It's an 80s thing. Members only.

The spirit of letting your emotions out without cringe while wearing big hair, sequins and neon!

Jesus Christ, did Starship sucked. How do you go from Jefferson Airplane to this dreck?

I hate you OP, now that awful earbug is stuck in my head.

I'm a pair of E.G.'s

Z Cavaricci

I'm a Gotcha flag. SHRED!

soft drink of the decade

Acid wash

French braids

Liza Minnelli attempting to become a hep pop star.

Competitive aerobics.

R2, shut up! Starship BUILT THIS CITY with ROCK AND ROLL

Chams De Baron

Wow r10, I've never seen that before, I guess that was the basis for the infamous Key & Peele episode

R13 Why infamous?

Women with short, Vidal Sassoon haircuts with headbands and gold, leafed-shaped earrings.

ON TV cable

Thinking that almost every single song I heard on the radio specifically pertained to my life - or. At least became part of the soundtrack of my life …I’ve got two tickets to paradise!!

Members Only was more of a late 70s thing.

VERY much an early 80's thing too, r18

Parachute pants, synth bass in pop songs, Just say no campaign

Great song from Starship!

Lean, hot, muscular hair metal musicians with pouty lips and spandex-enhanced bulges.

the three (or four) A's: Aerobics, AIDS, and AA.

Hairspray!

Over-dyed jeans. I see no reason why this trend can't come back.

JAKPAC! jackets (and their knock-offs).

Not only were they reversible (inside panel wasn't as busy/colorful), they could be turned inside-out from the collar and converted into a drawstring bag. I don't recall ever doing actually doing that with my Jakpacs (I had two)...but I thought it was cool that you could. Technically, they were unisex, but my recollection is that girls wore them more than guys.

Girbaud!

Lisa Whelchel sporting a Jacpak, circa 1982:

I don't remember those Jakpaks at all. Except for the colors, they look modern, to me. If you made it all black or khaki-colored, you could wear it today.

Awesome fashion !

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).

Op, that represents the worst part of the era. Bad music, matronly hair, clothing and makeup.

The last carefree gay orgies in Middle America in early 1984.

🎶 Hands across Americaaaaaaa 🎶

[quote] Op, that represents the worst part of the era. Bad music, matronly hair, clothing and makeup.

What were the parts you liked? The carefree sex in bath houses? The wonderful people in the White House and #10 Downing Street?

O'Gradys potato chips were the best chips I ever had. They stopped making them in the late 80s.

Hate, Hate, HATE the shoulder pads.

“Going Punk”

Cocaine in little brown vials with a black screw top.

Two divine words...Perry Ellis.

Smurfs

Preppies and The Preppy Handbook.

Dolfin Shorts

And the two-tones:

Ooh-la-la, Sasson!

Esprit sweaters.

Dianne Brill and seeing her in party shots in Details Magazine.

DURAN2

You've got the look I want to know better ...

Uh-oh, Sergio!

Ya want the '80s, OP? I'll give ya the '80s...

FRANKIE SAYS RELAX

so VERY much hair

Bea Arthur

I remember the iconic designer perfumes and the iconic ad campaigns. Especially YSL Opium. Here's a link to the 86 ad, which to my mind was the very HEIGHT of glamour and sophistication.

the Roches

Also, hearing Gordon Gekko's line "Greed...is good" in "Wall Street" and people being shocked and scandalized by that kind of thing being said out loud in a movie.

Ah, the smell of it!

What is the proper name for this 'do?

The Proscenium?

The Met Curtain?

Obsession smells good, even today. Great advertisement. Memorable

Working Girl definitely belongs in this thread.

The Cock Sock from International Male. It kept your cock warm just in case someone would come over to suck it. It was one of the gayest things in The 80s.

Linda Evans' hair, I'd call it a hybrid of Farrah (up top) and long, corporate bob (down below). Ugly! It's like a mullet.

Body Fuzion

Please give me an International Male coffee table book

me, bitches

I grew up in the Midwest and, to my mind, all jobs that took place in New York City ("Working Girl," "Baby Boom," "Secret of My Success" etc) were the same job.

R45 R49 This thread is about 80s, not 70s

The resurgence of Gumby (and Pokey), thanks in large part to Eddie Murphy's hilarious SNL parody. I had one of these:

A star is born and a star is revitalized...

