A person with enough confidence and charisma can pull off pretty much any outfit, no matter how weird and fashion-forward. However, that doesn’t mean that the design itself is anything to write home about. At times, clothes designers get so wrapped up in their artistic vision that they forget about their customers.
And that’s where one popular Facebook group, ‘You Can’t Just Slap Some Fabric Together And Call It A Dress,’ comes in. It’s a collective that documents some of the most bizarre dresses that ever got made and then proceeds to criticize them, ever so gently. Scroll down, upvote your fave worst dresses out of the bunch, and always remember that the only thing anyone’s criticizing is the outfit—never the person.
We got in touch with Kelly, one of the administrators running the community, and she was kind enough to answer our questions. Read on to see what she told We!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1 Weird Looking Clothing
#3 I Love Björk, Her Music Is Awesome And I Get That The Quirky Fashion Thing Is Her Deal. But Did She Not Dress Like Covid
According to Kelly, one of the two administrators running ‘You Can’t Just Slap Some Fabric Together And Call It A Dress,’ the Facebook group is so popular among internet users because of the amount of fresh content that gets posted there, daily.
“I think it’s so popular because, every day, there is a new fashion fail,” she told We that this is what keeps people engaged and entertained.
We were curious to get the administrator’s thoughts on why some clothing designers fail to see just how bizarre their ideas are.
“I think sometimes they do see it, but sometimes fashion is a form of art,” Kelly told us that designers have specific artistic visions in their minds. “I’m sure they see how strange it is, but we didn’t make the dresses, so I’m sure it’s art to the designer.”
#4 Kanye West And His Wife, Bianca, On The Way To Sunday Service
#5 I’m Just.. So Confused!
#6 Dress Like Pizza
The admin added that, “At the end of the day, if you enjoy your own canvas, that’s all that matters.”
Meanwhile, We wanted to find out how someone might diplomatically tell their friend that the dress they’ve picked out really isn’t working out.
“I’m very a honest person, so I think everyone should just be honest,” Kelly, the administrator at ‘You Can’t Just Slap Some Fabric Together And Call It A Dress,’ told us. However, she added that nobody should go overboard with their criticism.
“You also shouldn’t push it. If what they’re wearing is kinda ugly, and what they want to wear, then so be it,” she said. “You shouldn’t sit there and try to convince them that it’s ugly/not the vibe.”
#7 That’s One Way To Wear Your Dress
#8 I Hope This Is Allowed, Because While It’s Not A Dress It Is One Of Our Frequent Flyers! Not Covering Her Face Because She’s Well Known
#9 Did Her Stylist Hate Her?😭
Trends seem to follow cycles and something that was old-fashioned one decade can make a sudden, rather unexpected comeback when you least expect it. According to Loretta G. Breuning, Ph.D., it’s not a coincidence that high fashion “looks eerily similar” to the clothes people wore when they were young.
“It’s the circle of life: Grandma’s clothes end up in a thrift shop. Hipsters patronize thrift shops. High-end designers imitate hipsters,” she writes on Psychology Today.
The Facebook group is currently run by two administrators, and anyone hoping to become a member of the style-loving collective has to agree to abide by the group’s rules.
“Dress shaming ONLY!” the admins note. “We do NOT shame bodies, or people. Especially on things that cannot be changed. We also are only shaming dresses. No shoes, hats, shirts, pants, etc.,” they note, adding that hate isn’t welcome in the community.
#10 Julia Fox At Cannes, With Stars Added So The Photo Doesn’t Get Zucced
#11 Finally Have Something To Post Not Blurring Face As She’s A Top Model But This Dress Geeezus
#12 Some Girl From My College Wore This To Formal
What’s more, the team running the show asks its members not to post their dream dresses. There’s a specific thread dedicated to that, so you can do it there. What’s more, the entire point of the group is to shame ugly dresses—there is no need to tell anyone whose outfit it actually is. So, if you mention that it’s your BFF’s wedding dress, your post may actually get declined! That also means covering all faces and identifying information in the pics.
Stating the obvious somewhat, but if you post a photo of a dress in the group, it will get shamed by the other members. “Don’t get [angry] if you post a dress you like/wore and people make fun of the dress. That’s your issue, not ours. It’s a shaming group. Stop being so soft,” the admins note. What’s more, it’s up to the team to decide if a dress is ugly enough. If your post isn’t approved, “find an uglier dress.”
