When it came to 80s fashion, I wasn't much of a participant. There was no feathered hair for me, since I started losing my hair my senior year and had a bald spot by the time I was 20. God did that SUCK, especially back then, since everybody wanted to look like Wham-era/pre-AIDS George Michael. It wasn't until the 90s that Michael Jordan made being bald cool. Also, being dirt poor in the service, I couldn't afford most of the fashionable stuff anyway, so there was no red leather Michael Jackson Thriller jacket hanging in my closet. I basically wore the same stuff then that I do now - jeans and t-shirts/sweatshirts. The one exception was the parachute pants. I sadly had a couple of pairs of those monstrosities. I remember one night I was drunk and grinding some bimbo on the dance floor or a bar when, well, my soldier popped to attention. Nowhere to hide that shit wearing parachute pants. I guess in hindsight it's good that people noticed, but needless to say I never wore them out a bar again. :-) At least I did get laid that night. [Reply]
I was in Jr High in 1980, but had two sisters in high school who were the "social chairs" of the school...lots of parties, middle sis was a cheerleader, so always had cheerleaders in my house. 81' was even better: I had a friend whose dad owned a printing company, so the son made me a fake ID and I got into the 18 bars in Kansas as a 16 yr old. And yes, I did on occasion take my dad's company car to KS bars...a blue 83 Nissan Pulsar with the flip head lights!
The one misnomer is "printing money"...nobody had any money in 1980. Blue collar and white collar professions were in a far tighter range than now. The bottom of the wage rang in Jackson Co lived in 3 bedroom/1 bath homes about 900-1000 sft, and if both parents worked, you moved into a newer neighborhood with 3-4 BR/1-2 baths and 1,200 to 1,800 sft for the most part. We didn't eat out much, vacations may be a week at Lake of the Ozarks. But we were far happier then, far more chill, neighbors all knew each other and spent time together. Cool memories were my dad grilling pork chops with two neighbor dads and their kids sitting on my patio listening to the Royals games (esp cool in 76-79). MUsic was far better, cars were far better, and girls were ALWAYS driving around because that's how you connected.
Prty scene was far different too...dads used to get tohether for a whole after football games with sons and drink beer and talk about the game. Damn right wood panel walls and Hamm's and Schlitz lights! My parents would have drinks with the kids during parties and there were up to 100 at my house after a big football game. Times have definitely changed. [Reply]
I turned 17 in 1980 and luckily I was the LAST age group to make it before they raised the drinking age from 18 to 21.
I skipped college to go into the newspaper business as a union pressman, printing the paper.
I made $65,000-$70,000 with overtime, bought 5 rental properties by 23, owned a brand new 1986 Jaguar XJ6, had hundreds of girlfriends, mostly older women and lived a glorious life.
Coke was popular, hung out at nightclubs in New York City and the Jersey shore.
Hung out at the beach all the time and was tan 6 months per year.
Went to concerts, sporting events, skied, water skied, scuba dived, went boating, traveled to 30 countries, played golf 2-3 times a week.
Was in great shape, no health issues, entire family still alive, wonderful holidays and very happy.
Hung out with my best friends since 7 years old all the time. Went to dinner and out drinking nearly every weekend.
Cool music and movies and entertainment left over from the late 70's.
Yea, I moved to Lawrence when the drinking age was still 18. I had an older brother that introduced me to the drug scene that blew my mind and I had blast.
I could also use his ID, so I could get into 21 clubs as a freshman.
Then I moved to NorCal and discovered rave parties...
Originally Posted by scho63:
I turned 17 in 1980 and luckily I was the LAST age group to make it before they raised the drinking age from 18 to 21.
I skipped college to go into the newspaper business as a union pressman, printing the paper.
I made $65,000-$70,000 with overtime, bought 5 rental properties by 23, owned a brand new 1986 Jaguar XJ6, had hundreds of girlfriends, mostly older women and lived a glorious life.
Coke was popular, hung out at nightclubs in New York City and the Jersey shore.
Hung out at the beach all the time and was tan 6 months per year.
Went to concerts, sporting events, skied, water skied, scuba dived, went boating, traveled to 30 countries, played golf 2-3 times a week.
Was in great shape, no health issues, entire family still alive, wonderful holidays and very happy.
Hung out with my best friends since 7 years old all the time. Went to dinner and out drinking nearly every weekend.
Cool music and movies and entertainment left over from the late 70's.
Economy great and no crazy political fighting.
Really fantastic times for me.....
When I go back and re-live my one month in the 80’s at the age of 23, we are definitely hanging out. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Deberg_1990:
What about us 85+ years old guys?
The 50s and 60s were wild!!
Actually from a lot of pop culture POV the 80's were like the 50's (prosperity, rockabilly style, etc)
and the 90's were like the 60's (boho style, tie dye, lounge music, bowling shirts)
Some great answers here, thanks dudes.
I turned 20 in late 1989 so I didn't feel like an adult in the 80's.
But I did "come of age" in the 80's. Living in a California it was like living in a John Hughes film. 1981 started out as the nerds in the movies and by 1987 I was more of the popular dudes. it was a great time to grow up. [Reply]
I started high school in 1980, so I’m a little younger than who you are targeting. Life was much simpler, and I’ll admit that was probably better for me. I think you had to be more independent given the lack of connectivity, but you were also sheltered in ways that I would consider a negative. While I have very fond memories of that chapter of my life, I would never go back. [Reply]
