Lay off the 80s willya??? (mild, very mild)

The BBQ Pit
1

Inspired by this post

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5717236&postcount=4

But in NO way a slam against SallyCan’tDance Really, you just reminded me of the mindset, that’s all. I see this sort of “bad 80s music/fashion” mentality all over. TLC’s “What Not to Wear” is the most infamous. I mean, come ON, what’s wrong with big hair? HELL of a lot better than “mom hair”, or “let’s cut off any woman’s hair who happens to have it below shoulder length” hair. And what’s up with the “all pants must be straight wide-legged” pants thing?

Okay, so the leggings/leg warmer/cutoff sweatshirt thing was kinda stupid, but there were a LOT of cute things in the 80s. Flattering to the figure too, unlike some of the crap nowadays. I mean, belly shirts and hip huggers? NOT very flattering on most women.

Come ON people, have you looked around at current fashions? Have you listened to “modern” music? (some of it’s good yes, but it’s not like it’s some vast improvement over that of the 80s,)

Okay, fashions first, since they are THE worst. First off, those cement blocks that pass for shoes? PUH lease, oh yeah, the normal pumps with slender high heels were so much worse (NOT). And the clothing? GACK, worked over 70s fashions, only even worse.

Bell bottoms were bad enough in the 70s, so now to add insult to injury, let’s make them out of POLYESTER (blech) and make them all too short, same for those polyester shirts of odd fabric patterns, we DID that, but at least they fit back in the 70s.

And stuff that’s not redone 70s is all boxy and not very flattering. And we won’t even go into the pants made 10 sizes too big and belted around the bottom of young men’s butts, rather than their waists or hips.

Now, music. Oh yeah, peppy danceable stuff is just terrible. But compared to the whiny “complaint rock” of today’s music, or the garbage that is rap (yeah, yeah we KNOW we KNOW there’s “good rap” but they never play it on the radio, and those that try to kill us with the mega bass decibals of their "bouncin’ " stereo systems don’t play the “good” kind either.

So PLAAAAHHH…PHOOOOOEEEEY…PPPPPPFFFFFFFFFtttttttt!!! Take your 80s snobbery, sit on it and spin!!!

2

There was a lot of good music during the 80s. It wasn’t necessarily the stuff topping the charts but it was there.

3

The '80s are the new '70s.

I agree that some of the fashions, music, hair, etc. of the '80s were okay. Some were silly, but some were okay. Some fashions of today are okay, but I do not think the belly shirts or the so-low-it-shows-your-crack pants are flattering. Short hair can be very nice, but there’s this particular current women’s style of short hair that I absolutely despise. Can’t really describe it though, and I think it’s starting to go out of fashion (a little) but I hate hate hate it.

Every decade has something loathesome about it. I also agree about some of the “whiney” music of today.

4

Here’s my guess for the haircut you hate:

The back and sides are maybe an inch, two inches long and messily spiked/touseled all over the place, and there are chunks at the front of the girl’s face that are a lot longer (say, 5 or 6 inches) which are plastered to the sides of her head and “tucked” behind her ears.

I personally despise this haircut, and I’ve seen girls who are pretty except for the fact they have this haircut. This is all IMHO of course, but just yuck.

5

Wear a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Fashios coms and fashions go, but nobody can ever say that you look stupid if that’s what you wear. Since that’s what I usually wear I get to tell everyone else how stupid they look.

The pants that I really hate? The flared ones that are so tight up top that the woman looks like she’s simultaneously bowlegged and walking with a wedgie. How unflattering. And yet somehow that’s the style nowadays. :rolleyes:

6

The 70’s were anti-fashion, at least when it came to hair.

We didn’t cut our hair or ever really comb it. No ‘product’ was put into hair. Just long straight hair for everyone! Whoo-Hoo! We’re not conformists! We’re just the same in our non-conformity.

Then you had disco rear it’s ugly head in the late 70’s the 80’s was a battle between musicains and hair bands or, more simply, good and evil.

7

I’ve noticed that people with that “the '80’s sucked so hard!” tend to be quite young-- born in the '80s. One day I realized that to my kids the’80s are like the '50s are to me.