#13 Weird Looking Clothing
#14 Weird Looking Clothing
#15 Silver Dildo Chic
The group was created in mid-April of 2020 and, at the time of writing, has grown to house 61k members. For a previous feature about ‘You Can’t Just Slap Some Fabric Together And Call It A Dress,’ We had spoken to the original founder, Mary Waldron. She walked us through the history of the group and why she believes it grew so large, so quickly.
“I noticed the group gaining more popularity about 6-7 months after I created it, and it was honestly out of nowhere. I never expected it to be such a big group, but honestly, I should have because, at the time, shaming groups were a big trend on Facebook,” she told us back in 2021.
#16 Weird Looking Clothing
#17 What The Hell Is That?!
#18 I Don’t Understand Boutique Clothing. Who Would Wear This And Where Would They Be Going And Why The F*** Would Anyone Pay Over $3000 For Horribly “Reworked” Levi’s?!?!
“Looking back, I think the thing about shaming groups in general that brings people together and really resonates with them is the idea that there are things so bad out there that they feel compelled to share them with everyone for a good laugh, just like when a group of kids in school will see a teacher with a really bad tie and make a few jokes. To me, it’s that same concept, just on a much larger scale, that really makes these groups what they are,” Waldron told We.
#19 Weird Looking Clothing
#20 Weird Looking Clothing
#21 At First, I Thought It Was Ai
“The group name was actually inspired by a comment on a post in the group, ‘That’s it, I’m wedding dress shaming,’” she said.
“The group was originally just a wedding dress shaming group called ‘You Can’t Slap On A White Skirt and Call it a Wedding Dress,’ but over time, as more and more people joined, I decided to allow other types of dresses,” the founder shared how, eventually, she expanded the scope of the community.
#22 On A Shein Ad. I Have No Words
#23 Weird Looking Clothing
#24 No Words Needed
“The dresses I tend to really gawk at are the ones that look like they could fall off, tear, or just completely malfunction at any given moment. But outside of the group, I try to keep an open mind when it comes to fashion because a person’s taste is as unique as their own,” Waldron said that impractical dresses, for her, are what deserve being poked fun at. However, everyone should take the dress wearer’s opinion into account, too.
#25 Weird Looking Clothing
#26 Weird Looking Clothing
#27 Moschino + Mcdonald’s
“At the end of the day, if a dress makes you feel happy when you wear it, then you wear it relentlessly because your body is your own to dress how you want to,” she said that the most important thing for the dress wearer is that they, themselves like the way they look. It’s important to embrace that, no matter what some internet users might think about the outfit.
#28 For Sale On Etsy If You Have A Couple Of Hundred Dollars
#29 Weird Looking Clothing
#30 Weird Looking Clothing
For some more fantastically horrid (and sometimes so-ugly-they’re-beautiful) dresses, check out We’s previous features about‘You Can’t Just Slap Some Fabric Together And Call It A Dress’ right here: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, and part 5.
In the meantime, feel free to share your honest opinions about the dresses you’ve seen so far in the comments, dear Pandas. And if there were any designs that you’d genuinely love to wear in public, let us know which ones they were!
#31 #teresagiudice’s #watchwhathappenslive Appearance Outfit. 😜 (Nbcuniversal)
#32 I Finally Found One In The Wild! Never Screenshotted Something So Fast In My Life. Why Fb Decided To Show Me This Ad I Will Never Know
#33 What In The Marshmallow Hell
#34 Weird Looking Clothing
#35 Weird Looking Clothing
#36 Weird Looking Clothing
#37 Weird Looking Clothing
#38 An Ad From Farfetch
#39 Finally Found One! Thought It Was Posted In This Group When I Saw It! Not Blurring Because She’s Verified. It Looks So Awful!!
#40 The More I Look At This The Less I Hate It But Wow! I Feel Bad Because It’s A Wedding Dress But Girlllllll
#41 How Is This Possibly A Bodycon Dress?
#42 What
#43 Dear God
#44 Found On Shein
#45 Weird Looking Clothing
#46 I Could Never Wear Something Like This Honestly
#47 Oh My
#48 Can We Just Stop With The Aluminum Foil Moment, Please 😫 It Doesn’t Look Good On Anyone!
#49 Idk How I Feel About This
#50 Look I’m Sorry But Beyoncé Looks Like She’s Wrapped In Tin Foil. I Know She’s Beyoncé. But This Is Terrible. Lizzo’s Isn’t *great* Either But It Isn’t Nearly As Bad
