Top 10 Worst Fads
Published on November 11, 2007 - 138 Comments
A fad refers to a fashion that becomes popular in a culture relatively quickly, but loses popularity dramatically. Some fads may come back if another generation finds out about it and gets interested in it. This is a list of the worst of them.
10. Saggy Pants
Sure, if the wearers were Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie this might not be so bad - but, unfortunately, the wearer is usually a pimple-faced teen with a bad attitude. Saggy Pants (for lack of a better phrase) is the idiotic practice of wearing your pants so low that your underwear (or worse - your bare bottom) shows. Admittedly it is often more attractive than the wearer’s face, but still - cover it up! Unfortunately rather than passing quickly, this fad is sticking - and the trousers are getting lower by the season.
9. Sea-Monkeys
Sea Monkeys were first marketed in 1957 by Harold von Braunhut as Instant Life, though Braunhut changed the name to “Sea-Monkeys” on May 10, 1962. These are creatures sold in ready to go packets. To start the process, the ‘water purifier’ package is added to water on day one. The user is typically unaware that this package already contains eggs in addition to the salt. At day two, one adds the ‘instant life eggs’ package, containing Epsom salts, borax and soda ash, in addition to eggs, yeast, and sometimes a blue or green dye. The dye is used to enhance the ‘instant life’ experience by making the freshly hatched animals more visible. The Sea-Monkeys seen during the second day after adding the ‘eggs package’ are derived from the eggs added with the ‘purifier’ package. The food package is a mixture of Spirulina and dried yeast. The ‘boost’ packages mainly contain salts, which induce sexual activity in artemia. [Wikipedia]
8. Virtual Pets
Digital pets are distinct in that they have no concrete physical form other than the hardware they run on. In other words, it is a pet you can feed and walk with the press of a button, and if you forget - and it dies - it doesn’t matter - Mommy and Daddy will buy you a new one and you don’t need to learn responsibility! This ridiculous fad started with the Tamagotchi toy in Japan in 1996 when it was created by Aki Maita and sold by Bandai.
7. Mood Rings
First becoming popular in the 70s the mood ring (either a hollow glass bubble filled with thermotropic liquid crystals, or a glass stone sitting on top of a thin sheet of liquid crystals) was marketed to alert you to what mood you might be in (as if you didn’t know already!). Blue meaning happy, black meaning anxious or stressed, and a whole range of colours in between for anything from sexy to angry. They have reappeared and disappeared from shelves since the 70s, and even have their own place in a joke:
“My husband, being unhappy with my mood swings, bought me a mood ring the other day so he would be able to monitor my moods.
We’ve discovered that when I’m in a good mood, it turns blue. But when I’m in a bad mood, it leaves a big fucking red mark on his forehead.
Maybe next time he’ll buy me a diamond”.
6. Cabbage Patch Kids
Invented in 1978 and mass produced for the public in 1982, the Cabbage Patch Kid was the biggest fad of the 1980s. So much so, that it caused fist fights and near riots among parents trying to ensure their precious darlings had one for Christmas.
They were short lived as a fad, but possibly one of the most successful toys, grossing $600 million in sales in 1985. After the novelty of these dolls wore off, they were closely followed by the Garbage Pail Kids, which were collectable cards accompanied by bubble gum. Each Kid suffered from either a comical abnormality or some terrible fate, such as “Richie Retch”.
From cute and cuddly, to horrific - pure genius!
5. Lava Lamps
One of the most well liked fad items, the lava lamp was invented in the 1960s by Edward Craven Walker. Considered horribly tacky by some, the lava lamp does little else than sit in a corner and heat wax which forms lava like blobs, rises to the top of the lamp, and then sinks to the bottom as it cools. Rinse and repeat, and that’s about as far as the novelty factor goes. Perhaps that’s why they were so popular in the 60s. Just add recreational drugs.
4. Black Light
In the 1960s, the black light took off in night clubs. People would paint themselves with fluorescent paints, which would become luminous under the black light. This somehow managed to carry on through to the 80s, and merged into the punk era with such things as fluorescent spikes of hair. These days it generally tends to be used for detecting counterfeit money, genuine antiques, and attracting bugs to bug zappers. It can even be used to reassure the paranoid holiday maker; A quick pass of a black light over the sheets on a hotel bed will reveal any traces of semen!
3. Smiley Buttons
The smiley face graphic was popularized in the early 1970s by a pair of brothers, Murray and Bernard Spain, who seized upon it in a campaign to sell novelty items. The two produced buttons as well as coffee mugs, t-shirts, bumper stickers and many other items emblazoned with the symbol and the phrase “Have a happy day” (devised by Gyula Bogar). Even today we still see these buttons on nouveau-punks and, of course, frequently on the internet. [Wikipedia]
2. Pet Rock
Advertising executive, Gary Dahl, came up with this brilliant way to fool people out of a lot of money; take a rock, stick it in a box, and call it a pet. While this 1970s fad only lasted six months, its fame seems endless. The rock came with a “Pet Rock Training Manual”, with instructions on how to properly raise and care for one’s newfound pet (notably lacking instructions for feeding), was included. The instruction manual contained several commands that could be taught to the new pet. While “sit” and “stay” were effortless to accomplish, “roll over” usually required extra help from the trainer. “Come” was found to be impossible to teach reliably. [Wikipedia]
1. Baby on Board
Do I care? The sign was first marketed by Safety 1st Corporation in 1984 and became a widespread fad by 1985. According to Wikipedia, its use in the US rapidly declined by 1986 as parody imitations with lines like “Baby I’m Bored”, “Pit Bull on Board”, and “Mother-In-Law in Trunk” became popular. Unfortunately its popularity continues in the UK (and New Zealand), along with other versions such as “Princess on Board” and “Little Person on Board”, which may explain why so many English children behave so abominably in public (particularly in London). An urban legend claims that the death of a baby led to the creation of the signs. According to snopes.com, there is no truth to this claim. Comedian George Carlin considers Baby On Board to be “the three most puke-inducing words that man has yet come up with”.
