Image via Complex Original
Keeping up with style can be tricky. We all hate that guy who plays trends like the stock market and keeping up with what's hot can be straining on the wallet too. Despite all of those factors though, there simply comes a time when the steez landscape has shifted definitively enough that it's safe to declare a few items dead and gone. If you're hanging on to one or a few of the items on this list, it's time to do some last minute spring cleaning and get them out the wardrobe paint. Read on for 10 Clothing Items That Make You Look Dated.
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Hoody-blazer combos
Forget about dated. This ill-conceived attempted marriage of formal and casual has always been a leading cause of swaglessness and always will be. Just don't do it.
Bootcut jeans
It's cool if you'd rather not go the One Direction/Pete Wentz, nuts-suffocating skinny jeans route. But remaining on the bootcut wave as a form of protest is not the answer. Box every pair up in a corner of the attic from which they'll never be heard from again and invest in some fitted jeans. Loose enough that nobody will think you stole them from your sister, but tighter, so that your kicks aren't swimming around in your pants cuff.
Shirts with epaulets
For a good run of the early/mid-aughts, your button-up wasn't shit if it didn't have epaulets adorning the shoulders. Those days are over now, though. Wear one out today and you'll look like you haven't bought new shirts since 2007.
Pun T-shirts
There is no slogan cool enough to warrant wearing T-shirts like these post, say, high school. Eleven times out of ten the oh-so-clever pun is usually facepalm-worthy dumb and the only laughs you'll get are those of pity. Or disdain.
Jeans and Wingtips
It's a nice attempt to blend casual and formal but really, at this point, you're teetering dangerously close to middle-aged guy who wears bootcut jeans over dress shoes territory. Either cop some casual kicks or ditch the jeans but having it both ways is over.
"Going out" shirts
Buying into the concept of a "going-out shirt" in itself means you're doing something (everything?) wrong. So instead of being a swagged-for-all-occasions individuals, you basically lamp around in cozy slob shit, with a few ugly-print button-ups designated for, what exactly? Clubs? Restaurants? Church? Cut it out and make sure you look good every time you're out no matter where you're going.
The urban lumberjack look
The hipster uniform is finally, officially, over. Switch up your plaids from red flannel and stop dressing like the urban-outfitted Paul Bunyan.
Square-toed shoes
Still rocking those "church shoes" Mom made you get for formal family events, b? Get some oxfords, wingtips, anything that doesn't make you look like you just left Century 21 with your first pair of dress shoes ever.
Bright Patent Leather Sneakers
The worst thing about kicks like this is that any dude wearing them is probably also inclined to wear an equally bright shirt (or jacket) to match, which is a very 2002 way of dressing yourself. An alphet that's 100% color coordinated is just as corny and basic as, well, eye-catching super expensive designer kicks. Leave the Burberry hi-tops and the like to European tourists.
Casual double-breasted blazers
Again, trying to bring a super formal garment into a casual context has just stopped working. If you're going to go for a double-breasted blazer, which is a bold move, don't half-ass it with an open collar or, worse, a T-shirt underneath. Committing is the word here, and if you don't jump in headfirst, you're absolutely bricking it.
