Item 3 31-MAY-94 23:19 Melissa Marie Petrek (suprnaut) Embarrassing Things I Did in the '80s Admit it -- you too wore parachute pants to the Video Bar in Deep Ellum, bought a Naked Eyes cassette and went to A Flock of Seagulls concert. What's the cheesiest, most decadent, trend-hopping things you did in th '80s? 40 responses selected of 40 total 3:1) Melissa Marie Petrek (suprnaut) 31-MAY-94 23:21 Okay, I, um ... (fidget) ... I (clearing throat) .. went to the Starck Club, ritually. I drove with my friends from Austin all the way to Dallas almost every weekend with hopes of seeing Grace Jones on the dancefloor in her vinyl mini-bra. - - - - - 3:2) Holly Iles (holly) 01-JUN-94 13:37 At the ripe old age of 14 years old I moved in to an apartment with a 25 year old man and drove a motorcycle around town in parachute pants. Does that count? And believe me, I am very embarassed about it. - - - - - 3:3) Mikey Z (suprnaut) 01-JUN-94 18:19 i keep thinking about what i paid for those goddam parachute pants. suckers cost to high heaven when they first came out ... in the '80s, me and my roommate threw a party "celebrating" rosarita's refrie beans (remember that commercial?). everyone was forced to dress in gag costumes picked up from the local goodwill. - - - - - 3:4) Ben Cohen (bcj) 01-JUN-94 21:59 I used to wear Vans, those checkerboard-patterned shoes, and OP shorts to high school everyday. Actually, they were really comfortable. Whatever happened to surf fashion, anyway? - - - - - 3:5) Holly Iles (holly) 01-JUN-94 23:50 Where did you go to high school Ben? Anyway, yeah I remember Vans. Oh, another truly embarassing thing, I dated this guy who was really cool and I liked him a lot but one day he came over to my house and he had gotten a mohawk (something I had no clue he was gonna do). My mother answered the door and I was walking up behind her. I just barely got a glimpse of Houston before my mother slammed the door in his face and turned around and slapped me. I was soo humiliated. - - - - - 3:6) Melina C. Larson (melina) 02-JUN-94 9:24 She slapped _you_ because a friend of yours got a mohawk? Life is so unfair. I didn't go to a Flock of Seagulls concert, but I did go to a Missing Persons concert. Is that close enough? - - - - - 3:7) Holly Iles (holly) 02-JUN-94 13:15 Yeah, my mother used to have problems with everything I did. We didn't get along very well. She was really whacked out of her gourd. Trust me on this one. - - - - - 3:8) melissa marie (suprnaut) 02-JUN-94 17:35 ooo! just thought of a new one -- remember those cans of hairspray that spurted out glistening pieces of glittery stuff? only girls used the stuff -- it came in red, green, gold and silver. maybe blue, i forget. me and my girlfriends would actually wear this stuff out to concerts and stuff. we must have looked idiotic. - - - - - 3:9) melissa marie (suprnaut) 12-JUN-94 2:39 oh -- also, i was one of the first girls in my class to get a "spike" haircut. in retrospect, it must have looked ridiculous. - - - - - 3:10) Holly D. Iles (holly) 21-JUN-94 13:50 I wore four inch heels with spandex pants and matching shirt with black lipstick and at least an inch of makeup...all in black...my poor mother. - - - - - 3:11) melissa marie (suprnaut) 21-JUN-94 21:42 holly, i've never even met you, and i must confess that the above visual image seems nigh to impossible! well, i did a really embarrassing thing that was *very* '80s - i drove a bronze camaro during my senior year in high school -- with an eight-track tape deck installed! - - - - - 3:12) Holly D. Iles (holly) 21-JUN-94 22:06 I was a rather wild teen....I've mellowed unbelievably to my old high school buds. - - - - - 3:13) Ben Cohen (bcj) 22-JUN-94 16:43 James Garner drove a bronze camaro in The Rockford Files. He was cool. - - - - - 3:14) Holly D. Iles (holly) 22-JUN-94 17:12 Yeah, Jim was COOL! Anyone seen Maverick yet? - - - - - 3:15) melissa marie (suprnaut) 22-JUN-94 17:20 nope, but i'd like to, just to ogle mel gibson (yum!). speaking of 80's stuff, i also had a crush on roger taylor, the drummer from queen. how embarrassing is *that* folks? - - - - - 3:16) luna (luna) 22-JUN-94 17:47 i must admit an irrepressible urge to dance to late 70's disco music, and glam rockers like prince really tweak the old adolescent hormones. :) - - - - - 3:17) Ray Thibodeaux (raythi) 22-JUN-94 20:00 one of the most embarrasing 80s moments was running to catch up to a girl I had a crush on and it was so windy that day I bent my head down not looking where I was going and pow! ran into a lightpole...luckily she didn't see me. I had blood on my forehead--had to get 8 stitches, 6 inside--and couldn't explain to my friends how I got the stitches. The girl is long gone but the scar is still there. Ah, love... - - - - - 3:18) Holly D. Iles (holly) 23-JUN-94 0:16 r Roger Taylor? That's nothing. I actually had a crush on...Oh god...this IS embarassing...Sean Cassidy...a do run run run a do run run...hehkkkk. Pete Townsend was also a teenage fantasy. At least it wasn't Joey from the Ramones or something horrid