Embracing the 80s

Then........

Now.......

Everywhere I look these days, I see 80s fashion coming back to life. The ruffled and appliqued sweaters of my grade school yearbook photos have morphed into delicate cardigans with sewn on lace and beaded boutonnieres. The patterned stretch and stirrup pants that housed my scrawny chicken legs now manifest themselves in jeggings, leggings and patterned hose into which I willingly squeeze my ever-expanding thighs. I find myself wasting whole lunch hours lusting after incalculable amounts of patterned tunics, asymmetrical necklines, and neon colored tops. What gives?

When I look around at the Paula Abdul-esque sprites scampering through my junior high's hallways, I have to wonder: am I really opening my arms to the 80s revival trends because they are back en vogue, or am I just trying to recapture the carefree attitude and devilish sass I possessed when I first wore those trends? Becoming an adult has domesticated my fashion sensibilities (or lack thereof) in countless ways. My necklines have risen, my wrists have de-bangled, and my color palette has dulled. I've become productive, practical and prudish. I now see my sense of style as a way to communicate to the world that I am to be listened to, counted on, and heeded. I miss they days when I could use my sense of style to experiment.

If you had told me five years ago that I'd routinely be wearing leggings to work, I would have laughed. Now, every time I pull those leggings and drapey tops on, I'm thrilled. It's like wearing comfortable yoga pants to work! No ironing! I can play with patterns and colors in a way I haven't since I wore my Spice Girls CD out dancing in my bedroom. Wearing these trends not only lets me recapture some of my youth, it gives me a springboard to play with my clothes the way I did long ago. Is the fashion world trying to reach out to us newly minted adults with their 80s nostalgia, or have we hopped on the bandwagon along with the teenyboppers because we secretly long for those years?

Thoughts