First? Am I first? Now I'll go read the post.

Oh, my! Thanks for bringing up the repressed memories of big hair, acid washed jeans (tight-rolled, no less), and HUGE shirts. ROFL I am so not going to go dig out those pictures...

Where is everybody? I guess on their way home from family Christmases. NOT ME! Yes, I loved the 80's. My sad,sad hair looked awfully like a tightly permed mullet. (shudder)

Oh. My. Those were the days, weren't they? Anyone else remember spraying your hair with Aqua-Net, and THEN putting the curling iron to it? It's a miracle we children of the '80s have any hair left at all. And how about paperbag waists on your Bugle Boy jeans??

I'll have to go into great deatil over my hair-curling ritual if I manage to dig up enough hair pics for a column on that. But suffice it to say -- I was also one of the hairspray before *and* after *and* during the hot curling iron!! It's a miracle I have any hair left!!

There was a time when I did my best to mix the style of Punky Brewster and "Lucky Star" era Madonna. And I loved my lime green accessories too!

*shivering as I recall the sizzle of hairspray and curling iron*

Oh! yes, RAVE, Madonna, side zip acid wash Guess? jeans, aqua-net, Six from Blossom (don't forget Joey... WHOOOOA!), shoulder pads in T-shirts, Bedazzeled, and please don't forget... biker shorts with everything, spandex- later used as a head band like Madonna in the like a virgin video, Downtown Julie Brown, Bop, Teen Beat, and the Coreys.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane... V.

I just LOVE Candi's hair - would you believe there are some females around my little area in North Central MA who are CURRENTLY wearing their hair that way? Yep, honest! No wonder the "city" next door to my little town has a name that rhymes with as*hole.

I'm glad you're in better spirits today, Laurie. Champagne's always good for the soul - especially when you get to drink the whole bottle without sharing!

hugs and hangover remedies! :)

oh my god... these are priceless...

Oh.My.Gawwwwwd! Those hairs! And T-Shirts with shoulder pads???? I'm an '80s child, and a '90s teenager. So, I kind of missed out on the eighties. The only thing I can remember now is a vague picture of me and my older brother playing together in matching outfit: grey t-shirt with Donald Duck printed on it, acid wash jeans, and Reebok Air-Pump! *chuckles*

Oh my god, I used to dress like that in junior high. The only difference is that my hair used to stick out at right angles to my head. Scary!

Oh, crap, this brings back painful memories. I had a Molly Ringwald inspired perm in high school, and it was not a good thing (my mom's stylist, who did the perm, called it a "Molly Ringworm" perm).

There are some pictures from the mid 80s that are just no fun at all for me to look back at.

Sigh.

I was born in 80 so my big hair and tacky clothes didn't start until the 90's. I thought I was the shit with my red high top converse, New Kids on the Block t-shirt, acid washed jeans, and a black leather page boy hat...oh, might I add that I had red glasses like Sally Jesse Raphael! Those were some frightening days!

"I've changed my hairstyle so many times now, I don't know what I look like." -- David Byrne

So my X and I were packing out lives away to move onto our 32' sailboat. ALL pics had to go. Even if there'd been room, the salt and water would destroy them. Out falls my freshman year school pic, one I hadn't destroyed. "OH, can I keep this?" Coos my xMIL...god, talk about MULLETT-HEAD-MARY...or so it looked. My bangs had a 4" height restriction imposed by my Catholic school...oh the humanity...

I've also learned from my fashion misfortunes from the 80s and currently support the whole black is my wardrobe thing. I could never get my hair big, so I adopted Annie Lennox hair. Short and easy to style with colored hair gel! It was absolutely awful when I grew it out. I had a Brillo pad head for months...

Thanks for the flashback...

You know what's really scary? They're back - I posted a picture of my daughter in one of her Christmas outfits on my blog, and she looks like she stepped right out of the 80's. I was having flashbacks.

and if your shoulder pads got free and drifted you'd like you had an extra boob.... fond memories of the '80's.

OMG- Hairspray before during and after hot curling irons, THEN teasing it with a comb so it would be even bigger! Or sleeping with your hair in a ponytail on top of towards the front of your head, with a BIG curler holding it under. It's no wonder I never slept! (or that may have been sneaking out that caused that... hrmmmm)

I think the high school year book pic of me looks possesed - thankyouverymuch eyeliner and eye shadow and mascara!

And does anyone remember BLEACHING their Champion sweatshirts (HAD to be Champion!!) with a spray bottle to get funky patterns and stuff? My most favorite one finally left me last year... the poor thing gave me many many goo dyears, but the holes got too big and the threads holding it together were just too tired...)

Thank you for the memories! Feel free to schlep out to the right coast for New Years - bring the cats and your photos -we can toast oursleves for living thru the 80's fashions!

