80s Flashback
Warning: Another picture-heavy post here, and no knitting content again.
Kate is having a contest - Look Back and Cringe. We're supposed to post why we don't want the 80s fashion to come back. Here's the problem, though. I love the 80s! I graduated from high school in '86, so the '80s are the "glory days" for me - I was in junior high in '80 and I graduated from college in December of '89. I was young and full of promise. This summer was my 20 year reunion and one of my best friends from high school also passed away this summer, so I've been looking at these old pictures lately, so I'll play along - here are a few of my favorite outfits from the '80s.
This is from '84. A crazy bold graphic - this was actually a suit. Since it's black and white striped, I sort of look like a prisoner, but I loved it. I sometimes wore the hat with it too. I loved hats. It's kind of hard to tell in this picture, but this is a black hat with a little netted veil-type thing on it.
I'm in the bleachers at school, so I think it's fall football season - I'm not sure if it's '84 or '85. Look at that big hair! I used to dry it upside down, then set it on hot rollers. I loved the shaker-knit sweaters and this was my favorite. I got it at Limited, my favorite store those days. I usually wore them over a button-down shirt, as you see here. I'd like to mock and ridicule those big, thick eyebrows, but I'm so bad at getting my brows waxed regularly, that I still have big thick eyebrows half the time, even though I prefer the more shaped brows favored these days.
This is summer of '85. I went to Debate Camp in Wisconsin and this is my boyfriend from there, Bobby. This is one of my favorite outfits. The big shirt with two belts of different colors looped around it loosely. The majority of pictures of me from the '80s, I'm wearing pearls. If I remember correctly, that white skirt actually has shoulder straps - kind of like bib overalls, but without the bibs. I'm obviously wearing that under the big red shirt in this look, though.
Here's another one of me and Bobby. I don't know if you can tell, but I'm wearing blue jeans that have a pinstripe in them. They are very high-waisted and pleated. Another look I'm not planning on revisiting. I do like my hair like this, though, and it was easy. No blow-drying and no curling. I just had a perm and I'd part it on the side and put some gel in. My hair is actually fairly similar now. As soon as perms came back in, my hairdresser let me know, as she had a hard time getting me to stop perming my hair. When you've got a big round face like I do, big hair is good. In these two pictures you can also see the uniform that Bobby wore - OP (Ocean Pacific) shorts and a polo shirt. I remember one time I was teasing him that he bought them in 6-packs because he wore that combo pretty much every day.
This was Christmas of '85. I had to post this one because of the typewriter. I was SO excited to have a little electric portable typewriter instead of the gigantic selectric that was more common those days. I NEVER would have imagined this whole blogosphere thing. You can see a couple of my fashion staples in this one too. I'm wearing another shaker-knit sweater. This time over a high-necked blouse, another favorite. You can see the pearl earrings, and I'm also wearing a pearl necklace. And of course, those gigantic red glasses. Why in the heck did I like those huge glasses? That's one fashion I'm glad is out.
Another one around Christmas of '85. I worked at an ice cream store and this was our holiday party. One of my best friends, Lori, is wearing quite the outfit, too. I didn't wear turtlenecks, but I was often wearing those stirrup pants and big tunic sweaters. This time I'm sporting the shaker sweater with another button down and a tie - I loved the menswear look. Big hair and big glasses, as usual. It was a party, so I was wearing an a-line skirt.
This is the next Christmas, the Christmas of '86. By that time I was in college and was wearing more conservative clothes. I was active in the College Republicans (yes, I was a Republican for a little while) and dressed like my idea of a future lawyer/Republican housewife, my alternative plans for the future. I held on to the pearls, as you can see. This is a more fitted red shirt, with a black skirt and a white sweater with black trim and gold buttons. I know I wore powder, but my face is so shiny! That's my dad with me.
This is another day during the same Christmas-time. This was another outfit I just absolutely loved. It's a Liz Claiborne sweater that is an angora-blend and a white angora-blend skirt. I loved the sweater dresses and skirts. This sweater had HUGE shoulder pads, which I loved. I have pretty big hips and they're dwarfed by my big shoulder pads. That's my brother with me. He's wearing MY David Bowie t-shirt and I swear that's the last time I ever saw it. He says he gave it back. I also recall getting gum on that sweater one time when I was drunk and semi-passed out and spilling coffee on that skirt another time I was drunk. Yeah, I was in college.