The Greatest American Hero

One of the best premises for a series, ever. (not to mention, theme songs)

The Facts of Life!

Polo and Drakkar Noir

Mall culture really hit its apex in the 1980s. I still have fond memories!

All things Pee Wee!

You could dance if ya wanted.

Le Car and K-car

Collars flipped up on Polo shirts. Gherri curls. Mtv. Boom boxes. Mopeds. Velcro strap sneakers. Merry Go Round clothing. The "white boy" dance.

Teal and plum

The 1980s in five minutes

R77 ahhhh ... The Renault LeCar

Some of us would still like a tricked-out 80s Renault R5 from whence it came.

I feel like the'80s were something I survived rather than something I enjoyed.

Fine furniture

Fine art

Fire lighting

Vadge, bitches

Freddie

They're probably still around, but the gravity boots fad that came from American Gigolo.

Guess jeans with the little triangle on the back pocket.

White Reebok high tops

We had a whole long thread on here about the United Colors of Benetton, one of the very best things about the 80s.

Benetton never really went away. Only in the U.S. And they were apparently set to launch a comeback here Just before the pandemic, they opened their first "pop up" store in the Santa Monica Place. But the adjacent Third Street Promenade and the Place itself really took a big hit during COVID. Lots of business closures. The whole mall is one big depressed mess. Doubt they stuck around.

WilliWear

R88 That movie was made in 1980 but seemed modern.

[quote]I don't remember those Jakpaks at all. Except for the colors, they look modern, to me. If you made it all black or khaki-colored, you could wear it today.

R29, Maybe they were a California-thing?? A couple of them pop up in VALLEY GIRL.

John Hughes movies

Those LL Bean and/or Lands End 3 season jackets with the black ribbed bottom. They came in every jewel tone color. I think everyone I know had one. Also, field/barn coats were very popular in the late 80’s.

Parachute pants with zippers...

There's a Benneton in Sausalito (SF Bay Area). The weird thing is that you could bargain with the salespeople. Not sure if you still can, though.

Basquiat!!!!!

Ocean Pacific T-shirts.

That said, Patrick Nagel prints really defined 80s decor for me. The graphics, the colors, the framing -- they epitomized everything that was 80s.

Erte prints were also big...

Drunks Against Mad Mothers (DAMM)

IOU sweatshirts with Z. Cavaricci pants.

Norma (linebacker shoulder pads) Kamali

Vince Ferragamo

Go for the burn...

Billy Ocean

Lacoste polos.

Lacoste & Ralph Lauren Polo parody shirts with dead, upside-down alligators & polo players being thrown from their ponies.

Early Atari video games. Learning to use a Joystick. Pac Man. Super Breakout with the weird paddle. Or, my personal favorite, Pitfall.

Learning basic programming with Turtle on an Apple IIc.

Frogger

R70, Best TV night of my week then. Bruce was adorable and brilliantly funny.

Southwestern style furniture in peach and teal.

Nancy Reagan.

Gay men, myself included, were captivated by her. I'm a Democrat who despised her conservatism. Yet, I was fascinated by her.

[quote]Gay men, myself included, were captivated by her

Good lord, r115, speak for yourself...

Rex was the only member with a damn in the Reagan household.

Have we mentioned swatch watches yet?

[quote]Have we mentioned swatch watches yet?

And friendship bracelets!

Blair hair

Wearing sun glasses at night. Head bands. Leg warmers.

99 Luftballons

Whenever I think of that it reminds me of this, r121...

Relax, don't do it...when you want to come!

Walk Like an Egyptian!

Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never going to run around and hurt you...

The Bombastic British Invasion of Broadway: Cats, Starlight Express, Les Miz, Phantom....bigger was better in the excessive eighties.

We're the actors and actresses from the Golden Age, now in our 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s who couldn't get work until we were cast on 'Dynasty', 'Dallas', 'Knots Landing', 'Hotel', 'Falcon Crest', 'Dynasty 2', etc. We had a revival in our careers thanks to the producers of these shows. Publishers rushed to release our hastily written memoirs with our new found fame and fortune, whether we should have or not. Parents and Grandparents had to explain who we are to anyone under 30.

Mr. T

Repo Man

Friday Night Videos!

Tonight's co-hostesses: Mindy Cohn and Kim Fields!

Art of Noise

Fridays

Crinkled shoulder length hair on women and some men.

