[lightly toasted]

Lately I've been watching early 90s episodes of a favourite soap on YouTube, and I'm struck by the amount and size of the shoulder pads.

I had forgotten that well into the 90s you couldn't buy a blouse, a sweater or even a dress without shoulder pads.

While I wasn't a fan of shoulder pads at the time, I'd happily wear them today if I could be 21 again, if only for a day.

Lol, the shoulder pad years... They were great years, but I could have done without the shoulder pads. I still find them at thrift shops, but alas, they're usually a pain to remove, so I pass on those items.

But ahhh to be 21 again. But I'd want to go back in time along with it.

[unaluna]

We thought they made our butts look smaller. Which was important because everybody had just discovered croissants. Even Burger King had a Breakfast CroisSanwich. Which btw was totally gross.

No wait, that was the 80's. Eh, same difference!

[lightly toasted]

They also helped balance out the pleated pants. Remember those?

To be honest all that fabric, makes me a little wistful. I was a tiny little thing in the 80s and 90s and a lot of the fashionable clothing was too big or overpowered me. Now at 49 I wouldn't mind hiding a lot of this girth behind some voluminous 80s-90s fashion.

[Nammu]

To get an eyeful of those fashions just watch The Golden Girls. They really went for the shoulder pads in a big way!

[Mountaindewed]

I remember being really weirded out by my moms shoulder pads and this was in like 2001. I think she still wore them up until a couple years ago when she stopped going away on business.

[SorryShaped]

Hmm. I still dress about the same sometimes, busted jeans and t-shirts with occasional holes and sneakers. I suppose I never changed much there.
I do look good in pleats and shoulder pads, though

[tryingtobeconstruct]

I loved the shoulder pad fashion. All the girls looked like quarterbacks in drag.

[lightly toasted]

Stirrup pants and bulky cotton sweaters, they were everywhere, and yet neither have made a come back. Or have they, and I missed it.

I miss the dropped shoulder turtle neck/mock turtle neck, tucked into loose fitting belted jeans - that was a look that worked for me, when I still had a waist.

[SorryShaped]

Wear whatever you want. Enjoy yourself

[lightly toasted]

Thanks, SorryShaped. What I'm remembering, really, is being young and energetic.

Noticing the clothes on tv shows of that time, and thinking "hey I wore that!' ...it's just nice to remember that I was once energetic and optimistic and knew what was going on. I'm still somewhat optimistic, and I'm happy that today's young people are having their time to shine...I don't really need to know what's what, its' just nice to know that there was a time that I did

And it's just plain fun to compare yesterday's clothes to today's.

I'm depressed. And when I'm depressed, I look back with rose-tinted glasses. It's a common symptom of depression. I'm just trying to have a bit of fun with it. And inviting others to do so as well

[unaluna]

Originally Posted by lightly toasted

I miss the dropped shoulder turtle neck/mock turtle neck, tucked into loose fitting belted jeans - that was a look that worked for me, when I still had a waist.

I remember a woman i worked with calling those her "Italian-cut jeans", because she said she had an Italian booty and could not fit into the popular slimmer French-cut jeans!

[MuseumGhost]

I'm with ya, lightly toasted. You don't appreciate what you have until you get older, and things change.

I rocked the oversize blouse and skinny jeans thing. Yepp. Those were the days!

Shoulder pads were mostly saved for my blazers, when I had to 'dress' for work. I think a lot of the styles back then were based on clothes from the 40's, and the early 50's.