i owned a pink flourescent sweatshirt in 1984. it was cool for 2 weeks after i purchased it and then exiled.

the 80's clothing revival movement has been in full swing for quite some time now, but i was totally SHOCKED at the latest items available over at american apparelwhen i was in new orleans i stopped into a clothing store merely because (and i am a little sheepish admitting this. BAAAAHHHH.) they had a d.j. set up in the front of the store spinning some really great tunes.

as i wandered through, the 80's throwback assortment was overwhelming. but because i was getting my groove on to 'rock your body dance remix' i decided i needed something to try on.

my little sales associate-- whom i am fairly certain was younger than some of the salad dressings in my fridge--kept bringing over outfits that she thought i should try on.

when being offered (quite enthusiastically btw) a particularly distasteful jessie-spano jean-shirt-tucked-in-boots-with-socks combo, i protested that i was too old.

she replied, "you look like a hip lady. you could totally pull this off."

being an ass-kisser of the first place kind, i didn't buy it. it felt good to mull it around for a moment while pretending, but i knew her game.

another middle-aged lady who was waiting next to me for her receipt leaned over and told me, "honey, if you were old enough to wear it the first time? then you are for damn sure too old to wear it the next time around."

n

unisex highlighter flex fleece zip hoody
i had this in pink along with the other dixie high school freshman class officers. we wore it for our yearbook photo. we bought them at christensen's and they were 'out' about 2 miliseconds later. (see above.)






printed spandex jersey harem pant
i had a pair similar to these that i wore to the jets/jermaine stewart/stacy q concert.  i was hired by a lady in our ward who worked for the radio station that was sponsoring the event.  they needed someone to be the butler/gopher/gal friday for the bands that were performing.  the jets had me drive them to deseret book so that they could stock up on various LDS books and music and art. the lead roadie for jermaine stewart took a particular liking to me and invited me into the trailer to see the singer and band.  it was about 5 pm and the lights were all off in the bus.  i was super stressed and was worried about bothering anyone and was super stressed of rejection.  daRel motioned for me to walk a bit further and pulled back the curtains on the sleeper.  jermaine was sleeping inside, sat up, yelled "F*CK YOU DAREL!!!!" and yanked the curtain shut.  i screamed, peed my pants a little and hauled ass out of the bus like my hair was on fire.  i was done with my duties at 8:00 once the concert started and i had a back stage pass hanging around my neck that got (surprisingly.  TRULY) a lot of envious stares from girls at my school who were the most popular in their grades.  jermaine stewart was a little dude about 5'4" who liked boys and the jets were super wholesome, so there were a lot of looks at the musicians who were playing in the bands.  they were big fish in a tiny pond and i had more than one offer to buy my pass (WTF?) but i declined.  i didn't want anyone to have buyer's remorse.






stretch bull denim slim slack with ankle zippers
ahhhh, the ankle zipper! they were present and accounted for on my first ever pair of guess jeans that i bought at the meadows mall in las vegas at the first of my sophomore year. i knew i had taken it to the next level when nicole carter (popular girl) commented on them as i walked across the street to seminary.


(btw: this is also available in a 'MINERAL WASH' which we lovingly referred to in the 80's as ACID WASH.)

velour romper

my mom bought me one of these bad boys against her better judgement for my 6th grade track day. and the track is STILL in therapy. it was from yellow front and it was made of burgandy terry cloth and it had a full shirt on top as lana would never have gone for spaghetti straps, and i always felt really "worldly" in it.

challenger eyeglasses

now, my glasses were a tad bit cooler than these, but not by far. they were red and covered about 3/4ths of my face. and the lenses were made out of heavy glass which weighed about 10 pounds. SUCH a great look. 

zebra print nylon tricot legging

the only thing i ever learned how to sew from lana. i made quite a few of these in different knit colors/patterns and would wear them with my units belts that were also fashioned by the sweat of my brow. it was pretty spectacular and i would always take shortcuts and never finish the hemming because i would tuck the raw edge into the pants and then throw a belt over both.

shiny legging
 after seeing olivia newton-john in her black leather leggings in "grease", i was obsessed with people who looked good in these.  michelle pfeifer wore them in scarface and i knew she looked as close to perfection as humanly possible.