You are so cute that I can't stand it! I still have every single issue of Sassy, until they went all West Coast and sold out and turned to a crap mag, which happened while I was in college, I remember to my great sorrow. And now there is only the disappointing Jane, made by women that were good in the Sassy days, but never grew out of that and are stuck in their own personal high school. Which I may be, but I don't want to read about other people's issues...

you must have seen the thanksgiving episode of Will and Grace where they flash back to the college years, right? It was like reliving it all over again for me: off the shoulder sweatshirts, o-ring bracelets, parachute pants with multiple zippers (if lucky in a contrasting color) and those polo shirts with the upturned collar. Personally I was particularly fond of the colored high top reeboks, my favorite ones were teal green, and slouch socks....shudder. I tried so hard to get bigger hair but like you I have stick straight, fine hair. I guess I should be thankful now!

Yep. I loves me a challenge. Top that 80's insanity you say? I gave it a try. . . . . .

http://www.onecraftybitch.com/blog/?p=142 . . . . .

I can't wait to see your New Year's photo spread on hair! Glad your trip through memory land helped give you a bit of a boost... love your photos!!!

I actually straddled the 70's and 80's so I have the pics of me in wide bell bottoms, platform shores, polyester blouses, macrame belts and purses and peasant dresses from the late 70's. Then there are the post-Flashdance 80's pics in spandex, off the shoulder tops, shoulder pads, leg warmers, Members Only jacksts and shiny pleather skirts. For hair there were the spiral perms, the crimping iron and the Molly Ringwald carrot red hair.

I killed perms the way you kill watches. I would get "poodle" perms in my stick-straight hair every six months, they'd leave the solution on for almost an hour, then "freeze" it with apple pectin. I'd wash, mousse, curling iron on wet hair, blow dry upside down, more curling iron, brush in the hair holding it straight up, spray with hairspray, keep holding hair straight up while drying the hairspray with the blow dryer... and it would still be flat by lunchtime. Oh, how I love the fact that stick-straight hair is in now... but now I'm 40 and it isn't so critical to have cool hair. But in 1982, when I was a sophomore...

And, Laurie, you are never alone. You may be physically alone, but you know there are easily 100 of us blogstalkers who would drop everything and fly across the country to spend some time cheering you up. Bad hair and all.

Thanks for bringing back the memories Crazy Aunt Purl. Somewhere there is a photo of me wearing a flourescent yellow t-shirt with shoulder-pads, a wide white belt with studs in it, an acid-wash denim skirt, a white lace scarf a la Madonna Borderline days holding back my hair & large dangling white plastic spring earings. And you can tell by my expression that I thought I was so hot.

I was 14. That's my excuse.

I had electric pink suede ankle boots and a matching electric pink jumper. Soooo cool. And I had the straight-as-a-die hair - nothing I could do about it, and Mum wouldn't buy me a curling iron!! The tragedy....

I. Freakin. Love. This.

LOLOLOLOL, Laurie. OMG, you are so funny.

I was cursed with similar hair. Your pictures could have been my pictures. Oy.

I'm glad - so glad - that you made lemonade.

Uhm, I have really, really curly hair and my guess is that I spent just as much time trying to make it big as y'all. Cause I had to straighten it first and then RE-ROLL it. Insane. And I used to spray my hair WHILE it was on the curling iron!

Sigh. This whole thing cracks me up - I can survive anything because I survived the 80s. Nice job, Laurie!

Yup, you were definately one of the girls that I envied. Absolutely cute and dreadfully in style. I was the scrawny chick with last years fashions and the poodle perm. Unless you count the time that I decided to forgo the perm and I swear the lady that cut my hair thought I was a boy. Can we say mullet?? My saving grace is that we are not a photo taking family. There is very photographic evidence of my sins. I wish like hell I was as skinny as I was back then even though at the time I thought I was huge. Go figure.

Three words that rocked my world. Firday. Night. Videos. Awesome! Back in the day we didn't know anyone with cable or MTV or satellite and every week either an entire Toll House pan cookie or a Huge Ass bowl of popcorn was made and consumed during this All Important Show. I had a purple blazer (oh the pain!) that I wore with my perfectly asymetrical (think Flock of Seagulls--that's okay, you may now laugh) haircut. We were The Coolest were we not? 80s girls still totally rock! :)

*Aria rejoices at the fact that she is not such a youngun as to be banished to a corner, because SHE DOES REMEMBER BLOSSOM!!!*

My DAUGHTER (born in '83)remembers watching Blossom. I was already in Mom Mode. Heavy Sigh. Pour some wine for Old Granny, child. However, I do remember that even those of us in Young Mom Mode had the curled bangs, big hair and acid washed stuff. I'm already horrified that the 70s came back - with the exception of Diane von Furstenburg wrap dresses, which were flattering on many body types and which I secretly wish would come back in volume, the rest doesn't deserve nostalgia and can cause retina damage if you look directly at it. There's a reason discos were so dark.

All the crazy shit you were wearing while you were 13? I was wearing while GOING ON 20!! I have to go dig up those pix now!!

Well despite the questionable fashion choices (I'm somewhere in age after 80's fashion but remembering watching Blossom every week) you are still gorgeous! Ooh, hair sounds fun :)

we should spend new years reenacting the 80s.

