Is bad taste inherited?

Is bad fashion sense passed from one generation to another? I do think this is a question I will puzzle over periodically here. Do we learn from our parents' mistakes, or

This young one, who grew up to be a humor writer, seems to think so.

"I am hardly a slave to fashion, and blame my mother for starting the bad taste early in life. I guess I should thank you. After all, when your mother dresses you in red plaid pants, do you have any choice but a career in humor?" (via)

I confess that I had a jacket very similar to this, in pale blue. It may even have had matching pants, and I certainly accessorized with a plaid tam I had. I cannot, in any sense, blame my parents for the combination other than to say--they did purchase those items.