Kate is having a contest - Look Back and Cringe. We're supposed to post why we don't want the 80s fashion to come back. Here's the problem, though. I love the 80s! I graduated from high school in '86, so the '80s are the "glory days" for me - I was in junior high in '80 and I graduated from college in December of '89. I was young and full of promise. This summer was my 20 year reunion and one of my best friends from high school also passed away this summer, so I've been looking at these old pictures lately, so I'll play along - here are a few of my favorite outfits from the '80s.
This is from '84. A crazy bold graphic - this was actually a suit. Since it's black and white striped, I sort of look like a prisoner, but I loved it. I sometimes wore the hat with it too. I loved hats. It's kind of hard to tell in this picture, but this is a black hat with a little netted veil-type thing on it.
I'm in the bleachers at school, so I think it's fall football season - I'm not sure if it's '84 or '85. Look at that big hair! I used to dry it upside down, then set it on hot rollers. I loved the shaker-knit sweaters and this was my favorite. I got it at Limited, my favorite store those days. I usually wore them over a button-down shirt, as you see here. I'd like to mock and ridicule those big, thick eyebrows, but I'm so bad at getting my brows waxed regularly, that I still have big thick eyebrows half the time, even though I prefer the more shaped brows favored these days.
This is summer of '85. I went to Debate Camp in Wisconsin and this is my boyfriend from there, Bobby. This is one of my favorite outfits. The big shirt with two belts of different colors looped around it loosely. The majority of pictures of me from the '80s, I'm wearing pearls. If I remember correctly, that white skirt actually has shoulder straps - kind of like bib overalls, but without the bibs. I'm obviously wearing that under the big red shirt in this look, though.
Here's another one of me and Bobby. I don't know if you can tell, but I'm wearing blue jeans that have a pinstripe in them. They are very high-waisted and pleated. Another look I'm not planning on revisiting. I do like my hair like this, though, and it was easy. No blow-drying and no curling. I just had a perm and I'd part it on the side and put some gel in. My hair is actually fairly similar now. As soon as perms came back in, my hairdresser let me know, as she had a hard time getting me to stop perming my hair. When you've got a big round face like I do, big hair is good. In these two pictures you can also see the uniform that Bobby wore - OP (Ocean Pacific) shorts and a polo shirt. I remember one time I was teasing him that he bought them in 6-packs because he wore that combo pretty much every day.
This was Christmas of '85. I had to post this one because of the typewriter. I was SO excited to have a little electric portable typewriter instead of the gigantic selectric that was more common those days. I NEVER would have imagined this whole blogosphere thing. You can see a couple of my fashion staples in this one too. I'm wearing another shaker-knit sweater. This time over a high-necked blouse, another favorite. You can see the pearl earrings, and I'm also wearing a pearl necklace. And of course, those gigantic red glasses. Why in the heck did I like those huge glasses? That's one fashion I'm glad is out.
Another one around Christmas of '85. I worked at an ice cream store and this was our holiday party. One of my best friends, Lori, is wearing quite the outfit, too. I didn't wear turtlenecks, but I was often wearing those stirrup pants and big tunic sweaters. This time I'm sporting the shaker sweater with another button down and a tie - I loved the menswear look. Big hair and big glasses, as usual. It was a party, so I was wearing an a-line skirt.
This is the next Christmas, the Christmas of '86. By that time I was in college and was wearing more conservative clothes. I was active in the College Republicans (yes, I was a Republican for a little while) and dressed like my idea of a future lawyer/Republican housewife, my alternative plans for the future. I held on to the pearls, as you can see. This is a more fitted red shirt, with a black skirt and a white sweater with black trim and gold buttons. I know I wore powder, but my face is so shiny! That's my dad with me.
This is another day during the same Christmas-time. This was another outfit I just absolutely loved. It's a Liz Claiborne sweater that is an angora-blend and a white angora-blend skirt. I loved the sweater dresses and skirts. This sweater had HUGE shoulder pads, which I loved. I have pretty big hips and they're dwarfed by my big shoulder pads. That's my brother with me. He's wearing MY David Bowie t-shirt and I swear that's the last time I ever saw it. He says he gave it back. I also recall getting gum on that sweater one time when I was drunk and semi-passed out and spilling coffee on that skirt another time I was drunk. Yeah, I was in college.
rdladd@arnan.com