My hair was exactly the same way. Hairspray, put on curling iron, spray while on curling iron, and spray after using the curling iron. Just ended up with really gross flat straight hair.

Do you all remember that really every girl in the 80's had the SAME haircut. The length might be different but it was the same. I was there too, but I was wearing my add a bead and Izod sweater with my boat shoes and argyle socks. I have to tell you I hate the style the young girls wear now at least we were covered and looked like we brushed our hair. ...hmm I sound old and cranky!

Woo hoo.. big hair, shoulder pads, flower power...I'm thinking both the 70's AND the 80's were both DISTURBING in terms of fashion sense. But what Fodder they provide for future conversations. And those sexy photos... Meow. It is all good... cuz we'll be entertaining endless generations to come.

Oh man! I had acid wash jeans that had the super skinny tapered legs with zippers above the ankle, and get this, bows above the zippers. I had neon socks and wore several pairs at a time. I also tightrolled and wore my socks over my jeans. Then there was this other thing were we rolled our socks down and it looked like an inner tube around our ankles.

I tried to have big bangs but my hair is stick straight and wouldn't cooperate.

I should note that I was born in 1980 and things got even more interesting in the '90s.

Thanks for the memories. I'm going to try to forget now :)

Oh man! I had acid wash jeans that had the super skinny tapered legs with zippers above the ankle, and get this, bows above the zippers. I had neon socks and wore several pairs at a time. I also tightrolled and wore my socks over my jeans. Then there was this other thing were we rolled our socks down and it looked like an inner tube around our ankles.

I tried to have big bangs but my hair is stick straight and wouldn't cooperate.

I should note that I was born in 1980 and things got even more interesting in the '90s.

Thanks for the memories. I'm going to try to forget now :)

Oops! Sorry about the double post... something wonky happened and I ended up at a completely new website when I hit enter. Duh!

thanks for the painful memories :)- I too was the shortest with the smallest hair... I'll just go cry now.

But you were cute and perky and not a matron mis-fit.. You know, TEXAS-sized big hair... It was the chicana girls from the valley who knew how to do tall hair... not that part that hung down, but JUST^ THE BANGS. Always reminded me of the opening wave on Hawaii 5-O. I'm mostly too old for Blossom or P. Brewster. Save some sherry for me, hon... you can have the beer. Glad to read you feeling strong and proud. Attagirl.

Okay - I had an accident with my hair when I was about twelve. I was making frosting with an electric mixer, and I hadn't pulled my hair back, though my mother always told me to. I leaned forward, and somehow my hair got into the beaters. I yanked back and the mixer plug pulled out of the outlet, but the damage was done - a huge chunk of my waist-length hair was tangled in the beaters. Now, the logical thing to do would have been to cut all my hair off to that length, but I was twelve and stubborn, so instead I had my mother cut out the tangled part and left the rest as it was, leaving me with short hair in the front and long in the back. It was okay, because at the tim everyone used those little barrettes that had ribbons woven through them to hold back the front of their hair anyway. So it didn't show TOO much.

Um, until I decided to get a perm.

My hair is thick and very heavy and fairly straight, so when I permed it, the weight of the hair just pulled the curl right out. Except, of course, for the front. Not only was it shorter, but my mother was not an expereinced home-permer, so she did the front first and the solution stayed in that part a LOT longer than in the back. So my hair, for a very long time, was enormously frizzy and wide in a strip down the front, and straight as a line all behind.

I looked goooood....

Laurie! Fear not, sister! I DRESSED LIKE THAT. Every outfit you posted a photo of here looked very, very familiar to me. I bet I can match you photo-for-photo, except that I was (and remain, except for a few odd straggly greys which I refuse to cover up because I earned them) a brunette. My high-top sneakers were turquoise; I shan't call them Converses, because they were an off-brand, I confess. And my God, the acid-washed denim. *siiigh* This was fun! :)

One word - perm
My first perm was a spiral perm and it took SIX hours to wind my hair on and do the perm. By the time I had walked out of the shop to the train, I had only a few vague kinks.
The greek girls at uni - now they had BIIIIIG hair!
Why do we always want what we can't have?

How about perm-for-a-day, the introduction of Sun-In, and those little roller things that looked like big pastel worms. All the while using lots and lots (and lots) of Extra Super Hold Aqua Net. Leggings and oversized blouses with big-assed belts down around your hips and fringed LA Gear sneaks or fringed cowboy boots...color coordinated, of course. I could go on and on. Makes me smile to think back to the "good old days". Aw crap, who am I kidding, it makes me feel so old...

Oh. My. God. Sassy magazine. My friends and I took more inspiration than healthy from that thing. I grew up in a tiny town in Kansas and had much the same TV situation (no cable available), and we would tape videos off network TV. I thought Rick Astley was so hot!!! He wore a vest in one of his videos! The music from that time brings on potent memories. Let's see, there was WHAM! (I had a remix EP of "I'm Your Man") Huey Lewis & the News, Soft Cell ("Tainted Love"!), the Footloose soundtrack, Ah-ha ("Take On Me"), Robert Palmer, Wang Chung...someone stop me! I had them all on tape, of course. Then there were the movies. My favorite to this day is still "Dream A Little Dream". I know, it didn't star Molly Rinwald, but I had such a crush on Corey Feldman. I still secretly think he's cute. Oh, the shame. Okay, and then there's "The Breakfast Club". They just don't make movies like that any more! And Blossom...I hadn't thought of that show for yeeeears! Thanks for the bittersweet trip down memory lane. It kind of hurts to remember, but also makes me smile.