like that! - - - - - 3:19) melissa marie (suprnaut) 23-JUN-94 18:04 unfortunately, pete was not a wise choice, what, with him being, like, openly gay ... i also had a crush on robert plant. went to the first honeydrippers concert! - - - - - 3:20) Holly D. Iles (holly) 24-JUN-94 0:18 WHAT!?! PETE'S GAY?! NO ONE TOLD ME THAT! You're kidding, right? - - - - - 3:21) melissa marie (suprnaut) 24-JUN-94 18:23 i kid you not. the man is a flaming as the legendary burning bush. - - - - - 3:22) Holly D. Iles (holly) 24-JUN-94 20:12 it's chocolate and remote time. how depressing. :( you've ruined my teen fantasy life, you know that don't you. It's been obliterated and it's all your fault. Couldn't you have just left it alone? wanh! - - - - - 3:23) melissa marie (suprnaut) 25-JUN-94 10:48 hey, i know just how you feel. it was a bummer when i found out that freddie mercury of queen was gay. - - - - - 3:24) Holly D. Iles (holly) 25-JUN-94 14:51 Uh, you found out? What was your first clue, dear? I thought that this was obvious. Of course, who am I? I thought Pete was straight! - - - - - 3:25) melissa marie (suprnaut) 25-JUN-94 18:31 first clue: the ballet outfits onstage, only i was to young to make the association! i thought he was just trying to be cool & different. - - - - - 3:26) Wes Simonds (ginsu) 25-JUN-94 23:58 So Pete's gay -- big deal. Get a sex change and go after him. - - - - - 3:27) Holly D. Iles (holly) 26-JUN-94 0:40 nah, that was then this is now! Has anyone seen Michael Madsen? This is getting pretty bad. Free Willy was on HBO tonight and I kept flipping back to see if he was on. Thus far I have not popped in our, oh god, TAPE of Free Willy, but if Alex pisses me off bad enough, well, it could happen. :> - - - - - 3:28) salome's revenge (luna) 28-JUN-94 15:02 sexual orientation has never stood in the way of luna's true lust ;) - - - - - 3:29) Wes Simonds (ginsu) 28-JUN-94 15:28 me either. i don't care whether the owner of Mangia Pizza is gay or straight; I will always lust after that pizza. - - - - - 3:30) melissa marie (suprnaut) 28-JUN-94 17:46 i just remembered something else totally vile that i used to do in the 80s. pizza parties. at *pizza hut* of all places. remember those, kids? - - - - - 3:31) Holly D. Iles (holly) 28-JUN-94 19:56 *burrow* *burrow* *plop* I'm so embarassed. Oh here's something embarassing and maybe I should take it to parenting but....i remember it right now... when we did something to embarass my mother in the store she would sing, yes sing, "I'm embarassed, I'm embarassed..." to some very familiar yet unnameable tune..this was funny until I hit about 8 and then it was totally humiliating...she still does it. - - - - - 3:32) Clay Colwell (eris) 29-JUN-94 15:41 AD&D parties at the local Mr. Gatti's. (Well, only when friends would start throwing dice and things at passing waitpeople...) Other than that...hmmm, the 80s? Just being immensely gullible. BTW, did you know that Webster's Dictionary doesn't have the word "gullible"? - - - - - 3:33) Holly D. Iles (holly) 29-JUN-94 16:05 yes it does. gullible: easily duped or cheated. - - - - - 3:34) brassman (brassman) (brassman) 31-AUG-94 3:22 wow that is like a tal order since I was a pree-teen and teenager during the 80' and thus most everything I did was really embarrassing;) How about the following: 1) dressed like a surfer (vans, corduroy shorts/pants, op, lightning bolt, hAnG TEN, KENNINGTON) even tho I actually really dont like swimming that much but it was "kewl" 2) dressed like a PREPPY! gasp I wore polo, izod, bermuda shorts, pastels, madras print etc. It was quite scary and short lived thank god. 3) finally getting to college I started in 1985 at the ripe age of 16 and embarked on a horrible career of drunkeness that once left me drunk and unconscious lying almost completely naked (I was covered in shaving creme and had my clothes draped over me) in front of my dom room door in the hallway with my meal services photo id lying on my forehead ;) Nice friends I had eh;) hehe 4) as my college roomate reminded me the other day I had two two albums that I listened to at least 10 times per day - Nevermind the ullocks- Sex Pistols and Free Nelson Mandela- the Special AKA. Heheh my ex-roomie theorized that the South African Gov eventually freed Nelson primarlrily becuz of my playing that song so much;) heh brassboy out - - - - - 3:35) Ne'er-Do-Well (gtobias) 15-DEC-94 6:43 I briefly thought that ... ... Ronald Reagan was a good thing. - - - - - 3:36) Howard Fredrics (fredrics) 15-DEC-94 11:09 Well we all have momentary lapses. - - - - - 3:37) TC (bull) 15-DEC-94 11:25 Temporary, alzhiemer's.? - - - - - 3:38) melissa marie (suprnaut) 15-DEC-94 16:52 heh heh! - - - - - 3:39) tumbling morning carousel tunes (elle) 11-MAY-95 18:23 Someone tell me again what this item used to be about? - - - - - 3:40) melissa marie (suprnaut) 16-MAY-95 1:33 embarrassing things we used to do in the '80s -- you know, singing along to all those one-hit wonders, lusting after andy gibb, wearing parachute pants ... that kinda stuff. (fast forward to 1998)

