We all know that fashion repeats itself. If we wait long enough a style comes around again, although in some cases I really wonder why. After all, isn’t once sometimes enough? A perfect example of this is stirrup pants! Yes, that strange trend from the 1980s and early 90s is back again!

Stirrup pants weren’t a new creation of the 80s. They actually originated as equestrian gear in the 1920s. When women started to move away from riding sidesaddle and began wearing riding breeches similar to men’s, the straps were designed to keep their pants firmly in place inside their boots. Later, the style was adopted by skiers who first wore stirrup pants during the winter Olympics in Germany in the 1930s. Then came the fitness craze of the 1980s and stirrup pants made a comeback, but not just in the gym where they make a certain amount of sense. No, this time they became mainstream fashion.  

There’s almost always something a wee bit different about a style when it comes around again. This time, the stirrups are being made longer so that they can be worn outside the shoe instead of inside! As if stirrup pants weren’t already weird enough!

Also, keep in mind that many of the most recent iteration of stirrup pants are actually stirrup leggings and ladies, leggings are not pants! Unless you’re wearing them in the gym, please keep those butts covered.

I suspect that you’ve probably already guessed that I’m not adding stirrup pants to my fashion wish list. I wore them in the 80s, but this time around, I’ll pass. They weren’t comfortable or flattering then and I doubt that they’d be any more so now.  

What about you? Would you consider wearing them?

Images: Pinterest