26 January 2010

Get up, Get Dressed, THEN Go Out...

Mood: Excited (some big stuff coming up: The hubs birthday, Valentine's day and it's almost time for my new little neice or nephew to make his/her appearance!)

What I'm Watching: Psychic Kids (Pretty interesting stuff really.)

When I was a teenager (back in the 80's) there was no way that my friends and I would have left the house without a full complement of hair, make-up and clothing. We would carefully choose our outfits, mixing hypercolor t-shirts with tight rolled jeans, or maybe a short skirt with biker shorts underneath (wasn't that a good look?) and don't forget about jelly bracelets, sunglasses, banana clips and layering our socks so we'd look super cool. Then, we would tease, crimp, back comb and Aquanet our hair into the perfect combination of mall bangs and side wings, and top the whole look off by applying layers of electricly colored eyeshadows and lipsticks (my personal favorite was the mood lipstick). All of this? Was just to go to the mall and hang out at the food court.

For a really good look at the full on 80's fashion, take a look at this frightening video from Dance Party USA. Back in the day? I LOVED this show. (Sorry about the song...it was the best I could find).



Anyway, the point is that we took time and effort to look that bad good when we went out in public. So, color me confused at the current trend of teenagers who, well, don't bother dressing at all when they go out in public. Instead they opt to hit the mall in their fuzzy pajama pants, slippers and baby sleep T's. What the heck? Seriously. Is it that big of an effort to actually get dressed in the morning? Slipping on some shoes, maybe running a brush through your hair, would that really take too much of your precious time?

Back in the early 90's, when I was in college and had been up cramming all night in preparation for finals, I went to an early morning class in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt with my hair pulled up in a ponytail. The looks I got would have made a lesser woman crumble into dust. Lack of sleep and studying til the last minute were obviously not acceptable excuses for showing up to class in this less than prime state. Now? I suspect that I would be greatly overdressed.

This past weekend the hubs and I made our weekly trek to Wal-Mart for things like toothpaste and toilet paper and before we even parked the car we counted at least 10 people in the parking lot...in their pajamas. I don't know where, when or how this trend started but it needs to stop. Now. Please.

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11 comments:

  1. The girl he's singing to at 0:36 looks like she's 12!

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  2. The college students are the worst. My hubby says his 8 am classes were more like a pajama party.

    You'd be surprised by how much 80s fashion is hot on campus these days. I get a pang of nostalgia seeing kids in gold buffalo check and dolman sleeves and purple ballet flats.

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  3. I agree completely! Being a recent college graduate, I was always amazed at the students who walked into class wearing their pajamas. At least I had the decency to throw on a pair of jeans and t-shirt on those off days (or put on some work out cloths and pretend to be going to the gym after class).

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  4. @Chuck: I know, right? I actually think you had to be 15 or 16 to get on the show but I could be wrong about that.

    @Laurel: I've seen the unfortunate resurgance of the 80's look. I'm one side ponytail and jelly shoes sighting away from thinking I've slipped into a time warp back to 1985.

    @Kelly: I've noticed it a lot with high school/college aged students but I've also seen it crossing the age barriers into adults. It's getting downright scary.

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  5. Actually, I prefer pajamas to the pants-hanging-down-to-the-knees look. (Just saying) :)

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  6. @ Melanie Ack! You're absolutely right. I hate to admit it in light of my ranting but I must say that I would much rather see someone in pajama pants than in pants hanging down like that.

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  7. Ah, the 80s. And then the 90s. I used to wear a do-rag to my 8 o'clock classes to combat bedhead.

    Just the other day someone at work pointed out a kid in shorts, a t shirt and a hat. He thought it was disrespectful. I thought the kid looked normal. His shorts were pulled up to his waist.

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  8. OH MY GASH...okay, so I wasn't a teen in the 80's, but your description was totally me, right down to the hypercolor t-shirt. Mine was sort of a purplish color that turned blue-gray when you warmed it up. Coolest thing ever. Remember the MC-hammer pants? Dude, they were so hideous and stupid looking, and yet everybody had them. I think they were almost definitely the precursor to the jeans down to the knees--which, okay, if you have to hold your pants up with your hands, your PANTS ARE TOO FRIGGIN BIG!!! Just sayin.

    But, yeah, you're right on this. Teens today? What is up with them? It's like they roll out of bed and just walk straight to class, still rubbing the sleep from their eyes. Even the hairstyles (for those who bother) look like bed-head.

    BTW, happy birthday to hubs!!

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  9. @ Matt: See, back in the day we tried to at least make an effort at looking decent to show up for our 8 o'clock classes. And honestly? A kid that was fully dressed? With properly fitting shorts? That's a total teenage win in my book!

    @Carol: Oh My! The MC Hammer pants...I'd blocked them out of my memory in pure self defense! To my credit, I never owned a pair but I knew several people who did. *shudder* I never thought about it but perhaps we do all have MC Hammer to blame for the current "pants around the knees" trend.

    I'll pass the birthday wishes on to the hubs...he turns the big 4-0 on the 8th of Feb. I hadn't really thought too much about it until about 11:00 pm the other night. We were all sleepy, snuggled in bed, half asleep when out of the blue it hit me. He's going to be FORTY. For some reason I felt compelled to startle the hubs out of his half sleep state by announcing this revelation. Loudly. LOL.

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  10. Happy times coming your way! Have a blessed February.

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  11. @ Suzette: Thank you!! :) Hope your February is filled with all things sparkly, heart shaped and chocolate filled! :)

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