Man, I've enjoyed this column!!! Ya'll are so YOUNG!!! (Visualize paisley shirts, too long hip hugger jeans, army jackets and long straight hair. Like I had a choice about straight!)

Anyone ever burn their forehead with a curling iron while curling their bangs under and end up with a little scabby line? I did. On picture day. In seventh grade. THAT'S how cool I WASN'T. Gotta dig out that photo - it's a classic.

Also, anyone remember puffy paints?! I was SO into puffy paint. Like, geometric patterns of puffy paint on my t-shirts with shoulder pads, and the sleeves rolled a couple of times. Oh, the shame...

Yowsa! Candi's hair is just a bit too...too much! But yeah, I remember those days of big hair and Aqua Net fondly. Only my hair wasn't ever big. I have only three hairs on my head, and no amount of teasing will make it look like any more than that. But I adoed the Aqua Net - unscented, please.

Tsk. Roger was the hottest, closely followed by John.
Oh the memories! I will say that looking back now, I am *so* glad I was in school uniforms until the last two years of high school. Thank you Jesus.

Great Stuff!!!Good times !! Just a FEW years ago there was this woman that worked in my building that still wore this stuff! In Chicago!
Paper Mache' earrings. bright colored flats. and the ever confusing MC hammer pants. My theory is that it was a good time in their life and so ,If I continue to dress in the era I can continue the groove!?Oh yeah!! and another guy friend of mine spent LARGE $ on a Van Halen t-shirt from the first concert he went to so he could frame it and hang it on his living room wall! He's 42 people.Also he was waaay too impressed with a bunch of his co-workers that dressed up as KISS for Halloween.They were so aunthentic!!Hello!! Wake up and smell the new Millennium!!MY oldest neice(12)
was over the top when I brought her my "Nina K" waiter jacket with vintage button and chain embelleshment!!!I LOVED Blossom's sense of style..although I was several years older!!Thanks for the acid wash trip Purlie!!

Ah...another survivor. I remember loving these two pairs of ankle socks especially - one was neon pink and the other set was neon orange.

Not to mention my super-chic black sweatshirt that had the jauntily placed numbers of various size and various neon colors.

Dude. And mini-skirts made from sweatshirt fabric.

And I, too, was the only one who couldn't defy gravity with my hair. Now, that makes me glad, lol.

Sassy? Friday Night Videos? Blossom?? I had totally forgotten about them. Or else blocked them out. Thanks for helping me relive the dream. Ur 2 kool 4 skool. CU next year!

I SO remember Friday Night Videos and Blossom. While my teen years were spent mainly in the early 90's, I still had the big hair, the two different colors of socks, and the "pegged" jeans. I was in the 4th grade when Madonna and Cyndi Lauper were big, but I do still remember piling on the jelly bracelets, wearing lace tied in a big bow around my head a la Madonnas Borderline album cover, and in the 4th grade, I was Cyndi Lauper for Halloween. I spent a good hour pinning my hair back on one side, making it huge everywhere else and using orange and yellow hairspray. It was amazing. My parents were very young (I was 9 in the 4th grade, so they would have been only... 23ish... YIKES!) so them and all of their friends were still very much in style and current with music and fashion so my Cyndi Lauper costume was loved by all.

Laurie,

If it makes you feel better, my fine, naturally curly hair also failed to reach the dizzying heights to which we all aspired to back in 1987 - maybe it was the Aqua Net that failed us. Maybe those lofty-haired girls had a secret pact with the devil, or had parents who worked for the government and had access to some fabulous top secret NASA spin-off product originally formulated for lubricating the space shuttle's landing gear. Surely we would have succeeded given the right contacts and tools.

Unrelatedly, I hope you are recovered from Christmas. Getting through it is the main thing.

You had Guess? jeans...I had to settle for Palmettos! But, they had the zippers and looked great with Candi's and my Camp Beverly Hills half t-shirt (and my teenage bod)! Not to mention my AWESOME perm (I've got baby fine hair that sucks up perm juice like no one's business, so what if you can see through it!).

Hey -- do you remember Aziza eye shadow three color kits? Best gradient blue frosted eyeshadow EVER! And Stagelight makeup - awesome frosted fuschia lip gloss! Yes, I was the pretty one :)

Oh my god! "Forever Young" was my Prom theme too!

And with a school full of South Philly and Jersey girls, there was plenty of big hair too.

First big purchase with my own money was jelly shoes. Ooooo.

I still remember a date smelling my hair while dancing during one of the school dances and him remarking on, and loving, ... the Aqua Net.

Tuck and roll, the jeans, baby! Tuck and roll!

