The image above is from my upcoming "Comic Graphic Novel" about growing up as a baby boomer! See I do cartoons too!Was it just me or did the eighties seem to have the word "big" stamped all over them? Big sunglasses, big jewelry, big money, big credit card debt, big crimped hair and especially big shoulders!
Every suit jacket and blouse came with shoulder pads built in. We owned several sets of foam rubber shoulder pads too - just in case the shoulder pads weren't big enough! If you looked down the street during the era of the Dynasty soap opera years you saw clones of Joan Collins and Linda Evans by the truck loads! If you were getting a view of the backside these clones looked like football players in drag, those big shoulders of fashion rivaled the shoulder pads worn by any quarterback of the day!
I was just as big an offender as anyone else when it came to the "big" look. Not only did I wear big jewelry in the eighties, I designed it! I developed and sold a line of paper jewelry throughout the U.S. and even internationally, adding to the epidemic. Mea Culpa, but it was very profitable. I loved the big hats too, hats are still a weakness of mine. I'm also ashamed to admit I crimped my hair!
My biggest offense, however, was the big shoulder. I would actually add foam pads to the ones sewn into my blouses and jackets. In my defense, it wasn't all a fashion choice, I have really sloping shoulders and shoulder purses were the bane of my existence until the advent of shoulder pads. I was always pulling my purse strap back over my shoulder and I've spent most of my life holding a purse strap in place. When shoulder pads came into fashion I experienced a sense of freedom and relief that is only rivaled by taking off five inch heels at the end of a long day!
The other thing I liked about shoulder pads was the fact they made my shoulders bigger than my hips! For once my hips and butt were not the widest part of my body! I was shameless with shoulder pads, I even put should pads into my tee shirts. I would have stuck them in pajamas too, if I thought anyone would have seen me in pajamas!
I guess you could have called me the Linebacker of Fashion Big in the eighties. Bring 'em back, bring 'em back! Sis Boom Bah. Shoulder Pads, Shoulder Pads, Rah, Rah, Rah!
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