Women at Forty™ » 80′s

Five for Friday: Fashion Forward or Faux Pas?

editor — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 04:13:47 +0000

The 80’s were big – really big. Big jewelry, big hair, big shoulder pads. Here’s a look at five styles that were all the rage in the 80’s.

1. Tshirts with Blazers and loafers without socks – Thanks to Miami Vice detectives Sonny Crockett and Rico Tubbs, high school boys in the 80’s felt comfortable rocking the Thsirt with blazer, no socks look in the latter part of the decade. Miami Vice changed the way people watched TV and ushered in an era where television began to appeal to a younger, more vibrant audience.

2. Leg Warmers – Thanks to movies like Fame and Flashdance, and Jane Fonda’s workout videos legwarmers became staples in the 80’s and were worn with leggings, jeans or tights.

3. Shoulder Pads – Alexis and Krystal rocked them almost every week on Dynasty, but huge shoulder pads weren’t relegated to prime time divas. Unfortunately I’ve unearthed several pictures of my 16 year old self wearing shoulder pads that could rival those of a linebacker.

4. Jheri Curls – If there was ever a trend to look back and ask “why?!?” this one was it – and I know of what I speak. I rocked a head of massive curls for a good part of the decade. That’s one picture you won’t be seeing on Facebook.

5. Off the shoulder sweats – Not only did Flashdance bring us legwarmers, it also brought us Jennifer Beals sporting an oversized, off-the-shoulder sweatshirt. Not surprisingly that fad seems to be making a comeback.

Share your 80’s fashion memories here, or on our Facebook fan page. If you’ve got a suggestion for a future Five for Friday, email it to contribute@womenatforty.com.

Funny How Time Flies

editor — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 04:13:52 +0000

Yup, that’s me decked out in peach satin and lace on my way to the 1987 Teaneck High School prom. I’ve blurred my date’s face to protect the not so innocent. The theme song was Janet Jackson’s “Funny How Time Flies” and at the time I didn’t realize how significant those words would be more than 20 years later.

Looking at that picture, the first thought I have is “look how small I was!” Back then though, you couldn’t have convinced me that I wasn’t anything but fat. I think I also looked happy and hopeful. I’d just graduated from high school and was on my way to Rutgers University in the fall and ready (or so I thought) for all that life had to offer.

For me the prom was a time to play dress up – to wear the heels and makeup I never wore in high school and to begin to fill the shoes of the adult I’d one day become. The fitted peach, satin ensemble was designed and hand sewn by a very talented aunt and I thought it would never go out of style. Boy was I wrong.

Speaking of wrong, looking back at the fashion of the 80’s, a lot of what we wore was just plain wrong. From the big hair to the Jheri curls, oversized block print tees to the color coordinated Lee jean ensembles, the 80’s were, let’s just say, a colorful decade. Later on this week I’ll show you just how colorful it really was.

I’ve also decided to embrace my prom picture in all its peach-lace glory and am now boldly using it as my Facebook profile picture. If you’re bad enough (as in 80’s Michal Jackson Bad), I encourage you to do the same. Go ahead, show us what you were working with back then, big hair, big shoulders and all.

Go ahead post your prom pic as your profile and/or share them on our Facebook Fan Page.

The 80′s: The music that defined the decade – Part 2

editor — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 04:13:48 +0000

While the first half of the decade brought us artists like Tears for Fears and Human League, the second half of the 80’s brought us hits by Sade, Janet Jackson and U2. The 80’s also launched the careers of artists like Terrence Trent D’arby, Bobby Brown and his would-be future wife, Whitney Houston. Here are 20 more songs that made my 80’s list, including a few from the early 80′s I just couldn’t leave out.

Artists & Albums that defined the 80′s Part 2

If you’d like to add your favorite artists or submit your own list, do so in the comment section, share on our Facebook Fan Page, or email contribute@womenatforty.com.

WAF’s Five for Friday – Fun in the 80′s Edition

editor — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:58:58 +0000

Since we’re like, in 80’s mode, I thought I’d like, revisit like five 80’s pop cultural phenomenon that were like all the rage during the 80’s. If you count, my like, excessive use of the word like, then it’s actually like six. Share the list with your kids so they can marvel at how we managed to entertain ourselves without laptops, iphones and texting. Maybe they’ll be like “gag me with a spoon” and then you can be like, “totally!” Yeah, we were that silly.