OMG!!! I'd forgotten the 80s hair!! Candi must've used a whole drugstore's worth of AquaNet to get her hair to stay like that!!

I'm older (I was 28 in 1985) but I remember the music and the hair. I worked in a large, very conservative insurance co. and we had to wear suits, those suits with the huge shoulder pads. We all looked like linebackers. Scary.

Don't kid yourself, despite the 80's wear-a-phenalia, you were still adorable!

STAGELIGHT MAKEUP!!! Oh God, how I loved the stuff...in bright blue and fuschia. I worked in a department store through the 80's...I saw it all, fit-n-flare dresses, boyfriend pants AND jackets, scrunchies, and those damn taffeta hair bows! Those were the days!

Look at it this way...at least it is over.

I had assymetrical hair in the 80's. It was very sad, but at least it really pissed off my mother! My hair is now fabulous (but my mother is still pissed off!)

I agree that Nick is way hotter than Andy, but just had to say that John was, and still is, the hottest Durannie of all!

DUDE. I have naturally curly hair, which was just DEPRESSING in my 80's jr. high and high school years. Why? Because of course, it's important to your social standing that your hair be PERFECT in high school, and that it always goes the right way.

Yeah, naturally curly hair doesn't do that. It does whatever the hell it wants to, thank you very much, drive through. So I had all kinds of big hair (because you HAD to get many many layers, all over the place), and even I spent time with the hair dryer an curling iron and hot rollers, and I can't tell you how much mousse I went through. Big hair, baby. The bigger the hair, the closer to God and all that. ;)

I didn't really appreciate my hair until college, when I could get up around 7:30 for an 8 a.m. class, shower, and just run to class and not bother with my hair, and hello, it looked pretty much the same as when I did do anything to it. Duh.

AND, to top it all off just right, not just neon socks. NEON SWEATSHIRTS. I had TWO in PINK (different shades, of course). Man, I loved those things.

Thank goodness someone else thought Molly Ringwald was the shit. My younger sisters still make fun of me for trying to imitate her face in the mirror ("Do I look like Molly Ringwald? What about now? What about now?")... and I had the Sixteen Candles hair AND the hat. Yes, the Indiana Jones fedora sported by Sammy Baker Davis, Jr. on the bus in Sixteen Candles. Why was I wearing that in fifth grade? Because, in the immortal words of Farmer Ted, "A girl in a hat is just so vogue." I am living proof that FARMER TED LIED!

Boy did you stir up some old memories. I feel like you were describing my high school days!!

I had a Sassy subscription and sent away for all the Sassy free stuff, I think I even had a make-up bag or 2.

That pic of you with the high tops and matching bag is priceless!

Thanks for the memories...good times.

Just a little fashion trivia, Candi shoes came out in the almost late 70's and were revisited upon us in the 80's. In the 70s, the soles and heels were made of real wood. Carved in one piece. Way.

Anyone remember yo-yo shoes? they had a hole cut out of the heel? They were early 80's and I remember getting a pair inlike 6th grade.

All I can say is think of this & sing along...

"Jump Back,
Get Down,
Round and Round and Round"

We got the beat, (everybody) We got the beat

........The Go-Go's ...... :)

I....ummm...like..have PARACHUTE PANTS...in my closet somewhere (eat your heart out cause I graduated HS in 1981 and they still FIT...not that I would WEAR them anywhere mind you. But.they.still.fit.is.all.I.am.saying)

I don't know if anyone's mentioned this yet, but if not, it might help cheer you up almost as well as big hair. Elann.com has Paton's Upcountry now for $3.89. It looks like they only have silver mist, but still.

BRILLIANT. I can totally sympathize about shortness and boring hair.

I thought "Blossom" was sort of a new thing... But now I realize it's a relic of a past generation. Scary.

I thought Molly Ringwald was THE COOLEST GIRL EVER TO WALK THE PLANET.

She was! (Thanks for the memories... I so do not miss HS, but I do. Definately perplexed here...)

Amy - also with stick straight hair....

Thank you for the memory flashback ;) I too was the short girl, whos hair just wouldnt go that high. I finally got frustrated with the not big enough hair, and chopped it off into the very 80s fashionable part on the side, near shaved short around the sides and back sort of style (much to my hippy mother's dismay!)

Oh. My. Lands. You and I had the same prom dress. Only difference is I have naturally curly hair and didn't have a problem getting big hair.

Oh god... me, too... that's about all I can say! I graduated from high school in 1990 and so spent nearly my entire formative fashion years in the 80's.

Again, your sheer bravery on the internet astounds me! All of my 80's photos are "lost", or, something...

I had that same acid washed everything look, though, of course.

And Nick was the CUTEST, people, come on!!! HELLO!!!!! Followed by Simon. We don't need to discus this any further...!?!?!

I wanted to be Six, and I'm sorry to disagree but Simon was SO HOT! I actually bought a "Where are they now?" magazine last summer just to find out that Blossom now has a Doctorate degree in something like social work, is married, and sings in a choir. Also, I had hair so big and all cut the same length that they called me Rosanna Rosanadana. Until I "grew a tail" and went punk. I'm so glad to see we both survived the punk phase.

