What a Feeling

The 1980s was a period of many dreams. The arts and entertainment were the centers of my life. For young female adults who weren't ready for the business uniform of a more traditional nine-to-five job, a more casual comfortable attire became the norm. Music videos became very popular during this period. Everyone had their favorites. Dance movies, like Fame, hit the screen. These films influenced my dreams as well. I never became the next Madonna but I had fun trying. I spent my college years taking Jazz dance classes and singing at open mics. I think I watched every dance movie that hit the screen. These movies influenced my fashion style as well. I loved the fashion styles of this period. Clothes of comfort. Both emotional comfort, and practicality comfort.

Forty-something years later I pulled out a pair of leg warmers, and proudly wore them to work. One of my co-workers made a joke quoting a line from the movie Flashdance. My attire was the joke for the minute. But she had expressed exactly what I was feeling. The dancing and the singing, the style of the eighties "What a feeling" what a comforting energizing feeling.

I loved running around Boston in legwarmers, feetless tights, sweatshirt dresses, and baggy knitted sweaters (instead of a jacket). This relaxed attire gave me very good memories and a strong sense of myself.

Over the past decade, the feetless tights have sort of resurrected in the form of leggings. A friend just commented the other day about how leggings are starting to be worn more than jeans. I still wear my jeans, but I definitely like the comfort of the leggings.

I had the sweatshirt dress in a variety of colors. Bright turquoise, a brilliant pink, and several other bright colors. Currently, the length of the short sleeve sweatshirt dress is popular in the form of summer tanks. Designers such as Lori Goldstein have propelled this length in their summer collections. But of course, the style is different.

I still have some of my baggy knit sweaters from this period. I keep them as a memory. Instead of wearing them, I wear vintage suit jackets. Sometimes I wear the old men's coat that I used to wear on days when a sweater would not keep me warm enough.

These clothes bring me good memories. I know I could still wear these clothes even though some of them are not the fashion of the day. After all the goal is to express your inner identity with your outfit. Those exact dresses, I have given up finding. It would be nice to look in the New York Times fashion section and see, them worn with legwarmers as the new latest trend. Of course, they would probably have a designers' touch. Although it is hard to imagine how leg warmer could be redesigned to make them seem new again.

Maybe instead of waiting for this casual fun eighties style to be society's norm, I need to remember and relive the freedom, I felt at that time, dancing and singing, and aiming to be the next music video star. As a 62 -year old, senior I will not be making my own music video, but I can still put on my 80's attire. It would be my own unique style. Even if legwarmers don't make it into this month's issue of Vogue, they will still be one of my favorite fashion trends. "What a feeling" sums it all up. Singing, dancing, feeling the happiness, that was reflected in my attire.