legwarmers?

I've been away for a week, and nothing makes me feel more glad to be home than catching up on my CAP. Thanks!

I think leaving-the-house is totally overrated. But you do look ohsocool in all of your photos!

Adam couldn't come to your rescue because I was doing a telepathic mind lock on him to come rescue me from my junior year teen angst.

Also, I fall into the "scarred for life category" on leg warmers. I had an entire three drawers in a six-drawer dresser, full of them. All kinds. I was tragic, not tragically hip - I lived in *Florida*.

PS Got your book this weekend - loved it!

HAHHAHHAHAHAH!!! Nice R&B party!!!

And also, apologies forthcoming on the may-have-been-inappropriate behavior at Ms. K's party...

You are just too cute with your leg warmers! I, too, have seen them in the stores and was like "since when have these made a comeback?"! I wasn't a part of the leg warmer craze, but I was a part of the slouch sock craze. I had a neon green pair...neon green!! (Makes you want to say "Stop the Insanity!" Thanks Susan Powter!)

Anyways, will you be posting kitty sweater pictures as you receive them? Or will you be waiting until the sweepstakes is over? I have submitted some pics and I'm curious to see what other people are knitting for their kitties/doggies!

I fall into the "goofily nostalgic" camp, and you, sister, are hilarious. The scenario with Adam Ant had me laughing so hard my face hurts. :) I'm gonna go before I get all goofily nostalgic about my Michael Jackson poster, the one where he was wearing the yellow sweater vest...

I PERSONALLY own a pair of black and pink striped legwarmers, that I bought NEW, and they are pretty awesome and I plan on wearing them this winter. I wore them quite a bit a few winters ago, as really legwarmers have been hip among my friends (most of them too young to really remember the eighties) for a few seasons.

I feel all fashion-y writing, "for a few seasons."

Anyway, screw the legwarmers, although those are pretty important. What I need is a knitter on command, or on commission maybe, to knit me a pair of ARM warmers. I want, basically, extra-long fingerless gloves that go all the way up to the elbow. I would wear those EVERYWHERE.

LMAO @ Tragicstan!!!

Alas, I could not wear the dreaded legwarmers as I spent most of the 80's pregnant and at my height and rotundness, it would have surely not.ever.worked.

love the mullet.........business in front~party in the back.

Happy Rocktober!

I was forbidden to wear leg warmers back in the 80's (and headbands. Not sure what my parents had against headbands. . . ) and now I've got 21" calves that wouldn't be caught dead in leg warmers. *shudder*

Bought your book this weekend! Was it wrong of me to move it to a more prominent place at my local Barnes & Noble? Heck, if I couldn't find it, how could I be sure others would be able to? ;)

I am like you. Goofy nostalic for the leg warmers. And the she mullet. I had one and like you, I thought I was hot.

Long live the 80's!

You did look like the Coolest Thing Ever! And I'm not sucking up 'cuz there's nothing in it for me. I feel compelled to share with you my "scarred for life ballet lesson(s) in College!"
I need 2-3 credits to graduate. Let's see, I narrowed it down to Physics or Ballet 101. Of course I chose Ballet because I had been deprived of such lessons as a child...Mom said I could have lessons if my brother agreed to take them as well (fat chance). the good news: legwarmers looked cool and actually served the purpose of warming up those calf muscles. The # 1 or 2 or 3 most embarrassing moment of my life: The "final exam" was demonstrating one's ability to execute all the moves solo...with the entire rest of the class watching. I stubbed my foot (not my toe, but my entire foot), fell forward flat on my face, etc., etc. You get the picture. Yes, I am scarred for life!

I *tried* to be the ballet girl, but couldn't pull it off.

Laurie, you look great! Your face is looking slimmer. Looks like the new no-diet is making some changes. Good for you!

Here in Manhattan, my 14-yr old daughter recently asked me if I thought she should buy a pair of legwarmers that she saw in a store (she had no idea that they existed in a previous fashion cycle before her birth). After careful consideration, I calmly said:

"I think they were a mistake the first time around. I think they are a mistake this time around. But hey! Go for it if you really want to. Twenty years from now you'll enjoy having something to laugh about at your teenage self!"

This caused her to say "That bad, huh?"

To which I replied "sweetie, you have no idea!"

Laurie, is this the poster?

http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Leg-Warmers-Posters_i856334_.htm

I think the red ones look better. But that's just me.