1. Rubik’s Cube – This colorful 3-D mechanical puzzle made its debut in 1980. Despite the fact that most solutions to the cube have come from mathematicians, demand for the cube in 1981 exceeded its initial 1 million piece order. As of January 2009, 350 million cubes have sold worldwide making it the world’s top-selling puzzle game.

2. McGyver – MacGyver debuted on ABC in 1985 and from the very first episode, Richard Dean Anderson was getting himself out of impossible situations with only a Swiss Army knife and Duct Tape. McGyver’s escape tactics became so legendary that popular culture turned the action hero into a verb, as in “The car broke down but he MacGyvered a fix to get home.” Can you imagine how different the show would have been if he’d had an iphone?

3. Commodore VIC 20 – The Commodore was the first personal computer in our home and many others in the U.S. By today’s standard the VIC now looks absolutely archaic, but it ushered in the advent of the personal computer and gave us a glimpse of things to come.

4. Cabbage Patch Dolls – The first year Cabbage Patch’s were officially on the market was the first time I remember adults rioting over toys. Literally. The dolls’ release in 1983 ushered in a new era of parents fighting each other over their kids’ toys, one that sadly continues even today.

5. We’re Not Candy PSA – That and Hankering for a Hunka Cheese were two of my favorite saturday morning PSAs from the 80’s. But even prior to talking pills, School House Rock had us at conjunction junction, understanding how bills became laws and sufferin’ till sufferage. Visit schoolhouserock.tv to watch your favorite school house rock videos. And watch the We’re Not Candy PSA right now…

The 80′s : The music that defined the decade – Part 1

editor — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 01:27:25 +0000

I’ve always been drawn to all types of music, so scanning through the charts to find the 80′s top hits was an absolute blast. I’d actually forgotten how many hits and artists the decade produced. The 80’s saw the emergence of recording stars such as Madonna, Janet Jackson, and Tracy Chapman, while artists like Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and U2 continued to establish themselves as musical icons. Unfortunately not all artists from the 80’s were as enduring – remember Human League, Spandau Ballet and Mr. Mister? Exactly.

Check out the image gallery below and the 20 albums and artists from the first half of the 80′s that helped define my decade. Your top 40 is likely to be quite different – part of the fun in doing something like this is seeing how lists differ. If you’d like to add your favorite artists or submit your own list, do so in the comment section, share on our Facebook Fan Page, or email contribute@womenatforty.com.

Artists & Albums that defined the 80′s Part 1: 20 hits from 1980 – 1985

Remembering those fabulous 80′s

editor — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:00:19 +0000

Before there was Lady Gaga, there was Madonna. And before Kanye, Big Daddy Kane. Alex P. Keaton and Bill Cosby taught us about family ties, and the housewives on Dynasty and Dallas would put today’s desperate housewives to shame. It’s been over 20 years, but the images, sounds and characters of the 80’s shaped our teen years and introduced us to would-be cultural icons like Oprah Winfrey, MTV and Super Mario Brothers.

For the next few weeks I’ll be taking a step back into the 80’s. For women at forty, these were our junior and high school years, influential in shaping us into the women we’d one day become. Much of the confidence we now have, or the issues we still hang on to, began during those “wonder years.”

During the 80’s, mothers began working away from home in greater numbers and movies like Baby Boom and TV’s Murphy Brown began bringing single motherhood into the spotlight. The Cosby Show gave the world a window into the lives of African American families, and the Oprah phenomenon began its meteoric rise.

Every generation says it about their heyday, but times were simpler then. I don’t envy the enormous social pressures on teens today, it all makes me a little nostalgic for the days of my youth. So join me on this journey back in time as I pay homage to the things that were important to our generation during the 80′s. I’ll be revisiting our music, movies, TV shows, fashion…you name it. Hang on, this is going to be a blast!

Share your own 80′s memories – favorite songs, artists, fashion etc. - here in the comment section or on our Facebook Fan page.