Gen Z’s obsession with everything retro needs to officially stop. Y2K sparkles, wired earphones and headscarves are still tolerable enough, but fringes? A line needs to be drawn.
Out of all the fashion trends from decades past and all the new, innovative designs we have, was the best we could do really fringe? Despite uninterrupted access to and knowledge of fabrics, designs, and innovations, this year we still decided to channel the duster from Beauty and the Beast.
Don’t get me wrong, I love fringes, but only in the culture and era they belong to. The Native Americans used fringes for practical reasons, such as to wick rainwater from their clothing, and they reduced waste by using the scrap pieces. The cowboys made them chic in a rustic way. I mean, give me fringed, leather chaps and cowboy boots and Yee-haw. Even the 1920s flapper dresses look great. But fringes on modern clothes are simply hideous.
For the latest resurgence, though, we have Chanel to blame. The Parisian luxury fashion house’s Spring/Summer collection featured the hideous embellishments in everything: earrings, dresses, tops, skirts, and jackets. And where Chanel goes, other fashion brands usually follow: Taller Marmo’s ugly dresses, Gabriela Hearst’s disastrous creations, Sabyasachi’s terrifying tasselled leather bucket bags, Burberry’s unappealing jackets and Balmain’s dresses that looked like a frazzled, unkempt chicken.
Also Read: You can’t have a 2026 hot girl summer without adding sparkle, shimmer to your fashion
Fringe is hideous. Don’t change my mind
This fringe-ssaince is not new. It has been in the works for years. Anyone and everyone who wanted to look “edgy” would add fringe to their outfits. Coachella 2016 was basically a fringe fest. From skirts and belts to vests, the terrifyingly hideous outfits are suddenly #lit again. The absolute horror.
I wouldn’t touch fringe even if it were the last thing on earth with a ten-foot pole. They are simply monstrous. I’m in constant fear: what if I pull one string and the whole thing unravels, and you’d just be standing there looking like a fool? That one yellow tassel necklace from Crazy Rich Asians (2018) haunts me at night. Anyone who reckoned that eyesore should be given screen time or even allowed to exist is the real villain.
Can you get someone arrested for visual assault? Because fringe outfits are a fashion no.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)