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Fa Fa Fa Fa Fashion!
10 Plays4 days ago
Growing up Gen X meant we had to look awesome! Josh and Tyler talk embarrassing fashion choices, 80's fashion icons and hair that we had!
What was your most embarrassing outfit?
What was your favourite piece of clothing?
It wouldn't be a gen x experience if it didn't involve looking fabulous!
Take a minute and let us know about your gen x fashion at https://www.speakpipe.com/genx4lifepodcast
See you on the catwalk!
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Transcript
Introduction to Hosts and Gen X
00:00:01
Speaker
Hey, and welcome back, Yabba Zonkers. This is Josh. I'm your host today. And with me today is my buddy, Tyler. Hey, buddy, Josh. Hey, so I've got a weird one here today. i know Yeah, you do. i ah I'm trying to i'm trying to to cover some of the cool things about, you know, growing up, Gen X, you know, and and I'm at that top end of the Gen X. You're kind of, you know, a little bit further from the top.
00:00:25
Speaker
um And then it goes right to like people who were born in, I think, like 1980 kind of thing. Oh, that's so late. I know, seriously. they're almost like They don't even count anymore. But that's because when that's when the millennials kind of start.
The 80s Fashion Kickoff: Trivia Question
00:00:39
Speaker
But the weird thing is, you know, when i'm when I'm doing my research and I'm trying to find some interesting things about, there's some things that just keep coming up. and this is today's topic is just one of those things. So I'm going to start us off by asking a very related question.
00:00:54
Speaker
All right. Okay. This is sort of a trivia question. Which fashionable accessory was hip from the very beginning to the end of the 80s?
00:01:07
Speaker
Oh. that's well That's tough, right? If you're talking America. o Yeah. Is it eyewear?
00:01:19
Speaker
no it's not. Is it shoes? a No, it's not. really specific. Like the beginning is not in the middle and is not the end. So what obvious thing am I missing?
00:01:36
Speaker
Right. And you've probably not seen it, but I was one of those people that at the beginning of the eighty s I wore this. what What is it? All right. It is a headband.
00:01:48
Speaker
Oh God. Right. At the end. Yeah. People were still wearing headbands. That's weird. Yeah. But I think it's one of those things where it wasn't really a, like a, you know, a serious trend. Like people were probably just still wearing them and they shouldn't have been.
00:02:04
Speaker
Yeah. Right. You know, now that they're moms with five kids. But, you know. i remember when the headband got replaced with the leather tie wrapped around the forehead.
00:02:14
Speaker
Yeah. Like, ooh. Go, Rick Springfield. Yeah, that was very specific. All right, let's kick it off. All right.
Exploring Gen X Childhood Memories
00:02:27
Speaker
Hey, don't turn that channel. You've reached Yabba Sunker's Wings, the Saturday morning podcast where your host, Josh Downing, now that's me, will take you on a trip through a Gen X Saturday morning of cereal, toys, cartoons, and so much more.
00:02:40
Speaker
So grab your honeycombs and your favorite Micronaut and sit back and enjoy. I'm always worried I said in there, honeycones. Oh, honeycomb was a band in the 60s.
00:02:52
Speaker
Is it really? Honeycones? Yeah, honeycones. Honeycomb. Honeycomb. Cool. That's where One Monkey Don't Stop No Show comes from. Oh, yeah, that's right. That's awesome. Honeycones.
00:03:04
Speaker
All right. So the headband was kind of a kickoff today's weird topic. We're going to talk about fashion. Oh, Yeah, because, you know, I think we're one of the first generations where clothes became a thing. Like, we our parents could buy now cool, colorful, plasticky clothing and dress us up.
00:03:30
Speaker
Because before that, every every kid just wore either dress until you were like 14 or a suit.
Favorite and Embarrassing Childhood Clothes
00:03:38
Speaker
Kids' clothes were brutal when we were growing up. Yes, they were.
00:03:42
Speaker
Like, I didn't know... how limited it was until there was sort of the explosion years later, like Old Navy or something. Yeah. It's like, I'm sure the kids departments must have been so small, but yeah, by the time, time we were teenagers, you know, it was, it seemed unlimited at that point.
00:04:02
Speaker
you know It was a fun time to care about what you were wearing. And I wouldn't go anywhere unless I looked like I was going on stage somewhere. was going to say.
00:04:16
Speaker
That's what it's like being a kid, right? It's like, we're going where? I'm going to need half an hour. All right. I need get ready hour for sure. ye yep. And that was that was before we got into the 80s, which was a whole other level of this.
00:04:29
Speaker
So, When I was a kid, I had lots of favorite pieces of clothing. Did you have a favorite that you loved? Yeah, I think I did. ah got a jacket, like ah like a, it's almost like a smoking jacket.
00:04:43
Speaker
ah it was very retro when I went to London in the 80s and worshipped that thing and like wore it to death and wore it everywhere. And it reeked of beer and cigarettes. and Of course. no But I wore it to school every day.