Bonus: MySpace
Our bonus item is the cyberfad, MySpace. MySpace, a social networking site, is owned by Fox Interactive Media. As of September 7, 2007, the site claims to have 200 million accounts. The site has become famous for hosting some of the ugliest websites on the internet with loud music and garish backgrounds. The site is home to millions of early teenaged girls who talk entirely in capital letters with an indecipherable text-message based variant of English called “stupid”. LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLZ.
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1. Anthony - November 11th, 2007 at 11:56 am
They’re all so terrible, I found myself gradully loosing intelgence wile reeding dat lizt…
2. Mara - November 11th, 2007 at 11:58 am
I was in junior high when the tamagotchi craze happened. It got so bad that the teachers made us put them in our lockers during class.. When I think of all the senseless Tamagotchi deaths in the name of education… Tsk.
Oh. And screw you, MySpace.
3. JT - November 11th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
You should add Pokemon….my God I was at EXACTLY the right age when that hit.
I still haven’t fully recovered.
4. jfrater - November 11th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Anthony: hehe - by the end of the list you will be ready to start a MySpace page then
Mara: I wonder if they go to heaven?
That could be a whole new fad! Tamagotchi heaven!
5. Gravy - November 11th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
I had like 7 trillion sea monkey things. That and the “Amazing Pre-Historic Triop.” I cant believe I’m telling you this, but just like every other animal I ever owned as a child, I had a funeral for every batch of sea monkeys and every triop I owned.
6. theDEFENESTRATOR - November 11th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
nice list!
i had gigapets (competitors to tamagotchi) and sea monkeys when i was little. i still have a lava lamp, although it is currently collecting dust on my armoire. the last mood ring i had turned my finger green. i know that has nothing to do with the fact that it’s a mood ring, but still…
i agree that pokemon should be included… it totally engulfed my childhood. i still have my 1.2 bajillion pokemon cards somewhere.
oh almost forgot beanie babies. another one of my childhood obsessions. *shakes head sadly*
myspace can go explode. it is the devil. facebook too. *sprays holy water on the internet*
7. Hobolad - November 11th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Lava lamps rock. Otherwise- good call. Nice to see no Pokemon up there- that also, is no mere “fad”
8. InfiniteJorge - November 11th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
lava lamps, sagging pants and the smiley faced buttons are the ones i can sorta understand, the rest mostly are pretty… uh… different. saggy pants, while they may be unattractive, it CAN under certain circumstances look good i think. and i will specify, usually on athletes, when they have sweats on, and they have another layer on under the sweats, (Gym shorts typically), i think that can look pretty good.
9. rp - November 11th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
You must have had to dig deep into GIS to find a white kid wearing his pants like that.
10. blackmambaah - November 11th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
What exactly is a sea monkey?? I mean, is it like a tiny shrimp type thing?
And damn the facebook. Even though it can be pretty useful, it is NOT helpful when attempting to do research papers.
11. jfrater - November 11th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
rp: hahaha - it was on page 3
blackmambaah: it is a type of shrimp
12. Mathilda - November 11th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
rp - I don’t know where you live but obviously nowhere near where I do! Around here, it’s pretty much only the white kids who still wear their pants like that; the black kids have moved on to wear some sort of athletic-looking ensemble.
I hated the “Baby on Board” signs! As far as I could tell, they were strictly used by smug yuppie mothers who drove like absolute shit themselves, but expected everyone else to just pull over to the side of the road in reverent astonishment at - what? The fact that some guy managed to maintain an erection after seeing them naked? They couldn’t possibly have thought that someone would be considering running into their car, see the sign, and decide to run into someone else’s. I strongly suspect that in time we will realize that the BOB signs were the beginning of the children as status fashion item trend, a la Britney Spears. That’s the one where all you have to do (at least in their minds) is to have children, and you are entitled to be treated with consideration, courtesy and awed respect at all times, ignoring the fact that said people are not actually raising their children.
Did I mention that I really, really hated the Baby on Board signs?
13. bucslim - November 11th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Bell bottom pants and platform shoes in the 70’s. Am I showing my age?
To quote Dennis Leary - “there were no straight pants in the f#cking stores. The only way you could be a cooler guy was to get bigger bell bottoms.”
I had a pair so big if I fell down the stairs, the hems would inflate and I would float harmlessly down to the stairwell.
14. Catriona - November 11th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
Mathilda: I soooo agree with you. I hate those ‘Baby on Board’ signs. They are on most cars here in NZ (or should I say four wheel drives) and the drivers are usually smug and arrogant.
And thats another thing…people in the city driving 4 wheel drives because they’re trendy. They usually can’t drive for sh*t and cause the rest of us grief because the vehicle is too big for them!
Don’t know if this is a fad or a mistake…those girls who wear little tops and tight jeans and create the ‘muffin’ look - puke!
