous to everyone. We would not classify it as stylish. You could always hide them by wearing higher-topped shoes, but then what’s the point of even having them?
Geometric Patterned Shirts
There were a lot of guys that wore questionable trends in the ’80s, including geometric-patterned shirts. This trend screamed the eighties almost as such as big hair and shoulder pads.
The trend died, and people learned to know better. Crazy patterns and bright colors were considered stylish, even though we shake our heads now!
Sweaters Draped Over Shoulders
Want to look like a bully? Having a sweater draped over your shoulders definitely portrays the stereotypical rich boy that bullies the less popular kids. Eighties teen movies only reinforced this.
Tie a bright sweater around your shoulders, and then have a feathered haircut. Trust us. No one will bother you.
Leg Warmers
Apparently, everyone in the 1980s had cold ankles and wrists. That is the only logical explanation for this fashion fad because why the hell else would people have been prancing around in public and on television screens wearing colorful leg warmers and huge fluffy wristbands all the time?
When clothing stores began to sell different colored leg warmers, girls began to wear them with every outfit. Well, whatever the reasoning, you can be sure that at least one or two pairs of leg warmers could be found in every teenage girl’s wardrobe.
Parachute Pants
Parachute pants are great to have on if you happen to fall out of a plane, but they are not so great to wear down on land. Why? Because they look so very, very stupid. They were referred to as “parachute pants” due to the level of extreme bagginess of the pants.
As they were MC Hammer’s signature look, the unique style was referred to as “Hammer pants.” They were typically worn by men and usually brightly colored and patterned.
Gold Chains
Having a whole bunch of dangly crap hanging off you was just the pinnacle of cool in the 80s. Gold chains were part of the fashion fads of the 80s, thanks to celebrities like Madonna, Mr. T, Slick Rick, Big Daddy Kane, and Run DMC. It seemed like no one who was in the public eye could be as such without a whole bunch of crap just dangling!
The thick rope gold chains were ostentatious and seen as a statement of luxury and power, with gold chains still playing a huge part in hip-hop style today.
Clocks On A Chain
Clocks hanging from chains were made popular by Flavor Flav when he appeared on TV and in concert. To this day, the rapper still wears a clock, and it’s like a trademark of his!
People followed suit and started to wear clocks. We hope people now know better and don’t try this anymore. Trust us, you won’t look good, and you’ll probably be laughed at by literally everyone you know.
Earrings Hanging From Earrings
People loved big accessories in the 1980s, one of them being earrings. People did not want to have one hoop. They had to have 2-4 hoops in a row!
Obviously, the color had to be neon, so it went with the outfit. This is a rare occurrence nowadays, but if you ever go to a garage sale, do NOT buy any of these trinkets.
Shoulder Pads
Who fell asleep at the switch and let people start to think that having huge shoulder pads was anywhere near a good fashion move? Women would wear power suits with big shoulder pads in an attempt to prove that they were just as capable and powerful as men.
Shoulder-padded power suits were the embodiment of the “dress for success” mantra, and during that decade, dressing like a man meant dressing for success.
In order to protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblances to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.