00:04:58
Speaker
Loved that jacket. What about you? Oh, my goodness. I have so many. i i loved getting dressed up. Oh, it fun. Yeah, yeah, totally.
00:05:09
Speaker
i had I had a bunch of favorite pieces of clothing, but i also had favorite outfits. um I think that one of my favorites was probably – um my my Luke Skywalker t-shirt.
00:05:23
Speaker
So I had just made it one of those t-shirt booths in the mall. Oh yeah. And it was a green sleeved baseball tee and green was my favorite color. And it was one of the, it was the Empire Strikes Back actually. Okay.
00:05:39
Speaker
And it was an image from the movie and it was the image from Luke and running through the jungle with Yoda on his back. Okay. But it had glitter all around the edges.
00:05:51
Speaker
Of course it did. Well, sparkle, right? it Sparkle, yeah yeah. Sparkle glitter. Yeah. Yeah. So, and I had that made. i had a second... ah Luke Skywalker iron-on, but I couldn't afford the t-shirt, so I kept that for years.
00:06:07
Speaker
yeah I think I sold that probably in the 90s. But yeah, that t-shirt. Oh, I also had my name in felt letters on the back of it as well. yeah I loved it.
00:06:17
Speaker
because Part of it was because I made it, and part of it was because the Star
Formal Attire vs Casual Wear in Gen X
00:06:21
Speaker
Wars, right? True, yeah. what are what is What are some of the most embarrassing pieces of clothing you remember wearing?
00:06:28
Speaker
Oh my God. When I was in grade four, I had this polyester shirt that literally had disco dancers all over it. Nice.
00:06:38
Speaker
And I wore that with my grease movie belt buckle that we got in Buffalo, which was a game changer, you know, and that was my grade four outfit.
00:06:50
Speaker
Oh my God. My grease belt buckle and my disco shirt. And it was this like blue silver shirt. i like Why was it made for kids anyway? This blue silver shirt with little black silhouette disco dancers like on an angle, you know, repeated. thing Oh my God. I loved that shirt. So funny.
00:07:08
Speaker
That one needs to come back. Yeah. And also a grade four story. I had these gotcha man pajamas and I used to wear the shirt to school and kids would say, that's pajamas. I say, no, it's not.
00:07:21
Speaker
Yeah. But it was. So that reminds me of one of my stories. I wanted to wear my pajamas to school so badly. Well, now can. don't know why.
00:07:31
Speaker
I know. Now you can. But back then, that was weird. And i was i I swear I was standing there crying because I came in the house in my pajamas. And I was like, I i want to go to school. And my mom was like, you are not wearing your pajamas to school.
00:07:46
Speaker
I'm like, but that looks like an outfit. Yeah. I was so upset. And I really just really wanted to wear it. And then my mom was like, no. I was already getting beat up at and had things thrown at me.
00:07:58
Speaker
Why was I trying to make that worse? I really don't. You upstairs and put on your yellow t-shirt and your brown cords. Oh, my God. Sorry, I should have said yellow turtleneck. Yellow turtleneck, brown Yes, absolutely.
00:08:12
Speaker
and your hush Put on your suit of polyester and get out there in the hot June sun. Yeah, yeah, exactly. right exactly In your play clothes. um Did you have to wear any suits, like dress up?
00:08:27
Speaker
Once. I had to go to a wedding when I was a little kid. And I don't think I had another suit until I was in high school. And that was for a wedding again. Actually, i got a really cool jacket on Queen West for that custom. That was a really cool jacket. But no, I didn't have to. I feel bad for kids who who wear school uniforms because you just don't get to express yourself.
Footwear and Fashion Trends of the Time
00:08:50
Speaker
no No. I mean, I get that they'll do things to alter it, but I'm like, it's just not the same.
00:08:56
Speaker
No, we, uh, my mom would make our whole entire family outfits, like church outfits. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah. So she would buy a bolt of mustard colored, but this yeah she would, she did. She actually bought a bolt of this mustard polyester that was kind of ribbed, almost like corduroy.
00:09:20
Speaker
And my mom made dresses for my two sisters, a suit with a like a vest and flare leg pants for me, and then flare leg pants for my dad, and then a dress for herself. Wow. It's very Little House in the Prairie, but in the 70s. Oh, yeah, that was in the 70s. Did you have platform shoes? I had one pair of platform shoes when i was a little kid.
00:09:42
Speaker
I didn't have platform shoes, no, but I did have naturalizers and I wore those things that's everywhere and all through elementary school. Yeah, I bought them at Kmart down in the States, one of our our shopping trips, and they had wavy soles.
00:09:56
Speaker
Wow, wavy. Yeah. So it was apparently supposed to be natural, like you're walking on the earth, because hippies were were trendy at that time, late 70s. So i I finally convinced my mom that I could get these shoes.
00:10:11
Speaker
And I wore them to death, like everywhere. Those are my good shoes, my dress shoes, my school shoes, everything. So you wore those with your headphones that got the AM stereo while you flipped through your Star Trek photo novel walking through the bus.