Fads in our house…still collectors cards, though the theme ranges from Pokemon, Harry Potter and Weetbix (in NZ.) Also the Tamagotchi is back….still gets revived every so often.
‘Phew’
15. Ravyn - November 11th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Let’s see now.
I still have a gigapet. I still have my mood ring. I still have my Cabbage Patch Kid (26 year old CPK now). A room in my house is set for black light that I will switch to black lighting when we have parties….
ummm…sheesh I am horrible…
16. TerranRich - November 11th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
I disagree with Entry #1 (”Baby on Board” signs) completely. Being a father, and seeing how idiotic most drivers out there are, I cling on to the hope that at least ONE of those morons will heed my “Baby on Board” sign.
It’s amazing how crazy drivers are, and how ignorant they are of the fact that my 6-month-old son could very well be killed by said morons. It’s unbelievable, and scary, really.
17. surfboy - November 11th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Number one fad should be mobile phones followed closely by karaoke. Now if you could put those two fads together while wearing your pants too low….:)
Did you see the e-bay listing for brine shrimp AKA “Sea Monkeys” at the beginning of this list?
18. Catriona - November 11th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
TerranRich: I don’t usually comment back but I do have to say this…accidents are indeed just that…accidents. We do not pick and choose which car we will crash into. For those driving like idiots, they’re not interested in reading signs in cars. (Or perhaps that is what causes the accidents.)
I am also a parent of 3 and I think the best way to keep your child safe in a car is to put them in a child restraint and drive defensively.
19. rp - November 11th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Mathilda: Yeah, where I live the trends tend to come a little slower. I suppose in a few months the white kids will display their boxers and the black kids will be forced to move onto something even more stupid in an ever-increasing attempt to be different. Reminds me of a South Park episode.
20. StewWriter - November 11th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Oh, yeah, Sea Monkeys… wow. They are actually brine shrimp in a live form. Go to any aquarium dealer and ask for live brine shrimp (fish of all kinds go nuts for frozen and absolutely wacko over live ones) and a few can put you in contact with folks who still sell Sea Monkeys. Fun to watch being eaten I might add.
21. Amanda - November 11th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Great list! I like the tricks you can teach the pet rock. I guess you could teach it to come if you put a leash on it and walk away, it will most likely follow you. Teaching it to speak, now that sounds difficult.
22. Bonnie_ - November 11th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
MySpace is ridiculous! Terrible!
Anyone who has a brain is on Facebook now, anyway.
23. Sarah - November 11th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
haha i have a pet rock AND sea monkeys!
but see monkeys obviose look nothing like that lol
24. SUN - November 11th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
If there is just one garment, I think saggy pants shouldve taken a back seat to the fanny pack. Id add bling, especially grills. Cant forget furbies.
25. EAL - November 11th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Is the guy in #10 wearing 2 pairs of jeans?
26. Erin - November 11th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
BA HA HA - I call the guys in #10 penguins because the baggy pants usually accompany long t-shirts and they have to walk like penguins.
27. smac - November 11th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Very funny, although I do like lava lamps. I don’t use recreational drugs, in case you’re wondering.
28. Angela - November 11th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
augh, baggy pants. it’s not uncommon to see their pants sag so low, their butt pokes out (covered by their boxers, of course) but by then it looks like they have two asses.
29. louis papciak - November 11th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Take it from an aging HIPPIE, lava lamps and some smoke were the happening things in the late 60’s and early 70’s …..
30. Captain Sarcastic - November 11th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
I love the Simpsons quote on the Baby on Board signs: “Now people will stop intentionally ramming our car.” - Marge Simpson
31. Gryphon - November 11th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
I am sure you all noticed that most of the fads started in the seventies or eighties. I would like to propose a social study on why. But I am sure it could be narrowed down to drugs and way to much money to spend.
Thank goodness in those days there were no digital cameras to remind us what fads we actually fell for ourselves.
As for myspace I am going to vent now. Why oh why do people put their every little secret on the internet. You are encouraging total strangers to invade your privacy. I am on facebook and even though it is only a little intrusive I still feel my privacy is invaded. Rather just send me an email. The last time I checked it worked just fine.
32. Cat Skyfire - November 11th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
I will take Saggy Pants over Low Belt Disease (LBD) ANY day. Saggy Pant wearers are usually young, mostly fit males. They will eventually stop wearing pants low.
Low Belt Disease affects men who will not admit that they have gained weight. They proudly proclaim ‘I can wear the same size pants as I wore in high school!’ This is because they wear the pants UNDER the belly.
you’ll see this on men of all stations. From mechanics to businessmen. The gut hangs over the belt and the feet can actually be kept shaded from the sun.
33. louis papciak - November 11th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
This has nothing to do with the LISTS, but I would like to thank all our VETERANS for their service and sacrifices they have made for all of us !!! God bless them all !!
34. The Dum Guy - November 11th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
I was able to teach my pet rock to attack, I just had to encourage him in the right direction.
And, Myspace is horrible, but it is great if you are a lazy stalker.
35. Fili - November 11th, 2007 at 7:56 pm
I can’t believe no one’s mentioned CROCS yet.
36. Monkey - November 11th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
Mood rings, lava lamps, and blacklights are STILL cool. I’m a hippie.
