Sociology, semiotics and a number of other disciplines teach us that what we look like, how we act and whatever other signs we as humans are sending define us as individuals.
One of the more obvious ways of doing so is wearing particular clothing. Something baggy or loose-fitting definitely sends a drastically different message than formal, straight-line attire. Heck, even two hoodies might mean different things if one’s a black affair with an old school rock band’s logo as opposed to a pink hoodie with some #justgirlthings poetry.
But what the following fashion statements in the form of badly-designed clothing might mean in general—I mean, your guess is as good as mine.
#1 My Girlfriend’s Expensive Jeans That Came With Fake Pockets. Can’t Even Return Them Now
Image credits: meliodas_137
#2 This ~$960 Bag Which Looks Like There’s Mold On It
Image credits: –floridaman-
#3 My Girlfriend’s Peepi Socks Finally Arrived
Image credits: nizowosa
It’s a bit hard to explain how design can be bad. Much of it boils down to taste, and you can’t really argue over it. Well, OK, you can, but you ultimately need an objective frame of reference to argue taste. And that demands loads of time on your part to get educated as to what fine art is and is a whole complex story that you can rabbit-hole yourself into by reading an article we wrote about great execution, but poor taste.
#4 Tie-Dye Design Hoody Just Looks Like Grease Splashes
Image credits: robgod50
#5 Condensation For Days
Image credits: DUDEwipes
#6 The Brand Name Of My Daughter’s Shirt
Image credits: Durph08
Anywho, in terms of more technical aspects of the execution, bad design becomes more easy to identify. The most obvious one would be misspellings or mislabeled (or even misinterpreted) designs. Think AIDS sneakers, Google Slides slippers, or Captain A’Mario. Here, you can immediately see that something is off—either it’s an allusion to something real or a sad attempt at alluding to something that just makes zero sense thematically.
#7 Think Inside The Box First
Image credits: SpeedDreaming
#8 Sup[er]h[er]oes
Image credits: finnwormser
#9 Air Force Juans
Image credits: IForgotAboutDre
Then there’s an artistic decision made that didn’t really translate well onto the fabric. Someone might have wanted a unique, scattered pattern on this bag over here, but the end result looked like the bag spent three months in a plastic bag, soaking in all the fungus from a loaf of bread someone decided to put in there as well. Same with stain marks on this hoodie—someone might’ve wanted a grease-monkey mechanic’s look, but ended up looking like someone hit the gym in a repair shop.
#10 I’ve Never Seen A Pair Of Dress Shoes With Split Toes
Image credits: tonglongjeff
#11 Can’t Really Wear My Favorite Death Metal Shirt In Good Faith Anymore
Image credits: 0stees.com
#12 Not Very Well Thought Through If You Ask Me
Image credits: michellezhaang
And then there’s just flat out not thinking it through. Imagine creating a perfectly logical design only to add an element that negates it completely. Thinking outside the box when the box is enough to think inside it is a great example. Or highlighting letters to make a point only to accidentally highlight other letters that make another point.
#13 Found In Kurdistan
Image credits: ninkeyminjaj
#14 Happy New Year
Image credits: crudolph0828
#15 Totoro The Hedgehog
Image credits: all9050
So, why is this a thing in the first place? Minus lack of talent and aptitude for design, there’s a bit of a misconception about misspelled trademarks in that they don’t really avoid a lawsuit. One lawyer argued that even if a trademark is misspelled, the actual brand might have power to take it down. If the design is too similar to the original one, it doesn’t matter if it’s for a product for a different industry, the whole idea behind them is to distinguish itself and cause less confusion for customers. Besides, you can never know if YouTube will one day want to branch out into tubs and bathroom accessories with a brand like YouTub.
#16 The North Face Who?
Image credits: reyren18
#17 Blursed Slides
Image credits: Ben9999999999999999
#18 The Design On My Girlfriend’s Yoga Pants Makes It Look Like They’re Covered In Fur
Image credits: AstroidSeenByDinos
And if we’re talking about trademark infringements, there are those who also avoid it by creating very believable fakes. Why? Because the final price tag is significantly lower than that of the original. Of course, it also comes with its own issues, like lack of quality in the materials and how it’s executed. But if you’re strapped for cash and still want to impress your friends with designer clothes, this is a reality.
#19 Brand New Shoes With Their Own Shoelaces
Image credits: reddit_0885
#20 These Jean Pants Are Upside Down
Image credits: target_aquired
#21 Backpack Shoe
Image credits: nicolemclaughlin
Incidentally, when we think of bootleg products, the culprit is often China. China is the biggest manufacturer of products in the world. And so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that nearly two-thirds—63.2%—of all counterfeit seizures in the world are done in China.