I am so sorry, dear, but Adam Ant was never going to show up to marry you, because he was really going to show up and marry ME (he didn't), and at least you had red, which is classic - I had teal blue, which is one of the worst sorts of colours on me EVER, and it was that 80s craptastic teal blue, I am still single to this day, and I am not posting a picture of what they looked like. Erp.

In other 80's fashion comeback news, I saw a woman at Chili's this weekend wearing her sweater off one shoulder, Flasdance style. I had to laugh!

Black & red = HOT! (you better not let Soba check out that photo!)

I just got your book this weekend and read it in one gulp. Loved it!

oh my god, i LOVED my side pony tail. i was so cool.

Freakin Nostalgic:

I was 5 in 1985. I was taking ballet and I wanted to grow up and become Punky Brewster.
I thought my purple legwarmers worn over grey cabled tights with my black patent leather mary janes were SOOOOOo cool... even my favorite baby sitter (the one with the LOOOOOONG blonde hair) said so.

I wear them with pride now because they hide my cankles and they keep my legs warm enough to wear dresses in winter.

All I can think of when I see those leg warmers, is Flashdance...remember that movie? So, if you are going to wear the leg warmers, you must include an off the shoulder sweater to go with it.

Ang

Peace! (to the leg warmern girls)
and
Wow! (to the Lucky Girl getting the big Smooch)

I was a "Dancing with the Stars" ADDICT for the first 2-3 seasons. Then the shows started to get really long and I had other things I needed to work on, so I haven't watched it much lately. But it is so much fun to watch with or without leg warmers on.

Hmm. I can see that my attempt to bribe you with legwarmers was ill-fated from the start. So, seriously, what *do* you want? Wine? Chocolate? Yarn? Dancing men?

The entire Internet, or at least the part thereof that reads your blog, now knows how truly shameless I am.

This has nothing to do with legwarmers! I got your book in todays mail! I wish I didn't have to go back to work! It's such a nice dark rainy day here in Ft Lauderdale area, perfect day to stay home and read! Can't wait to start it!

JUSTIN! You're my favorite! Yes, yes, that was THE poster. *le sigh*

golly, Kendra's blog is so, um, impersonal. Here I was thinkin'I could go pokin' around in other people's lives on the rare slow day at work. Tell me it's a mistake? Her party looks like too much fun to have a website like that for its honoree. :>

Also - hands off Adam Ant y'all. I was rocking the femullet as a college girl, and y'all know darned WELL that AA likes the mature ladies. Heck, I coulda done his makeup for him it was so much like mine.

I still have my legwarmers...somewhere. Mine were white on the ends, with some sort of Fair Isle design in blue and red, and some other color I cant remember in it.

I was going to a catholic high school at the time. We all had to wear plaid cullottes (split skirts) for our uniform. So, in the wintertime, the legwarmers werent being worn just for fashion...

I could never decide if I wanted to wear the legwarmers all puddled up around my ankles, or if I wanted to have them pulled up to my thighs.

Happily, I have no photographic proof of me wearing my "cool" legwarmers. (that I know of)

Oh I guess I have the URL wrong, I am very bad at the linkamajig things.

Okay, I totally misread the last paragraph about going to a birthday party in a club. I read it as going to a book club, just to remember what they're like.

I was dying to know what kind of book club everyone dresses up all saucy for :)

And the themed birthday in Tragicstan MADE MY DAY :)

The funny thing is I had scrolled down to look at the photo before reading what you had written and thought it was of a high school dance group or something.

I too am traumatized by leg warmers. Specifically if they should be yellow or flesh colored. Don't ask.

Oh, gosh. I had the same thing that you did with A. Ant, but with John Talyor (Duran Duran). There was something appealing to a pre-teen about those androgynous unthreatening man-boys.

Legwarmers actually come in quite handy in places that have winter. Here in Toronto I like to wear them over the top of the boots and the bottoms of the pants, to protect the pants from the Deep Black Slush that exists everywhere. They are also very easy and fast to knit!

"Dancing With the Stars"...it became a family event until we caught our three-year-old doing some saucy little Stacy Keebler moves a few seasons back (complete with skimpy outfits fashioned out of play silks). It was hysterical and appalling all at once. Now it's an after-bedtime thang. Lovin the second season with a former 90210 star! Cheeze a la Cheeze. Yummy.