37. Kelsi - November 11th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Hey….I like lava lamps and blacklights….=(
What, no slap bracelets? And I believe crocs are the DEVIL in shoe form. What about vinyl clothing from the 60s? We all know it existed…Or Vera Bradley? Okay, maybe that’s just me.
38. Crimanon - November 11th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
JT: so true about the pokemon, nothing was better to me than getting stoned and trying to get a level 100 bulbasaur. Some one mentioned Bell bottoms??? My generation had Jncos, thats right the Original WIDE legged jeans.
39. Saemus - November 11th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Who the fuck wears two pairs of jeans at once?
40. Mr. Mojo - November 12th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Crim, JNCO’s weren’t exactly bell bottoms because they were wide from top to bottom. Good call though. I miss my skunks
I also think flannel should be on this list. Even I’m guilty of that one…blame it on the drugs I guess.
41. jfrater - November 12th, 2007 at 1:28 am
Wow - lots of comments!
Mathilda: haha I laughed out loud at your comment
Thanks.
Catriona: From your comment I am guessing that things are going to be pretty much the same as when I left when I visit for Christmas
Oh - and your reply about the baby on board sign (comment 18) was totally spot on!
And as for crocs: After intensive therapy I had managed to expunge their existence from my mind. So thanks guys - you reminded me
42. Kull - November 12th, 2007 at 3:13 am
1) Pokemon
2) FURBIES
3) Yo-yos [the 90s, early 2000 craze]
Good choice on the Tamigotchis, though
43. jfrater - November 12th, 2007 at 4:31 am
Kull: I loved yo yos - they are one of those fads that keeps coming back (har har).
44. dangorironhide - November 12th, 2007 at 4:49 am
Did any of you hear about the ship carrying yo-yos that hit an iceberg a few years ago?
It sank 12 times beforeit finally went down
Haha, I couldnt resist it
Yo-yos were really big at my old primary school, or at least they were until pokemon cards came along.
45. jfrater - November 12th, 2007 at 4:53 am
dangorironhide: a sad sad joke!
46. dangorironhide - November 12th, 2007 at 4:55 am
It’s a classic
Hey I can edit things again. Just as I was typing this comment the black bar flashed on my first one and I could edit it again
Hmm, maybe not. It just said ’saving comment failed’ when I tried to
47. jfrater - November 12th, 2007 at 5:01 am
What browser are you using?
48. dangorironhide - November 12th, 2007 at 5:37 am
IE version 6.0.2900.2180
edit: I can do it now…
49. evan - November 12th, 2007 at 7:09 am
what? no popped collar?
50. Crimanon - November 12th, 2007 at 7:09 am
Mojo, never said they were, just making references to the diff/sims. of generations past/present.
51. Binglebore - November 12th, 2007 at 8:59 am
Mathilda, you are my favorite.
52. rp - November 12th, 2007 at 9:27 am
As for another shameful 70’s memory, who can forget leisure suits? They made Zubaz look classy. Oh, and the ironed hair look. The 70’s were really ***cked up.
53. Du - November 12th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
ok so like.. ive been browsing this site for quite a while and this will be the first time i comment on anything
so like about your pet rock thingy
my physics teacher has this story he tells the class at the beginning of every year.
so he has a cousin
and on one of his birthdays, his cousin got him a really big boulder, put it on his lawn, and said, “Happy Birthday, hope you like you pet rock.”
a few months later, my teacher took the boulder, broke it into tiny pebbles, threw it all at his cousins house, and said, “Your pet rock had babies.”
54. Nindya - November 12th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
I read about ‘My Space’ in this article and I wondered, how about Friendster? Just asking, anyway
55. Dave - November 12th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
I have a Lava Lamp…It is awesome…that is all
56. andy - November 12th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
which city do you lie in j frater?
love your lists, simply curious
all order falls apart, love you by the way, your circumnavigation of scientology is commendable, i’m curious though, within your lists you’re a hard liner,
or is it all leisurely concern?
57. Fallenangel - November 13th, 2007 at 3:11 am
I remember JNCO’s I wanted a pair SO bad, So my mom and grandma gave me $30 each to get a pair. I loved those things, and I had a Giga pet, I LOVE Lava lamps, and mood rings… I still have my Cabbage patch after 13 years, and I like my MySpace thank you very much.. since I’ve moved SO far from my frineds it’s a great way to keep contact. So I am a sad Trend Lemming! Love your site JFrater
58. jfrater - November 13th, 2007 at 5:21 am
andy: I am in London but am from New Zealand. And thanks for the compliment
59. Angela - November 13th, 2007 at 6:46 am
Hahaha, Low Belt Disease. It’s all too common!
60. JOE ROSSON - November 13th, 2007 at 8:07 am
I have a few more for you…..POGS, PARACHUTE PANTS,MOCCASIN BOOTS,CONCERT SHIRTS,TYING HANDKERCHIEFS ALL DOWN YOUR LEG.Mostly all 80’s except the pogs.
61. Krats - November 13th, 2007 at 9:14 am
I love the Garbage Pail Kids!
I use to have a few hundred cards, and I’ve even seen the movie a few times!!! $$
62. DanOhh - November 13th, 2007 at 10:34 am
The preppy “up turned” collar w/ a sweater tied around your neck and Moon Boots. I tried combining the two fads at the same time but it never took… D’Oh. My new fad is to try to end all of my sentences with, D’oh.