Ooooooh!!! Good one, R131!! They really were a "Ya'-had-to-be-there" thing. You almost never hear them played on '80s "oldies" stations, and if you do, it's usually their rendition of "Peter Gunn"...which is easily their least strange-sounding song. (and won the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental in 1986)

Tamara, Tamara, they loved you, Tamara...

The young guys weren't afraid to shave

‘Night Flight’ ’ on the USA Network.

Zelda's "Mother"...

When you ask people about 80s music, the first thing that comes to their mind is how awful Jefferson Starship were, yet they have trouble mentioning one good 80s band. Grace Slick and Co somehow managed to retroactively troll an entire generation of Gen X musicians. True Rock ‘n’ Roll rebels.

"Where's the Beef ?" ads from Wendy's

Flipping through a plastic poster rack and being unable to decide between the Guns N' Roses, Def Leppard, Poison or Motley Crue album covers, slotted below in shrink-wrapped tubes.

R139, I love that Grace made lots of money and then told the rock world to fuck off.

I had no idea who Lee Iacocca was, but back in the 80s, people seemed to think he had all the answers.

Also...being stuck at home on Labor Day and not a damned thing on television but the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, which lasted for hours and hours and hours.

R143, Ever heard of the Ford Mustang?

"Lace" - "Which of you bitches is my mother"??

Porn with fabulous bush.

Men wearing Speedos.

Traci Lords

Lean Cuisine

Late Night with David Letterman. How I loved it!

"Hot asshole" movie characters, best portrayed in films by James Spader, Charlie Sheen, and Rob Lowe.

Bo Derek

Stuff I remember wearing in California, as a teen:

Bangles (bracelets)

LA Gear shoes

Camp Beverly Hills t-shirts and sweatshirts

Levi 501 jeans

Skinny ties and vintage cardigans from thrift stores

Vuarnet sunglasses with a strap around your neck

Ray Bans

Big, round plastic frames for your glasses

Long piano scarves

Penny loafers

Sperry Topsiders

I graduated high school in 1987. The 80's were an interesting time to grow up. The things I remember...

Shoulder pads

Colored hair mousse (loved that stuff)

The space shuttle exploding on live tv. One of the teachers from my school was a back up for the mission.

The rise of waffle cones and frozen yogurt places.

Waiting in line for Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi

Watching the Dodgers play on Fox every time there was a game...for free!

Moonlighting/Miami Vice/Night Rider/The Dukes of Hazard/The Love Boat/Fantasy Island

Saturday morning cartoons that were actually good.

Wearing my collar up and my pants tucked into my mini boots with the fold them over style

My family getting a top loading Betamax because they were better quality than VHS

Buying Star Wars as my first movie on Beta

Star Wars toys galore

Playing "Ditch 'em" with the neighborhood kids until the street lights came on

Halloween was walking with a group of kids that were around your age and going from housing track to housing track...no adults involved.

Riding our bikes everywhere

Calling our teachers' houses to say hi

Going to movies with our teachers and feeling very grown up

I'm posting this but seeing this again after it immediately popped into my mind upon reading this thread, brought tears to my eyes ..

Slim Fast

Those caffeine pills you could get from the back of magazines via mail order PLUS Slim Fast

R158 that actually sounds really good, a tempting combo.

A universally excepted 80's thing was that Jefferson Starship had jumped the shark. If you were hip you hated them.

Also, "Members Only" jackets were considered tacky.

Oh, and The Cosby Show was lame.

Dexatrim diet pills. I had a friend from Norway who worked as an au pair for rich people. Eventually, she had to move back to Norway. She asked me to mail her some Dexatrims and some Agree hair conditioner. She said that the Dexatrims were illegal in Norway and the Agree was unavailable. I did mail her some Dexatrims and I was kind of nervous about it.

Every car having a stick up Garfield on the window.

The Price Club (Costco before it was Costco)

Cabbage Patch Kids

Garbage Pail Kids

Asteroids and PacMan at the arcade

Weird Al

This Avedon / Nastassja Kinski / serpent / snake photo.

L'Oréal Studio line

My ex used Dippity Do religiously everyday to achieve that New Wave/NuRo hairstyle, topped off by AquaNet. He swears it's why he went bald.

