What did you wear in the 80's? That was a question I had to really think about this past weekend when Lydia (& Lanie by default) were invited to an 80's Dance Birthday Party. Was there anything special about it? I looked online at some costumes to jog my memory and the big hair, bright colors, side pony-tails, net gloves, acid washed denim, jelly bracelets and banana clips all came back to me. While at the party, I had a great time talking to other mom's who lived through this nostalgic era. Instead of telling one of the mom's my age (we were trying to see who was older) I told her what grade I was in when the Challenger blew up. Sadly, I was older. But it's funny how much our memories were bonded with the TV shows we were watching (Family Ties), the stickers we were collecting (Garbage Pail Kids), the songs we were listening to (Jack and Diane), the games we were playing (Ms Pacman) and the books we were reading (Sweet Valley High). And since we are talking about a decade, the fashions and trends changed from 1980 when I was a first grader and dressed in left-over 70's fashions to 1985 when in 5th grade, I finally cut those long, long braids and got the bangs that I would soon learn how to spike while wearing bright jams, jelly shoes and a Swatch Watch, to 1989 when I was a high schooler with crimped hair, Aqua Net bangs and rolled-up Guess Jeans and Esprit shirts.
So with an awkward decade to work with, I struggled how to dress my little girls for the part. They didn't have a clue as to what the 80's were and weren't interested in looking at old photo albums. I tried to show them Madonna and Debbie Gibson but we couldn't get past the side ponytail. So, that's what we copied. And a trip to Target gave us some bright off the shoulder shirts (which slid right back onto their shoulders so you can't tell from the pic), some leg warmers, long knee-high socks and a some dangly bracelets. To be honest, the fashion wasn't too different from their usual attire. But the side ponytail -- that was the clincher. I even gave them some blue hair paint to make the tail more wild.
After this walk down memory lane, and some online perusing to find more 80's memorabilia, I am now wondering what my own kids will be talking about at my age. Will they sit with their friends and reminisce about the 2010's when they played Angry Birds or how they played that One Direction song All Of the Time, or how they loved the Disney Channel. Will the fashions today be as ridiculous as ours seem to me now?
I have this feeling that they won't. Because right now when I look around me (and I'm in Panera with the real world today), I see normal. I don't see rebellious hair or colors or odd fashions. I realize I'm not walking with the metropolitan people of Houston but merely judging the few late-lunchers in suburbia Texas, but the everyday wear is merely useful, comfortable, thrown together. And for me, sitting in a cold restaurant, useful is good.
But I long for a time, like my mom's, when their fashion of poodle skirts, neck scarves, bouffant hair, and hushpuppies really did look like something. There was a lot of effort put into that get-up. But at least it was interesting. When I look at a picture from the 50's and 60's, I hear Earth Angel. When I see someone in the 20's, I can hear Sweet Georgia Brown. When I see those long-haired kids from the 70's, I hear the Beatles, or for the other half of my family, when I see those feathered locks hidden under a cowboy hat, I hear Barbara Mandrell and George Jones singing I was country when Country wasn't cool. And when I see a picture of my friends in the 80's, Cindy Lauper is singing Girls Just Want to Have Fun.
I just wonder, when you look at a picture of my kids in 2013, will you know the decade? Will it be distinct? Will they have their "thing"? Will they be proud of their contribution?
Maybe so. Maybe it takes stepping away from it for a while. Maybe the love of the decade happens when some director nostalgic for the 2010's makes a great time period movie. I don't know.
Or Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the 2010's have great pizazz that I'm just not seeing because I don't watch Project Runway, and because I'm sitting in a Panera in front of my computer instead of out with the trend-setting world. Maybe. Maybe not? What do you think? Really, what do you think? I am blind to trends and fashion. I am very dull. So if you are reading this, give me your opinion.
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