63. DiscHuker - November 13th, 2007 at 11:10 am
i remember getting on the honor roll in 3rd grade, around ‘84. my mom took me to the “urban” side of town to by me a reward. i got red parachute pants, 24 zippers, and a black sleeveless mesh shirt. i was the bomb at school the next day. i think i even had some big,fat sunglasses to complete the ensemble. i was either gonna get my ass kicked or be in the next michael jackson video.
64. JOE ROSSON - November 13th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
You sound like me DiscHuker. I had the black parachute pants. The bad thing about them is that the time I wore thoes I was around 14 years old and my manhood would stand up if the wind blew or at the crack of dawn, witchever came first lol,and wearing them pants you had no room for anything, it was really bad if it stood at attention right when the school bell would ring and I had to get up.
65. DanOhh - November 13th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Women in the 80’s w/ Shoulder Pads. “Hey look at that chick. She looks so slim but DAMN! she’s got the shoulders of a lumber jack”!
66. amanda - November 13th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
I actually love myspace. I have tons of friends that live over 2 hours away, and family that lives in other states. With myspace, it’s really easy for us to keep in contact and look at pictures of the kids and stuff. I keep my sanity by havign my profile, pictures, and blog all on private mode, and I don’t accept friend requests from someone unless I have met them face to face! And I wanted a baby on board sitcker when I was pregnant, just because I wanted everyone to know I had a little one. I figured they’d be as excited as I was. Once he was born I completely forgot about a stupid sticker…
67. ben - November 13th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
Another one i hate that ive noticed recently: Kids in my high school wearing shirts of 70s and 80s bands they have only ever heard once. Most common offenders: Guns N Roses, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, and (heres the biggy) AC/DC. I ask the kids to name 3 songs from the bands and they go uh…
68. MR.YORBA - November 14th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
YOU FORGOT FANNY PACKS!
69. aplspud - November 17th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
I was never allowed to order sea monkeys. I had a friend who had something like 30 cabbage patch dolls and we were all so jealous.
I bought my 7 year old niece a lava lamp and she absolutely loves it!
I really hate baggy pants, though I’m not sure exactly why. Yes, its unattractive, but its more than that. I think it has more to do with the attitude most of the boys wear along with the pants. Of course teaching in NYC it is a huge gang related issue, too.
And I agree about the BOB signs. Why drive safer for a baby than any other human? I hate SUVs being driven by over aggressive men or women who can barely see over the steering wheel and just figure that since they are safe it really doesn’t matter how they drive, and justify it by saying “Well I have a child, I have to drive this vehicle that seats 8.”
70. Hammerer - November 21st, 2007 at 4:54 pm
’so many English children behave so abominably in public’ WTF?
Why the racist snipe, are kids from your shitty country perfect then?
Didn’t think so.
71. Ravyn - November 23rd, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Danohh: My mom bought me sooooo many tops with shoulder pads. She thought that it was cool and I would like it. Well most of the tops looked fine so I ripped the pads out of them and wore them. The others looked… well… I don’t have a word to put with it. I gave those to GoodWill. She continued buy me those tops well into the 90’s. I finally had to sit her down and give her the talk.
72. Barnacle - November 30th, 2007 at 8:14 am
#67 Ben: I have to totally agree with the t-shirt fad. Kids go around with all these vintage bandnames on, and it makes light of the fact that us older people actually bought the music - we didn’t download all the albums in a couple minutes. It was a bit farking harder to follow a band back then. Ok maybe we did copy some but it was harder back then with all the C-90 tapes etc.
You see kids with ACDC t-shirts on and you gotta laugh, because when ACDC were big, if you wore it you would be pigeonholed pretty quickly as a flannel wearing bogan. Bon Scott would be spinning in his grave.
73. Jacki - December 1st, 2007 at 1:39 am
What’s wrong with lava lamps? : (
On top of the low-pants fads, I REALLY hate teens who wear OVERSIZED t-shirts and hoodies and giant boat-sized shoes…whyyyyy?? No they don’t make them look more “gangsta”…just smaller and shrimpier with misplaced shoulders. Hideous.
74. Mystern - December 4th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
I still have a lava lamp, but that’s the only thing on the list I still have other than a myspace acct I never use anymore.
I met my girlwife on myspace back before it sold out.
(I say girlwife cause she’s not my girlfriend anymore and our wedding date has fallen through 4 times now. That may not sound like the most successful relationship but we’re just really bad at planning . . . one of these days we’re just gonna have to go to Vegas or something. I might ask what the point is though. We file joint taxes and have a child already . . .)
75. West - December 9th, 2007 at 12:32 am
Pokemon isn’t a fad. x_x
76. Hoshi - December 12th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
myspace truly sucks. i think friendster is a lot cooler and easier to use.
77. miss_ali1984 - December 19th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
I remember how upset I was when I found out that Sea Monkeys blew. They should put REAL pictures on the box, not those awesome looking cartoons.
78. brady - December 21st, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Everything but lava lamps and black lights should be on there. And if you have a mypace acount, then go fuck yourself.
79. angelina - December 21st, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Brady: I whole-heartedly agree with your last statement, especially if you are over thirty . . . so sad!
80. natasha - January 2nd, 2008 at 10:53 pm
i dropped my tamagochi in the toilet, i never got another one. but i have sea monkeyss swimmin around in my window right now.
81. Slammerworm - January 4th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Bell-bottom flared trousers. Waste of cloth and chubby folks looked like hell in them.