00:10:30
Speaker
You nailed it. That's me. And then getting beaten up on the way. I'm trying to run in my naturalizers. ah Don't take my shoes. We don't want them.
00:10:41
Speaker
I also remember... um I had to have these suede clogs. but They weren't just regular suede clogs.
00:10:53
Speaker
They were ultra suede. They were branded... So my sister got a pair of Pepsi and I got 7up and they were green, electric green suede clogs.
00:11:07
Speaker
Well, actually that sounds pretty cool. you were going to say they were like Lee brand or something. No, no, they they probably had those, but it was even cooler that they were 7up because was coolest drink. Oh, that's why they were
Fashion as Self-Expression
00:11:16
Speaker
green. Yeah, yeah, green suede.
00:11:18
Speaker
Wow. Yeah, with the big 7up logo. And I love those things. Do you remember? No. Once again, the we bought him in the States. Oh, so not Buster Brown? no pro No, it wouldn't have been a brand thing.
00:11:30
Speaker
It would have been a Kmart thing. Cool. Probably Kmart from the US. Yeah. I remember, I never had flip-flops when I was a kid, but I remember being Kmart when I was a kid and they had lenticular Pebbles and ba Bam Bam flip-flops for little kids. Nice.
00:11:46
Speaker
I secretly wanted them, but I'm like, oh, I can't wear those. But I wanted them. Yes. But how come you didn't get them? Because I would have been too embarrassed to wear them.
00:11:56
Speaker
Yeah. But I admired them. So here's another one. I got a pair of white jeans that came with red, white, and blue suspenders.
00:12:07
Speaker
Oh, man. Right? I was a fashion kid. Like, seriously. That's so funny. So we weren't we weren't allowed to wear jeans to school. oh really? Yeah, yeah. No, my parents were like, nope, you can dress up like, you know, like decent kids. And like, no. Oh, wow. And that's probably why i got beat up so much and and bullied. But, um...
00:12:30
Speaker
uh i remember towards the end like grade six and grade seven um everybody was wearing big blue jeans that was the brand and they were really snug at the top with really big pockets on the back with a grippy logo on it and then they were fairly snug and then they had really super wide legs And they were unisex.
00:12:55
Speaker
And so we used to get them at the swap meet. We just weren't allowed to wear them for the longest time. And then my parents were finally like, when I got to grade six, I think, or maybe grade seven, it was like, yeah, you can wear your jeans to school as long as they're not ripped or torn.
00:13:12
Speaker
They don't look like play jeans. And I was like, yay, I can finally fit in with all the other kids at school. funny. So I got to wear my big blue jeans. We also wore French cut jeans, which had no pockets.
00:13:27
Speaker
And they just had these like sort of little, don't know what they'd be called, kind of like these little tucks on the front. And that was like their signature. But yeah, they were kind of a slash pocket front with no pockets on the back to show off your butt.
00:13:41
Speaker
And same kind of thing, snug at the top, wide at the bottom. Did you wear them with your Northstar sneakers? I didn't have Northstar. I had Adidas.
00:13:55
Speaker
ah They were the white tennis shoes because that was all the rage in junior high. So funny. They were white tennis shoes with blue stripes. Very sensible. And one time I came, I went, I, once again, I took my checkbook to Kmart.
00:14:09
Speaker
I'm always dangerous with that checkbook. Yeah. And, uh, there's four left. <unk> Be careful. And only four cents in my account. Uh, so I went to, uh, to Kmart and I fell in love with these black and yellow running shoes.
00:14:26
Speaker
They had this great big, thick, weird sole on them. They were not like naturalizers, but they were like, you know, super jumping shoes. And they were just like, just huge rubbery soles on them. Like they were just crazy, kind of like shoes nowadays. But this was way back in the the end of the 70s.
00:14:45
Speaker
And i think they were $100. Yeah.
00:14:48
Speaker
So you can imagine like back then, that was like three of my dad's paychecks. My gosh. And so I just kept going back and looking at them, looking at them, looking at them. And I finally just said, damn it, I'm writing a check. So i wrote a check. Yeah.
00:15:05
Speaker
Which, of course, bounced. ah Wrote a check to hopefully Kmart's not listening. um And came home with these shoes and tried to convince my mom that I had to have them. And she was so upset because there's no way a kid needs $100 running shoes. Yeah. Right?
00:15:26
Speaker
So I ended up having to take them back, which was quite devastating. So I had to and do wear my 7-Up clogs to school. Yeah. I couldn't wait to get rid of running shoes.
00:15:36
Speaker
So like when the 80s came, it was like, I'll wear anything but running shoes. So like I loved the penny loafers. I love the the boxing boots.
00:15:48
Speaker
I love the Doc Martens. Like just give me anything but running shoes. my some So my my first punk running shoes were my Adidas and I just basically took felt pen and made one green and one red. Yeah, that's fine.
