Shell suits and giant shoulder pads have topped a poll of our worst fashion faux pas

Brits have named their top fashion fails that they wish they could erase from history in a new survey and guess what? It’s the humble shell suit

Call the fashion police – shell suits and giant shoulder pads have topped a poll of wardrobe woes. Brits have named their top fashion fails that they wish they could erase from history in a new survey.

Cringeworthy trends people would rather forget also include low-rise jeans, velour track suits and leg warmers. The research revealed a third of us admit to being pained by the evidence of our past clobber calamities.

It found 30% would pay money to delete their most awkward outfit photos from the internet forever, while a fifth would happily use a tool to fix and edit outfits on old online snaps.

A further 30% confessed they have deleted picture evidence of their past clothes choices from social media entirely.

The study, ahead of London Fashion Week, showed Gen Zs under 24s (49%) are the generation most haunted by their style shame.

It was commissioned by Samsung as part of their promo campaign for Galaxy AI and the Generative Edit feature on the Galaxy S25 Series, with comic Michelle de Swarte starring in their new ad.

She said: “I used to be a model, which means there’s a lot of photographic evidence of me taking fashion far too seriously in things I should never have trusted.

“Back then, if a shoot went wrong, you just had to live with it forever – bad bags, loud logos, people blinking, the lot.

“Fashion should be playful, not something that jumps out of your camera roll and humbles you years later, so being able to keep the memory and quietly fix the bits that didn’t age well is a welcome evolution.”

Top 10 fashion faux pas

1. Shell suits

2. Giant Shoulder Pads

3. Low-rise jeans

4. Overly distressed jeans

5. Peplum tops

6. Cargo trousers with too many pockets

7. Velour tracksuits

8. Slogan tees

9. Spray on skinny jeans

10. Leg Warmers