1980’s Vintage Dress Over 40
It is hard for me to wrap my brain around the idea that 1980’s clothing is considered vintage. I’m a kid of the 80’s. Well, 70’s and 80’s if you want to get picky but it is the 80’s that I remember with great fondness. Big hair, tight jeans and bopping around town in my 1965 cherry red Karmann Ghia convertible.
{sigh}
Those were the days.
This sweet little colourful windowpane dress from the 80’s transported me back in time.
You’ve heard of Hot Tub Time Machine? Clothes are my time machine.
The dress is a titch tight on me and my curvy hips, otherwise, I’d be tempted to keep it.
I’ve just listed it for sale at VintagebySuzanne on Etsy.
The little rose is detachable, but so wonderfully retro I wore it with.
This dress easily transitions into 2016 with a beret and some red heels. There are so many colours in the dress the accessory possibilities are endless.
There are lots of things I miss about the 80’s.
Video stores.
Head Banger concerts.
Bush parties.
Trivial Pursuit.
The lack of computers, mobile phones, internet and social media.
The world at my feet.
My youth.
What don’t I miss about the 80’s?
Tight jeans, the Rubik’s cube ( I never did manage to crack that), perms, fanny packs, shoulder pads, my boyfriend’s waterbed.
Yes, the idea of a waterbed was super sexy, but when one has too much to drink it becomes an endless agonising boat ride on an angry sea. Many a night was spent with one leg planted firmly on the floor and the rest of me uncomfortably stuck between the rubber liner and the wooden frame. The silk sheets always managed to slip off. That’s what they don’t tell you about silk sheets. They’re so slippery they don’t like to stay on the bed.
I haven’t let go of the 80’s.
I will freely admit I continue to use the words, NOT, psyche, totally and awesome. You can take a gal out of the 80’s…but you can’t take the 80’s out of my vocabulary.
My style hasn’t remained in the 1980’s.
My hair is straight and flat and although my jeans may be a little tight lately, I have no need to lay on the floor while they are still damp to squeeze myself into them, nor do I need to use a wire clothes hanger to pull up the zipper. Just the thought of that makes me cringe.
What about you? Do you miss anything from the 80’s?
I’m back from my mini vacation where I had a chance to catch up with family as well as the mischievous Melanie & Sue. All kinds of shenanigans ensued.
Stay tuned…there may be incriminating video evidence…
What a great dress!
Very 80’s but so easily accessorised into the 20teens.
I miss:
o Dialing the phone with your finger and a rotating dial.
o Saturday night TV (it used to be good).
o Daydreaming about being a famous ballet dancer.
o Taping songs from the radio (onto a dodgy tape-deck) then pressing pause to wait for the next.
o Perfect skin
XXX
Samantha
http://www.fakefabulous.com
XX
Whoa, Suzanne, that dress is awesome (’80s evidence for ya). I love those photos. The beret and sunglasses with it take it to a whole new level.
Ah, yes, the eighties. The movie Working Girl with Harrison Ford and Melanie Griffith kind of sum up that decade for me. Expo in Vancouver, uni, travel. Unfortunate choices in boyfriends. Yesh. They were a blast. Hahaha!
I will never see the ’80s as vintage, NEVER! HAHAHA.
Oh yes, we’ll have some evidence coming right up. Heh.
🙂 I don’t miss Rubic’s cube either, nor do I miss the super tight jeans.
I needed a comb to be able to close the zipper of mine 😀
But somehow I preferred the big hair over the super sleek. I still tell my hair dresser to add a little bit of volume 😀
Great dress and nice styling, as always, dear Suzanne!
Have a very HAPPY weekend xo 🙂
Welcome back Suzanne!! Hopefully you’ll share some of your fun and antics with us later!!
Can I tell you how much I’m still in the 80’s? Just the fact that I don’t realize this dress is from the 80’s—it looks like a normal dress to me!
The one thing I truly miss from this time, is that I didn’t need a perm—and my hairstyle looked in vogue!
jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
ps—just for that fact, I should buy a flat iron, huh?
Ah the 80s, a decade that divides people over whether it was good or bad taste! I think there are some things best left in that decade, yes, but there were some good films (Back to the Future), some good music (The Cure) and I did like the 80s does 50s fashion. I think that dress is cute, but if it doesn’t fit properly then yes send it out into the universe! x
Ah, the 80’s… Yes, there are things I miss: the music, my youthful dreams… And it was the only time in my life when I always had the perfect hair: no need to do anything, my wash-and-go big hair was bang on trend… Times have changed, my (naturally curly) hair hasn’t: when I see myself in the bathroom mirror in the morning, my sleepy brain thinks I’ve been transported back to 1985…
The music!!! Oh, the music. It was a wonderful period of exploration and experimentation. Music and make-up and hairspray, and discovering the notion of wearing my corset as outerwear. All hail Madge. By the by, I’d never before heard of using a hanger to help a zipper. Does it really work????
https://sheelagoh.com/2016/08/19/camopalooza-a-link-up/
The tighter the better so, yes, unfortunately a hanger did work. Lie down on the bed and slip the hanger through the zipper hole, suck in your stomach and pull with all your might.
Oh, and you needed a friend to pull you up into a sitting position. I remember walking into school bathrooms and seeing girls lying on their backs on the floor (yuck) trying to get their pants back on.
You look like a model in an Eaton’s catalogue from the ’80s, super!! A classy little dress, but too bad it’s a tad tight.
I still like my jeans tight or slim, but now they’re stretchy, so no more lying on the floor to zip them up while they’re still damp and they are actually comfortable!