00:16:03
Speaker
Right. It that was totally, that's all I could I like they didn't have any other any other access, but that was my my first. And
Thrift Store Finds and Creativity
00:16:11
Speaker
you were out of checks. Yeah, I was totally out of checks. I didn't have my paper up money at that point.
00:16:17
Speaker
I also had um one of my prized possessions of clothing was a denim vest. And it was a super nice, like a really nice quality denim vest with snaps.
00:16:31
Speaker
And I think I wore it to school one day. And in the the the gym locker room, um you know, the bully kids grabbed it and were trying to keep it away from me. And then they ended up like throwing it up into the ceiling and it got caught in the HVAC system. Oh my gosh. And it's probably still there today.
00:16:50
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Yeah. That's horrible. I, yeah, no. And I, I had to, I had to lie about it cause I couldn't tell my parents what happened. And so nobody ever found out. And then eventually one day I went back and it actually was gone. So I was very devastated because that was one of my, my favorite pieces of clothing. It got to be worn in one of the, the backyard plays that we did though.
00:17:12
Speaker
Oh, okay. I played the cowboy kidnapper. There you go. Right. So I got to use it. So once um once we started to grow up and we can make our own choices, what what was your first sort of, i'm going to be me and I'm going to express myself and I'm going to look like a like a punk rock star. What was your first outfit?
00:17:34
Speaker
Who was your first influence? ah Probably the specials. Nice. Because i didn't really care what the guys from Blondie were wearing.
00:17:45
Speaker
um Didn't care what Talking Heads was wearing.
00:17:49
Speaker
too young to pull off the Ramones. But when the specials came along, it was like, oh okay, I can do that. you know um And then following that, it just went like total new wave.
00:18:04
Speaker
like just And it was such a fun time. it was an amazing time. And if you had hair, which I did, was bloody fantastic. You know what I mean?
00:18:15
Speaker
It was just so much fun. i got my first job based on my the boots I was wearing. He's like, oh, I hired you as soon as I saw you. I loved your boots. I'm like, sweet. All right. What a world. Nice.
00:18:27
Speaker
my clothing is going to carry me on yeah exactly exactly for one more year yeah right so it was just it was just a fun time you know and everything was new and you could get cool stuff and you didn't have to spend a fortune and yeah you know and it kind of didn't matter what you wore is like i mean i carried what i wore but you know if you if you just knew what other people were into, it didn't matter what they were wearing. you If you just knew they were cool, then it's like, that's all that mattered.
00:18:57
Speaker
yeah But I don't remember anybody having money to buy anything special. But then I can't think of what would have been, like, other than leather, you know, you didn't really need anything that was super expensive.
00:19:13
Speaker
And there were so many used shops back then. Oh yeah. yeah What was one we used make fun of? No, make fun of them. South Pacific. Remember how there was one? Oh yeah, totally. Yes.
DIY Fashion and Inspirations
00:19:24
Speaker
All they sold were like, what were those coats? Parachute pants. wo Wool coats. Yes. You know, black rain jackets. Yes. Oh my God. Yes.
00:19:35
Speaker
I think I owned stuff from there. I did. Yeah. Yeah. my My first sort of punk rock outfit happened because um between grade nine and grade 10. So I think it was like our grade nine school dance.
00:19:49
Speaker
We were having at a place called Bumpers in Surrey and it was a teen club. And I really wanted to go. i don't know why. i just I knew I was going to get beat up, but I'm like, no, I want to do this.
00:20:01
Speaker
and want to go and experience this. But i didn't want to I didn't want to look normal. So I was like, well, I need to punk it up. And i really didn't know anything at the time. So I made my mom take me to the store and i bought a white t-shirt, black cords, and and this black leather jacket.
00:20:19
Speaker
And it was it was a really nice looking little jacket. It was like a little, it wasn't, ah it was like a bomber style. Yeah. And that that was what I wore to the club the first night.
00:20:31
Speaker
I'm like, this place is amazing. It's so cool. I can't believe, you know, there's a teen nightclub. So I went again on like a Saturday night and That's when I got sort of adopted into the this group of British punk kids who were hanging out there.
00:20:47
Speaker
And they're like, hey, you know, come with us. We'll show you everything. And things just accelerated like crazy. So I took those black cords, stitched them up so I could barely get my legs in them. So they were super stovepipe.
00:21:00
Speaker
I, you know, put safety pins and ripped the sleeves off my T-shirt. um I started wearing buttons all over my leather jacket and started spiking my hair. Yep.
00:21:11
Speaker
Yep. That was, that was great 10. It was a lot of fun. Oh, it was the best. Yeah. Yeah. And then my first, my first sort of fashion inspiration at that point was Adamant.
00:21:25
Speaker
Yep. Right. So I used to like tie handkerchiefs all over my pants, all up and down my legs with chains and I had little pixie boots and Oh, I had so many of those too. Yeah. Totally. Little suede pixie boots. Yeah, yeah.
