Fall Fashion Must Haves « organized chaos

Fall Fashion Must Haves

August 21, 2007

I haven’t really seen a whole heck of a lot of magazine headlines that piqued my interest of late. But my friend from work, you know who you are, jogged a memory that had apparently fallen through one of the swiss cheese holes that is my brain, and I thanked her profusely for completing me through a cherished memory.

Before I tell you what that memory was, let me say that I then noticed one headline that boasted 347 Fall Fashions, and I wondered, “Are there really? Three hundred and forty seven of them?”

Amazing.

But let’s do this the Carrie way, shall we? I immediately thought of some of my “must haves” for when I would start school again in the fall. And we didn’t have the cold hard cash that all the cool kids had. So some of these were just wishes. And some of them I got, finally, but only when they were sadly out of fashion.

Carrie’s Must Have Fall Fashions From Roughly 1986-1990

Hypercolor. You know, the shirts that turn color with your body heat. That way everyone could grab you in inappropriate places and the whole school would know. Charming.

Blue eye shadow. My mother was a big fan. So was Cyndi Lauper. Which by the way, I played in this little skit we did in the 3rd grade, where everyone was one of the singers in “We Are The World” and we lip synced to it. Except my teacher, bless her heart, wasn’t rad enough to spell it right. And I was all about the correct spelling of my favorite singer. Oh, I argued with her. It was a serious offense to spell my Girl’s name ‘Cindy Loper’. Mortifying. But I rocked it out anyway.

Parachute Pants. Man, did I want a pair of these something fierce. I dreamed about these things. If I had just had a pair of these, maybe that really cute boy named Brent would’ve talked to me. Because every boy dreams about a girl with bright yellow pants that swished as you walked down the hall, right?

No, Lea Thompson was not a must have fashion accessory. But I was all about my favorite hair tool. The Crimper. Unfortunately, I didn’t come remotely close to the coolness that is Lea Thompson in the 80’s, but I did try to crimp my Barbie’s hair once, and burned it off. It smelled really gross.

And to hold that crimp in my stringy thin hair, I always made sure to use plenty of Rave. Looking at this can of sticky goodness, I can almost smell it. It’s the smell that takes me back to good hairstyles gone bad after a windy bus ride on picture day. It takes me back to the day I wore pig tails with thick rope ribbons and a black and white skirt, purple leather jacket, and blue pantyhose. Oh and jelly shoes. Because without the jelly shoes, you cannot do the 80’s dance.

Guess Jeans. I truly believe deep down in my heart that had I a pair of Guess Jeans in my possession that I could’ve been voted Favorite Girl in my 7th grade class. And maybe, just maybe someone would’ve picked me for square dancing at P.E.

And speaking of jeans

I give you the Tight Roll. The reason for my existence every morning for several years. The reason for my sweat and anxiety every morning before school when it just wouldn’t roll right. The reason for my triumph when it rolled perfect and looked hot. The reason for my vomit to get stuck in my throat when I think about how absolutely idiotic it looks now in all my pictures.

I didn’t know this was how stirrup pants worked. They look nice on this chick. Maybe it was because I was pushing 5′11″ by the 9th grade and they would always try to slip off my hips, looking much like a pair of chopsticks with weird triangular shaped fabric stretched too far up the length. So I remedied the situation by cutting off the straps at the bottom. Then I had those little tabs sticking out on either side of my ankle, and I was good to go.

Now this girl has some skinny legs. But I assure you, mine were skinnier. So much so, that the leg warmers were always too big for me. Like someone had stretched them out before-hand as a sick joke. But I still wore them. Usually with some kind of skirt with fringe and a sweatshirt my mom made with strips of felt attached to the shoulders that resembled pom poms.

So I hope you’ve gotten a few fashion tips for this fall. I hope you remember your early school days without gagging or inhaling your coffee up your nose as you type. Because fashion can be funny. As long as you burn the incriminating evidence, or at the very least hide them in a safe, so you can pretend it looked good on you via your warped memory.

And if you’re looking for Letters From Your Friendly Cashier, scroll down.

Entry Filed under: Headlines: My Way, other decades. .

