Yes! It’s true!! And truly horrific!!!

Ali and I had a bit of time to kill while waiting to eat lunch with Daddy one day last week, so we browsed through Flashdance: The Store Target. It was unreal!!

This sweatshirt is completely authentic. I mean, they even did the cut-out neckline for you!! And don’t miss the grease stain to just prove it’s age. Even though my confidence in the accuracy of carbon dating is sketchy to say the least, if those scientists got ahold of this shirt, it would totally come up at the fall of 1984.You have the neon, totally Tom-Cruise-In-Risky-Business-shaped sunglasses,
The neon, pleather, pillow-sized purses,
And – OH – the socks. They were horrendous.
TUBE SOCKS with graphics straight out of an Atari game on them:
And, yes, as horrible as it is, LEGWARMERS. Which TOTALLY go with that cut out sweatshirt.
Even the kid’s products weren’t immune from the takeover. Ali fell in love with these truly nasty sandals. I had to literally pull her away from them, telling her all the way that someday she would really regret dressing like her Mommy did when she was her age.
Then, she pulled these tennis shoes off the rack and started taking off her on shoes to put them on:
I mean, when I had laces like that, I had to buy them aftermarket. Now they’re just putting them on the shoes to start with! How convenient! Or how lazy are kids these days. . .

I was really hoping the dip back into 80’s couture would be a very short-lasting phase. Like, a few weeks or something. But this is at least the second (if not third) year, of it, and I’m starting to despair. Please!! 80’s!! Go back to outer space with E.T.! Or Alf!! Or whoever, just leave!!!

Okay, so all of this bashing the 80’s has me thinking: there WERE a couple of decent products in the decade of neon, scunci’s, and frizzy hair.

My favorite was easy to come up with: Crystal Pepsi. I L-O-V-E-D that stuff. It was the best flavor ever!! I do miss it so, although you won’t catch me buying any 20-year-old cans of it off of Ebay anytime soon. I don’t think it gets better with age.

So what about you? What was your favorite product (or products) of the 80’s? Please share, so that, By the Power of Greyskull (and maybe a little Turtle Power), we can TOTALLY remember all of the tubular parts of this oh-so-tacky decade, Dudes and Dudettes!!

25 thoughts on “Use Extreme Caution!! Target Has Been Kidnapped by the 80’s!!

  1. Wow, who knew that the 80’s were back. I heard a rumor about legwarmers being back but hoped it was just a rumor.

    My favorite items from the 80’s , I can’t really think of any clothes. Although I did have a couple of pairs of jelly shoes I loved. Mine I think drift toward pop culture and although I never owned one I thought swatches were cool. My little pony, strawberry shortcake,transformers Thundercats,rubix cube, Ms. pacman. See a trend.. I am sure there is more stuff, but it is making me a little sad that stuff from my childhood is now retro. Does this officially make me old?

  2. Holy cow… this stuff brings back memories! lol

    My favorite part of the 80’s was the neon socks and the neon fat shoelaces… that were warn in your hair, or as bracelets, not in your shoes, lol.

    And the doubling up of the socks. Oh yeah!

  3. For sure it had to be the Kadoodles. I had a pink one with sparkles on it.
    Also, the tie dyed shirts that you would change colors depending on your body temp. Not to be left out would be the classic slap stick bracelets. Oh and for sure.. Rave Hair spray. I will say that I am totally disgusted by return of 80’s “style.” I called it about 4 years ago. And swore that NO item of that era would ever enter my home. The main thing I dont understand is these skinny jeans..for guys. Jorge and I saw two guys the other day with them on and they are the most ridiculous, unflattering, disgusting thing ever sown together. Umm.. are you waiting for me to tell you how I really feel?! Ha! LOL

  4. ha! great post Rach! I’m fairly certain I had sandals like Ali wanted too…
    my favs from the 80s are:
    Rainbow Brite ( I had a sleeping bag!)
    My Little Ponies (which also are still around!)
    NEON EVERYTHING (I had complete neon ensembles, including, keds, socks and scrunchies)

  5. I love it! I was thinking the exact same thing the last time we were in Target. The 80s fads are not something I need to live through again. Although, snap bracelets were awesome!

  6. It’s scary to think that the 80’s are coming back. I see middle/high school girls and think “wow, i wore that!?!” LOL It’s hilarious!

