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Back to the 80's

Messages
11,374
Location
Alabama
Good luck @Big J. Lived through the he 80's and it was questionable that I would make it and I don't wanna go back to the times or the clothes. Of course with the way I dress, people think I got my styling ques from Urban Cowboy but I was dressing this way while Travolta was still spinning on the Saturday Night Live dance floor.
 

navetsea

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,868
Location
East Java
any jacket in colored leather, buy 1 side bigger, sew in a pair of shoulder pads, and scrunch up the sleeve up to the elbow when wearing it, pop up the collar of everything you wear, lots of hairspray, and chew bubble gum
 
Last edited:

Doctor Damage

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,324
Location
Ontario
@Doctor Damage, I'd rather not drop big bucks on this. If there are cheaper options, I'm all ears. So I thought asking would be the way to go.
Do a quick google search for "varsity jacket" and hit the image button and you'll see everyone is selling these jackets, from the luxury brands to the hip retailers to uniform shops catering to corporate orders with logos. I think getting a roomy, more conservative styled jacket with blowsy sleeves and narrow wristbands and waistband would be best, especially for a larger, bulkier man. Let the kids wear the jackets that make them look like underfed androgynous rentboys and/or StyleForum regulars ("32 is my chest size, not my waist!").
And you're right, 80's fashion was cut in a very unflattering way, and that is not a look I'd want to emulate. The thread title may give the wrong impression. I caught a couple of 80's movies, and it kind of reminded me that flight jackets aren't the only jackets. The 80's varsity and trucker jackets were interpretations of something from the 50's, so I guess I'm really trying to get closer to the original inspiration rather than the 80's reinterpretation.
Actually, much of the more mainstream gear from that era could be quite flattering for men since it tried to create larger shoulders and narrower waists, a classic "male" body shape, even when the wearer didn't have that shape. By contrast, much of today's clothing for men, especially slim-fit stuff aimed at hipsters and/or youth buyers which is quite widespread, de-emphasizes shoulders and tries to make the hips look as wide as the shoulders, so in that sense attempts to feminize (or infantilize) the male figure. I realize few will agree with me on this, but the difference seems obvious to me. It's a common mistake to look at fashions in MTV videos and think that was the 1980s--it wasn't, it was always the style fringe, and most everday 80s fashions available to the masses were fairly conservative.
 

dannyk

One Too Many
Messages
1,812
I left my card number and next thing I knew I was on the K-12 ski slope. I owed some paperboy 2 dollars. Also do you have any idea the street value of this mountain? I soon learned I had to go that way really fast and if anything got in my way I had to turn. Scariest part was when I blew up Ricky’s mom which I’m very sorry about. If these references are too specific I am sorry. John Cusack was one of the 80s guys I’m glad made it it out of the 80s haha.
 
Messages
17,508
Location
Chicago
I left my card number and next thing I knew I was on the K-12 ski slope. I owed some paperboy 2 dollars. Also do you have any idea the street value of this mountain? I soon learned I had to go that way really fast and if anything got in my way I had to turn. Scariest part was when I blew up Ricky’s mom which I’m very sorry about. If these references are too specific I am sorry. John Cusack was one of the 80s guys I’m glad made it it out of the 80s haha.
2756A505-398E-454D-BB0F-515D9FFAB0DA.jpeg
 

navetsea

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,868
Location
East Java
what I hate the most of the 80s are the cars, like they were made from cardboard, love the music tho. but since I was not a cool kid and rather chubby, all I got was oversize t-shirt and baggy pants with tapered hem that stacking on my basketball shoes, and Takara digital wristwatch that can be transformed into robot.
 
Messages
17,508
Location
Chicago
Do a quick google search for "varsity jacket" and hit the image button and you'll see everyone is selling these jackets, from the luxury brands to the hip retailers to uniform shops catering to corporate orders with logos. I think getting a roomy, more conservative styled jacket with blowsy sleeves and narrow wristbands and waistband would be best, especially for a larger, bulkier man. Let the kids wear the jackets that make them look like underfed androgynous rentboys and/or StyleForum regulars ("32 is my chest size, not my waist!").

Actually, much of the more mainstream gear from that era could be quite flattering for men since it tried to create larger shoulders and narrower waists, a classic "male" body shape, even when the wearer didn't have that shape. By contrast, much of today's clothing for men, especially slim-fit stuff aimed at hipsters and/or youth buyers which is quite widespread, de-emphasizes shoulders and tries to make the hips look as wide as the shoulders, so in that sense attempts to feminize (or infantilize) the male figure. I realize few will agree with me on this, but the difference seems obvious to me. It's a common mistake to look at fashions in MTV videos and think that was the 1980s--it wasn't, it was always the style fringe, and most everday 80s fashions available to the masses were fairly conservative.
Very true. At the risk of going a bit “A Stu”. Today’s peg legged denim sweatpants and drop shouldered mom sweaters on man bun wearing neck beards....no thanks.
 

navetsea

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,868
Location
East Java
the colors of that era made police job very easy I guess, because red means red, blue means blue, nothing muddy about the color scheme, you could not be color blind in those era, the brightness of the color must have trigger even weakest color sensor in your eyes and brain.
 

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