Acid wash jeans: they're back!

The Fashion Police have been monitoring the situation with acid wash jeans for a while now, and it is with heavy hearts that we can confirm to you today that yes: they're back.

These ones are by Lux at Urban Outfitters, and if time travellers from the 80s were to arrive at a branch of UO right now, let's just say they'd feel totally at home.

Now, it's just possible that the 80s themselves ruined acid wash for us. We can't help but remember how our much younger selves would have tried to wear these with neon socks and "crazy" laces, and these dark thoughts make us instantly distrust anything that came out of that decade.

So tell us: is it just our natural aversion to all things 80s that's making us want to file acid wash jeans under "crimes of fashion we'd rather forget"? Can you see any merit in bringing back the acid wash?

Related: 80's fashion | 80's fashion accessories

Comments

[Miss. Lee]

NO!! I hate hate hate acid wash.. bleach denim and all.. ew! I don't care if Urban Outfitters is supporting the comeback - no chance you'll see me in them!

[heather]

OH NO!!!! ACK!

YEs, Acid washed jeans are AWFUL!

[Stephanie!]

Ah, the 80s. I wore the same pair (well not EXACTLY the same) to a disco when I was a wee nipper and thought I looked fab. I say let the younger generation go forth and make big fashion idiots of themselves as we once did. But, on a more serious note, who do fashion "directors" think they are kidding with this kind of lazy "new" direction? From leg warmers to jumpsuits, it's just plain unimaginative rubbish. Rant over.

[Kat]

I actually think these could work,
maybe if they were skinny fit and paired with a black t-shirt :/
I think I would wear them. Then again I did grow up in th 90's and I'm a huge glam rock fan, so my tastes are kind of strange anyway..

[vina]

eww! these are awful! definitely a crime of fashion!

[Veronika]

Ok, these pants .. would make anyone look like an idiot. Yuck. So, NO, not a comeback..

[sarah]

Ah, the 80s. Why is it that the sight of acid washed denim conjures memories of frizzy mullets, blank stares and the odor of stale cigarette smoke? There I was at the disco, bobbing my head to "Tainted Love" and trying to look cool.
I'm like you. I can't figure out if acid washed denim is really so dreadful in itself or if my memories of the 80s (really not a great time in my life) merely infuse it with the essence of dread.
But I suspect it really is that dreadful.

[phil mckrackin]

No hipster thought acid wash was cool in the 80's—in fact it was considered quite naf back then!

[phil mckrackin]

No hipster thought acid wash was cool in the 80's—in fact it was considered quite naf back then!

[ARIS FULLER]

YES!!..

THEY ARE A COME BACK IN THE HIP-HOP WORLD!!..
LIKE IT OR NOT.. 80'S STYLE IS COMEN BACK && IMMA SUPPORTER NO MATTER WHAT.

[ARIS FULLER]

YES!!..

THEY ARE A COME BACK IN THE HIP-HOP WORLD!!..
LIKE IT OR NOT.. 80'S STYLE IS COMEN BACK && IMMA SUPPORTER NO MATTER WHAT.

[M.smith]

Yessss!
I'm a supporter - no matter what!
Acid Washed Jeans are cool.
i think.

bringgg it on!

[Lindsay]

well im 16 and i have 2 pairs, i was actually looking for them for a while in thrift shops because they hadnt really made a comeback yet. then i started finding them everywhere. but i think they are great if your still in your teens. i dont think you should be wearing them if u were a teen when they first came out. sorry but this is a total yes for me:)

[sue]

I can't believe I wore jeans like that in the 80's. they are terrible.

[Fraulein N]

Fug.

[Randa]

I graduated from high school in 1987, so I was there the first time acid wash jeans were popular. I think they are far from the ugliest 80s fashion trend, but I don't welcome their return.

That said ... the loose-fitting, pegged jeans Katie Holmes has been wearing lately? I know they're very unfashionable now, but I think they're cute. (I'm so embarrassed!)

[Stephanie C.]

i own a pair of acid wash skinny jeans and i love them! it isnt a crime

[New Waver]

Great ! better than seeing all these 70s mop headed oasis freaks around with there flares and dull lifeless mod sheep clothing. If you an't a sheep be an individual, so called 80s clothes only went out of shops like at the end of every decade, fashion designers want to fill there pockets with something new but ran out of ideas so dug up 60s and 70s clothes knowing that kids wouldnt remember them and think they are new. The 80s the last originel decade looks more up to date than today sorry mop heads you 30 years to late!

[GHU]

no no no no no

oh god, no

please god no.

no no no no no.

i promise you, if and when these things come back in style, the earth will shrivel up and die.

please god, no!

[Happy Michael]

Just bought a pair to go with a white shirt, hi tops and red braces, mixing up the 80's into one fuggle pile of nonsense.

[marly]

well i brought a pencil skirt that was acid wash and it looks totally hot.

it can be done as long as its done right, i say brig back the acid wash!!!!!!!

[jessie]

I'm 15 and I think acid wash jeans look awesome, with the right outfit and the right accessories. You can't pair it with all the classic 80's wear, that's for sure. But pair it with a top and jewelry that bring you back to the present, and acid wash jeans can look hot.

[Jennie]

I love acid washed or bleached stuff! And I dont' even come from the eighties... i was born in the 90's... ;)

I'm actually trying to create my own version with my skinny light blue jeans. Hopefully they're turning out ok.

[Daniela Umunnakwe]

i like the acid jeans they look very retro and 80s and its nice and unique lookking

[k]

to be honest i dont know why everyone is slagging them off because at the end of the day they are coming back into fashion, and people like karl largerfeild have brought them back with good trends on this seasons catwalk.

[Amber]

K - how does that mean no one should be allowed to express an opinion on them, though? Do you think that just because something is in fashion, and has been seen on the catwalk, that everyone MUST like them? Because that just seems like Fashion Victim talk to me.

[bec]

acid wash jeans are awesome! what is wrong with them? the 80s wasn't that terrible, look at how many great movies came from the 80s! and dont tell me you think marty mcfly isnt cool!

i'd like to ad that i am an 18-year-old girl.

[Samantha]

I don't like the particular jeans pictured here, but sometimes they do like quite good. I saw a really cool pair on the Valleygirl website, actually. So if you're from Australia and a fan, you should check those ones out, they're pretty cheap too. 40 bucks. I'm definitely getting a pair.
This style certainly isn't for everybody though, but my god it has to be better than people wearing leggings as pants. Ergh. We will definitely look back at ourselves in 20 years and ask ourselves why we dressed the way we did, but if I worried about that, I wouldn't have any fun! Haha.

[Emily]

I thought acid wash jeans were vile until yesterday when, as a joke, i tried some on in topshop and i actually really liked them!

i used to hate the 80's as a fashion era (not that i lived through them) but there are elements that are really cool.

so it's not all bad!

[Madeline]

I really don't find them offensive, either. If you mix them up right, acid jeans are quite cool. I never went through the eigghties, so they don't bring back embarassing memories ;)