AND to make it even better, I may just knit myself some stylin' legwarmers cuz I'll actually NEED them here in Maine in another month or so. Come for a visit and I'll knit a pair for you! Can't you just see me showing up at a book signing bearing a knitted gift?

BTW - I finished your book this morning and cried. I didn't want to be done! Thank you for just being you and for being so open to sharing with all us strangers.

My husband wears legwarmers over this weird auto-mechanic type coverup when he shovels snow. I hide inside, because I don't want to shovel snow and I don't want to look at a man in legwarmers. (He's not the type one would ever associate with anything feminine -- I have no idea why he thinks legwarmers look okay on him.)

omg my birthday is on the internets.

thank you so much for coming! i had such a good time. also i think i have faith's camera!

I was just thinking about that poster the other day too...I didn't have it, but I used to look at it at Spencer gifts in the mall!

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at that picture, So i will chose to laugh (with you, not at you).Y'all look like you are going to a DeBarge concert. I should know, I was right there with you! I had 50 gazillion bandanas, one of which was worn every day somewhere on my body. And slouchy legwarmers were just the bomb.
And I love me some DWTS...My favorite show about nothing. It gives me extreme pleasure.

also could you email me pictures??!?! i love them.

LOVE.

The super scary part is, I've been thinking about making legwarmers too. Endpaper legwarmers, my idea, stolen from eunny jang. I don't do trends, I'm still wearing flare jeans (what? they make my feet look smaller!)and I've never done colorwork before. I am definetly crazy.

Don't worry, CAP, you were not alone in the leg-warmer or the she-mullet department. I went one worse with she-mullet PLUS a "Rave" home perm! Now, in homage to my online ADD, DON'T YOU MISS GILMORE GIRLS? When I started reading your site, I knew you were funny and smart, and finding out in old posts that you were a GG fan sealed the deal--you are Miss Thang! I am undergoing GG withdrawal as my co-workers are celebrating the return of their own loved sitcoms and series. But, what shall we former Gilmore fans do this year? Just think- - -this time last year (or was it November) Lauren Graham was rocking the "Knit or Go Home" t-shirt!

Oh, also: happy birthday, Kendra! Did anyone give you legwarmers?

Deep down you must have been a GEORGIA BULLDOG fan with all that red and black. The book is great.

I'm okay either way on the legwarmer issue--but, oh, I want the pirate/poet shirts to come back!!! Please, fashion gods?

Oh. My. Gawd. I'm pretty sure you and I had the same hairdressers...

woo hoo! I am so so so glad you found my camera Ms K! I was just mourning it this morning!

xoxoxo

BTW - Monkeygurl. Seriously. MAY have been inappropriate behavior? MAY? Oy girl....

Love ya!

xo

Legwarmers, YEEECH! Like I need my legs to look any bigger than they actually are. I did wear them in junior high however, when I weighed 70 lbs.

I love DWTS! I'm not familiar with the Cheetah girl, but she was amazing! Better than Mario!

Hee! Love the R&B party . . . Tragicstan indeed. I had a pair of off white legwarmers but never wore them. I've never had the attention span required to accessorize consistently. I did rock the she-mullet and the slouchy socks though. Ugh.

I made myself a Rainbow Brite costume for Halloween last year to go with my rainbow colored leg warmers and arm warmers. And a REAL yellow yarn pony-tail wig. Screw the "sexy" costume that I couldn't fit in to AT ALL....I wanted so badly to be Rainbow Brite and wear fun legwarmers that I figured out how to make my own damn costume. Anyways, the whole night was worth it just to wear those arm & leg warmers!!!

Half-way through your book....it's wonderful! =)

The reason that Adam Ant did not come and sweep you off your feet is because he was and still is to this day, hopelessly in love with me. It did not work out for us because I love another, but he still pines for me, I just know it.

I read your book this weekend and I am so thankful that you wrote it. I have been divorced and it felt worse to me than a death of a loved one because A)The person is no longer part of your life, not because of some illness or accident, but because they CHOOSE to no longer be a part of your life and 2)You are the only one that feels that loss, there is no one to mourn with. His family and friends still have him, your family and friends may be sympathetic, but they don't feel the loss. I felt so isolated and alone in a room full of people that love me, and that is enough to make you think you have lost your mind. God bless the Roberts of the world.

