velva sheen and other clothing obsessions
random thought as i was driving to work (yes 15 degrees is waay too cold for me and the bike!) this morning: what ever happened to Velva Sheen?
the Velva Sheen experience was fun. you'd pick a design out for the front (a sparkley bear perhaps?) and choose something for the back too (why not go all out?), which usually consisted of having your name (or better yet, nickname!) printed on the back in those cool fuzzy letters.
then, right in front of you, using some metal waffle iron-ish machine that you should not stick your hands inside, they'd fuse the decals onto the tee shirt or sweatshirt. oh it was heaven back then. such a status item, too.
so, during my drive, i got to thinking of other clothing trends of the 80's...
i was not huge fan of Units, though my friend Laura was. if you never got a chance to partake, Units was a "mix and match" store with white cubbies floor to ceiling.
you could make an entire mix and match outfit at Units, sans the shoes. it was more like sweatshirts and stuff and i wasn't a fan.
i was, however, a HUGE fan of Esprit. for about a year i had to have Esprit everything. i think i even had Esprit shoes. i still like their line, though it's hard to find and better suited for flat chested women.
nothing, however, could trump my love for guess jeans. i'd drag my mom to TJ Maxx several times a week so i could look through ALL of the racks to see if there were any guess jeans -- easily spotted by that little white triangle patch with the red writing.
i remember they were usually about $30, even at TJ's!
armed with way too many Guess Jeans (it was nice to be an only child), i then made it my duty every day to wear shirts that were short enough so that i could display the Guess logo patch on my butt.
pre Guess, i liked Jordache and Lee and stuff. and let's not forget the ubiquitous (for 6 months anyway) parachute pants. had the leg warmers too, but who didn't?
i attribute my fashion whoriness to my private school upbringing. those kids were like lemmings (not that i wasn't), following the very latest fashions.
my parents did say no to stuff. for example, i remember wanting a red CB ski jacket. didn't get that. no worries - they were for skiing (a sport i was actually not involved with) so they stopped at the waist and my parents wanted to buy me a coat that went a bit longer than that. go figure.
the Velva Sheen experience was fun. you'd pick a design out for the front (a sparkley bear perhaps?) and choose something for the back too (why not go all out?), which usually consisted of having your name (or better yet, nickname!) printed on the back in those cool fuzzy letters.
then, right in front of you, using some metal waffle iron-ish machine that you should not stick your hands inside, they'd fuse the decals onto the tee shirt or sweatshirt. oh it was heaven back then. such a status item, too.
so, during my drive, i got to thinking of other clothing trends of the 80's...
i was not huge fan of Units, though my friend Laura was. if you never got a chance to partake, Units was a "mix and match" store with white cubbies floor to ceiling.
you could make an entire mix and match outfit at Units, sans the shoes. it was more like sweatshirts and stuff and i wasn't a fan.
i was, however, a HUGE fan of Esprit. for about a year i had to have Esprit everything. i think i even had Esprit shoes. i still like their line, though it's hard to find and better suited for flat chested women.
nothing, however, could trump my love for guess jeans. i'd drag my mom to TJ Maxx several times a week so i could look through ALL of the racks to see if there were any guess jeans -- easily spotted by that little white triangle patch with the red writing.
i remember they were usually about $30, even at TJ's!
armed with way too many Guess Jeans (it was nice to be an only child), i then made it my duty every day to wear shirts that were short enough so that i could display the Guess logo patch on my butt.
pre Guess, i liked Jordache and Lee and stuff. and let's not forget the ubiquitous (for 6 months anyway) parachute pants. had the leg warmers too, but who didn't?
i attribute my fashion whoriness to my private school upbringing. those kids were like lemmings (not that i wasn't), following the very latest fashions.
my parents did say no to stuff. for example, i remember wanting a red CB ski jacket. didn't get that. no worries - they were for skiing (a sport i was actually not involved with) so they stopped at the waist and my parents wanted to buy me a coat that went a bit longer than that. go figure.
posted by Liz Foreman at
5:40 AM
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