8

Meh, I was bord in the early 60s, and I despise the 80s. OK, not all of them, but the women’s “poodle” cut, and the men’s “modern sculpture” cut were pretty hideous. Worse even than blow-dried hair and earth shoes, but not so bad as the beehive.

Can’t we just go back to good old conservative sensible long hair, nehru jackets, and skin-tight orange and brown striped pants for men, and mini-skirts and gogo boots for women? Now that was a style we can all live with. Yeah, baby!

9

I loved 80’s fashion. I wish I could still walk around dressed like a pirate.

10

APPLAUSE.

Been doing the jeans and tee-shirt thing for about 35 years. Sometimes a heavier shirt or sweater (it’s pretty cold where I live).

The baggy pant thing has me completly confused. I would be so irritated if I had to constantly use one hand just to hold my pants up. Stupidist thing I think I ever seen, the sideways hat is a close second.

11

There were some good things about the eighties. Then there were the bad things, like massive shoulder pads and ridiculously tapered pleated pants, and acid-wash (although that was more early nineties), and loafers without socks, and the side ponytail and the waterfall bang, and… Gak. Every generation had its fashion mistakes. For some reason, more people are clinging to the mistakes they made in the late eighties and early nineties (big sequined dresses, Flock of Seagulls hair - I could do this for days) than to the mistakes they made in the seventies. I don’t know why, but it’s true.

12

OK, it could have something to do with the fact that I was young and pretty and carefree and just arrived in New York and having the time of my life.

But the bright, candy-colored clothes and makeup and jewelry? The fun, silly, danceable music? A new club opening in NY every week (Limelight! Palladium! Roxy! Tunnel! Surf Club! Heartbreak!)?

The cute young Wall Streeters with their red suspenders, full of money and little me to spend it on?

Good times. Well, except for Reagan, AIDS, crime, drugs, all that stuff.

13

The bright, candy-colored clothes, makeup and jewelry are coming back right now. I don’t agree that current fashions are a rehashing of the '70s - they have been for about five years, but they’re starting to move into the cotton-candy Cindi Lauper '80s right now.

Me, I’m eagerly awaiting a return to the “peacock male” of the swinging '60s. It looks like THAT’S coming back too, if the fashions shown in the Dallas malls are true indicators.

14

bows

I wear baggy pants. The reason why is because I have absolutely monstrous legs so I have to upsize (I have never, ever fit into a pair of 501s). Combine that with my yearly massive weight fluctuations (approximately 3o punds a year in either direction) and I have to get stuff that will fit not just now but a year from now.

15

…Loafers without socks is or once was fasionable? I hate wearing socks with my loafers but a) I’m the only one I know who wears loafers and b) it is a comfort thing - I hate, hate, hate socks on most occasions.

Oh, and I love the '80s fasion, because most of the stuff that people wore then (okay, mostly early to mid '90s) can be found in thrift stores right now. Also, now adays kids can be punks, hippies, bikers, or Cindie boppers depending on their mood. Every day is Halloween!

16

I’m waiting for a return of '30s/'40s/'50s men’s fashions myself. Suits, fedoras, bowling shirts, two-tone shoes, pocket watches, all that good stuff. I’ve got it all now except for the hats.

17

I’m really hoping the big baggy button-down shirts coupled with the loose fitting jeans that actually come up to the waist come back into fashion about the time my daughter hits puberty. Which means we need to hold the 80s off for another six years. Who’s with me?

18

Are you kidding me? :slight_smile: Are you a man, or a woman? Because you apparently missed the whole “Farrah Hair” thing. And the little “sausage curl” (just one curl all along the front and sides of your face.

Watch “That 70s Show” they’ve got some of the girl’s hairstyles nailed dead on. Not Donna, but some of the other characters. Jackie, Lori, some of the cheerleaders and such. All of us aspired to “Farrah” hair.

19

Jeez, I should have come to Eve first before I got all snarky, SHE said what I really meant.

Exactly, it was just Fun, Fun, Fun (except for the not so fun stuff you mentioned).

20

Are we talking about the power mom poof?

A woman on match.com with a PMP sent a virtual wink to me last night. She seems allright, but the hair is a dealbreaker.