Amy, amen :)

laurie,

Legwarmers rock'd...I couldn't afford the legwarmers we were really PO'. But I would have my mom buy me really long BOBBY SOCKS and I would slouch them to wear them with my skirt and I looked COOL!!!

Read your book in one sitting!!!! I can so relate to you...My husband up and left me because he decided last month after 9 years and two kids plus one dog to up and leave. "he doesn't want the responsability" was his answer! I am still tragically depressed but reading your book inspired me even more than this blog for which I am ever grateful of meeting you and every other wacky personlaity out there!

I so love YOU and can't wait till I cross to the other "comfortable with me" side that you have apparently found! I can't wait to see you when you come down to Miami for the book tour!!!

Who know's I just might "ROCK" the one-sided Ponytail and leg warmers!!!!

YEA I got my book today from amazon. Now I will watch to see if you come close to my hood so I can get it signed. Congrats it looks great.
Sandy
San Jose Ca

By the way, your hair is looking awesome. Are the layers a little shorter in front? Will they inch up until they are bangs? Are you thinking we maybe won't notice if it's gradual enough?

Do not get bangs! You look super-hot just the way you are!!!

Oh, forgot to mention--for me it wasn't Adam Ant so much, it was David Bowie a la "Labyrinth" ...

FAITH - acting all pious and appropriate. Don't think I didn't see you shakin' yer booty.

Mmmmmm. . . Labyrinth. Jareth.

I spent part of Friday musing about whether legwarmers are actually in or not. They (you know... them) told me last year that they were in and I never saw a single legwarmer. Or pairs, as they more commonly come.

Then I got an email from Nordstrom that featured a silk/cashmere lace-knit legwarmer in vibrant red with POM PONS on a string around the top, all over a nearly-obscene black patent leather highhighhigh heeled pump.

I kinda wanted that legwarmer. Now I can't find it.

As a side note, my brother commented on my 80s fashion musings that if they brought back New Romantic, he would be all over that despite his age and station... and that his wife didn't need to know about that if the Adam Ant look never came back.

And Anna-Liza? David Bowin in Labyrinth? Yum.

I want to party with YOU sometime! Looks like a fun evening. :-)

So tell me, what WAS it about the black & red color scheme back in the legwarmer era? I adored black and red back then -- who or what inspired that trend? Was it Madonna? I wore it ALL throughout high school (well, after school; during school I had to wear a green plaid Catholic schoolgirl kilt, but that's another story).

I tell ya, I hate red and black these days. What was I thinking back then?

P.S. If you do decide to knit legwarmers and find an awesome pattern, please share details. I'm still a bit stumped as to how to knit them for my dancing nieces, both of whom have requested a pair. Ack!

I haven't made 'em, but here's a pattern...
http://www.blueskyalpacas.com/pattern_detail.php?patterns_ID=81

That ballet poster? I went to school with the model. Yes I really did! She was very quiet and we were all a little in awe of her. We'd shoot her sidelong glances and wonder what it was like to have posters of yourself all over the place, for sale and everything! Sigh.

I was a dance major in college in the 80s and we all had our favorite slouchy, ripped, inside-out warmer accessories. My favorite was a pair of blue argyle (?!?) knee socks, cut off at the bottom (modern dance, we had to be barefoot). If you folded/wrapped it just so down toward the ankles, it actually balanced out the heft of your thighs (uh-huh, oh yes it did). (

It also helped that the 8-foot "perm of death" drew focus away from the chunky thighs.)

Oh, to have been blessed with the sturdy cheerleader's body I so craved, or the strong gymnast's body my best friend had. Alas, I was gifted with the non-descript no-waist scrawny shoulda-been-a-boy-except-oops-she-has-boobies body that has since turned into still-no-discernable-waistline-to-speak-of-except-it's-thicker-in-middle-age lump that I am...

with or without the legwarmers.

I remember wearing legwarmers in college, under my skirt and boots...because I had to work registration in the winter, not wearing standard college attire. Mine were pratical, and hidden.

As for the side ponytail, it is appearing again, albeit low rather than the higher side ponytail. My 15 year old and her HS aged friends are wearing it for a casual look. It is cute, on them.

You were an incredible PLEASURE to hang out with!