1980s big hair: That’s when the ozone layer took a brutal body blow. Also those power-suits with shoulder pads which made women appear deformed. Nouvelle cuisine: neatly arranged finger food at main course prices. 1990s girl bands and boy bands: bimbos and himbos who don’t write, play music, or produce, yet talk about stuff like ‘girl power’. Ditto that mid-1980s vogue for ‘child pop stars’; Tiffany, Debbi Gibson, New Edition etc. (Alanis Morrisette was one of these until she met that one bad guy she’s written about ever since). Also, that early 2000s obsession TV newsrooms had with orange and blue decor.
82. Becca - January 12th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
What, no gangsta/emo fad?:O
Those are the worst.
Next to Cabbage Patch Kids.
Egad, those things are creepy.
83. John - January 16th, 2008 at 1:57 am
I bought a lava lamp, but the light from it gave me a headache.
84. adrian - January 19th, 2008 at 7:32 am
I would add spinner rims.
how to show the world you have more money than you deserve….ahh yes…lets get some spinners..or maybe some grills for my teeth
85. Monkey Nuts - January 21st, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Lol how about wiggers? I’ll take a lave lamp over a wigger anyday. I will also take someone with saggy pants over and emo kid anyday, and a blacklight beats political correctness anyday. Zionism is kind of a hip fad too. Oh yeah and everyone who pretends not to be disqusted by the thought of two dudes but-bangin each other too.
86. Polly Odyssey - January 31st, 2008 at 6:56 pm
I think I lost a few IQ points reading this…I do like lava lamps, though…
87. Bananas - February 3rd, 2008 at 10:04 am
ummmmmm, i had a lava lamp……
88. Mullaccio - February 3rd, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Lava lamps are great.. I don’t care what anyone thinks about them!!
89. fishing4monkeys - February 3rd, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Why the H*LL are lava lamps on this list!? They’re one of the few GOOD fads…
90. LinkiDink - February 14th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Myspace in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but there are a lot of idiots on there who can’t spell or even form coherent sentences. I fear the day when people actually speak the way that they type. I like some of the things on this list, such as black lights and lava lamps. And I have no problem with mood rings and sea monkeys; I had both of those when I was younger. And saggy pants are fine if the shirt is long enough, but I suppose that can lead to those knee-length ghetto t-shirts that look so ridiculous.
Something that I can’t stand is the women’s pants that are cut low and slim so that they don’t cover the top half of the crack and squeeze any hip pudge to spill out over the top. These are worn by everyone, no matter the body type, with some severely unflattering results. A couple of years ago, I dated a stupid bastard a few years younger than me who informed me that he and his friends had been making fun of me because my pants were so high. I let him know that the top of all my pants did begin below my navel, and just because my underwear wasn’t showing in that tacky slut fashion that’s apparently so popular, it didn’t mean I was wearing grandma pants. Not everyone needs to treat their butt as a billboard advertising thong panties.
91. cindy lou - February 19th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
wow these are cooleo
92. doz - February 21st, 2008 at 8:57 am
i’ve survived most of this while in school.
93. Sandra - February 23rd, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I am 43 and have experienced them all. I still have a Cabbage patch Doll (Gift), and both of my daughters went through The tamagouchi faze, and sea monkeys were played with, or should I say……Experimented with, in my home, at one point! These seem to be all fads that come and go. Especially the mood rings. They seem to have been around for ever as a novelty gift.
Sandra
94. Emily - March 9th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Does anyone remember M C Hammer pants? Those had to be the ugliest things….oh yeah, and multi-coloreed “jams” shorts. And what about all the “Aqua Net” we used in the 80s to keep that big hair from falling?
95. Jayhawk - April 17th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Low-carb fad. Bowls of meat and cheese are healthy, because there is no bread, hamburgers wrapped in lettuce with no bun. Everything was low-carb for a while.
96. soggy - May 3rd, 2008 at 5:54 pm
To those wondering if the kid pictured is wearing 2 jeans:
He’s wearing a brand of jeans called “Sagwear” that was to be worn in a normal manner but the extra part gave the illusion of sagging. They came into the market maybe late 90’s when sagging was at the height of popularity.
Looks like the kid is sagging the first part of the jeans so he is double-sagging!
97. Lini-Oh?? - May 12th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Ok.. So i’m going to comment on the Baby on Board thing… My brother in Law in a fireman, and he said that the presence of these stickers has saved NUMEROUS babies and childrens that have been in car accidents. There was one awful mistake where a young women was in a car rollover and ended up in a coma.. She awoke 3 days later and asking where her baby was.. which was still stuck under the dash of the car, sitting in the wrecking yard… annoying they may be, but a darn good safety precaution!!
98. Carmella - May 13th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
What about Facebook?
99. MPW - May 15th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
in the usa if you wear saggy pants in prison it means someone owns your feminine ass
that shit is fucking stupid
100. MPW - May 15th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
i cant stand old motherfuckers always bitching about what kids are wearin’
what the fuck do you care if a kid wears a shirt with an old band on it.
people cant choose to be born in a certain decade just because a band was hot back then.
they are are just appreciating history
you guys sound like a couple of burned out old fucks who say shit like “i remember when this used to be all orange groves”
and the next time you ask a kid about his shirt i hope he kicks your old ass
101. Crimanon - May 15th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
MPW: Did you really need the language? Or did you really need to scream to the world that you still have the high school mentality?
