1930s: SHOULDER PADS
The gangster era gave the world some of the greatest fashion ever conceived, but there was also plenty of stuff that didn’t make it into the James Cagney movies — and for good reason. Although shoulder pads are often considered a fashion disaster of the 1980s, designer Elsa Schiaparelli introduced them in the 1930s. Thanks, Elsa, there’s nothing cuter than right angles from neck to elbow.