I am too OLD to remember Blossom, and I don't do perky, thank you very much. I would also like to mention that my family always has a wonderful Christmas dinner with candles and evergreen and squash and mashed potatoes and all the trimmings, you can just feel the love -- only this year, while this was going on, I was upstairs puking my guts out. When I said I didn't want to gain weight at Christmas, this was not what I had in mind. (It was a fast-moving stomach virus. DD, DH and I all had it and are all now pretty much recovered.)

Happy New Year, everyone!

This is awesome. You should make it a meme and we'll all post our pics!!

I had obnoxious big hair, tight rolled jeans, Camp Beverly Hills shirts and swatches. I was soooo rad!!

:)

Acid washed Guess jeans with the zipper (or french cuffed), big neon slouch socks tucked into black penny loafers (with the penny, of course) a big tie-dyed t-shirt (I don't know why) tied in a knot on the hip. There are no answers.

Oh, holy crap! That cracked me up!

We used to call that huge, tall hair "door-ducker hair" because you had to duck to get through the door.

(I modeled myself after Madonna in "Desperately Seeking Susan". Sigh.)

Simon was, by far, the hottest Duranny! I can pull rank on you because I had bigger hair! That was certainly a time when naturally curly hair came in handy. My hair in high school more closely resembled Slash from Guns N Roses! :) Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

Heh heh heh.

I had these acid wash jeans from the Limited that I *loved*! I remember that they were $50 and that was completely outrageous to spend on a pair of pants (though now I'd gladly pay double to get a pair that fits my body).

In my high school (class of '89 -- woooooo!) we called the big hair girls "Hair Bears" -- particularly the ones who only had big bangs -- the rest of their hair was stick straight with this big hair waterfall sprouting out of their forehead.

I distinctly remember being in the girls bathroom one day & overhearing some girl talking about how her mother had taken away her hairspray as PUNISHMENT because that was the WORST thing this girl could imagine happening!

So *that* is what I missed by living in Italy during the 80s. I dodged a bullet, I tellyouwhut. (g) Great photos.

Fashionwise, one of my favorite things to spot are "time warpers". Folks whose fashion sense simply freezes at the point in time where they imagine (or have been told) that they look fantabulous. Like my great aunt who to this very day wears this elaborate and gi-normous beehive hairdo, embellished in back with a little black velvet bow, last seen popularly worn circa 1960s. Or the gals you occasionally see strolling hereabouts sporting the Wall of Hair, which was our nickname for those 4" high bangs, cotton shaker sweaters and black leggings/stirrup pants circa 1980s. Or this one guy at my workplace who is perpetually frozen, like a fly in amber, in the late 70s with his feathered-back hair and stone washed denims.

wow, you have good friends that let you post photos of them on the internet for all to see!

Yep, I can still hear the sizzle as the iron hits the freshly sprayed hair, and taste that hairspray, since it was on everything. I remember putting those little metal hairclips in after my hair was freshly sprayed to promote the wings of hair over my ears only to remove them a split second before walking out the door, and parachute pants and high tops. Also, my friends and I could always spot the hair novices who didn't know to check out the back of their hair in the mirror, cuz only the pros knew to have big hair on the back of your head too-the newbies were said to have "fright bangs" since they only stuck up in the front.

Love ya Laurie-from one divorced chick to another. Dana

Thanks for the memories! I had a mad crush on Nick for the longest time....

LOL! My husband and I just saw a comercial for the bedazzler and he thought it was a joke. I told him it seriously was a real thing that was particularly hot in the 80s!

Ah, the 80's! I also participated in destroying the ozone with Aqua Net!! ;)

I remember wanting Denise's (Cosby Show) wardrobe. Of course, what is scaring me is my recent obsession with vintage izod lacoste.

I was (blessedly) a little young to do horrific things to my hair in the 80s - I did talk my mother into letting me get a spiral perm, but my hair is so think and so straight that the curls fell out in less than a week. But the clothes...oh the clothes...so much neon, and the double socks...remember L.A. Gear and Ocean Pacific? *shudder*

Ahhh, multi-layered socks. I remember those. Sigh.

Btw, I am an idiot. I don't know if you have plans yet for New Year's Eve, but if you don't, I would love it if you could come over. Let me know!

hahaha!! in the early 80's i had a shaved head, tattoos (ok, still have those) and many piercings. Which look was worse, I wonder, 80's New Wave Glam or Punk Rockdom? I would have beaten you up in the alley Miss Raurie!

And isn't this the credo of "The South": The bigger the hair, the closer to God.

Y'all. Roger was the hottest Duranny, and Corey Haim was WAY cuter than Corey Feldman. And I cannot get over what a total hottie Anthony Michael Hall has become. Anyone? Seen him lately? Honestly, I thought he was geekily adorable in 1985, but I swear. He's too beautiful now.

