Some local organizations played host to an '80s prom last night as a benefit for kids with cancer. Or at least that's what it sounded like to me. I was pretty ripped. Point is, there was an '80s prom and sick kids were the cause du jour.
Anywho, it was held at this restaurant and brewery overlooking the river and it looked like the setting for some '80s movie: expensive boats, glitter streamers, balloon arches, etc. At least half the guys there were dressed like Glenn from "The Wedding Singer," which seemed like appropriate costumes since they all seemed to have that same personality. Thus, my friend and I were the perennial Robbies of the night. Unlike Robbie, thugh, we did not end up with Drew Barrymore, nor did we get to see Billy Idol on a plane. And unless I was really drunk, I don't think we even ended up on a plane.
The real noteworthy costumes were what the women were wearing. There were a lot of 20-somethings in spandex, jean cut-offs, New Kids shirts and other things that have earned the latter-day '80s designation. I think for most of the 20-somethings there last night, our knowledge of '80s fashion comes from what we've seen in movies and on TV. There were people who looked a lot less garish last night and when I saw their faces i realized they were probably around for the '80s the first time. Those people were probably able to just pull something out of their closet and didn't have to go to discount stores or the mall. Their outfits were authentic and that is why they didn't seem to match what the rest of us were wearing.
I then tried to identify what about the '80s is so appealing to people who would have been zygotes in this era. We certainly never wore the outfits we wear to events such as this and '80s dance night. I like to go for the music, but I'm probably a rarity in my passion for new wave. I think it comes down to escapism and nostalgia. Again, it's not nostalgia for for the outfits or music for most of these people, but for some time that isn't now. It could be a '20s party where you come as a flapper and it wouldn't matter. Approximating the outfit to actual styles of the time isn't the point, but rather allowing yourself a new identity in the form of dress-up. That's why there are so many caricature outfits that would never have actually been worn in the '80s. And that, I think, is the real point.
There was one girl who wore a hat that for some reason made me think of Anna from "The O.C." I approached her to tell her this, and she said, "Let's go dance." She thought my friend and I were couple, and we thought she was kind of hardcore. I liked her "I slept with Madonna" button she was wearing, but I don't think she liked my "I slept with Boy George" button. She that introduced us to her friend who was wearing a dress that looked like Ellen Burstyn's dress in "Requiem For A Dream." A guy who later said he was her husband asked us to smack her ass, and we asked to be excused. It was time to hunt for more beers.
I did, however, learn a great joke last night:
Q: What has nine arms and sucks?
A: Def Leppard.
Survey question
Why would you go to an '80s night? Or if you wouldn't, why wouldn't you?
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