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July 22, 2016

Growing Up in the Eighties: A Woman Shared Her Memories and Stories During the '80s Through an Awesome Photo Album

The Eighties! It was the decade of big hair, blue eye shadow and legwarmers.

It wasn’t all bad. In fact, it wasn’t that bad at all - especially if you were a kid.

Take a trip down to these nostalgia photos from Suzepie's Imgur photo album, which she also shared the stories behind each photo and places depicted...

1980 - 13 years old, 8th grade.


"I asked my brother to take this photo of me so that I could study it and figure out what was wrong with my face. Boys ignored me, so I figured I must be deformed. This was one of my "trendier' shirts, a pastel print. And I was wearing the Dorothy Hamill-type hairstyle so many of us adopted."


1981 - 14.


""Chickie" flew over the fence from our neighbors' coop and decided to live in our yard. We loved having her out there scratching around. I remember these earrings - they were red, triangular spirals and very new wave at the time."


1982 - 15.


"I think my dad took this. He thought I looked pretty, and I was surprised, because I was trying to be "tough" with my men's t-shirt and rolled up sleeves, like a greaser boy. My friend who was in beauty school did the perm, and it fell out almost immediately. Which was probably a really good thing."


1982 - Barely 16, and in love with Adam Ant.


"Pretty much everything I'm wearing came from the thrift shop. My poor mom didn't get much of a chance to shop with me after about 15. I insisted on thrifted, oddball goods or my dad's or brother's hand-me-downs. I thought this pirate-y shirt was a real score. Well, it was!"


1983 - Summer before I turned 17, in a dress my mom made.


"We picked out the pattern, fabric, and buttons together. Maybe I didn't let her shop for me, but this dress was amazing. Although I had moved mostly away from wearing anything very feminine (I really thought I was "tough"), this struck me as something Annabella Lwin (Bow Wow Wow) would wear, and thus acceptable in my wardrobe."


1983 - 16 at the Grand Canyon. Note the Bowie tour t-shirt.


"Serious Moonlight Tour, that was. AMAZING show. We camped out in front of the Tacoma Dome from early morning until the doors opened and then rushed for the front. I swear, Bowie made eye contact with me."


1983 - 17th Birthday.


"That's my brother on the left and my boyfriend, all dressed up, in the middle. Those are my ever-present moccasin boots. I killed those poor things. That striped sweater was my grandma's, and I took it as a hand-me-down."


1983 - Christmas.


"My boyfriend's mom made that shirt. You can't really see it, but it's one of those new romantic style shirts with a mandarin collar and two rows of buttons up the front - one side unbuttons down like a flap."


1984 - 17, in a vintage dress for Senior Prom.


"I paid probably $35 for this, which at the time was a shitload of money for vintage. Almost everything I wore then was second-hand and I wasn't used to really spending money on clothing. My mom bought ribbon to make the sash."


1984 - H.S. Graduation.


"I'm wearing my great aunt's fur-collared cardigan. Vintage/used fur struck me as being A-OK to wear."


1984 - Modeling in the living room for Dad.


"My boyfriend and I were making jewelry at this time and made the necklaces I'm wearing here. This was the first pair of good black skinny-ish jeans I ever owned."


1984 - Boyfriend christens his new motorcycle with beer.


"You can see where I'd recently had the sides of my hair shaved down. FYI, the only blue jeans we really had/wore at that time were Levi's 501 original shrink to fit. I would actually put them on wet and let them dry to my body."


1984 - Homemade jewelry, army surplus jacket.


"Look at the boyfriend: Clash T-shirt and a Wolverine badge on his jacket. And metal studs along the bottom of the jacket, of course. We put studs on everything we could."


Summer '84 - 17, screencap of a local TV show on "Punk Rock".


"I still have that little silver skull and crossbones earring I'm wearing in this shot, and I still wear it when I'm feeling pirate-y."


Spring '86 - 19, which was the drinking age in Hawaii!


"I thought I looked fat. UGH. This was the very first version of the "tankini" and felt very covered up compared to a conventional two-piece. I liked the idea of being in fashion, even if it did mean covering more up."


1987 - 20 years old, on Brighton Beach, studying abroad in England.


"That's my Bolshoi (band, not ballet) concert t-shirt."


1987 - Some guy on the street wanted to take my picture.


"I asked that he also take one with my camera. This is it. Those silver western belts were all the rage then. The silver toe caps on my boots made them incredibly special. Everyone loved those boots. They were SUPER pointy."


1987 - Greece with a new friend from Oxford.


"I bought the BOY LONDON top and skirt in ... London, duh. They only had the top in a size small, and I bought it anyway - thus the underboob. I was a medium. :)"


1987 - Greece, with my brother and my friend.


"My head scarf is very Axl Rose, yes? ;)"


1987 - My "other identity" at work: Shop girl at Crabtree & Evelyn.


"You can't see it really, but this dress had not only shoulder pads but delicate black *fringe* that travels from the shoulders down the front of the dress in a V."


Summer of 1987.


"Wearing my boyfriend's smoking jacket and actually smoking. Shame on me. The late, great Kingdome appears behind me in the distance."


Fall of 1987 - 21, posing for my rocker boyfriend.


"I did not leave the house this way. His cap, jacket, and vest. My own camisole and rubber skirt. The leather leggings were made from the sleeves we cut off to make the vest."


Early 1988 - 21, in a friend's apartment.


"That jacket is vintage, and I recently saw a photo of Johnny Depp wearing exactly the same one. Score! The Triumph belt was a London purchase. I thought it was soooo cool."


1988 - 21, camping at the beach in my leopard coat.


"It's a little embarrassing now to see me trying so hard to keep being "cool" while camping in a tent. I was very image-conscious. Too much so, in retrospect."


1988 - The only evidence I have of modeling was this handpainted xerox the photographer gave me.


"It wasn't real modeling anyhow, but for a wonderful photographer who needed models to shoot."


1988 - 21, fireplace chic in my rubber dress.


"Again, I remember seeing this and thinking how fat I looked. Never mind that I was about 35" 26" 36". Youth is for fools. Self-conscious fools."


1989 - 22, in my apartment.


"Can you see that little bit of red twine in my bangs? At this point, I'd met my (now ex) husband, and he had long, ginger extensions. His hair was as long or longer than mine. They were done kinda crappy, however, and would fall out pretty frequently. So I'd collect the fallen out pieces and weave them into my own hair, then tie them off with embroidery twine. That's what you're seeing."


1989 - 23, on a Seattle street, waiting for a show to start.


"I'm wearing one of my mom's mini slips from the '60s, a cut up t-shirt, and some killer pointy-toed cowboy boots I bought on my second trip to London. The show was Joey Arias, who is still performing and still a frigging legend."


(Photos from Suzepie's Imgur, via reddit)

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