Oh nuh uh MG. It is on. I'm not sayin' I wasn't shakin' it. But...well, let's just let the photos come out and lay where they may....I'M JUST SAYIN'!

xo

I too did the legwarmer thing, burgundy ones, over dark green pantyhose with a striped sweater dress. My 15 yr old daughter read today's blog post over my shoulder (as usual) and commented, "What's wrong with legwarmers? They're one of the cool things that survived the 80's"
Laurie, she thinks yours were cool, and she has had me knit legwarmers for her friend as a gift. In her defense she is a really cool kid.

good thing ya lost yer camera...

I am so embarrassed for you right now, but am feeling so much better about my ripped flashdance t-shirts. And the party pics? You look H.O.T. and happy. I love those sparkley shoes and the tatooed legs- much better than the ballet poster, if you ask me.

My 4 month old neice is rocking the legwarmers as the latest baby style:
http://store.babylegs.net/

Almost inspired to try and knit her some - almost - not sure there is enough wine for that project, besides I just learned to cast on...

Viva la legwarmers!

Mayhaps it is my advancing age, but I think the black and red Tragicstan party shot is darling; what cutie-patooties! (I like CAP's footie wrap slouch warmers.) My teen years held much angst, heartbreak and need to BE...all powering up for that escape orbit - to somewhere. I love the leg warmer pattern in Last Minute Gifts... easy-peasy and real pretty.

Laurie, thanks for the box you sent! My two girls think you are the coolest person on the planet. :-)

Janet, you're welcome. The book you sent was fabuloso!

I think all my junior high pictures are pretty much the funniest/gooberest things ever.

EXCEPT for the cat sweater contest pics, of course, also very funny! And Shari to answer your question I may indeed post a few ahead of time LOL. They're priceless!

i am so glad the internet was invented so we can all share our fashionless pain. :)

OMG, the leg warmer party made me damn near piss myself! I adored leg warmers and wore them often in the eighties while I was in high school. I don't think I had red though...purple definately! I saw leg warmers in a store not long ago and said to my friend, "Holy shit, I cannot believe those stupid things are coming back!" while inwardly, I was cheering and wishing I was sixteen again so I could get away with buying them.

I LOVED your 80's picture! I had that same haircut but a little shorter in the back. But back then I think it was called a Bi-level haircut not a mullet. LOL. It makes me feel better anyway. And seeing your friend using the bandana as a belt, I SO USED TO DO THAT! I think I am a little nostalgic and a little scarred from the 80's. Fer sure.

I can't wait to see some kitty pics!!! Maybe somebody can make some kitty leg warmers and take some pics of that!! Just a thought!!

Adam Ant was my first concert. He WORE LEG WARMERS! He wore them as he climbed into a large tank of water. Seriously. What was that all about?

I'm not even talking about my photos missy. Besides which, Kendra found my camera... It.Is.On.

Gauntlets have been thrown.... in the comments section...

As soon as you said "THE ballet poster" I had an immediate flashback and saw it VIVIDLY...wow, that snap made a big dent in impressionable young minds, eh?

Your friends look mucho elegante and maybe even cooler than my friends. (Not the Tragicstan friends - the bar friends. Our teenage Tragicstan friends look pretty much identical!)

;)

The young girls on my soccer team turned down my offer to knit them legwarmers. What is wrong with our youth?

Jealous of all the fun you ladies had this weekend as I sit here, Sadly Gauntless.

I couldn't comment on the appropriate post for this but for knee heights boots made for ladies with "power legs" (much nicer than tree trunks) try Eddie Bauer. Gorgeous leather boots in a variety of heel heights with "wide calf" options.

Actually, I think that your party shot is a great pic! I totally thought it was a dance class or something.

Also, are those tattooed legs yours?

Um, nevermind...they're Kendra's legs aren't they? I was all thinking you'd gone and gotten some ink without telling the story...which I'm sure would have been a riot.

Oh, no. I just realized that I have a suppressed memory of having owned legwarmers. I think I would work out with Jane Fonda (VHS format) in a purple leotard, pink tights, and legwarmers. I've successfully blocked the color of the legwarmers.

I am worried now. What other 80s memories have I suppressed?

I live in a cold climate and have my legwarmers from the 70's! Acrylic and patterned. Yes, ma'am! When I shovel the snow and clean off the walk, I put those babies on over my jeans and handknit socks and off I go. Toasty and dry and grateful for my teen years. Yup! I loves my legwarmers.