John Taylor was and still is the hottest duranny and i too suffered the indignity of hair that would not curl up into the ever coveted "claw" bang that everyone had-i feel your pain and salute with my fingerless neon gloved hand

Hihi hihi, what a flashback... Molly Ringwald was my favourite movie star.. And my favourite movie? Well, Breakfast Club of course... And John Taylor was the hottest duranny.

Nick was hotter than Andy - you had every right to refuse the use of your glitter eyeshadow. It was a perfectly logical argument!

dear god, my heart still skips a beat when i think of the last scene in Sixteen Candles, where Molly's character gets to kiss "jake" sigh. My hair was big, my jeans were tapered. I was there dammit!

You looked RAD!

Oh, you were so young and cute -- despite the big hair and ridiculous clothes. I wanted to be like you when I was in school (about a decade earlier), but couldn't carry it off. Ever.

I will never show pictures of myself from those days -- overweight, bad skin, thick glasses, and completely nerdy about clothes.

Hmm, nothing's changed, only now it doesn't matter.

Oh, Oh, Oh,

What about self-pegging your jeans? I would grab the loose part of my jeans, fold it back on the pant leg & roll up a few times to keep the goodness in place.

Thank you for just being. I love reading what you write!

You know, I'm remembering a little sexy negligee I had (stop laughing) that had SHOULDER PADS. Very sad.

Dear God. That post brought back way, way, way too many familiar memories. My clothes were at least as bad as yours, probably worse. But worse still was the perm I got in 9th grade...my hair was as straight as yours.

I read your post EVERY day. Was a little worried about you - but this post put my mind to rest. I laughed at every line because I could relate to every single 80's thing! I still remember MTV's opening rocket. Duran Duran - I was in love with them! Don't forget Loverboy.

I graduated in '82, so I was mainly a victim of the '70s. But, that being said I threw myself headlong into acid wash, big hair (I still say those were my hot years) pink rebok hightops, oversize t-shirts tied on the hip, scrunched down sox. I was working as a hairdresser back in the day and then a young mom in 87 which was a real nightmare in MATERNITY 80's clothing. You could look simultaneously look like an old clown with a ruffled collar blouse and acid wash jeans. My fave was my acid wash jumper with-WITH my pink rebok hi tops. Hey, it was comfy. Don't judge.

What? You mean we should not have been looking to Molly Ringwald and Madonna for fashion advice? Maybe that is what was wrong with me in the 80s. For truly big hair, I always swore on Aquanet -- the super hold, not that wimpy regular stuff. Oh, and for best results you sprayed while you were bent at the waist and then waited a couple of minutes to make sure it had dried.

Oh Laurie, I do adore you! This post made me laugh hysterically as though slightly older than you (39)I remember the days of socks over jeans when I worked at the record store, drinking beer in the back room while watching for shoplifters through the lattice work. My very first job was also at the Burger King and I too, have pictures with big hair.
I bought you a little something I found while Christmas shopping and swear to God, I have never, ever bought a gift for someone on the internets who I have not at least chatted with on AIM (just sayin'). It's just a little thing but it instantly made me think of you and I shall have it in the mail by the end of the week.
Thank you for being you. Whether you are sad and reflective, insane and outrageously funny, you are truly, truly genuine.

You were adorable and I would have hated you in high school. I had long, slightly wavy hair that never saw a curling iron or blow dryer until I was 17. My mother refused to allow me to perm it or get a real haircut. I rebeled in my senior year, but it was too late to master the big hair.
And try as I might, I could never pull off the whole look. Shoulder pads over-emphasized my already visible upper portions (DD at 17--ouch), skinny jeans looked ridiculous on me. I finally gave up, wore my brothers old jeans, tore the shoulder pads out of every shirt I bought and embraced my uncoolness.

Simon and John, in that order. Nick was third. Andy and Roger were barely on my radar.

Did anyone else with maddeningly straight hair try those Hot Sticks flexible hot rollers? I thought I was so cool when I got a set for Christmas. But alas, even getting a perm and using a diffuser, Hot Sticks and a curling iron could never bring my hair to the true desired height. What I couldn't get in height I made up for in WIDTH, by pulling the sides straight out with a brush and spraying them til they didn't move.

Wait, wait! They were Clairol "Benders" in their own mint green soft pouch. They hurt like hell and would never straighten out again to fit back in the bag.

Girl - you are just so dammed CUTE! If you ever doubt that you have made progress in you life, all you need to do is look a the old pictures when you thought you were the cat's meow.

LMAO..we DEFINITLY must be in the same age bracket!
I had the huge hair...permed and BIG...teased to the max and loaded with hair spray. thoes were the years i tell ya! LOL....

I applaud your bravery. We all have timepieces like that, but only a few are brave enough to post them!

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. To this day, my hair gets "big" on its own and when my handknit socks are all dirty, I resort to wearing two pairs of store-boughts. Thankfully, I now wear the same color for both pairs and the reason now is for warmth (when did we get OLD?!)...screw fashion, I wanna be warm and comfy.
As usual, you ROCK.

Sweet Mary on a bicycle, you've brought back so many memories. Painful memories, but memories nonteheless. Whooboy. Did you get your beshoulder-padded tshirt at Express? I think I had the same one.