China is home to a lot of skilled workers who can copy and make designs with little effort. And the country’s policies against counterfeits have enough loopholes to make the industry thrive through sneaky channels and open-air wholesale markets.
#22 $600 Balenciaga Shoes Spotted On The Subway
Image credits: eneug
#23 Heavy Pants
Image credits: EkriirkE
#24 New Model Prototype Leaked?
Image credits: BEX323
But there’s also the issue of luxury companies diminishing in quality, slowly, but surely becoming generic versions of otherwise expensive brands. And so when the Regular Joe can’t really distinguish between the quality of the fake and the real product—or the difference is minuscule—they end up going with the cheaper option.
And then there’s stories like that of Dapper Dan, forcing folks to at least consider for a second how bootlegs might be a necessary evil in progressing fashion.
#25 Best Nike Off-Brand Ever
Image credits: teorosso
#26 We Have To Decode What The Shirt Says
Image credits: Insomnicwriter
#27 Ham Socks
Image credits: LonelyAche
Long story short, Dapper Dan is a Harlem fashion designer who, back in 1982, opened up a boutique that offered the look and feel of high-end brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton, but adapted them to new monogram designs—designs that folks wanted, but these bigger brands didn’t deal in them. Decades later, this became a staple for other designers to reference, thus creating a new kind of fashion.
#28 My Partner Told Me She Got Me Some Designer Socks
Image credits: criddy33
#29 Complete With Hair And Sweat
Image credits: facebook.com
#30 Instead Of A Printed Sweater I Received A Sweater With A Print Of Printed Sweater
Image credits: axolotlpaw
And, as is also in good fashion, we’d love to hear from you about anything and everything you read here today in the comment section below.
And if you need another design fail fix, look no further than this epic and hilarious design fail listicle brought to you by the Design Failures Instagram page.
#31 I Saw This Backpack That Looks Like A McDonald’s Bag
Image credits: etsy.com
#32 Why Does Tom On My Shirt Has 3 Eyes? Only Noticed It 4 Months After Buying It
Image credits: HappyNuisance
#33 Jojo Siwa’s Bizarre Adventure
Image credits: animeware.com
#34 That Design On My Son’s T-Shirt
Image credits: GodHatesUsall1
#35 Found This T-Shirt At A Grocery Store
Image credits: vinciblanco
#36 Thanks To This Woman’s Amazon Review I Promptly Removed This Dress From My Cart
Image credits: JivyNme
#37 What Does The Baby Keep In Its Pockets? Wrong Answers Only
Image credits: kangapaw
#38 They Went Through All The Effort To Add A Working Zipper, But Not Functional Pockets
Image credits: gerrrtastrophe
#39 Its-A Me, Captain America
Image credits: mattythebuoy
#40 My Friend Ordered Herself Some New Gloves From Ebay. These Monstrosities Arrived Yesterday
Image credits: Mr_Wassonwheeler
#41 Got This New Hoodie And Everybody Has Asked Me Why I Am Wet And I Have To Tell Them It’s Just The Design Of The Hoodie
Image credits: sirSosig
#42 Tie-Dye Socks That Look Like Someone Used Them As A Toilet Paper
Image credits: Professional_Lunch43
#43 Happy Halloween Guys (This Is Supposed To Be Moon Knight)
Image credits: susmansoulsfan
#44 Found These In The Same Store. I Just Can’t Decide Which Should I Get
Image credits: Kubech
#45 Live Your Never Give Life Is Up Boring Time?
Image credits: ShiveryTimbers
#46 Nine: Consider Doing It
Image credits: ObeseMorese
#47 What Are You Trying To Say?
