Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ll probably notice in the last few years how many styles from the early 1980s have reemerged their ugly heads. But before you get too excited and pull out those neon socks, take caution that not every single style will suit you the second time around. Just because you rocked it in 1983 doesn’t mean you have an excuse to drag it out of that dusty suitcase.
Bringing out a bubble skirt if you’ve packed on 40 pounds in the last 20 years is just as unwise an idea as pulling out your old red Michael Jackson jacket. In other words, it’s in extremely bad taste. Use some good ol’ common ‘fashion’ sense and recognize that you don’t have to stay on top of every single trend.
If you are eager however, to pull out those tights, leg warmers and other 80s signature styles, there are several ways you can wear them for an old style new fashioned twist.
If there were ever a piece of clothing that returned more than 20 years later with a vengeance, it is the legging. It returned in a multitude of colors and lengths. Consider it one of the current days most multifunctional staple garments in a woman’s wardrobe. Do we have Lindsey Lohan to thank? Not every body type can sport these tights but Lord knows every body type has tried. Every day someone somewhere tries to break a much known fashion rule, but some rules are not meant to be broken.
Here’s the first: if you’re not heading off to the gym, under no circumstances should you expose your back side in all its perky glory. Cover your rump with a mini skirt, a long shirt or off the shoulder sweater with a sexy belt. This will bring out your curves the right way without being too overt. The last thing you want is your photographed rear end as a big ‘DON’T’ on the back pages of Glamour magazine.
Another fashion faux pas, is wearing leggings with shorts, Capri’s or any other sort of pant type piece of clothing. Unless it’s the middle of winter and you’re trying to add an extra layer of skin to stay warm, remember that leggings already have a crotch so please don’t add another!
80’s fashion comeback number 2: The leg warmer- It was bound to resurface at one point or another, but what better introduction than with the legging. Flash Dance brought out the dancer in all of us as we watched Irene Cara strut her stuff in her sexy legwarmers and heels. To this day, Dancing with the Stars celebrities are some of the many leg warmer wearers but should this look be reserved only for dancers and little girls? Some celebrities would beg to differ. Keeping the trend fresh and sexy, Rhianna pulls hers up to reTsemble a pair of knee high socks giving these traditionally scrunched down leg warmers a more mature adult look.
A style should never look like it’s “trying to be pulled off” it should merely just be pulled off! Once there is too much effort involved it no longer appears natural and doesn’t work. When the skinny jean first came back a couple of years ago, it creeped in from the 80s with a bit of hesitation; once it was seen on runways and movie stars, teens and women in their 20s and 30s embraced it with a passion. But the style was not suited for everyone.
While daring to be different is fun and exciting, women have to consider their body type. The skinny jean is a style that tends to suit taller, leaner women with proportionately longer legs. This doesn’t mean a shorter, heavier frame won’t suit it but bare in mind that skinny jeans tighten at the ankle giving a semi stubby appearance if you’re already short. If you’re not that tall but love the skinny jean, go for a darker wash which will lengthen the leg and minimize your size. Anything too light will only draw attention to what you’re trying to hide.
The biggest mistake with the skinny jean however, is not the jean itself, it’s the shoes. Perhaps the biggest challenge for most women, who spent 80 dollars on this new trend, was to discover they had no shoes to go with it. The ballet flat and stiletto are by far the two best friends to the skinny jean but its biggest enemy is the running shoe. Do not, and I repeat do not wear a running shoe or sneaker with this sort of jean cut. It will only shorten your length and make your feet resemble two knobs on the end of a table leg.
So go ahead, rummage through your closet and pull out those 80s tights, leg warmers and skinny jeans but don’t be too hasty to throw your current wardrobe. Whatever you’re wearing right now in this very moment, will more than likely resurface in the next 20 years so think of yourself as ahead of the times. And by all means, toss out those neon socks. That’s one page in the fashion history books one hopes to remain closed.