102. MPW - May 15th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Crimanon: you must be one of those crusty old farts i was talking about
your fuckin’ right i need the language, i can say what the fuckin’ want
btw, i am frsh out of high school
103. Crimanon - May 15th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Isn’t that just the cutest thing?
104. MPW - May 16th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
your just one of those goddamn pussy fucks who can talk all sorts of shit online aren’t you?
just to let you know, you may be older but your just as immature as all the young people i know
i admit i am immature omline but that is it, i know when to grow up
i just hope you do to.
go ahead and respond with one of your patented smart ass comments
go feed your family or break into a house or something
105. Crimanon - May 16th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Are you finished?
106. MPW - May 16th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Crimanon: I just want to apologize for acting stupid.
all day at work i kept thinking about how stupid i sounded by attacking you like that
I am sorry
107. MPW - May 16th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
marbles were hot when i was in primary school
108. Mortivore - May 16th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Heh. POGS. Easy as that.
…I love lava lamps… T.T
109. MPW - May 16th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
i totally forgot about POGS. man were they great!
I used to have the coolest slammers
110. 116880 - May 21st, 2008 at 7:15 am
you forgot Yu-Gi-Oh, although, I understand it was still a fad when this list was written, but if you write another fad list, please include it.
111. Alice H - June 19th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
yeah u forgot pokemon! And also, yeah, the baby on board signs are still pretty popular here in the UK
112. VFV - June 21st, 2008 at 5:11 am
I’m a teenage parent from New Zealand, and I disagree that the “Baby on Board” signs are annoying. We have one in our car, not to be annoying or show off the fact that we have a baby, but in the hope that people will see the sign and be a bit more considerate about how idiotically they drive.
I understand that many of you might think they’re just there to show off the baby, and perhaps that is the reasoning behind them for some stuck up people, but most of the time they’re just there for safety.
113. Matt H - June 21st, 2008 at 5:41 am
I disagree with VFV actually. Given that the majority of road users find ‘Baby on Board’ signs extremely annoying, don’t you think that by displaying these things people will therefore drive even more dangerously around you?
To be honest, I find them insufferable. Particularly when they are displayed on the back of massive 4WD’s (SUV’s), which is getting increasingly common in Australia. I guess I find them annoying because it implies that the entire world is bothered that you have managed to have a child, and also because it is a form of advertising your private life for the world to see. I also understand the argument that they are there for safety, but to be honest if another driver is inconsiderate enough drive stupidly in the first place, do you really think that they will care about a ‘Baby on Board’ sign? I think not, however that is just my opinion.
114. bubbles - July 3rd, 2008 at 10:10 pm
MPW: Amen!! Thank you!! I am a kid- 14 years old I agree. Old people are just being pissy. I wear vintage rock band shirts and I damn know more than three songs from metallica, acdc, guns n’ roses, led zepp, velvot revolver, aerosmith, rolling stones, etc. But there are some kids who wear them just to look kewl (which is really gay) and don’t know a damn about classic rock. I am one of those kids who appreciates rock music. As in the words of acdc: “for those about to rock, we salute you!!” =)
115. bubbles - July 3rd, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I found this website today all because of boredom, I fell in love with it!!!! This site is amazing and very entertaining!!! The genius who made this site, thank you. =) =) =)
116. MPW - July 3rd, 2008 at 10:25 pm
bubbles, you’re right, but I was too harsh
117. Spanner in the works - July 3rd, 2008 at 10:26 pm
I’m not only going to side with the ‘baby on board’ favourers, I’m going further, because it inspired one of my all-time favourite Simpsons.
Anybody else remember the Barber Shop quartet song/record episode, where they did Homer’s song ‘Baby on Board’?
Personally I find people who wear their hats back to front an irritating fad. Why don’t they where their pants and shoes back-to-front as well? But then that’s just me, I’m a neurotic old fart, so don’t take any notice. And the fadshion if passing, where I live anyway.
118. Spanner in the works - July 3rd, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Oh hell, I know it must be bedtime when I put where instead of wear, and if for is.
119. bubbles - July 3rd, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Ooo, love the simpsons movie. Mpw: you were a bit harsh but at least you admitted it. You seem like a ok person 2 me. =) by the way, I’m curious, r u a boy or a girl? N so, how old? Jus askin.
120. MPW - July 3rd, 2008 at 10:38 pm
bubbles, I’m a man, and I’m 19. How many women would use language like me:)
121. bubbles - July 4th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Lol, hmm, language? clueless
122. Crimanon - July 4th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Spanner: The Hat thing, for me, can be explained. I used to have long hair and while working in the food industry at the time, I found that it contained my hair better. Now I do it out of habit, the ability to see better, and because no one would recognize me if I didn’t.
123. Spanner in the works - July 4th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Crimanon.
For ‘Whatever’s’ sake don’t mind or notice me. Don’t even dignify me with an explanation. As all bigots say, “Some of my best friends wear their hats back to front.”
Unless one is making some kind of fascist judgement, whatever anyone’s personal fads are, or what they look like, doesn’t make a spit of a difference to what they are as a person, a human being. Nice young kids wearing their hats back-to-front have come up and helped us when we’ve been utterly lost in a strange town. I just say it looks kind of awkward, especially with that hole-in-the-head in front. And if you put me to a lie-detector, you’d discover I used to wear my school cap back-to-front whenever I could as a form of rebellion against formality and conformism!