12 Comments Add your own

1. appleleaf | August 21, 2007 at 4:24 pm

Thanks for that trip down Memory Lane. High School in the ’80s. Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album. George Michael and “Careless Whisper.” And as you reminded me, Cyndi Lauper, “Time after Time”. I had stirrup pants and those jeans with the panels down the front. I remember putting in a day at school to get home and watch “Family Ties”, going wild over Michael J. Fox. And the hairstyles of that decade, like we’d poked our fingers into power points. The boys with their mullets and tight, tight jeans that they’d have to pour themselves into. On the whole, it was a pretty painful time and I’m glad to have arrived in the 21st century.
Blessings,
Paula
P.S. Those bedroom shots look a bit like my kids’ “after” shots too. If you can see the carpet, it’s good enough. We just get too tired to make them do it thoroughly.
2. Cindy | August 21, 2007 at 7:05 pm

I, too, knew my life would be changed in huge ways IF ONLY I had a pair of Guess jeans. But alas, I was destined to wear cheaper versions. Jordache and Gloria Vanderbilt had nothing on Guess.
3. Jenny | August 22, 2007 at 3:39 am

Ah the memories. I had a pair of stirrup pants. Some of our local fashion fads also included the V-neck shaker sweaters worn backwards & suspenders dangling around ones backside rather than over the shoulders. I was so geeky that I never even tried to look cool besides my tight rolled LEE jeans. Yes, lee brand from Farm and Fleet.
4. Sunydazy | August 22, 2007 at 6:11 am

Funny memories!
It’s remotely possible that i am a little bit older than you (just a smidge) But I wore many of the same things….My hair was frozen in place with Stiff Stuff and I had stirrup pants and leg warmers…I was so proud of my pinstripe jeans, twister beads and jellies….sigh…

I like the after pics of your kiddoes rooms. Sometimes i am so happy that we can see the floor and they obviously put a lot of work into getting it that good. I just don’t want to have to explain my philosophy to my perfectionist mother.

BTW I love the idea of them taking pics…then you never have to venture there..
5. Hallie | August 22, 2007 at 9:19 am

Ok, I have almost an entire blog post written about this very thing, but yours is way funnier! And let me just say, the most humiliating moment for me is thinking about myself and twelve other friends- guys and girls- wearing identical parachute pants, paired with matching concert tees, (you remember, the ones with three quarter length black sleeves) and mile high hair at a Van Halen concert. What a sight!

We ought to host a ‘dare you to post your 80’s picture day’ Oh wait a minute, I guess that means I would be obliged to post mine too. Never mind.

I’m off to read all your posts I have been missing. We started school this week. I’m already behind. Not a good indicator for how the rest of the year will go.
6. skdenfeld | August 22, 2007 at 10:58 am

Hi Carrie-
Super fun post. I remember all those things so well. I can see the neon shoelaces, the converse sneakers, the parachute pants (with a bandana tied around one leg) like it was yesterday. Oh and then there was the Aqua Net and crimping. You could lift my entire head of hair at once by attempting to grab a strand at the bottom. It is amazing any of us survived without combusting.

Thanks for the laugh!
7. Damselfly | August 23, 2007 at 8:57 am

Hysterical! I forgot about those thermal clothes — but unfortunately did not forget the stirrup pants or the hair crimping….
8. Some Things That Look Gro&hellip | August 23, 2007 at 11:39 pm

[...] true that your taste buds mature as you do. For instance, I never thought I’d wear jeans that weren’t tight rolled, but surprise! surprise! the bottoms of all my pants are a-flappin’ in the wind these [...]
9. eakrabel | August 24, 2007 at 7:58 am

How funny! I also never had guess jeans–I suffered with Jenny and the Lee jeans from Farm & Fleet. I also remember twister beads, banana clips and huge shirts over my stirrup pants with a big belt around my waist. Horrid!
10. CrossView | October 10, 2007 at 8:58 am

I really miss the big hair days.
But only because I will always have big hair and that seems to be the only time I was fashionably coiffed.
=P
11. Lea Thompson » Fall&hellip | October 16, 2007 at 9:04 pm

[...] Read the rest of this great post here [...]
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