00:21:41
Speaker
And I had still had that black leather jacket, so I was wearing that thing to death. And it was a full of like safety pins and band pins all over it. And I really, i just, I would also, at that time, that's when I started wearing my headband because it was you know very sort of new romantic to do that. Right. Yeah.
00:22:02
Speaker
And I had a red, I had a red tie and I had a green bandana that I used to wear. but yeah, that was, that was my first sort of punk fashion inspiration. And it would be so distracting at school and the teacher would be so angry. Go down to the principal's office. I'm like, Oh my God.
00:22:21
Speaker
i never got sent to the principal's office. Ridiculous. You know, it's like, how is this distracting when everybody's facing forward? Right? Why are they looking at me? Yeah. like good Anyway.
00:22:33
Speaker
i am I got questioned once when I was in art class, and I'm like scribbling on something. But at the time, this was grade 11. At the time, I was wearing like 40 bangles on one arm. of course, that's the arm I'm drawing with. And it's like bang, bang, bang, jingy-jingy-jingy-bang.
00:22:49
Speaker
That's so funny. Yeah. Can you take your bangles off while you're drawing? i'm like, oh, yeah. OK, whatever. That's hilarious. That's really funny.
00:22:58
Speaker
Yeah, that was totally it. Did we already do we talk about most embarrassing? Yeah, I didn't have anything embarrassing once I got older. you know i don't even know there was anything i would look back on and say, oh, that looks silly. like I don't think so. I can't think of, I would say, oh, I looked ridiculous or my hair looked ridiculous.
00:23:19
Speaker
No, I think that, I mean, by the time I kind of jumped right in, i was i was pretty crazy. um I remember a couple times I think went out, I dressed super punk. Like I took my black jeans and I put a black garbage bag and taped it all over my legs.
00:23:36
Speaker
You know, shredded shirt, plastic, you know, purple plastic rain jacket, you know, tons of makeup and hair sticking straight up. Girls would love to do makeup on you.
00:23:48
Speaker
going down Oh, can I do your eyes? Can I do your eyes? I'm like, okay, sure. I loved it. It was like playing dolls or dress up. Totally. them ah Totally. The first time, i the first ah for my first time, um I was being taken to a Rocky Horror Picture Show.
00:24:04
Speaker
Oh, yeah, yeah. And I just went over some of my normal punk stuff. And she's like, no, no, no, I've got way better stuff for you. So they totally dressed me up. And then she's like, going put some makeup on you. So I had like total adamant makeup. Like she put little hearts on me and I had the white stripe across my nose.
00:24:19
Speaker
Yeah, the whole thing. And then we went to Rocky Horror. The stuff I hated was the the American version and of the eighty s Yes. The Madonna influence, you know, all that mesh, you know, just, you know, the, the flash dance sort of stuff.
00:24:37
Speaker
Yeah. That's the stuff that people look back on and say, Oh, that's so funny. I'm like, well, that's cause it was ugly at the time as well. You know, it wasn't cool. You know, it was American and I don't mean American meaning America in a negative sense.
00:24:50
Speaker
You know, it was certainly here too. Right. Yeah. Like, you know, versus British in two different worlds, you know, all those shoulder pads, you know, all the fluorescence. I'm like, that's that's American eighty s That's also when everything went mainstream, right?
00:25:08
Speaker
True that, yeah. when Yeah, when clothing companies were like, how do we get this on, like, you know, ma and pa, yeah right? Let's turn everything into, like, you know a high-energy tracksuit because everybody loves sport game, right? It was crazy. And that was never the stuff that I wore.
00:25:27
Speaker
Yeah, it's too bad because I think that's what people remember. And I'm like, yeah ah no no no, no, no, no. Here, watch these four influential music videos. you know Then we'll talk. Yeah, no, we yeah we were thrift kids.
Working in Fashion Retail
00:25:40
Speaker
Like we were in thrift stores. yeah and When I first started, when I first got introduced you know to the to the the punks and the mods at Bumpers, um one of the guys took me to this store in New Westminster and they were still selling men's clothing from the 60s. So it was like this warehouse store.
00:26:00
Speaker
It was just jam packed, kind of like an old, um you know, they used to the military surplus stores. yeahp yeah It was kind of like that, but it was like a white collar business surplus store. okay And everything was like stowpipe pants. You didn't have to sew anything.
00:26:14
Speaker
You know, everything was you those beautiful little polos that, you know, they would wear bowling. And it was just amazing and dirt cheap. Like everything was so cheap, like $10 for a pair of pants.
00:26:25
Speaker
I actually found a pair of custom-made nineteen forty s Zoot Suit pants that I wore forever. They were just, they were beautiful. They were really high-waisted, couple of pleats, beautiful wool.
00:26:38
Speaker
But they had been custom-made for somebody and then I guess just dumped off at this store. Yeah, going to the thrift stores back then was awesome because, of course, everything was quality. It was going to last forever.
