With the appearance of lofty wings that would have been the envy of Icarus, the enormous collars of the polyester shirts in the 70s were the stuff that legends are made of. From Saturday Night Fever’s Tony Manero to everyone’s favorite architect, Mike Brady, nothing said style like a polyester collar that spanned from shoulder to shoulder.

Of course, style is not always synonymous with comfort, a fact made painfully clear by the popularity of the polyester shirt. And while one might think that the familiar wide-open display of bare chest was merely a matter of style – when it came to polyester, it was more a way to keep the wearer from suffocating from their attire. (Who knew that plastic didn’t breathe well?)

And yet, plenty of adults sacrificed comfort for the disco-esque duds, but at least they had a choice in the matter. No so for the herds of unlucky tykes that were forced to wear polyester, simply because moms were enamored with any fabric that didn’t need to be ironed, was practically impervious to staining, and could survive just about any playtime activities. Surely every kid longed for the day when they would finally be allowed to make their own fashion choices and discard the uncomfortable fabric forever.

And yet, if you wanted to be a hit with the ladies, you had to have an impeccable sense of style. And more than a few former tykes must have cursed the fashion gods as they would be forced to don even more polyester in their adult life to effectively mingle with the opposite sex. Sometimes life just isn’t fair.