Whether it's mullets, kipper ties, pussycat bows or shoulder pads, we have all been guilty of the occasional fashion faux pas. A new book from Stroud-based Sutton Publishing - Worst Fashions by Catherine Horwood - reveals the true extent of our sordid sartorial shame. Alli Pyrah delves into the Lycra, kaftans and dungarees. Health warning: This feature is not for the feint hearted.

THE incredible thing about fashion is its unfaltering ability to rob us of our common sense just long enough to swipe our pay cheques.

In this somewhat sadistic trip down memory lane, dress historian Catherine Horwood recalls the most terrible of trends, naming and shaming the worst offenders as she goes.

Alongside pictures that the likes of Minnie Driver and the Duchess of York would rather forget, the image of a young Tony Blair sporting a misjudged mullet makes this book worth the money.

No fold is left unturned as we venture through the lurid Lurex, putrid paisley and cringe-worthy Crimplene that were once all the rage.

It's a nostalgic if slightly masochistic trip down memory lane for anyone who can recall the time when owning a pair of palazzo pants was a matter of social life or death.

Meanwhile, those too young to remember Hypercolour T-shirts can revel in their mean-spirited mirth as the oldies try to explain why they shelled out for a shell suit.

But their gleefulness may be short-lived.

Some of the featured monstrosities are all the rage this season, which should make those trendy young things think twice before they splash out on must-have drainpipe jeans and puffball skirts.

But no.

Next year, they will be wondering why they suffered the indignity of boho, as their pirate boots get relegated to the darkest corner of the wardrobe.

Nevertheless, us mere mortals can forget our less discriminating choices - unlike the cheerfully clueless models in this book, whose wet-look macs and synthetic wigs are forever condemned to the pages of history.

And after a quick flick through this catalogue of catastrophe, you'll probably decide that even your most misguided moments were in relatively good taste.