00:26:50
Speaker
But so many, I had like, excuse me, I had all these like, my friends used to call them Alexander Cabot outfits. Because it looked like, you know, that I was, you know, out of a Hanna-Barbera.
00:27:02
Speaker
It looked like I was out of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon of 1969. Well, yeah. And I love those goals. Yes. Why wouldn't you? right Yeah, yeah, yeah. and that's By day, I looked And then by night, I looked the time.
00:27:17
Speaker
Totally. ah That was amazing. Yeah, I missed those times. um Grade 12, I think, for me, was was probably the best. It was like 83, 84. eighty three eighty four um i was at the height of my
00:27:33
Speaker
sort of outfits that I was wearing to school. um i was getting my hair done by real hairdressers at this point. So I was getting like these $80 haircuts. They were just like all bleached and spiked. And I had a tail that beads all, you know, beaded into my tail.
00:27:51
Speaker
was just crazy. It was, it was so much fun. I liked the end of the eighties when everything started going more form fitting, uh, a lot of black and white and like for guys. And it just looked, looked clean. It looked cool.
00:28:10
Speaker
And I was very happy in just like my leather jacket, my white jeans, my biker boots, whatever band shirt. And I was very happy, you know, and then like a pair of suspenders hanging down,
00:28:22
Speaker
And it was just like, yep, this is casual. It's comfortable. It looks cool. And i was very happy by the time that the, that decade was wrapping up, you know, sort of like the evolution, you know, of 80 89.
00:28:38
Speaker
I lucked out because i I got involved in the clothing industry by the mid 80s. Right. So I was ah late 80s. So I was working for Club Monaco. Right.
00:28:51
Speaker
So I had access to clothing and it was beautiful clothing and it was dirt cheap. And because I was a store manager, I got like free outfits every month. Right. So I had an endless stream of clothing coming my way. Right.
00:29:03
Speaker
So it was really easy for me. I was just whatever the latest was, you know, in fashion, that's what I got to wear. And then I went from there and went to Roots and then and had a whole other Roots wardrobe happening right there too. I don't think I remember you working for Roots.
00:29:18
Speaker
Yeah, I left Club Monaco because so Roots came and knocked on the door and they said, hey, we're opening up a new store and we're looking for some you know some managers. And I was kind of disenfranchised from the whole Club Monaco thing.
00:29:33
Speaker
They had gone through a lot of changes. So I said, yeah, I'll come work for Roots. that's it was but That's where What's-Her-Face works. Which one? Was that on Robson Street?
00:29:45
Speaker
Which one? Roots. Roots. Yeah, I, yes, I opened the the Robson Street store. What was the girl's name there? Who was she Australian?
00:30:00
Speaker
No, I don't remember that. Oh, isn't that, isn't that also the Chevy Chase story?
Mainstream Fashion Challenges and Influences
00:30:08
Speaker
No, I don't have a Chevy Chase story. didn't he Who was it that came in and said, you got to hide me? Oh, yeah, that was. see as soon as you asked me to say somebody's name, I'm like, I don't know what their name is. No, that was um John Ritter.
00:30:21
Speaker
Oh, John Ritter. Was that that story? Uh, that was, yes, that was that store. Okay. Yeah. I opened that store in roots and then I moved into Pacific center roots for a while. All right.
00:30:34
Speaker
Sorry for the interruption. No, no, totally cool. Yeah. i I don't remember anybody else, but, uh, it was one of my worst working experiences. Lots of great clothes though. But that's when I was in my like jeans and t-shirt phase. yeah yeah Boots and jeans and you know just sort of really casual.
00:30:51
Speaker
it was It was simpler. Totally easy. Totally much more easy. But yeah, did you have did you have somebody that you kind of idolized for their look?
00:31:05
Speaker
For sure, Tom Bailey. Oh, yeah. He was the first one where it was like, whatever he's wearing, I want it. um Until 85, and then that went off a cliff. But the years leading up to that, you know, it's funny when he played here.
00:31:21
Speaker
solo uh was the year where did you you had to fly somewhere you went like to the west coast or something and and couldn't go to the show yeah and he played rpm and there was a kid like i'm saying a kid like 20 he was wearing tom's outfit from the lies video nice and he was walking in front of me and it took me a second i'm like oh my god like how do you even know that you know did we have youtube yet i don't even know And I'm looking at him, I'm like, your age, right? And I i know I spoke to him, I remember said, but it was just like, that's so cool. He even had the handcuffs.
00:31:59
Speaker
Oh, my dad hated it when I wore handcuffs. Oh, he hated that. I wore them the time. um I had a handcuff period too. Yeah, anything anything Tom did to me was just like, yep, got to have it.
00:32:11
Speaker
you know Copy it however I could. Yeah. Mine, other than other than Adamant, my um my other influence was – I had two, but one really struck with me. Gary Neumann was an influence, but he was a tougher one because he was always wearing something really stagey.
