In Britain, the consumption of sugar increased by 5 times in 1770 as compared to 1710. People really loved to eat their jams, tea, candy, coffee, processed foods, cocoa, and other sweet treats more than ever. Well, anything in excess has its demerits, and excess of sugar caused the teeth to rot and become black. Even Queen Elizabeth had black teeth due to excessive sugar consumption, reports suggest.
The richer the person, blacker the teeth and it became a trend to separate rich from the poor. Poor and middle-class people intentionally blackened their teeth to give the impression that they were rich.
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The 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries saw the fashion trend of 20 inch high heeled shoes known as ‘chopines.’ These originally were designed to protect the actual shoes from mud and dirt, but later became a signal to show how rich a person was.
The Renaissance period saw chopines rise to the stature of societal statement among women. The platform on the shoes were also raised to comical heights. A law had to be made known as Venetian Law to make sure the height doesn’t exceed three inches.
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“Macaroni” was a term used in the mid-18th century to illustrate a guy who had an amazing fashion judgment. He was a person who has “exceeded the ordinary bounds of fashion.” Young men who had come back from Italy brought their love for a type of pasta known as macaroni and these people distinguished themselves by wearing fashionable clothing with frills and coats with a sharp, tail-like characteristic at the back of the garment.
These clothes were accompanied by spyglass and curly wigs. A cap known as chapeau was so tall that it could only be touched by a sword. English men had never seen such a fashion style and it became an instant hit amongst them. A verse describes Macaroni as “It talks without meaning, it smiles without pleasantry, it eats without appetite, it rides without exercise, it wenches without passion.”
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We should thank Victorian Era for most of the bizarre fashion trends on this list. Bombasting is one such fashion trend that involved stuffing one’s clothes with stiff padding. They used these bombasts to get a desirable body shape or muscular shape.
Bombasts were used to pad up and give shape to garments by adding volume to the areas like shoulders, chest, and stomach.
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Ancient Egyptians were totally unique in their fashion sense when it came to fabric, accessories, and wigs. Fashion for them went hand in hand with hygiene and Egyptians took very good care of their bodies by bathing regularly and using scented oils for beautiful skin.
Egyptians were known for loving their fragrance cones and often wore them. The cones were made up of scented wax and were worn on top of the heads. The wax would then melt as the day went on and kept the wearer smelling fresh all day long.
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