15 Bizarre Fashion Trends You Won't Believe Once Existed

5. Neck Rings

Reign: Always (By Padaung Women) This entry isn't about the torc that the Celts wore back in the 18th and 19th century, which were actually quite gorgeous and not bizarre at all. No, this is about the neck rings worn by Padaung women that's been designed to stretch their necks from the tender age of two, using brass rings. They believe that the longer one's neck is, the more beautiful you are. Some only start their neck-stretching at the age of 12, when they start competing for male attention, but then the process is fast and a lot more painful. One Padaung woman even went on Ripley's Believe It Or Not and agreed to remove her rings for the show and the results were rather disturbing. Her neck was extremely long and thin, like the legs of a baby calf. The rings needed to be put back as soon as they were off, because her neck muscles were so weak that it was likely her neck would snap and break if the rings were left off for too long.