"You can't help but notice bad fashion design, just like you can't help but notice a bad haircut. It occurs when something is painful, unfeasible, or just plain ugly," said Magda Callery, the founder of Style by Magda. In this blog, she blends timeless elegance with contemporary trends in both fashion and interior design.

"Think of gowns that prevent you from sitting, pants that have fake pockets (a betrayal in every way), or beautiful shoes that feel like medieval torture devices. It's also about poor material choices, such as unpleasant, suffocating, or tissue-paper-thin materials that rip apart after just one wash. Fashion should make people feel amazing, not like they're participating in a sad scientific experiment," she explained.

Luxury fashion consultant Amanda Jane Valentine believes that fashion design is truly only bad when the person's lifestyle isn't taken into consideration while creating it. An example she gives is women always being deprived of pockets in pants (for crying out loud, give women pockets, it's 2025!).

"This pocket-drought is common because many designers assume women want to be as slender as possible and pockets add “bulk” but I believe that to be an antiquated concept. The modern woman wants function and versatility rather than focusing on being an object to view."

Another example of bad fashion design she gives is tight sleeves. "A similar problem is when the sleeves and arm holes are designed to look as narrow as possible, creating a tight fit and the inability to lift one’s arms to drink from a glass. I’ve seen plenty of ridiculous fashion, but if there is a customer who loves it and wears it for life, who is to say that it’s “bad” when fashion is deeply personal? In my opinion, fashion design is truly only bad when the person's who is wearing it lifestyle isn’t taken into consideration."

These fashion disasters that are on the list (which experts just expanded even more) see the light of day for many unfortunate reasons. Some of which are wanting to make a statement or lacking control in the quality department.

"Sometimes, designers get so wrapped up in making a statement that they forget humans actually have to wear their clothes," said Magda. "Other times, it’s a case of "no one said no"—big brands push out collections at lightning speed, leaving no room for quality control. And then there are trends that should have been left in the design room but somehow escape into the wild (looking at you, extremely low-rise jeans). Social media virality can also turn bizarre designs into trends—whether we love them or love to hate them."

Meanwhile, Amanda says that it's all subjective and that a design that may seem terrible to one person can make another one happy.

"Fashion is truly a reflection of who we are, what we care about, and the social constructs we grew up with. I’ve seen plenty of fashion that isn’t “for me,” but it may make someone terribly happy—and good for them! As long as you aren’t appropriating a culture or insulting someone with a rude graphic or message—live your best ugly life! (I mean that sincerely) seeing someone in an outfit that I personally wouldn’t wear doesn’t ruin my day, and it certainly shouldn’t ruin yours. Just learn to laugh at it!" she advised.

Unfortunately, the fashion crimes that see the light of day, whether due to trends, lack of quality control, or just because someone wanted to make a statement, often end up in landfills, burdening our planet with endless waste.

"Fast fashion is to blame here—the hastily designed, shoddily constructed, and to-be-replaced-in-weeks clothes. The result: piles and piles of discarded garments, plastic microbeads flooding our oceans, and megatons of water wasted during production. Low-cost materials also translate to increased energy use and landfill waste. Worst of all, ugly fashion design isn't just a beauty disaster—it's an eco-catastrophe masquerading as polyester," said Magda.

"The impact of poor fashion design is that these items will be thrown out to frustration and eventually end up in landfills—unless, of course, they're recycled through a trusted source like https://www.retoldrecycling.com or https://www.trashie.io/. You’d be surprised how many of our donations end up in landfills," noted Amanda.

"Keep in mind seven states in the USA will run out of landfill capacity in the next 5-10 years. I’m so not looking forward to how the air will smell then. And with the way consuming habits are pressured into staying up to trends, our closets are stuffed!"

What fashion designers can do to help the problem is design ethically made clothing pieces that people want to wear and keep for a long time, instead of throwing them out. Magda suggests three golden rules on how they can achieve this:

1. Make it wearable – If it requires a team of assistants to put on or limits basic movement, it’s a no-go.
2. Think beyond the trend cycle – Good design has staying power. A timeless, well-structured piece will always outshine a gimmicky one-season wonder.
3. Respect the environment – Choose durable, sustainable materials and ethical production methods. Because fashion should be fabulous, not destructive.

"Make sure the clothing is made well so it isn’t thrown out after one use, and that you can actually go about your daily activities in it. When fashion designers aren’t considering what the use is, that’s where you get major disappointment and another trashbag in the landfill," added Amanda, having a similar opinion to Magda's.