Fashion is, for the most part, subjective, with beauty being largely in the eye of the beholder. However, in many cases, you can't argue with ugly. While 2017 has seen numerous well-received fashion trends—from elevated athleisure to delicately embroidered dresses—it feels as though the year has given us more misses than hits.
From the streets to the runways, 2017 has offered up some of the year's worst dresses we've ever seen. These fatal fashion faux pas have attempted to reinvigorate trends from Cosby sweaters to velvet, failing every step of the way. Before you toast 2018 in something you'll regret, make sure you've checked out the ugliest dresses of 2017. And if your New Year's resolution is to clean out your closet, make sure you're ditching these awful style trends from the past year, too.
1 | Nasty Gal Red Blazer Dress
It's such a relief to have finally found Carmen Sandiego after all these years. Unfortunately, even a seemingly conservative blazer dress becomes something a woman should never wear to work when it's this ugly.
2 | Opening Ceremony Space Dye Maxi Dress
Like nobody in their right mind has ever said, asymmetrical is the new symmetrical.
3 | Anna Sui Corset Dress
A dress for those times when the Renaissance Faire and Valentine's Day sync up. Better yet, the loose corseting on this bad boy gives you plenty of room to fill up on mutton and mead.
4 | Ted Baker Mallie Porcelain Rose Body Con Dress
We love a woman who wears her heart on her sleeve and her privates right on the front of her dress.
5 | Custo Barcelona Sweater Dress
Not all heroes wear capes. Some of them wear their metallic cummerbunds over dresses made of muppet fur, apparently.
6 | Current/Elliot Hi-Lo Plaid Cotton Shirt Dress
Jordan Catalano called. He wants his clothes back. Sadly, not even a pair of the sexiest new shoes for women could save this look.
7 | Dion Lee Blazer Dress
A versatile look you can wear in your time machine back to 1992, or on the short walk to your trash can.
8 | BCBGMAXAZRIA Velvet Dress
The color of a '70s shag carpet, made out of velvet, and adorned with comically oversized breast pockets, this dress truly couldn't be worse if it tried.
9 | Anna Sui Zodiac Dress
With tie-dyed stars, clashing patterns, and a woven belt, even a beauty like Bella Hadid can't make this hippie nonsense look good.
10 | Johanna Ortiz Under New Mexico Skies Plaid Gown
This dress is what would have happened if, instead of drapes, Scarlett O'Hara had tried to make her ballgown out of tablecloths from a Cracker Barrel.
11 | Custo Jersey Dress
Sometimes, you want to be fashionable. Sometimes, you want to fit in at the big game. And sometimes, you just want people to see your nipples. When all three coincide, this Custo monstrosity is here for you.
12 | Gucci Pink Silk Viscose Dress
Well, at least now we know what a Malibu Barbie would wear to her own funeral.
13 | Ivanova Princess Dress
A dress that finally answers the question, "What would your favorite Disney princess wear if she worked as a legal secretary in 1985?"
14 | Zadig&Voltaire Camo Dress
For those hunting trips when you want everything but those headlights to be under wraps. Bonus points for oversized, JNCO-esque pants.
15 | Slava Zaitsev Checkered Dress
Designer Slava Zaitsev's foray into motion sickness couture has been dizzying, to say the least.
16 | Nasty Gal Ribbed Sweater Dress
When you want to wear something workplace-appropriate but still let your crush know that you're wearing weird underwear, Sophia Amoruso's Nasty Gal line has got you covered.
17 | Jeremy Scott Fishnet Dress
This is why we don't play Candy Land on acid.
18 | Tory Burch Gold Silk Dress
Finally, a dress with pockets! Now, if only we could do something about the track stripes and off-kilter nipple tassels.
19 | Dennis Basso Fur Dress
The good thing about this dress is that it won't even be recognizable once it's covered in red paint.
20 | Trina Turk Jaine Paisley Silk Dress
Like your mom's awful '70s maternity wear, but somehow much, much worse.
21 | Vivienne Tam Shirtdress
Two different lengths, two different sleeves, and a piece of rope—wow, our college boyfriends were right: stuff you find in the lost-and-found at the Y is pretty much the same as high fashion.
22 | Vivienne Tam Denim Apron Dress
Backwards dress shirt? Check. Asymmetrical denim apron piece? Check. A shocking disregard for what looks good or fits? You betcha.
23 | Missoni Long-Sleeve Patchwork Knit Maxi Dress
Finally, a $3,000 dress you can wear to a Widespread Panic concert.
24 | Tibi Clear Corset Dress
An outfit for when you've been working hard on your diet and you'll be damned if you let a flowy garden party dress hide your tiny waist.
25 | Cadenza 3/4-Sleeve Renaissance Paisley Maxi Dress
That Stevie Nicks collaboration with Madame Chiang Kai-shek just didn't live up to our high expectations.
26 | Custo Barcelona Sweater Dress
Finally, a dress made to look like Las Vegas casino carpeting.
27 | Victoria Beckham Flounce Shirt
When you can't decide which of his button-downs to put on the morning after, just get drunk and sew them all together.
28 | Vivienne Tam Shirt Dress
Finally, a dress that combines the two best fashion trends of all time: children's drawings and incomprehensible scribbles.
29 | Zadig & Voltaire Sweater Dress
A perfect outfit for those chilly fall days cold enough for a sweater, but not so frigid that you don't want to wear something see-through.
30 | Givenchy Denim Overall Dress
If you've got a few grand to blow, why not spend it on this tiny denim overall dress, perfect for adult preschool, or a worst-dressed list. If you want your own kid to have better luck, fashion-wise, make sure to follow this royal guide to dressing your child.
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