It is not the intention of anyone here at TopTenz to insult the diverse fashion sensibilities of other countries. We believe it’s up to individual nations, regions and groups of people to decide what exactly constitutes “fashion” and no one answer could ever be the “correct” one. However, that being said, you at least have to admit that wearing shirts with a cartoon Hitler on them and tattooing your eyes can and should be considered banana-split levels of uncut crazy. Read on to find out more about those and other weirdest fashion trends from all over the globe.
10. Hitler Chic
From: Thailand
Earlier this year, the city of Bangkok has been invaded by Hitler. If you’re wondering why you haven’t heard anything about that, it’s because this invasion has been into the world of fashion.
Nowadays, Bangkok is said to be experiencing a veritable Hitler-mania, with the image of the infamous German leader appearing in cartoon form, on T-shirts, sweatshirts, posters, you name it. Ronald McDonald? Yes, Bangkok has a Hitler version of him in as well, together with Hitlerized pandas and even the Teletubbies.
Foreign correspondents explain that this modern trend can mostly be chalked up to ignorance rather than underlying fascist tendencies of the young people of Thailand, no different than the treasure trove of ethnic and homophobic slurs that is a typical internet message board here in the West. It appears that no matter where you go, kids are just always going to be stupid, and while we’re on the topic…
Source: http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/life/hitler-chic-trend-138530
9. Southern African Metalheads
From: Botswana
At the risk of generalizing, heavy metal has usually had problems with attracting audience members of African descent. Lately though, classic, old-school metal fashion—of the leather and chains variety—has dominated the counter-culture movement in the Southern African nation of Botswana.
Walking down the street in big cities and small villages, the Botswanian metalheads, clad in an entire cow’s worth of black leather, create a peculiar sight in the country known primarily for its wildlife parks. To them—as the Southern African metal warriors explain—metal music and the culture surrounding it is all about power, strength and freedom, which means that they thankfully haven’t discovered Korn yet. It’s also why many of them give themselves nicknames like Demon or Gunsmoke… well, THAT and no one ever having the guts to call them out on it.
Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/29/world/africa/botswana-heavy-metal-heads/index.html
8. Gothic Lolitas
From: Japan
Not to be confused with the Western meaning of the term, the Japanese “Lolita” is an extremely broad fashion subculture that emphasizes cute and stylish Victorian-era clothes. It’s “Gothic” sub-style, probably the most famous of the group, is in turn all about darker, gothic aesthetics which in the hands of misinformed Japanese teens basically boils down to “faux-vampire fashion as understood by a 15-year-old.” Also: “umbrellas.” As in, every other picture of a Gothic Lolita on GIS shows them holding an umbrella because without one they would all apparently look silly.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita_fashion#Gothic_Lolita
7. Elf Boots
From: Mexico
Pointy, long and kind of silly-looking – those are not just the words used to describe Ron Jeremy’s private parts, but also the details of the new shoe craze sweeping Mexico. For unknown reasons, cowboy boots with elongated tips (sometimes fashioned from old garden hoses) have become the go-to fashion statement for young people south of the border. Why do they do it? It might very well be a classic sign of “peacocking” where males wear distinctive clothing to get the attention of the ladies and it’s nice to see that the end result looks equally ridiculous there as it does in the United States. (For more information, Google “Mystery,” and then laugh for 5 minutes straight.)
Source: http://theweek.com/article/index/215346/mexicos-insane-pointy-boot-craze
6. Meggings
From: All over the world
The question of whether the popular female leggings can successfully be worn in lieu of pants is still a hot button issue among many women but I believe we may have finally found and answer to that in the form of meggings – the male equivalent of leggings. And that answer is “For the love of God, put some pants on.”
There really only are a few reasons for why a man should stuff himself (and consequently, his junk) into skin-tight, form-fitting clothing as thick as a pair of silk panties, and they are: He’s in amazing shape or he’s a professional dancer/stripper, which you will notice describes less than 0.1% of the entire male population. And do we really need another piece of clothing specifically for good-looking people? We already have the entire fashion industry for that.
Source: http://nymag.com/thecut/2009/08/the_latest_in_silly_man_trends.html
5. Eye Jewelry
From: Netherlands
You know what body part often gets overlooked in the world of fashion? The eyes. Sure, you can paint around them or change their color with contact lenses, etc., but how often do you see some actual, serious fashion being done on the eye itself? Almost never, because that is a terrible, terrible idea. Well, the Dutch seem to disagree.
A new technique that allows small studs made from precious metals to be inserted into the eye was developed more than 8 years ago in Rotterdam, giving teenage girls everywhere an alternative to dating black guys to anger their parents. The Dutch claim that the procedure is perfectly harmless, while eye specialists argue that it is insane; also: potentially dangerous. But, come on, what is a little eye bleeding or risk of impaired vision when you get to wear a tiny, near-invisible heart or half moon in your peeper? Don’t answer that. But while we’re on the topic of eye-related horrible ideas…
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3610379.stm
4. Eye Tattoos
From: US, Canada
In all fairness, tattooing the cornea has been around for thousands of years and has valid, medical applications, specifically for people with scarred eye tissue. But the white stuff of the eye, the sclera? Inserting dye/ink into that for kicks and giggles is a relatively new thing which is good because I hate to think that the human race has always been this fruity looped.
Thankfully #2 (Electric Boogaloo) eye tats are still mainly popular among the extreme body modification crowd, which sadly cannot be said about…
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scleral_tattooing
3. Manba
From: Japan
Oh Japan, why do you keep appearing on lists with “Weirdest” in the title…?
