10-08-2025
15 '60s, '70s, '80s Past Trends Older Adults Hate
We recently asked older adults of the BuzzFeed Community to reveal the past trends from "back then" they can't stand now, and it's verrrry fascinating. Here's what they had to say:
"Smoking everywhere. You'd go to a restaurant and couldn't smell the food, your clothes would reek, and the whole place would be hazy. Disgusting."
"Having married women referred to as 'Mrs. John Doe' rather than 'Mary Doe.' It's like the woman existed only as an extension of her husband."
"Big hair, especially bouffant hair held rock-solid by lots of hairspray."
"Disrespectful catcalls considered 'normal.'"
"Pole and swag lamps and early American sofas with the wood armrests, and those dreadful orange colors."
"Curling our hair during study hall. First of all, our hair was already curled (or permed), but then we broke out our Clicker, butane-fueled curling iron from our purse and proceeded to curl our hair again. The damage we did to our hair in the '80s was unbelievable."
"Over-plucked eyebrows."
"Hip-hugging hot pants."
"Packing a living room with a record player, receiver, huge speakers, huge earphones, reel-to-reel recorder, and hundreds of records."
"Elephant bell bottom jeans. People would trip over them because they were so wide! They looked like huge umbrellas covering your shoes!"
"Something very popular in the '70s was shag carpeting. Everyone had it. I remember my sister had a rake for hers (really!). It was horrible to vacuum, and if you dropped something in it, you'd never find it again. I'm so glad it's not in style now."
"Polyester!!!!!!!! Totally gross in the '70s and still gross. It's hot, shapeless, and basically horrible. Where has comfortable, beautiful cotton gone?"
"TripTiks that were only available at AAA insurance offices. You would have to go there before a long trip to get directions indicated on individual pages of 100 miles each in a long spiral notebook with the highway/roads highlighted. There were only foldable maps back then. It was so exciting while traveling to flip a page, as you knew you were getting that much closer to your destination! But if you misplaced it, you were in trouble as you needed it to return home!"
"In the late '60s and early '70s, the puffy sleeves, headbands, and peace signs were bad."
And finally...
"Wearing coats, ties, and white shirts at work. Looks good on Suits, but it's stuffy and uncomfortable in a modern workplace. Dressing that way doesn't make one a better worker."
Fellow older adults, which "beloved" past trends do you actually hate now? Tell us in the comments, or if you prefer to remain anonymous, you can use the form below.