00:32:26
Speaker
Right. So do a quick Gary Neumann story. um So we were going to see Devo, and this was at the Pacific Coliseum. Massive show.
00:32:37
Speaker
i wanted to make a big splash. I didn't want to dress like Devo. So I went and I got a pattern from Kmart for a jumpsuit and I made my mom help me modify this jumpsuit so that I could wear Gary Newman's famous red, his was a red leather suit, but I made mine that it's like sort of a parachute material, a copy of his red jumpsuit.
00:33:01
Speaker
You're lucky she didn't make you use more of that mustard yellow bolt to That you still had five outfits left? Yeah, totally. No, I'm so lucky. I can get it right now. I think it dissolved in bucket of acid.
00:33:16
Speaker
Yeah, so i I got to go to see the Devo concert in my Gary Neumann outfit, dyed my hair black, did the whole thing. And there's a, there's another connected story when we get to the sort of music age.
80s Fashion Trivia Segment
00:33:30
Speaker
Uh, we'll talk about that, but it was really cool. Cause I met somebody through that outfit, but it, uh, it was pretty cool.
00:33:36
Speaker
And then when I got into grade 12, I, I wanted a completely different look, but I wanted something that was, that was more me. So I was doing the whole David Sylvian thing. Mm-hmm.
00:33:48
Speaker
So I was wearing like, you know big loose pants and, you know, little sandals and my hair was blonde and huge. And i would wear, would actually literally wear cameras around my neck to school. Oh my God. That's so cool. Yeah.
00:34:05
Speaker
What a commitment, right? Totally. I was so committed. i was such a theater kid too. And I actually went into class one day. I had three cameras on me and I'm wearing like this really cool floral patterned shirt and my great big loose, ah you know, David Sylveon pants.
00:34:22
Speaker
My hair was all like, you know, shredded in front of my face and I'm wearing these big giant glasses. And my teacher turned she looks at me she goes, oh, for God's sake, take all that crap off.
00:34:33
Speaker
my god Yeah, it was a great moment. So I just took my glasses off and and just gave look and put them back on. That's so funny. Yeah. It was too much fun.
00:34:45
Speaker
You're sitting there with your crimping iron actually on as she's yelling. Backcombing my bangs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wait, I can see you. Back, back, back. Yeah, yeah, right on.
00:34:55
Speaker
God. Oh, my God. I remember doing the the hair sometimes when we'd go out, and it would be like, you wet your hair a little bit, you blow dry it upside down, and then you... shit you I don't know do it, but you're just basically kind of throwing your head up and down so your hair is sticking straight up.
00:35:10
Speaker
And then you're hairspraying it at the same time. So they just stick straight up. Always running out to buy more hairspray. More peroxide, more hairspray. Totally. that was the That was the best part.
00:35:22
Speaker
And I was lucky too, because my mom was a hairdresser. So I had all of the hair dyes. Oh, that's too funny. So yeah, two-tone hair, blonde hair, red hair.
00:35:33
Speaker
We used to cut my hair in the basement of the school and then just walk away from it. It would just be this pile of hair. I used to think like, I'm sure the janitor must come by like once a week and go, hmm.
00:35:45
Speaker
you know No, he was going to be lying going, I recognize that color hair. Yeah, that's true. That's true. i know who that is. You're going to be bald one day, kid. Yeah, right. Just like Oh my God. No, with his hair, never going to happen.
00:36:01
Speaker
my My Tom Bailey story was went in, it was probably around grade 11. Yeah, was probably around grade 11. I went into, um we had a hair salon that was like the most avant-garde 80s hair salon in the world.
00:36:16
Speaker
And it was on Granville Street in Vancouver. And I can never remember the name of it, but I went in there. i had 75 bucks to burn. i like i guess, I don't know how I got the money. I probably like sold things.
00:36:29
Speaker
And yeah, ah Does he stole things? No, no, no. So I went in and I said, I held up a picture of Tom Bailey and I said, I want my hair to look like that.
00:36:41
Speaker
yeah And I'm sure they all went into the back room and laughed for 20 minutes because I didn't have any hair. Like my hair was super short. Oh. I was still in sort of my my punk phase. Hadn't really grown my hair out. and But yet I wanted this great big tall, you know,
00:36:59
Speaker
kind of do. And, and, uh, they came out and said, okay, sure. and he cut my head. And basically what I ended up with was like sort of like a little box cut. Yeah. Yeah. Like 1950s kind of box cut.
00:37:11
Speaker
ah so funny And, uh, I went home pretty close. My mom was so mad because my mom was a hairdresser. She's like, yeah where did you go and get this done? And i'm like, Oh my God, it went down and my friends cut my hair. And she's just like, I can't believe it. I could have done that. And i'm like, no, no,
00:37:29
Speaker
this was a special thing and also I wanted to brag to my friends that I went to this hair salon. That's so funny. have to roll my hair into almost like a box in order to then attack it, pull it down like Tom.
