I was born in 1977, so I was a (mostly) cognizant being during the 80s. I wasn’t a terribly fashion-forward being since I was quite wee, but I saw the 80s clothing trends go by me and they soaked into my consciousness. Neon and leggings, off-the-shoulder sweatshirts and destroyed jeans, piled-on jewelry and cropped tops. These were the trends of my childhood, even if I didn’t wear them back then.
I wear them now. OK, I don’t wear neon much because it doesn’t work with my palette, but the rest? Oh yes. I adore 80s influences completely without irony. I’m also perfectly content to trot out my floral dresses and combat boots from the 90s, and still own much of what I wore in the 00s.
Which flies in the face of that oft-repeated style adage, “Don’t wear a trend the second time around.” An adage that seems a bit restrictive to me. I mean, I get that some women may feel they’ve moved beyond the trends from their respective youths, especially the ones that never appealed in the first place. And I get that wearing a trend a second time may make a gal feel like she’s trying too hard, or attempting to regain lost youth, or just not being true to her current, evolved personal style. But the rest of us? Those who feel that when trends reappear, they’re generally tweaked and improved-upon to the point of being virtually new? Those feel that revived trends styled in contemporary ways can look fresh and fun? I don’t see why we should avoid the trends we loved as youngsters when they re-emerge, retooled and updated for modern consumption.
Especially if they mesh perfectly with our current, refined personal style preferences. And we’re nostalgics at heart.
Originally posted 2011-10-10 06:30:11.
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