OK not going to talk about the leg warmers i wore EVERY DAY in H.S. nope. Not gonna. Can't make me. But i WILL talk about my hair. I had the "new wave" thingy going, a reverse mullet if you will. Long on top and short on the sides. I looked like a friggin' sheepdog ya'll!!

Oh and "When the World Falls Down" was my first dance with my husband on our wedding day. Think maybe i liked Bowie a little bit? Don't tell the Hub tho' he still thinks it was all about the goblins ;)

Love your pictures Laurie!! You rock

I GOT MY BOOK TODAY!!! Can't wait to laugh myself to sleep tonight! Congrats again, Aunt Purl!

Va va voom CAP - you're rockin' that neckline!

Wow, you guys are so cool!

I had a pair of baby pink ones with a silver glitter strand.

Ya, I rocked em with my dove shorts with my Le Sport Sac. Yep.

This is so pitiful:
I made legwarmers for my model shaped granddaughter.
I thought they were SO fine. She said "Thankyou," no gushing. They were burned up in a fire...no I am sure she didn't toss them in. But, when I said "Did they get burned?" She said "Yes."
No comment about wanting more.
Last pair I plan to make.
Sigh.

No word of a lie.. I was in Target Saturday looking for some new socks.. and they had a section of legwarmers in the women's hosiery section. (is that what they call it?)

Got my book today... can't wait to start it!!!

Oh, honey. I too had a femullet, but in '90, when all the girls had sky-high feathered bangs and perms, and all the boys had rat-tails. Bad hair is epic in its own way...

*sings*
Hoist the Jolly Roger!
It's your money that we want, and your money we shall have!

We all <3 Adam Ant, Laurie. Seriously.

Legwarmers: YES! Adam Ant: Double YES!

Somehow I think I'll look tragic at 41 with that white stripe over my nose and legwarmers... Maybe I'll pass.. (bugger)..

My 13 yo daughter and all her friends are wearing side ponytails. This thing started last year with a group of Japanese students staying with us, and THEY all wore shorts with legwarmers and side ponytails. I remember doing a full on double take back then, thinking... woah!! Now I'll know next time they'll come out to take notes, and I'll be way ahead of everyone!

It looks like a splendid time was had by all; the picures are great- is that Kendra rocking the 40's look? Very glamorous (and there are great knitting patterns from back then too. Yep. But knit in pieces and seamed! Ack!)

Got your book at last from Amazon (all 4 copies, I have plans for them, yes I do). LOVED IT- you are a really engaging writer and I greatly enjoyed every single page. I was happy to read about how you got your groove back and was struck by your ability to see a thing for what it is, not for what we hope (or pretend? or is it the same thing?) it will be. Hope there will someday be another book, but you may not want to put yourself through the tortuous process of writing a book again. :)

I missed the legwarmers, thank goodness, though I'm sure I had that haircut at some point...

Good news!

In Japan, the side-ponytail and the legwarmers have been in style for YEARS now.

And even better news: even if you have non-shapely legs, you can move to somewhere cooler and wear legwarmers under your clothes. I wear them under longjohns under my pants. No, really. And I don't even think it gets below freezing in Osaka....

Legwarmers are a bad idea. Unless you're a dancer. And then they have a practical use. (Yes, I went through this debate during the 80s.)

Oh, and now I finally have money but was unable to pick up your book at the local B&N because they were sold out. The salesperson who helped me look said that he had seen quite a few folks looking for it. I tried to tell him that they had obviously not ordered enough.

That looks like a so much of fun party! Everyone is clearly having just such a wonderful time, and I don't care if you think I'm stalk-y freaky weird some kinda Aging Hippie type person, but YOUR smiling face cheers me up every time I see it. (And I especially appreciate it today, having something of a Need-for-Cheering-Up-ness today). So there you are.

Ah, the leg warmers...I had the poster as well. I love the birthday party photo - you are cool - look at the coordinating sash.

Ohmygawd. I am so glad you wanted Adam Ant in the early 80s. Didn't want the poor guy to be lonely. Me, I was a lot older, and working as a deejay and also as a waitress, and was secretly hoping that Tom Petty (also sportin' the red and black on the cover of "Damn the Torpedoes") was going to come rescue me from waiting tables, and also rescue me from that creepy guy Randy, who kept following me around and did. Not. Understand. That. I. Wasn't. Going. To Sleep. With. Him. Ever.

