A Blast To The Past- My 80's Childhood. Part One (Fashion)

This was me in 1987, just to set the scene. Oversized jeans were in....just saying!

From page boy hair cuts, and perms to Rara skirts, jumpsuits and and batwinged tops ...I have seen it all and experienced most of it.

Seriously, what were my parents thinking?

Actually, in fairness, my memories of the 80's were fun...and filled with ALOT of colour.

I have skipped the 70's blast of past because I cannot remember any of the 4 years that I was present. Apparently, it is due to past trauma. My biological father tried to smother me as a baby and pushed my mother down the stairs enabling her to miscarry my sibling at 5 months. Sorry to be blunt, but my first few years were very traumatic. So I'm told.

I try and not let it taint my happy memories.

So I lived with my grandparents until I was 5 and then moved to lived with my stepfather Denny and my mother.

My stepfather was my Dad so I will refer to him as Dad. My Dad taught me how to read and write as my gran and my mother both had learning difficulties. He gave me good morals. He was an incredibly kind and patient man.

At 5 Years of age, my memories really started. I remember the hot summers, the sounds of the trains that ran along the back of my house and all the fun I had with my friends and family. Oh and the fashion...

My mum always had a long ginger perm, and my dad would use bryllcreem to keep his in place. He also was smart, wearing a light blue shirt and navy trousers the maority of the time. A bit like a train driver. No wonder I love train journey's. My mum always wore patterned shirts and trousers/jeans.

Me? I just had stupid haircuts. My wavy but not curly hair would just grow madly in different directions and at one point I had a page boy cut, a bit like this.

She looks good, but when you're a kid........

It sort of looks like that. This is not me by the way its a freebie from pixabay. Strangely enough I can't find any ones of me that did the cut justice.

I remember my favourite clothes as a small child being a mickey mouse T-shirt and a Rara skirt. Everyone had jelly shoes and so did I but I didn't like them. They were stiff and hurt my feet.

This is me and my favourite top with my lovely grandad.

We used to go to Ingoldmells every year in my grandma's caravan, and nearby was a market that used to sell crazy earings and T-shits that you could print anything you wanted...right there and then!

I remember going with my pocket money for some earrings and a T-shirt. I was aloud to walk 10 minutes away from the van then. It was the 80's.

We had no fear....

I came back with some earrings that had people dangling from them. I thought they were the coolest things I had ever seen. I remember being sat in the window of the caravan and staring at the reflection of my silly hair cut and dangling people earings!

I also got a slap for having 'Dont let the bastards get you down' written on a t-shirt with a cute bull dog as the centre piece.

Fashion started to change slightly towards the end of the decade. I remember being obseesed with a jumpsuit I wanted and an arron wool dress. I waited patiently for 30 weeks until the last item had been paid off from Grattons Catologue. I decided on a blue boiler suit style jumpsuit with a mint coloured belt. I also had a cream arron dress.

I wore that dress to the legion where I had my first 'smooch' at 12 years with this boy I had fancied for ages. It was to 'oh l'amour' by Erasure. A smooch then was the awkward dance where everyone stood around cooing and laughing at your expense as you died from embarrassment.

I think it was the turn of 1990 that started with the perms and the bleach. Now that, took some hairspray!

We'll go through that embarrassment when we get to the 90's!