RIP 80s

Just because the Salvo's don't want it, doesn't mean you have to keep wearing those clothes. I'm talking about 80s fashion folks. The era that fashion forgot and also the era that some people can't seem to get enough of! Which of course is the subject of my rant.

I was a kid in the 80s, so I'm blessed that I will never have to look at old pics of myself and cringe, which I know many people do, even renowned fashionistas. Hence it buggers me that some people still insist on clinging slavishly to their 80s wardrobe.

Yes, I have had the misfortune of being surrounded by "Self Proclaimed Fashion Divas" who love to prance about in high-waisted neon and tweed pants, carrot cut jeans with the acid-wash effect, huge shoulder pads that are visible beneath their business jackets, big frizzy perms and even bigger "jambuls".

The cast of Dynasty. Pic courtesy of jesad.com

As I'm writing this, I can almost hear the theme song of Dynasty and Dallas playing in the background. Joan Collins and Linda Evans must be soo........proud that some people still heart their style. Groan........

I used to room in a house where one of the tenants was an 80s pin-up girl (sort of). The thing is, like me she would have been a kid in the 80s. But literally everything she wore seemed to have originated from that era, including her hairstyle!

I'm sure at this point you're probably thinking that this girl must have raided her mum's closet from way back then right? Wrong. According to this chick she gets all her apparel from Singapore because the stuff in KL ain't not good enough for her. Poor quality she says.

Now lemme give you an idea of all the high quality apparel she gets from um Singapore. Carrot cut jeans with huge daisy patterns on it, Bright green and yellow neon coloured t-shirts, two-piece suits in matching colours (like chilli red and apple green) with of course shoulder pads.......did I mention she's an accountant?

So yeah you get the picture right. She was either raiding the flea markets and thrift shops in Singapore, or unbeknown to me, Singapore is the Southeast Asian capital for 80s fashion, where the mannequins in boutique windows are all dolled up to look like a young Madonna or Debbie Gibson.

Yes, yes, even as I rant on wickedly, I'm fully aware of the fact that every once in a while there's a declaration from the fashion world that the 80s is back. (Happens when inspiration runs dry). Well don't buy it! It is fleeting and won't last as with most trends.

Diana Vreeland. Pic courtersy of viliflik.wordpress.com

Be a trendsetter not a trend follower. Or at the very least be a trend stickler. Like the late Diana Vreeland and the still kicking Anna Wintour. Vreeland always wore black from head to toe, decked herself with statement pieces of jewelry and never left home without her signature red lippy. While Wintour has famously retained her bob hairdo, black shades and no smiley face.

Icy Anna by gawker.com

These are the very women who run publications that hawk you the latest trends (Vreeland was the former fashion editor of Harper's Bazaar and later editor in-chief of Vogue until 1971, while Wintour is the current editor in-chief of US Vogue). Yet theirs never change, ever wondered why....??

Because style is eternal and fashion is fleeting. As Oscar Wilde said: "Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months."