Image credits: Otherwise_Forever962
#48 What In The World Is This
Image credits: Witty-Thought8211
#49 Found In Bulgaria
Image credits: dwartbg5
#50 Hope This Asus Jeans I Bought You, Fit You Well
Image credits: logicalOrdinate
#51 I Can’t Even
Image credits: Kimwere
#52 The Amazing Tarantula
Image credits: Beautiful_Fishing569
#53 Found This Bootleg At My Local Thrift Store
Image credits: YuB_is_best_boi
#54 Beautiful
Image credits: Scaglio
#55 I Am Laughing So Hard I Can’t Even
Image credits: ChillBackroomsMan
#56 I Don’t Think Someone Thought This Through
Image credits: ThatDamnC
#57 New Adidas Sneakers
Image credits: -Intronaut-
#58 Like
Image credits: NikosPRo
#59 Lies
Image credits: PTP-PATCHI
#60 Mike
Image credits: ShreksHairyToenails
#61 Iec Christmas Cle Holiday Sweatshirt
Image credits: Jesus_Eh_Christ
#62 These Unusual Pants I Saw At The Mall
Image credits: Cadence_828
#63 My Friend Bought A Shirt From Her High School In Lone Grove Oklahoma. She Didn’t Try It On First
Image credits: Battlescarred98
#64 My New Ugly Sweater
Image credits: ebay.com
#65 Wanted To Buy Some Brand Name Flip-Flops But My Wallet Was Like
Image credits: mixxbg
#66 It’s Called Fashion, Sweetie. You Should Try It Sometime
Image credits: Cr0wsbeforeh0ez
#67 It’s Supposed To Say Believe But The Only Letters You Can Really See Are Blee. As A Graphic Design Student This Infuriates Me
Image credits: crazycreaturess
#68 A Nike Sewing Error On A $100 Hoodie
Image credits: DJpetee
#69 Mockey
Image credits: Beautiful_Fishing569
#70 Michael Jackson Backpack
Image credits: Heis3nberg99
#71 Anyone Knows What Sport Is This?
Image credits: giannilavapanni
#72 Found It In A Bazaar
Image credits: PreviousNecessary139
#73 My “Facebuk” Flip-Flops
Image credits: DillonSOB
#74 My Mom Bought This For Me
Image credits: Verichi_
#75 Death Grips
Image credits: Trick_Cow3178
#76 Can I Have One Lombarghini
Image credits: whatsthisman
#77 Ah Yes, Just Like How I Remember It
Image credits: NOODENTO
#78 Shrek 2
Image credits: unknown
#79 My Dad Found A Face As The Pocket Of His Pepperoni Pizza Pants
Image credits: cosmosclover
#80 Why Can’t Women Get Pockets?
Image credits: Crosseyed_owl
#81 This Piece Of Clothing That Looks Like It’s Wet
Image credits: Murarzowa
#82 These Shoes That I Saw On The Metro
Image credits: RedLegend619
#83 Found A Dino With Five Legs On My Kid’s Shirt
Image credits: dixie-pixie-vixie
#84 Something The Grinch Would Sport When He’s Robbing All Your Christmas Gifts
Image credits: vantellikicks.com
#85 He’s Had These Zumba Pants For A While. Hadn’t Noticed
Image credits: thespottedwaffle
#86 I Was Startled At First Because I Didn’t Think It Was Possible
Image credits: Potterybug
#87 This Is Always Infuriating
Image credits: Bulletz4Brkfst
#88 Madrid On This Sweatshirt My Coworker Wears Often
Image credits: Ryuktf2
#89 Love I Ca Ts
Image credits: SamubGamer
#90 No Idea What’s Supposed To Be Written Here
Image credits: ta_becheli
#91 “Ddidas”
Image credits: SnooOwls3367
#92 As Seen In Japan
Image credits: inatowncalledarles
#93 Mario Great Rock
Image credits: Beautiful_Fishing569
#94 Hey Now, You’re An All Star. Congrats
Image credits: fitnessbreeze
#95 Morthy Mouse
Image credits: TheOnlyShyG
#96 Nike Got Some Competition
Image credits: battalaloufi12
#97 “Oh No, We’re Running Out Of Pants! We Only Have Nine Pants”
Image credits: MackWasntTaken
#98 Aisada
Image credits: markusalkemus66
#99 Surer Mary
Image credits: Beautiful_Fishing569
#100 New TF2 Merch?
Image credits: ganymedes01
#101 Wait, What?
Image credits: sarhan182
#102 That’s Not A Unicorn
Image credits: DragornFFS
#103 Victoriu’s Secren
Image credits: memewannabe
#104 This Shirt
Image credits: MasterPro9517
#105 What Even
Image credits: TheRealVladimirLenin
#106 My Kid Said Her Pants Were Too Big, So I Went To Tighten The Drawstring. It’s Fake And Does Nothing
Image credits: g-e-o-f-f
#107 Why Is The Horn There?
Image credits: zdog505
#108 I Am A Trigger Pukler
Image credits: BeepBop142
#109 Cute Purse But Doesn’t Stay Closed If I Have Stuff In It
Image credits: ATMiceli
#110 Got This As A Present 9 Years Ago. Still Cracks Me Up To This Day
Image credits: Afksrry