00:37:41
Speaker
You know, it was like, when will it be ready? When will it be ready? I'm like, finally, finally I get the Tom hair. So funny. I was never patient enough. I could never have long enough hair to do the styles that I really wanted to. No.
00:37:54
Speaker
Yeah, I think I finally i finally did in in grade 12. I finally was just like, ah, I got to let it go And then by the end of grade 12, I had this spiky thing that when I went to college, my teacher started laughing at me and she said, you look like a ah lighthouse. Because my hair was sticking straight up and it was all blonde on top.
00:38:12
Speaker
yeah She just laughed at me every time she'd look at me and I'm like, okay, great. Now that would cost her her job if it happened today. Totally, totally. I think that the drinking cost her her job ultimately, but that's a whole other story.
00:38:26
Speaker
No wonder she was so angry. ah Exactly. All right. So I'm going to give you a couple more trivia questions to wrap up today's today's funness about fashion. Okay. So here's another one.
00:38:39
Speaker
What popular charm would you see hanging around necks from a thin leather cord in the early 80s? A cross. No, you're close, but it's not lacrosse.
00:38:52
Speaker
An onc? It's not what I was wearing. Yeah, know I was going to bring that up. um what What is it? It is a shark's tooth. Oh, yeah, okay. great Yeah, remember there's a lot of dudes running around shark tooths.
00:39:07
Speaker
Weird. Shark's tooths. Shark's tooths. Shark's tooths. Here's another one for you. Which 80s movie boosted the Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses trend?
00:39:20
Speaker
What was that movie called? It's Tom Cruise, right? Yes, it is. It's not called Reckless. It's like one word, right? No, it's two. It's two words.
00:39:32
Speaker
It's not the Terminator. hu It's not a never-ending story. He's wearing them and he's in the white dress shirt, right? No, actually, that's that's and it's not risky business. it It was Top Gun, actually. The aviator glasses. The Ray-Bans were... Sorry, I was thinking glasses, not aviators. Oh, of course it was Top Gun.
00:39:52
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, totally. sold so much of that soundtrack. Oh, my gosh. Huge. Oh, my gosh. Anyway. All right. ah Oh, we already asked
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:40:03
Speaker
that one. Okay. Sorry. What's this one? Jelly sandals.
00:40:06
Speaker
and What? Jelly sandals. Yes. Oh, jelly sandals. Yeah. I remember those. I never had those. No. Walk away from any girl wearing those. Yep.
00:40:17
Speaker
Okay, here's another one. Denim jackets, hats, backpacks, and purse straps were often seen covered in which accessory to express your individuality?
00:40:30
Speaker
Patches? No. And it's not roach clips either. Oh, it's pins? Yeah, it's buttons. Okay. Bins, yeah. I was getting, I was thinking about, you know how, like, the jean jacket always had, like, a band patch on the back. Yes.
00:40:44
Speaker
know mean? was thinking about that. Okay, here's your last one. And this is funny because i actually. What? Jelly slippers. he' So close. ah Which cheap, flat, black shoes were particularly popular in the 80s?
00:40:59
Speaker
Kung fu slippers. Yeah. Yeah, China flats. They were like three bucks. And they're probably the reason why i have fallen arches to this day because I wore them all through grade 12.
00:41:11
Speaker
See, Fun Boy 3 wore those with their roots sweatpants. Oh, nice. Yep. Very cool. Yeah, so fashion. ah It was a great time. I think that we got to express ourselves a lot with our clothing and, you know, our buttons and the things that we were wearing.
00:41:30
Speaker
And it was dirt cheap. Until I got to grade 12 and then all of a sudden all my all my rich friends were wearing like Parasuko jeans and I'm like, oh, they were bringing stuff over from Europe and Japan.
00:41:43
Speaker
Well, it changed, right? It's like it went from like you shop where, you know, to like you better look like you've got money. Yeah, totally. Yeah. Totally. No more red muffin.
00:41:55
Speaker
And then there was a time when we just made our own clothes. Well, I can't comment on that because I tried to make a vest once in school and it took me like all year. Oh, was it a denim vest? No, no. I was going to say if it was my size, I could use one.
00:42:12
Speaker
Awesome. Well, that was very cool. Thank you for that trip down down memory lane of our fashion world. And you know what? Yeah, Bazonker Zoinkers, we want to see you. We want your questions. Go check out my social media.
00:42:28
Speaker
Lots of stuff to go and do and check. And, you know, we'll ah we'll see you soon somewhere out there. You've been listening to Yabba Zonker Zoinks, a Gen X for Life podcast.
00:42:40
Speaker
Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any exciting episodes. You can reach out on Instagram at Gen X for Life podcast. That's Gen X number four life underscore podcast or send an email at Gen X for Life podcast, all one word, at gmail.com.
00:42:57
Speaker
I'd love to hear about your favorite Gen X Saturday morning memory, maybe a favorite toy or the cereal you just couldn't wait to tear in into. Until then, have a Yabba Zonker Zonk's Day, and I'll be back bright and early next Saturday morning.