The 80's revisited?

Over the years people have asked me how I got my start in retail fashion. I can safely say it began in the mid 80's when I was living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, going to college and then working in what was one of the first hip fashion stores in Albuquerque called Wear it! At that time I was hanging out with a creative culture (garage bands and poets) that was heavily influenced by music (think REM, The Cure, Talking Heads and even The Go Go's), performance art, poetry slams and being in my 20's. I wore acid wash jeans, oversized t-shirts and padded shoulder jackets, leggings and/or stirrup pants with leg warmers, Doc Marten creepers and a Swatch watch. I cut my hair short and spikey and went dancing at clubs that played Billy Idol and The Stray Cats (before that I looked like a hippie until about 1984 and mostly listened to the Dead and Neil Young).

It facinates me that the styles from the 80's are back, although parachute pants and shoulder pads have not been well received, the basic influences are there. I have to admit that I am not so fond of the 80's look, especially when I look back at photos from that time and wonder, "What was I thinking", but even less fond of the full head-to-toe reinvention I see walking around today. Let's face it...Madonna looks a whole lot better these days than she did back then.

One of the best things that came out of the 80's for me was an appreciation for trends and fashion. I learned a lot working at Wear it! and it launched me down the fashion highway toward a stint in Chicago working at Sugar Magnolia and then at Lori's Shoes. In 1991 I came to Portland where there wasn't quite the fashion choices that there are today and I saw an opportunity to start my own thing!

So maybe in hindsight the 80's were really a great and influential time.....we just dressed kind of funny!