Manba is a fashion trend popular among young Japanese girls who apparently date men with a Minstrel Show fetish. Manba is a variation of the popular Ganguro subculture that basically emphasizes dark skin and heavy makeup, which stand in opposition to the classical Japanese aesthetics of beauty. Manba then takes that idea and cranks it up to 11, ironically ending up looking a million times sillier than Spinal Tap.
Manba girls usually paint their entire faces a deep, dark brown with two islands of white around their eyes to go with their silver blonde-dyed hair, pastel makeup and dayglo clothing. Why? Because Japan.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganguro#Yamanba_and_manba
2. The Facekini
From: China
Speaking of classical beauty aesthetics from Asia… In China many women apparently prefer to avoid getting a tan because their culture still associates it with manual labor which is… something to be ashamed of, I guess? Wait, isn’t China supposed to be communist? What gives? Anyway, yeah, tans in China = bad, but “going to the beach” = good, and thus… the facekini. Tada?
A clever (read: terrible) play on the word bikini, the facekini has proven itself a hit among the female beach goers on the East China Sea coast. Though it may look like a Halloween mask you find during a sale at the dollar store, the facekini is today an integral part of typical swimwear in China, as common as a swim cap or swimming goggles. Also common in China in a couple of years: child therapy sessions for kids suffering from night terrors involving face-less, anthropomorphic sea monster.
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2189877/Meet-Face-Kini-latest-craze-hit-Chinas-beaches-bathers-wear-masks-beat-suns-harmful-rays.html
1. Bagel Heads
From: Japan
Really, Japan? Again?
Look, I know that injecting saline into your forehead to make a sort of donut/bagel shape is only popular among the body mod crowd in your country but on the other hand THIS ENTIRE SENTENCE. Admittedly the bagel forehead is only temporary as the saline eventually gets absorbed into the body but the fact that more than 1 person has ever tried this, willingly no less, is still keeping me up at night. The obvious question isn’t even “Why?” but rather “Why a bagel?” I mean, I get piercings and eye tattoos but a bagel on your forehead? Why not a star, or a cross? Did I miss something? Is this a clever meta-reference to the Simpsons? Is it some incredibly sophisticated Anti-Semitic slur? Someone help me out here please…
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/26/bagel-head-forehead-injections-japan-saline_n_1916188.html
By: Rick Raule
21 Comments
That’s not a gothic lolita in #8. That’s what’s referred to as an “ita”.
i will admit japan has a lot of weird things compared to western culture, but on the other side of the salad bowl, wasn’t things like hair extensions and nose studs weird once too? its all about perspective.
Your comments about lolita fashion being “weird” genuinely make me angry.
Yeah, nobody tops Japan in weird. They have Ninja restaurants and electronic cat ears that move when you think.
No, Japan is way weirder, sorry
Not that I expect great journalism from a site called “toptenz.com,” but you should know that the “bagel heads” thing most likely has a number of adherents in the SINGLE DIGITS. You’ll notice that there are only a tiny handful of photos of the same tiny handful of people doing it. Four people getting together to do something does not constitute a “trend.”
> Oh Japan, why do you keep appearing on lists with “Weirdest” in the title…?
Because there’s a modern form of orientalism where we have a narrative of Japan being a weird place, even though it only works if you utterly ignore how bizarre America is.
The saline injection story is several years old, and whenever someone reposts it they use the same pictures from the only session ever done which was mainly done for shits and giggles to confuse western people who dont know anything about body modification culture.
Gothic Lolitas look very anime
Wow those are some very interesting fashion trends.
I actually think the gothic lolita fashion is pretty cool, but the begal head design is definitely on a whole new level, and i’m not sure if saline being absorbed in the skin (especially in the head) is a good thing.
What about the glorification of the mass murderer Che Guevara? Not much better than Hitler chic!
For the Mexican boot craze; maybe “Leningrad Cowboys Go America” was an influence.
Thers’s no “mexican boot craze”. Those are only used in some folklore dances and stuff like that.
Can black guys date the girls after they’re teens? Or can they only date orphan? that way no parents will be shamed. Let’s not use racism to make a joke, change it to douchebags.
Yes I agree. The black “joke” was offensive as teens can date many other types of people in the genre of guys one can date to piss off their parents other than black guys. Douchebags would include many of them and not specify an entire race as a negative dating experience.
Hey styles, this is the author of the article. Thanks for bringing this to my attention because you are partially right: “South African” is wrong. It should be “Southern African,” as in “in the South of Africa,” which is where Botswana is located and which was my intention all along. TopTenz always makes sure to do their research before publishing anything: that’s why the sources are right there below each entry. Thanks for reading TT!
The South Afrian nation of Botswana?Really how ignorant are you?Due to that gem of gross inaccuracy, this article reeks of lack or research and laziness by the author.South Afria and Botswana are two different countries and never at any point in history were they the same country.One word GOOGLE
What he means that Botswana is in the south of the African continent, which it is. There is no mention of Botswana being a part of South Africa. Maybe you should learn to read before criticizing someone else.
The article quite accurately refers to “the Southern African nation of Botswana.” I’m not sure why you confused Southern Africa, a geographic area of a continent with South Africa, an independent nation. I’m also not sure why you don’t add spaces after the punctuation marks at the end of your sentences. Merry Christmas.
We changed the text to southern.
Haha you cheated
I think confusion arises from fact that people from South Africa are called South Africans, its a derivation of our countries name like people from United States of America are called Americans. And to be clear people from Botswana do not refer to they’re country as a Southern Africa country, nor does any of our neighbors as being affiliated with South Africa even its it only a trick of grammar would be bad as we have still have a bad image within Africa.