    My fas from the 80’s were the plastic round things that you slide the bottom of your shirt through, and the slap braclets

  7. I liked the plaid dresses and skirts.I’ve noticed a lot of plaid in the last few years.I tend to not wear the skirts,no matter what length,because they look like school girl outfits.

    I also liked the plastic bangles.

  8. First I have to say that those sneakers are totally, like, Rainbow Brite – like, oh-my-gosh! (use your best ’80’s valley-girl voice when you read that sentence.)

    Hmm, I liked my jelly shoes, except for when I had to walk across the parking lot at church which was gravel at the time and little rocks would get stuck in the heel of them. I also LOVED my twist beads and pony-tail worn to the side of one’s head. Someone else mentioned double socks, I liked that too. Oh, and wearing a dangling earring in one ear and a stud in the other. Of course, today I wouldn’t do any of that, but back then, I loved it. What was I thinking?

  9. “She’s a maniac, maniac on the dancefloor”.

    I am so an 80’s girl. I had the big hair, colorful clothes, and even a Madonna blazer that was all shiny and colorful. I have to say though, some of those pictures you posted are U-G-L-Y. What were we thinking, wearing that stuff?!

    What a fun post!!

  10. I forgot to post some of my favorite things:
    -Stiff Stuff hairspray. I couldn’t live without it.
    – Banana Clips – huge pieces of plastic used to put your hair up in the back.
    -Bandanas that you wore on around your head even though you might not even be thinking about working out. It just looked cool.

  11. I forgot to mention that I was thinking about Crystal Pepsi the other day. I had given the boys some Sprite and David asked if it was Pepsi. Harris told him it can’t be because Pepsi is dark. I thought to myself, “Well, once upon a time…” I personally never liked the stuff, though.

  12. I had a neon patchwork jacket, the rainbow laces, slapbracelet, friendship bracelets, and slouch socks (worn 2 at a time on the same foot-and 2 different colors.)

  13. My favorite? Covered bellies. I’m not thrilled about the 80s coming back, and I don’t want jeans to back to “mom jeans” height. But it’s kinda unfair that when I HAD a flat belly, my jeans came up above my belly button. And when I no longer had a flat belly (or even a smooth one), everything was tiny tees and low-rise jeans. I will not miss muffin-tops.

    And I love all the big baggy sweaters, the better to cover the not-smooth belly. :)

    You people are so young. I went thru the eighties as a teen and young adult. Trust me; the trauma runs much deeper. ;)

  14. wow! those tennis shoes w/ the rainbow bright laces kind of reminded me of punky brewster. we should throw an 80's themed party just to get to wear that stuff again! (totally kidding by the way). amanda and i had some shoes that we loved. we called them our "jazz" shoes. of course neither of us took jazz, but they were the "in thing" at the time, and supposed to give the appearance of jazz shoes. they were smaller thin shoes and you wore the thickest pair of socks w/ them that you could find. horrible…just horrible! but i bet they would have looked cool w/ that sweatshirt & legwarmers up there!
    (it's been a while but i FINALLY updated my blog)

  15. sheesh! i have totally obliterated the 80’s from my mind! the bad hair, bad music, ..remember ponytail threaders?
    connie williams

  16. Oh my Gosh ! I'm having flashbacks of horrible clothes ! I did however own my share of Jelly Shoes (which I though were so cool at the time) , Neon shoelaces in High Top sneakers (you know the ones ~ they were really fat) & of course the Madonna plastic bracelets(I forget what they're called)that I wore on both arms ~ up to my elbows ! Thanks for the walk down memory lane !

  17. My boys were playing with something Harris got at Awanas the other night – a very tiny skateboard. They were very impressed. As they were playing with it, I heard this.
    David: “Radical!”
    Harris: “Totally!”
    I do not use these words, ever. It makes this whole ’80’s comeback a lot scarier.

    And something else I really do miss from the ’80’s and a little bit of the ’90’s – 3 liter soft drinks. Yeah, I know that’s bad for me, but I loved them!

  18. Wow…we don’t live close to a Target, so I don’t go there much (because I’ll spend too much), so thanks for the pictures. I guess I don’t need to run right out and buy 80’s stuff, do I? Although my kids might look cute in jelly shoes (remember how bad those made your feet sweat!?).

  19. I cannot say much about 80's style. I am about to go work out in the yard in a pair of jelly shoes, cut off acid wash shorts, and a old tshirt knotted on the side to keep it out of my way! I guess when I come in I will have to put Tetris in the Nintendo (yes, I have a NES) and chill a while with a crystal pepsi and bag of funjuns!

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