Been There, Done That...

You know I'm not that old. Yes I'm well out of my teenage years but I ain't quite middle aged. I'm in that little bit of womanhood when things begin to change. There are some things I can still get away with doing. There are things I need to keep an eye on. There are things I need to avoid.

I'll give you some examples. I can still dance on a table if the mood occurs and get away with it, I can still drink my vodka through a straw without looking too silly, I can still go clubbing, I can still get giggly with my mates.

I have to keep an eye on my skin for signs of ageing, I need to be a bit more careful about what I wear, I need to keep an eye out for grey hairs, I need to take more care of my diet.

I have to avoid certain items of clothing, I have to avoid certain make up styles, I have to avoid certain hair styles, I can't get away with staying out all night anymore without consequences!

You see I am past my teenage prime, my twenties and the freedom that went with them are behind me and I am now in my fourth decade which can be a bit of a minefield for women. However, I still feel about 25 and my head is young. My skin isn't letting me down yet and it's more prone to the odd teenage like spot than wrinkles! I've yet to find my first grey hair upstairs or down I might add!

I love shopping and I love to see what's on the rails. There's more things in shops that I couldn't buy now as I'd never get away with wearing them but I still like to look. I do though still shop in most of the same stores I did as a 19 year old, not quite of the age where scholl sandals appeal or BHS, Happit and Mackays are my shopping heavens. I'm just more careful with what I spend money on. As I wandered round some stores last week I saw loads of lovely stuff. I'm loving what everyones wearing just now. It's very 80's, very retro.

However, while I've indulged just a little by adding a few tops, shoes, baggy 3/4 jeans and accessories I'm keeping away from the rest of it. My days of wearing footless tights, leggings, shorts, jumpsuits, puffballs, ra-ra's and tiny denim shorts are behind me now. I'm also going to give the wearing of plastic shoes (jellybeans) a miss...I can't believe they've brought them back out! I have some great memories of when my wardrobe contained things like those above as well as over the knee socks, braces, lycra skirts, dolly shoes, shiny belts, over sized shirts, dungarees, tartan jeans (what were they all about), flourescent fingerless gloves, Frankie t-shirts and Go Go t-shirts, bat wing tops, belly tops and jeans so tight I had to put talc on my legs to get into them! That was my 80's wardbrobe and there in lies the key to this. I've been there and done that. This time round for me it's definitely more Madonna's jeans, flats and striped top combo from Papa Don't Preach than her lacy footless tights, short dress Like A Virgin days.

I lived through the 80's and wore the clothes. I did the secretary look with the skin tight pencil skirt, seamed tights, stilettos, shiny belt and shirt (at my 13th birthday party...13 and wearing seamed black tights and 3 inch stillettos no wonder my old Dad used to just shake his head!) I did the Wham! chick look in my white shorts and fingerless gloves, I did the Human League look with tons of black eyeliner, I did shoulder pads a la Dynasty, I did coloured tights and leather skirts. I had big hair and used enough so much hairspray I'm probably responsible for the ozone hole! I wore bright eyeshadow and shimmery lipsticks. I had a scary collection of coloured mascaras and eye liners.

Now I have a daughter nearing 10. Her eyes light up when she see's the colours and styles in the shops. She want's glittery things, she wants fingerless gloves and beads, she wants coloured eyeshadow, she wants belts and dungaree's and jumpsuits and footless tights. She wants all the same things as I did at the same age and no doubt she'll end up getting her way and her wardrobe will soon be similar to mine was way back when.

I only hope this trend for retro doesn't hit the 90's phase anytime soon. They may say the 80's was a decade of dodginess but the 90's were shocking and yes I wore it all then as well, tracksuits, medallions with $ signs, lycra all over, cat suits uugghh!

So if you're young enough to get away with the full look just now then go for it. It's fun fashion and a good time to experiment. One word of caution though, for all I have fond memories of doing it first time round and I thought I looked the bee's knee's I still recoil in horror when I look back at old photo's!

Jenny xx