124. Spanner in the works - July 4th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Blatantly obvious though it is, worth adding here that making assumptions from how people look or what they wear is a dangerous road to begin to go down. Unless you can be absolutely sure they want to tell you unmistakeably by uniform, hood or shaven swastika they have CHOSEN to belong to something nasty. But even that can prove ambiguously complicated or tragic, as films like ‘Lacombe, Lucien’ and ‘American History X’ have set out to show us. (Not that maybe there were perhaps many outward indications, such as uniforms, in those.)
125. Crimanon - July 4th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Spanner: What’s your problem? Was it really so painful for me to explain why I do it? Get that 8-track out of your ass and be civil.
126. Spanner in the works - July 4th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Hey, come on Crimanon. Just write out where I was uncivil. Or do you think I was being sacastic?
Segue put it beautifully over on another list. In these posts we can’t see one anothers’ expressions or hear subtle tones of voice. It’s too easy to misunderstand.
I wrote something. You reacted with a reply. Maybe it it was just a throwaway, maybe not. If it had mattered fuck all, maybe you wouldn’t have replied.
What’s my problem? Which one do you want? Don’t go giving me more I haven’t got. O.K.?
I’ve known fashion fascists personally. Our younger daughter came home in tears once. The kids were making life a misery because something she wore was ‘old fashioned’. We had to go out and spend money on some expensive shit that we needed for something else. Any harm in telling you that isn’t my game?
And aren’t these sites supposed to be interactive?
O.K. Pax from me, over to you.
127. Spanner in the works - July 4th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
By the way, Crimanon.
“Get that 8-track out of your ass”
and be civil?
Take a look in the mirror, squire.
128. Spanner in the works - July 5th, 2008 at 9:04 am
By the way, can Baby on Board actually be qualified as a fashion fad, rather than than a way of announcing a (presumed) fact? “Disabled Driver” isn’t a fad, after all. So that means the way something instructive is written and presented can be regarded as a fad? Just throwing the idea open.
129. bubbles - July 5th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Spanner in the works: good point. =)
130. bubbles - July 5th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Boredom……..hello anybody…..
131. bubbles - July 5th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Two fads: the fohawk and the fanny packs
132. Crimanon - July 5th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Spanner: I caught sarcasm. “For ‘Whatever’s’ sake don’t mind or notice me. Don’t even dignify me with an explanation. As all bigots say, “Some of my best friends wear their hats back to front.”, a very Randall thing to say. Nothing personal Randall, you’re just memorable.
“I just say it looks kind of awkward, especially with that hole-in-the-head in front.” ,actually the weird half moon thing you get while wearing you hat too long on a sunny day seems worse.
“pants and shoes back-to-front as well?”, not since the mid Nineties. Kris Kross (sp?) I think. I need to go and Jump for no reason at all now.
And Fuck the Fashionistas! Teenie Bopper preteen sluts who feel bad because the jocks would rather masturbate than spend money on a date to her them complain about the other “Girls”. I don’t blame you for making your kid feel better, I blame the other parents who try to live through their own children. I STILL rock the grunge.
“Get that 8-track out of your ass”, It was a jab at your age. Like I said, I thought you were being an ass.
We good now?
133. Spanner in the works - July 5th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Crimanon,
Absolutely no sarcasm intended, matey. It’s just my quaint, intricate 19th century limey way of putting things over. As I said, poor segue got caught out as well, plus I made an ass of myself about Poles up trees. Happens all the time. I even wondered if I was so out of touch with everyone else I just ought to piss off out of Listverse and leave you all in peace. I’m probably dribbling out far too much e-diarrhoea (I checked the spelling. I had to) around here for a newcomer anyway.
We’re more than good. I just loved that half-moon thing. That was quite new for me. Mooning to me was hitherto what Bart Simpson does with his pants, especially to Australians (and occasionally Homer does as well).
134. Crimanon - July 5th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
There is still nothing better than Driving down the road on some immature snack run and pressing some hams and pissing people off. Mooning is an art form in the states.
And watch it with the Simpson name, at least on person in this conversation is pretty attached to it. It gets scary sometimes too!
Newcomers are welcome, Just look MPW. He is Technically a newbie, He fits in just fine. There is always more room for old codgers like yourself.
135. Spanner in the works - July 5th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Crimanon,
P’raps I should just make clear that sarcasm isn’t really my bag anyway, except as very much of a last resort. I’m more into irony or trying to calm things down by such as self-mockery. I think one always needs to give the benefit of the doubt if possible, and heavy sarcasm doesn’t, it just adds water to hot fat. If I’m into a real shitty word situation without question, I’d prefer to hit someone straight in the teeth with four letter stuff anyway, although that isn’t always on the cards.
136. Spanner in the works - July 6th, 2008 at 7:36 am
Crimanon,
Re your 134, I’m not sure what to make of the Simpsons warning. I love ‘The Simpsons’. It’s said to be the world’s all time favourite animated. When I’m watching them, they’re my favourite, when I’m watching ‘Futurama’, its my favourite, and when I’m watching ‘Courage the Cowardly Dog’, that’s right up there too.
Unless I’m given a reason not to, I’ll keep on posting Simpsons references where they illustrate my points. I feel pretty invulnerable behind my Spanner anyway, though I suppose a determined cybernaut or CIA agent could probably track me down eventually. But why bother?
137. Fruckert - July 14th, 2008 at 2:43 am
myspace is pointless
which is why it is extremely sad that i actually have myspace open in the other tab