I was also rockin' the legwarmers at that time, and fall into the goofily nostalgic camp, but for actual excercise (they work!) and also to keep my ankles warm in the drafty apartment (where the toilet froze in winter) that I wanted Tom Petty to come rescue me from. Last winter, I made myself a new pair of legwarmers in space-dyed deep blue Canadiana yarn, for slouching around our current drafty old house. Luuurve me some warm ankles! Legwarmers are good for yoga, too.

And you are soooo cute in those pix!

Did you guys have pixie boots? Little suede ankle boots with fold over cuffs? They were HOT!
Legwarmers were considered to suck at my school.
Have you seen http://www.ratemymullet.com/ (it gets a bit crude) or Mullet Cops? (lots of sites on the net but this is one place to get it - http://www.mark.geek.nz/emails/powerpoint/MulletCops.pps
Mullet Cops is particularly amusing.... the worst part is I am fairly sure it is Australian.... LOL

Not wishing to inflict too harsh a reality but y'all know Adam Ant is clinically crazy now right? Consider yourselves lucky he did not fall prey to wishful teenage thoughts otherwise you would be stuck here in murky Britain with a certified nutter! I'm just sayin' is all!

Also the legwarmers? Preferred me some slouchy socks over a second pair of different coloured slouchy socks with my trousers tucked into them! With short boy hair and the big sweepy fringe. Plus big red chipmunk cheeks! I looked like Little Jimmy Osmond!

What does it say about me that I am actually starting to recognise the people in your pictures! That's Faith there, isn't it!

Happy Birthday Kendra!

That leg warmer picture made me laugh out loud!! So funny. I am around the same age and I can remember wearing mucho black eyeliner and mascara and YELLOW eyeshadow! Man, I thought I was the bees knees!
(I also owned stripey leg warmers)

Oh, Laurie! How we love you!!!
I love that I can reminisce (comiserate?) with someone about my love/hate relationship with the 80's.
I also had a she-mullet (or femullet as we refer to them here in the midwest). I even *GASP*! had a Rat Tail. A. Rat. Tail. ugh! Why my mother let me out of the house, I'll never know...I also had horrid fasion sense.
I still have happy memories of my rainbow striped leg warmers. and rainbow striped toe-socks. There was lot's of rainbow going on in my life.

I also tried the whole Flashdance/Karate Kid hybrid fashion. With lots of black and white and off-shoulder sweatshirts with bandanas in my hair or worn around the neck. And, of course - leg warmers. :)

Thanks for letting me know I was not the only one....

Oh, dude. THANK YOU. That bday party shot made me laugh out loud. Actually, it was the commentary that made me laugh out loud.

Also, that ballet poster? Don't speak ill of it. I LOVED it. Loved it. Never had one but still. It's in the opening scene of Sixteen Candles in Samantha's room. What could have been cooler than Molly Ringwald, I ask you?

Come to think of it, I should get one of those posters now. Today. As a grownup who is not a ballet dancer.

I LOVE legwarmers - and still have the same pair I wore to highschool back in the early 80's. I still wear them - but under my jeans so that no one but me knows about their comfy-goodness! I made my daughter a pair for Christmas last year and they were a big hit - so easy for her to wear in the mornings on the way to school and whip off when she gets hot. Bring back legwarmers! (ok, I'm a total goof! But I am a self-realized goof!)

Your book came in the mail today (hooray, Amazon). Now I can enjoy a little crazy aunt purl whenever I want (reads well on the subway when sitting next to crazy-but-friendly subway guy). I'm telling all my knitting friends to get a copy. :-)

I remember leg warmers fondly. My oh-I-look-so-hot outfit was jeans with cowboy boots and then the leg warmers over the cowboy boots (like that's effective and all.) Of course you had to have the v-neck sweater on as well to show off almost there breasts... Thankfully I go by the if you remember the fad from the first time, you shouldn't wear it again credo, so no matter how much I want them I'll just say no!

I love the 80's picture! How classic. I wish I had been born just a little sooner cuz I just missed the chance to dress up like that.
P.S. You looked great at the birthday party, like you were having an awesome time.

