Body Glove, Tropicana Life And 16 Other Fashion Brands We Used To Think Were Cool

Looking back, it was like reopening a time capsule filled with cringy and embarrassing moments all encapsulated into our personal sense of style.

But as embarrassing as some of those old pictures may be, we should think of the clothes we wore as a rite of passage to dressing better (hopefully). If nothing else, it made for some great memories!

Best-selling items: Graphic tees, shorts, and accessories.

If you had something from Body Glove, you were a cool kid. As ridiculous as they looked, the graphic tees were highly sought after. Let's not even get started with the crazy pencil cases.

Best-selling items: Tees, bags, and pants.

Like Body Glove, Tropicana Life was considered as one of the pioneers of graphic tees in Malaysia. All the boys wanted to pair their cargo pants and knee-length jean shorts with them. Sadly, the shops closed down one by one after minimalism took over the fashion world.

Best-selling items: Tees and bags.

This brand was the definition of badassery. Their tees featured slogans like: “If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space!” If it wasn’t related to the fear of death, their slogans often dealt with lack of laziness and contempt for social norms and the law. #rebel

Best-selling items: Tees, sweaters, and pants.

If you weren't wearing BUM back in the day, you were probably... bumming around. When the trend of casually dressing down was in, these guys were the experts.

They still make clothing to this day, but it’s an entirely different look that even real bums would probably think twice about wearing.

Best-selling items: Purses, pencil cases, and accessories.

Miss Whatever taught girls what it meant to be cool and rebellious. Their products were often plastered with an excessive amount of graffiti-like prints, so you can show the world that you were a true rebel inside and out.

Ok, maybe it was popular just because it looked pretty much like a brand that Avril Lavigne would buy from.

Best-selling items: Surf shorts, tees, and accessories.

Because of Australian surfers dominating the sport in the '90s and early 2000s, Billabong exploded out of the Land from Down Under. Its popularity rose alongside surfing's dominance of pop culture, and we're pretty sure many of us bought a T-shirt or surf shorts because of the 'bong' in the name

Best-selling items: Tees, backpacks, and swimwear.

These kinds of Roxy branded tees were everywhere. The brand was also famous for its swimwear and accessories. Roxy is still around but it has certainly lost its appeal over the years.

Best-selling items: Tees, shirts, shorts, and pants.

Remember the days when our mums used to bring us to departmental stores to shop for apparel from Cheetah? Certainly glad those days are over.

Best-selling items: Tees and shirts.

You had to be really 'edgy' to wear anything from this brand. Seriously, how many times have your parents told you off because you wanted to buy a tee that said something along the lines of "too busy to fcuk"?

Best-selling items: Trucker hats and tees.

Von Dutch hats started off with cool early adopters like Pharrell Williams sporting this trend, and then just like a wildfire spreading. It wasn't long after that everyone started realising how ridiculous the hats looked and ditched them for snapbacks and five-panel caps.

Best-selling items: Hats, sneakers, tees, and jerseys.

Today the top three athletic brands consist of Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour. That was not the case back then. Fila was without a doubt one of the top three athletic clothing brands. Famous for their bucket hats, overalls (yes, overalls were popular) and windbreaker jackets.

But for whatever reason, Fila fell off and is now considered a retro brand available at your local thrift store.

Best-selling items: Tees, caps, and wallets.

Founded in 1990, the brand had a very different approach to branding - they incorporated messages of extra-terrestrial lifeforms and paranoia into their products. But it failed miserably when other skate brands like Vans and DC came into the market.

Well, at least the alien head logo was cool.

Best-selling items: Tees, jackets, pants, and hats.

A Bathing Ape (BAPE) was insanely popular back in the streetwear and hip-hop scene, with many stars repping their products. But then, as it always happens, the trend got old and people got tired of the loud bright colours, camo prints, and the glossy sneakers.

While the brand still has a loyal following in many parts of Asia but it certainly isn't as cool as it used to be.

Best-selling items: Wallets, boots, and shorts.

Before Timberland, there was Camel Active. Brought into Malaysia in 1992, US-brand Camel Active provided us with good quality boots and gear. But it wasn't stylish enough so the brand gradually faded away.

Best-selling items: Tees and accessories.

Paul Frank was cool for a while because of Julius The Monkey (the logo of the brand). Then people realised how silly it was to wear a t-shirt with a monkey's face all the time.

Best-selling items: Tees, jackets, sweatpants, and accessories.

Not sure if wearing a pair of sweats with the word 'juicy' written on the rear end was a wise choice for a 15-year-old girl...

Best-selling item: Jeans.

While there are still Voir stores all over Malaysia, the brand is slowly losing steam due to the fact that it hasn't been keeping up with trends. Many are now opting to buy jeans from Uniqlo or H&M.

Best-selling items: Tees, jerseys and sneakers.

Much like Fila, Italian sports brand Kappa enjoyed the limelight in the sports fashion world for a few years before losing out to Nike and adidas.