Good lands, you rock!

Shoulder pads with t-shirts were the best! I would still be wearing them if they were in style!

OMG, you brought back some great memories for me. I had that same misguided sense of fashion and it got me nowhere. Oh and by the way it was John for sure.

My most favorite haircut of all time was the spiky topped mullet I wore for a while in the 80s. It was sooooo cool!!

I just finished watching VH1 "I Love The 80s-1982" and it seems you forgot to mention the all-important...HEADBAND! I totally forgot about them, it's true, everybody was wearing them. Paula Abdul was on the show and she said if you weren't working out or dancing, then you just looked like a dork if you wore a headband. WHATEVER...

I read your last couple of post. I hope I don't offend you, but it sounds like you need a Savior. Jesus said, He would send a comforter. One that sticks closer than a brother (or ex-hubby). God said, I will never leave you or forsake you. I hope you find comfort in HIM.

I loved seeing your '80's photos and was going to share one of mine, but I couldn't find THE one I was thinking of where I had the biggest hair. I found a close runner-up though, so I posted it on my blog this morning if you want to see.
http://debrichardson.blogspot.com/2005/12/big-red-flower-and-big-blonde-hair.html
(or just click on my name)

It wasn't *quite* as big as your friend Candi's but it was pretty durn close.

Hey Scott, if you're taking orders, I could use a new comforter. Something quilty, in island blues and taupe. Thanks.

Oh. My. God.

In the Pacific NW, the big thing was to have a Columbia Sportswear ski jacket (hey, it rains here. A LOT.) with some gawd-awful combination of neon colors. I very much wanted a black one with a screaming lime green lining, and neon-pink stitching and zipper pulls. I think my mother said no because she didn't want to permanently damage her retinas.

Hang in there Auntie Purl, the worst is over (from one divorcee to another) Love you and love your blog (and the Cheet-o scarf? Fantabulous)

I am a bit older than you - I was a Madonna Wannabe in college. I never went to class without my black elbow-length stretch lace gloves on. Ugh. I went back to college for career day and I think they were all shocked I managed to get a job, much less a career. Thanks for the laugh, from a fellow straight-hair hot roller abuser.

Oh Lordy, re-living the '80's - ouch! Yes, I was right there in the thick of it too~ Class of '85 here. Those pics just took me waaaay back to where I don't wanna be anymore!!! lol But yeah, it all strikes a chord...Aqua Net, MC Hammer pants (aka harem pants), gladiator sandals, tight-rolled skinny skinny jeans!, Cavaricci jeans ($75-100 a pop), "wrestling shoes" as a fashion statement, oh-oh-OH do you remember bandannas?? Wrapped loosely around your neck, ala that Loverboy band! Or tightly rolled and worn as a headband. Good lord-a-mighty!

And the big hair. OH THE BIG HAIR. We could pile it mighty high in Jersey, I tell ya.

Thanks for the flashback!

Thanks for taking me down memory lane with those photos. What a blitz the 80's were. Perm lotion, shoulder-pads and blue mascara.

I'm totally cracking up on your eighties photos! I'd post mine up but I fear readers would burn out their pupils from all the neon green and pink I used to wear. (Blame it on WHAM and their "wake me up before you go go" video with its flou colors.)

I had the plaid converse. I wore them with plaid flannel pj bottoms and a different plaid top. I was convinced that this made everyone look up to me just a little bit.

i was more of a bowler hat, trench coat, streaked hair, boots and neon fishnets kind of girl. but that was the end of the eighties...this is the beginning...

http://static.flickr.com/12/17290206_78d4927c43.jpg

(in front of *the*walmart. the only retail store in my podunk town. and yes. pink overalls. and yes. purple turtleneck with shoulder pads. and yes. big hair)

Oh, I remember Blossom! Now I'm beginning to feel old. Particularly bearing in mind that I just bought my very first tube of blue mascara on Thursday (what was I thinking?) ~x~

I can't believe there was ever a discussion...Simon was definitely the hottest.

i am trying but am having a difficult time remembering the 80's. They are mixed up with spiked hair, mini skirts and "real" punk music. i enjoyed your pictures and walk down memory lane. Did I really wear two colors of socks? Yes, mine even had rhinestones on them. Worst part is i was not in Jr. High. I was out of school and biginning my long journey in collage. I love your Blog!!

No one has mentioned legwarmers! I had legwarmers in every color imaginable, striped, polka-dotted, fuzzy, plain, you name it. Also, in my neck of the woods, the eyeshadow had to leave the eye area and cross the temple to the hairline. I remember my worst fight ever with my Mom over the eyeshadow. What's even worse, is that now, to get even with me, she tells these stories to my teenage daughter!

While cleaning out my stash, I found two books of eighties-style knitting projects, Elle Knitting and Wild Knitting. (Technically, Wild Knitting is from 1979, but the pix are very Studio 54.) They are yours if you email me back with a snailmail address.

Mike 18 http://43133.rapidforum.com/

Mike 18 http://43133.rapidforum.com/