I am so happy one of ya'll mentioned David Bowie in Labyrinth I loved him even after my mom told me that he was older than her....No leg warmers for me slouch socks two different colors and done in opposite order over jeans or with tight rolls and keds... ahhhhhhhh.

Bowie in Labyrinth - - awesome! :-)

Okay, your confessions about the ballet poster made me remember my obsession with a book called Maggie Adams, Dancer by Karen Strickler Dean. She had another book that I LOVED, too. LOVED IT. I was a total ballerina wannabe. Thanks, Laurie, again, for a fabulous trip down scary legwarmer lined memory lane.

I am definitely in the 80's nostalgic spectrum. I so wish the big shapless coats, worn with a denim jacket underneath and big pins would come back. It was such an awsome look. I also love the leg warmers look. Maybe my New Year's resolution is to bring that 80's, Adam Ant/The Cure/Depeche Mode look back! Want to join me?

This is totally unrelated to legwarmers...but, this morning I saw an ad for DKNY boots with a S T R E T C H Y back...they are available at Bloomingdale's ... and probably everywhere else...those might be fun on your magical book tour!!

Today, I helped with a career expo at the college where I work. We had lots of 12th graders attending, of course. Guess what I saw... Yep, CAP ! THE SIDE PONYTAIL IS DEFINITELY BACK. Congrats. I'm so proud for you. ; ) I'm also seeing a lot more of the ripped jeans, knees out. Will acid wash be far behind ? (We're usually behind the times here in Nawth Missip. What's 'the scene' in L.A. ???)

Lynne S.: I, too, had the "pixie boots" (Cuffed? Yes; Teensie width, but 1 inch high, heels: HELL yeah), worn with (Ack !) knit (Ack ! Ack !) stirrup pants OR pants kept in by using those garter thingies that look a lot like the straps you can buy to keep the fitted sheets on your mattress. My boots were gray suede and bought at a Thom McCann's in the local mall. My grandmother paid $30 for them (which was a LOT for her). Baby sis (then 8 or 9 years old) was given a red jacket with lots of zippers, a la Michael Jackson. (Ack ! Ack ! Aaaaaaaaaaaack !)

Oh, and I'm seeing BANANA CLIPS with frequency again.

I loved The Stray Cats with a passion. And Duran Duran. And Huey Lewis. And .38 Special. And Love & Rockets. Is that wrong ?

Adam Ant? ADAM ANT? You're killing me Laurie. I haven't thought of Adam Ant in about 20 years, and now I'm going to have "Dog Eat Dog" stuck in my head all day! AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH! I'm DYING!!!

Though, I gotta admit, there was a day when I thought leg warmers were sexy. It was a long time ago, but there it is...

Remember Square Pegs? Fame?

ahhh...

Ah yes, the legwarmer. I had a pair of grey ones, but alas my legs are big too so I would wear them with my tight jeans and capezios so my legs would appear thinner. What's scary is how I thought i was fat and now only PRAY to be twice that size today! I *could* knit leg warmers for Baby Girl, it's a thought.......

You're coming to Katy Texas?! Katy, and not DALL-ASS? So I don't get to see your bad-ass-edness?! Your fave cyber-stalker wants to see you on your book tour!! I would go to Katy, all 6 hours by car, but I'm leaving for the Great White North (aka Montreal, Quebec) for a job interview the next day, so it's just not doable. :( I shall be very sad. Bug your agent to set you up in Dall-ass on the next run, okay? I'll even go to (shudder) Fort Worth if I must.

Seriously, I WILL miss seeing you, but I hope your book tour is THE best. You've earned it! I'm just sorry I'll me missing out.

Warm wishes!
April

P.S. Really, try for Dall-ass some other time!

I wore legwarmers in the 70's - 80's 'cause it was cold . . . made it easier when they came in style. I would definitely wear them again. Who cares about skinny legs?

This is legwarmer-unrelated, but you'll want to see it (involves yarn):
http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2007/09/carry-your-pupp.html

Poor POOR puppehs ! They looks sooooo sad.

Ugh.

Call me crazy, but, I kinda dig the leg warmers!

We have had many discussions about legwarmers at our knitting club and the general 'rule' fdor anything retro is that if you did it the first time round don't do it the second! Maybe just wear them at home...

Oh my God! You do make me laugh. Leg warmers were the best. Thanks for the chuckle and I am actually thinking of picking up the sweater I started back in 1990, it is still on the needles. Oh my.