Pasty Stone From Absolutely Fabulous
There are many bad taste icons out there, who are famous and celebrated for their style, yet you can't for the life of you think why.
Iconic TV characters, such as Bet Lynch in Coronation Street paved the way for us celebrating something a bit different to the usual fashion trends, and there was no-one who rocked leopard print and cheap gold better than Bet.
People like Cher and Dolly Parton were too proclaimed fashion icons, when so clearly they were about as far removed from being stylish as you could get- at least by today's standards.
Then there's that loveable duo, Edna and Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous who were the original beehived, leopard print, chain-smoking lovvies of fashion.
Edna's hippy look and mad hair was so hilariously OTT, she couldn't fail to be celebrated for her fashion bravery, while Patsy's amazingly quaffed hair, smudged lipstick and mini-skirt obsession was a key focal point of the show.
In more recent times we have likes of Lady GaGa leading the way forward, with her bum-skimming fashion and unusual fetish with PVC. Her crazy stage outfits, outlandish hair bows and love of granny knickers have made her a fashion icon worldwide.
Why is it that people like Jordan and Jodie Marsh get labelled as vile and crass, when they go out in their underwear and Lady GaGa gets a free pass with her style?
Maybe it's because behind GaGa's look, there is an actual thought-process about it, rather than simply putting on a belt to cover your boobs and calling it a fashion choice.
We all like something a bit different to look at, and after years of style icons with their perfect size zero frames, dressed in carefully constructed outfits, who can blame us for looking the weird and wacky for inspiration?
With 'bad taste' making a reappearance this summer, if the catwalk was anything to go by, should we embrace it and have a bit of fun or cower away and not venture out of our skinny jeans?
Some of the catwalk creations that have appeared for SS09, have arguably been a bit OTT and in real life some of the colour combinations just wouldn't work.
So should we abandon them altogether, or find a way to work the styles for us? A lot of the 'bad taste' looks from bad roots to gold earrings and chavvy denim have come from the 80s.
The 80s was one of the funnest fashion eras around, as people put together their own bright looks and didn't give a stuff about what anyone else thought about them.
Look at Pat Butcher and her infamous chandelier earrings. Apart from becoming synonymous with the character, the producers really liked the in-joke and started to celebrate Pat's style with the most outlandish jewels they could find.
The result? well they came back in fashion! Maybe not to the extent of Pat's charity shop gems, but big Aztec earrings and hoops have most certainly make a comeback in recent years, and we'd like to think that's partly down to Pat and the power of TV.
FemaleFirst- Laura Terry