❤️carmen
https://fashionableover50.wordpress.com
Great dress! I actually wouldn’t have been able to tell that it’s from the 80s…
What do I miss from the 80s? The music. Whenever I hear an 80s song, it brings me right back to that time. My youth in the sense that everything seemed possible. The big hair, not in the sense that I would like to have it now, but just because it was so insane… 🙂
I never figured out a Rubic’s cube, either, but I spent several study hour class periods timing the super smart kid on his quest to solve it faster and faster. I still listen to 80s heavy metal/head banger music, much to the dismay of my kids. I don’t miss how naively stupid I was, though.
I wish I still had those awesome Candie’s platforms from one Homecoming dance. They rocked!
I just saw the video Melanie posted about your trip – it was totally awesome and rad and far out! (Okay, I may be mixing the decades a bit, but I’ve lived them all.) This dress is lovely, and looks current with its neat, trim shape. I love the way you’ve added the cat’s-eye glasses and beret – mixing the decades, and very chic!
I enjoyed the ’80s – lots of partying and dancing and experimenting, shall we say. Sometimes I look back and think how lucky I am not to have injured myself in any way!
This dress is totally rad! ( what decade was that from?) Seriously, I love it, and hope you keep it, The beret changes the vibe, and with the shoe, makes the outfit very much on point.
I am glad perms are gone, but I will admit I just bought a dress with,
i know i know, shoulder pads…. ( a new one) and I love it.
But I hate seeing my clothes from that era..
my favorite songs are still from then, and I own few pieces of clothing still from that decade that I still treasure,
I spent the eighties a tad differently..All work and no play, getting married, ( okay a bit of play there) and then having kids..
I like this decade so much more!
Great post!
xx, Elle
http://www.theellediaries.com/
I love this dress! xxx
stylentonic.com
Whaddya mean? It’s NOT the 1980s? I’ve seen Cyndi Lauper, Paul Young, Midge Ure and ZZ Top already this Summer and ABC are headlining the festival I’m working this weekend! I still wear the same Barry M nail paint (in blue) and shade of neon pink lipstick I discovered in 1983, hang out with the same friends and drive about in a 1980s VW Campervan!
I started wearing vintage in the 1980s as I loathed the clothes available in the shops although I’m less of a hater now. I can’t get my hands on enough bum bags, sequinned bustiers, silk bomber jackets, high waisted jeans, over-sized silk shirts and fringed cowboy boots, they sell out as soon as I stick them on my rails.
You’ve done a great job proving that 1980s fashion can be fabulous and bang up to date. xxx
I defenitely miss the music and walking around depressed in black listening to The Cure! I still listen( and go to their concerts) to The Cure and love to wear black but I’m not depressed anymore! Hahaha. You look gorgious in that dress, but then you look gorgious in anything!
I miss the music so much. WHFS!!!! I now love listening to Alt Nation on Sirius. Concerts galore, cute boys, summer vacation, driving aimlessly trying to find “the spot” for the night, house parties, my awesome turquoise fringe jacket, my Frye saddlebag shoulder bag, having my mother’s closet at my disposal. She dressed fantastic and up-to-date so I dressed much classier in high school than I have since.
I don’t miss not having my own car, dressing out for gym, my insanely stupid choices – although they lasted through the 90s as well. Ski jackets, corduroys, jellies, candies slides, I could go on and on.
I guess your meeting(s) were very nice! Telling from the picture, wow, so nice! I didn’t know about pulling a zipper with metal, those ones must have been tight, but I liked to read about it – wee always learn something everyday, especially about the 80s. I can’t remember much any girls’ outfit from the 80s, maybe 3, but as I was little, I didn’t have shoulder pads or big hair.I do remember the millenium better, but I have something about music from the 50s to the 80s – I simply love these decades music! I loved your dress with the flower, and the beret – it is so beautiful and feminine! You look really beautiful and I love reading your stories! The water bed was so funny! I wish you a beautiful week! Bisous!
DenisesPlanet.com
What do I miss mist about the 80s? My toys?
I don’t miss shoulder pads; suffering perms in order to have big hair; difficulties contacting people who didn’t have answering machines (if only email and text were around then); I do miss the music – Eurythmics… our time living in the States and travelling…being in my early thirties…but I have to say that today is pretty brilliant too. xx
I really like this dress. Too bad it is a little too tight. I am looking forward to hear all the mischief you three have been up to. Saw the video at Mel’s… big grin.
And I don’t miss anything from the 80ies. Apart from perfect skin and the ability to dress with bare arms..
Never saw it coming, which is why I didn’t enjoy it enough. Just took it for granted.
Greetje
Well since we’re pretyy much soul sisters in the way we think, my list of 80’s mis and don’t miss are pretty much the same. Definetly do not miss the big perm hair style, thats for sure or the heavy duty makeup or the shoulder pads. As for the tech stuff, at times I long for the days of being disconnected but then I wouldn’t have met you and a whole lot of other fun women. We just need to be able to discipline ourselves better, right? Last week I jumped in the truck heading for our Powel trip and after 4 hours realized I had left both my camera and computer sitting on my bed. Seriously one of the best weeks I’ve had in a loooong time. I colored for hours in my coloring book, read 3 books, played old fashion card games with family and just enjoyed every moment.
I miss the music most of all – I was working in record stores (remember those?) and was so tuned in to all the music coming out during that decade. I miss going to the clubs and dancing to The Cure, Bauhaus, The Smiths, Psychedelic Furs and the Cult.
I still have some 80’s big-shouldered pieces that I love, and a beautiful silk patterned bomber jacket from Daniel Hechter (remember that brand?).
I picked up a few vintage Daniel Hechter pieces recently.