7 trends we want to die with 2016: Athleisure, chokers, 90s logos and puffer jackets

As this year winds down, Sarah Young and Dave Maclean take a look at which trends need to die forever

Sarah Jones
Thursday 22 December 2016 11:27 EST
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Rihanna wearing an oversized choker during her album artwork reveal earlier this year
Rihanna wearing an oversized choker during her album artwork reveal earlier this year (Getty Images for WESTBURY ROAD E)

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This year, we’ve spent plenty of time writing about the latest trends. But, just as 2016 brought a tirade of political turbulence, so too it has afforded us plenty of styles we would rather see the back of.

From resilient ‘90s throwbacks to thigh-high hooker heels, it’s been a strange and unusual year to get dressed.

Luckily though, with a new year comes a whole new set of trends that we’re ready to welcome into the fashion conscious.

All good things, and bad, must thankfully come to an end. Here’s our guide to the trends that 2016 can take with it.

90s Logos

The era that hailed shouty branding as its go-to, yet again, the 90s are back with another trend I’d really rather leave in the faux pas pits of 2016.

Back then, logos were just as important, if not more important than the clothes themselves and for some reason they’ve reached fever pitch again.

From Calvin Klein to Tommy Hilfiger, history is repeating itself.

This time though, they’re targeting the millennials with super-sexualised, social media-friendly campaigns. Smells like teen desperation to me.

Stella McCartney boasted feather-free wadding puffer jackets in quilted black and burnt orange for autumn/winter 2016
Stella McCartney boasted feather-free wadding puffer jackets in quilted black and burnt orange for autumn/winter 2016 (Getty Images)

Puffer Jacket

I once owned a puffa jacket. I was given it as a teenager and I was really chuffed with it.

Unfortunately it got caught on a door handle on the way into school, and I arrived in the classroom looking like a cheap sofa that had burst.

But that's not the reason I hated the comeback - I hated it because for 12 months people conned themselves into thinking that looking like a human Kong toy was a good idea. It's not.

It's unflattering, hard to pair with other items in your wardrobe, and you'll get stuck in revolving doors. Bin it.

Athleisure

It’s rocked the fashion world for a while but, women are finally losing interest in athleisure – the trend that deems wearing bottom-baring leggings sartorially acceptable; as long as they’re stylish of course.

While they’re unquestionably useful when you want to sweat it out at the gym, being subjected to unsolicited knicker-flashing mid-weekly shop is enough to put anyone off. Right?

They might be comfortable, but in spite of their purpose, they’re lazy. Put on a pair of trophy trousers and be done with them.

Choker

As far as trends go, 2016 was arguably the year of the choker, both on and off the runway. They graced the necks of off-duty models and everyday ‘cool’ girls alike but this is 90s nostalgia at its peak.

Ubiquitousness gone mad, nowadays, everyone and their sister owns one but really, where is the appeal? They’re like a necklace, only far more uncomfortable and seemingly, inescapable.

Banish them to the clearance aisle, pronto.

Carhartt Pyjama Set £85
Carhartt Pyjama Set £85

Pyjamas

Suddenly, for men, boxer shorts for bed weren't enough.

Instead, they decided to dress like a pre-school bed-wetter getting ready for Santa's arrival, swaddled up in squishy, fitted pyjamas.

No man can pull off pyjamas. Even Hugh Hefner - who lives in a gated mansion with porn stars - can't even do it, so what hope does an accountant from Accrington have?

Thigh High Boots

There is, at this point, nothing left for the thigh boot to do except disappear.

How a shoe veering on high-street hooker ever entered the fashion mainstream is beyond me. But, apparently, looking like you’re about to attend the annual Tarts and Vicars bash will earn you some serious style points. Or not.

I’m starting to wonder if Kim K has got permanently wedged in hers; U ok hun?

70s

Very little worth celebrating came out of the 1970s. This was a decade of avocado-coloured bathroom suites, the rise of Majorca as an exotic holiday destination, and scouse gravediggers refusing to bury the dead.

Try conjuring up any positives from the decade, and you'll tick-off Bagpuss, space hoppers and Curly Wurlies before you're stumped.

So who on earth decided that the garish, ill-fitting fashion of the era deserved a comeback?

Burberry and Gucci played along, sending their male models down the runway looking like they'd inherited a dead relative's wardrobe.

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