Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Total Eclipse of the Last Thirty Years

So I'm standing in the long checkout line and notice that half everybody in line front of me is back in skinny dark blue jeans with prominent gold stitching and calf boots. All we were missing was cowl-neck sweaters and poodle perms and we could have been on the set of Remington Steele.

I did not go check the dude's department to see if parachute pants and muscle shirts with random kanji characters were staging a similar comeback.

41 comments:

ChrisJ said...

Yep, the 80's are back and I have to admit I'm digging it. They've been on their way back in fashion for a while tho.

Anonymous said...

Any have big/mall hair?

Gerry

Tam said...

Gerry,

No, that's what makes it look weird. Everybody's wearing '80s trousers and footwear and pairing it with '70s Brady Bunch hair.

Boat Guy said...

Long's the Steven Seagal faux-Samurai pony-tail thing doesn't reappear, I'd be OK for some of the music to come back...actually got some 80's stuff on my wish list these days...

Scott J said...

Good thing I never threw out my skinny ties :)

Probably the only item from my high school wardrobe I could still fit into.

og said...

Im waiting for the return of high waisted pants eith vpl's

rickn8or said...

Just as long as they keep the current low-cut tops for women.

I shall be very sad when those go away, for I know I will not live long enough to see the complete cycle again.

Anonymous said...

Big Hair, Big Hair, Big Hair!!!! Rah, Rah, Rah,
My wife watches "Murder She Wrote" and all I see is Big Hair and shoulder pads!!!!!

Steve

Cincinnatus said...

So this will be what ... the third time I'm in style?

Robert Fowler said...

Scott J said...
Good thing I never threw out my skinny ties :)

I still have the white crushed velvet tie I wore to my HS graduation in 1973. I just can't think of a occasion to wear it. ;)

Rob K said...

I think the world will from now see a crazy melange of fashions from the beginning of the video age. Anything that's ever been in movies or TV will be worn, and it will all be mixed up together.

Unknown said...

The sweaters are coming back as well - yay! I need to stock up on them, and the ankle boots, and attractive shoes, to get me through the next 30 years. Any chance we might see pleated, high-waist jeans sometime soon?

I don't miss the poodle perms and mall-bangs, but they're no worse than Brady-Bunch hair.

Tam said...

Suz,

"Any chance we might see pleated, high-waist jeans sometime soon?"

If I remember correctly, that's next, right? Followed by leggings and ballet flats, then mid-rise straight- or taper-leg stonewashed jeans, which is more or less where I got off the fashion bus, since they were good for carrying pistols.

montieth said...

Ballet flats are already de rigueur in the hipster/intown set here in Atlanta.

Also the random Kanji is still a staple of young men's clothes.

Anonymous said...

Pffft, you were in Broad Ripple, what did you expect to see?

Still you have not taught me why the women of Indianapolis, and apparently the world, are wearing English riding boots. Did everyone go and buy a horse or something???

Shootin' Buddy

Six said...

Next you'll say my Earth Shoes aren't still rockin' cool. As if.

Woodman said...

I found my black and read leather skinny tie last spring. Now I just need to wait for suspenders to come back, though this time I think I'll wear them both up.

Andy said...

Knit ties. Even saw one in The Avengers.

It's hip to be square.

Matt G said...

I was thinking about that when I saw someone who should have looked great in them, look terrible.

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

Knit ties! God, I had forgotten about that. Good thing I never threw mine away...

Grey Mobius said...

Og,
I kind of liked the the high waist pant - they really highlighted a woman's assets, unlike the low riders with a a nasty tramp stamp emblazoned muffin top.

DaddyBear said...

Damn.

I just hope my daughter waits to get in to fashion until the grunge look comes back. Skin tight jeans do not a happy father make.

Scott J said...

Forgot about knit ties too. Those go hand in hand with tweed sport coats with elbow pads.

Anonymous said...

The random kanjis have given way to the randomly logoed Ed Hardy type MMA shirts in some quarters.

I remember wearing suspenders down with my plaid shirt color matched, purchased at the height of fashion at Chess King ;|

Matt
St Paul

Matt G said...

Matt, you bring back some great memories. Thanks for the smile, man.

I made fun of my best friend for those stupid off-the-shoulder color-coordinated braces.

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

Forgot about knit ties too. Those go hand in hand with tweed sport coats with elbow pads.

I know, right? Had one of those, too. Wore it whenever I smoked my (tobacco) pipe.

ProudHillbilly said...

I thought maybe I was just suffering from dementia...

Geodkyt said...

Jeez. . . I still wear the skinny ties, leather elbow jacket, etc. . . tossed out my knit tie years ago, though.

Loved observing female fashions in the mid to late 80's. . . although the hair, not as much.

What else is coming. . . Hey, mullets! And Selleck 'staches!

NotClauswitz said...

I'm waiting for the ladies to start wearing macrame tops again...

JohninMd.(help!) said...

Soooo...... you had an... other pipe? Hmmm? B-)

Matt G said...

"And Selleck 'staches!"

Way ahead of you, Geodkyt

Windy Wilson said...

I'm not surprised at all the 1980 recycling. We've got Carter the sequel in the White House and the Islamist revolutionary guard are taking over countries in the near/mid East whose predecessor governments could be bribed into acting civilized.

We're recycling then clothes because we're channeling the idiots.

Woodman said...

Daddybear, skin tight jeans make this father slightly happy. It's awful hard to get a hand in there when they barely fit by themselves. It's also less likely she'll have time to put herself back together of I'm just out of the house for a couple minutes.

It's when he's coming over and she has on sweatpants that I put my eagle eyes out.

Anonymous said...


One of my most vivid junior high memories was playing lookout for a friend of mine who needed to take her pants down for a moment so she could pull her socks up...

Justthisguy said...

Don't blame me, Ma'am. I still dress like an engineer from 1968. I even have a coupla white short-sleeve shirts and a narrow black tie. Alas, I have lost my MSFC pocket protector.

staghounds said...

Ballet slippers were the thing in France 2 years ago, so they should hit Broad Ripple in 2014.

This year in Paris: dark clothing, pretty coats, "riding" boots that aren't, and skinny jeans.

Tam said...

"This year in Paris: dark clothing, pretty coats, "riding" boots that aren't, and skinny jeans."

Already here in Broad Ripple. (cf. Shootin' Buddy's bafflement upthread at the young lady at Zest wearing English riding boots and an orange Broncos sweatshirt that perfectly matched her 'tan'.)

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

Soooo...... you had an... other pipe? Hmmm? B-)

Never was much of a fan of weed, sorry :)

Woodman said...

Ohh, I can use some of my hip vernacular now.

"(cf. Shootin' Buddy's bafflement upthread at the young lady at Zest wearing English riding boots and an orange Broncos sweatshirt that perfectly matched her 'tan'.)"

You mean she was a Cheetoh?

Geodkyt said...

Woodman - preach it!

If she can only get them on while lying on her back, using pliers, kinda slows things down.

OTH, it didn't slow people like US down enough, did it? {chuckle}

Justthisguy said...

Geod, teh wimminz do look good in ridin' britches. Takes about 4-5 years off of their perceived ages.