I think I avoided a lot of that overtly campy stuff, like wearing polo shirts with the collar sticking up or having a bi-level haircut, but I do seem to recall having a headband--the kind you wear across your forehead--and thinking I looked HOT in it.

as i remember... it was 'foxy.'

we couldn't afford trends, I if got trendy clothes, it was as presents from friends...got it, going to my 16th birthday party in my Scout uniform...

Jimi Hendrix helped out headbands. Let's see, who else popularized headbands?

Dire Straits and Pat Benatar? (aerobics?)

Of course, Pat Benatar! Come one folks, let's hear that embarassing tale that you're keeping in the closet! Do tell!

Olivia Newton-John with the get physical thing.... yeah, i did the preppy collar thing, no bi-level haircuts, but i did have the feathered short hair, i was hot (laugh) and a geeky nerd no matter how i dressed!

The thing I guess I'm really most embarrassed about--and this is not really a "genX" kind of situation--is hitchhiking with my girlfriend to the roller rink when we were 15 with a butcher knife for protection. It comes more under the heading of "Stupidest thing" than "Most embarrassing."

at least you had protection, got too wild, you could always cut it off *grin*

You know it, girlfriend!! :-)

hey, i wore a shellsuit. top and bottoms. shite.

Shellsuit? Please enlighten me, I am clueless...

isn't a shellsuit one of those all in one polyester getups? i had one in the 4th grade, that was, what? late 70's?? (BTW, mine was bright orange)

I bet you looked smashing in your class photo, Wolf!

do have a pic of it, looking way cool (not!) in a long-sleeved striped shirt that didn't match no how (and the orange thing was short-sleeved)...hey, mom dressed me funny-at best, she tried, look what she had to work with!

you didn't have shellsuits???? They were a big late eighties/early nineties thing. Made from crinkly nylon, and cut the same as normal tracksuits...lovely things, truly lovely.

you talkin' about those wind suit deals? you know, the separate top and bottom that goes swish swish everytime you move? yeah, we have those. thought you were working on a liesure suit!

yup, a "wind suit" if you like :)) v. v. v. embarrassing.

hey, i loved mine. didn't have anything else to wear, you could always throw that thing on *grin*

not any more, thankfully :)

i dunno, still popular over here (but i don't own one anymore)

My daughter has one and thinks she looks so cool in it because she hung a troll off the zipper.

how sweet! *lol*

tell her that when she's 18 ;)

Even better...show the website where you posted her picture in it!

LOL!!! Good one! Make sure you put a hit counter on the site!

LOL!!

By then the topic will be called "Embarrassing things I did in the 90s"!

you got that, autumn!

i've been thinking about that sort of thing just recently. what will I look back on from this decade of my life and just think "oh NO....did I *really* do that???"

Yup, you're a work in progress, Mike...the motive and opportunity to do embarrassing things decreases once you get past, say, 25.

my housemate yesterday described me as having a "problem with ever being embarrassed", which apparently is why I don't take chances with things. hmm...need to see a psych, which is a bit scary.

yeah, but one thing about being over, say 25, is that you're more in tune to yourself so if you do something embarrassing, you can laugh!

hey, do you gals remember prairie skirts and shirts? my mom stayed up all night to make the outfit for christmas. i was the HAPPIEST girl on the planet! and now they're back!!