80's Fashion Mistakes and More

I was recently shopping with my family at the local mall, and I passed a shoe store and saw these beauties on display (at left).

I had no idea that Vans were being sold again.  Did they stop selling them and restart?  Who knew?  My best friend in elementary school had a red pair of the slip-on kind, but I honestly don't recall seeing these since the early 80's. 

The only thing that was worse than these shoes was the official Vans hat with the flaps in the back that covered the neck.  If you had one, I apologize for saying this, but those were some of the ugliest hats ever created.

I can only hope that some of my other favorite styles from the 80's come back soon, such as parachute pants, mesh shirts, and acid-washed jeans. 

I remember having the most extensive collection of parachute pants in my school at one point, although most of mine were not the standard, one-color kind.  I had pants that had zippers that ran along the entire leg (front and back).  When you unzipped these zippers, it revealed additional fabric inside which was a different color.  How rad is that?  By the way, the image at right comes from http://www.parachute-pants.com/.  How large is this market?  Am I in the wrong business?

I had a tough time in junior high, as did many, and my clothes were one of the things that helped me to both stand out and fit in a bit better.  So did my abililty to solve a Rubik's cube in 26 seconds, which was the best in three counties.  Okay, so I never learned how to solve a Rubik's cube without either using the official book or taking it apart, but it sounded great.

I wouldn't say that I miss the 80's fashion, but some of the music was simply terrific.  I met my wife during "Early 80's Night" at an Austin club.

Speaking of music, you might want to check out our Inspired by Song! contest, "My Guilty Music Pleasures".  Here are the rules.  Also, here are the entries so far.  I have not laughed this hard in awhile, both at myself and my friends.