Tuxedo by Ralph Lauren

The mall. The experience of being in the mall for hours, wandering around with friends, unsupervised by adults, the ambient sound (water fountains, conversation) of the mall, the airiness and the light from all the roof windows, everyone shopping and looking to shop and carrying shopping bags. The uncomfortable, fixed, slippery plastic chairs at the food court and the feeling of sliding around in them. Seeing one of your teachers at the food court smoking alone at a table and feeling briefly sorry for him even though he was an asshole in class. The way your legs ached when you got home, as if you'd just walked a very long distance. Which sometimes we had, because that mall was fucking huge.

I haven't been inside a mall for probably coming up on 20 years.

Oh, the humanity.

Max Headroom

The California Dancing Raisins

R167 The mall was also a 90s thing

Flyers on the bar in 1984, in a long-gone gay club in Richmond VA called Scandals, screaming that AIDS was a hoax perpetuated by the US government to create mass hysteria and hatred in the gay community. And in the same club, the DJ playing a single by some new artist named Madonna, and commenting that she would be a one hit wonder.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High came out in the early '80s and was featured teens working in malls. Malls were very popular in the '80s.

r172 But AIDS did create mass hysteria and hatred against the gay community, did it not? Many of us are not so sure the African monkey virus wasn't purposely introduced in the West either. I know that's off topic, but it needed to be said.

Croissants. The light, buttery. flakey crescent shaped rolls became a trend in the early 80s - probably with Au Bon Pain and competitors opening bakeries everywhere. Then there were the filled croissants - chocolate, almond, cheese, egg and chesse, ham and cheese...who could resist the sweet and savory scents wafting outside the bakery on a street corner or in the mall ? Along with croissants came the espresso , cappucino, and cafe latte drinks to complete your European fantasy vacation in your own neighborhood.

Before the end of the decade, Dunkin Donuts had their own croissants ('the next best thing since donuts!' they said) as did Burger King and McDonalds, not to mention every supermarket across America. DD introduced cappucino, cafe latte, and espresso drinks, too (as did McD's). Croissants are still around but not nearly as popular as they were 40 years ago. European coffee drinks are still around, too, but totally Americanized thanks to DD and McD's.

I was going to say Hypercolor shirts until I realized they came out around 1991. These mini arcade games though? I played the HELL out of them for hours. I had Pacman, Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Junior.

[quote]Croissants. The light, buttery. flakey crescent shaped rolls became a trend in the early 80s - probably with Au Bon Pain and competitors opening bakeries everywhere.

In DC, the best croissants came from Sutton Place Gourmet.

Speaking of croissants, Pepperidge Farms used to have a frozen stuffed croissant (similar to a Hot Pocket). Those were my after school go-to. Mmmmmm.

The Jessica McClintock Gunne Sax / Laura Ashley dress trend that seemed (at times) inspired by Princess Diana and the big collars, full skirts, and wallpaper prints she favored in the early/"virgin bride" period of her marriage.

Your posts on this thread are so good, jeangenie. I'm kind of a fangirl of yours.

My tight virgin butt hole.

Thank you Mall Chick R180 - this thread has me feelin' old!

Yes! Laura Ashley was everywhere. I worked in a cafe in an upscale mall in the early to mid 80s - LA was the tenant across from us (next door to Bennetton). All the sales girls were dressed in that French country print. Women would walk around with their Laura Ashley shopping bags - filled with clothing, lampshades, wallpaper - you name it. When Laura kicked the bucket they hung a black wreath on the door and dressed their windows in black bunting - they were closed for a week 'in mourning'.

Donna Karan came out in the '80s. Different from the Laura Ashley / Jessica McClintock stuff. From these photos, looks like DK put out some nice stuff in the '80s.

Atari 😂

Lacy gloves a la Madonna. Lots of mismatched necklaces and huge, chunky earrings, fishnet leggings.

Television banks on walls in Junior's and Young Men's department of department store playing non-stop music videos all day and night. Little boutique stores did the same thing - trying to get the young buyers in (14 -30). Accessories stores (selling shoes, belts, handbags and costume jewelry ) had the same thing - televisions everywhere, in every display playing music videos. Not big screen TVs (yet) but smaller 19 " televisions.

Cotton Ginny, Au Coton, Northern Reflections.

Renting a James Bond or horror VHS and getting excited as the “United Artists” intro started.

These things

R189, I found the United Artists intro to be terrifying as a kid. I'm not sure why, but it creeped me out.

Same with the HBO/Feature Presentation intro of the same period.

This. I'm not sure why but it seems the essence of the 1980s to me.