WELCOME BACK… PATRICK EWING ATHLETICS

We spotted this recent interview with legendary baller Patrick Ewing over at Jay-Z’s lifeandtimes.com. The 7-foot  former star of the New York Knicks, speaks on the 80s and 90s fashion phenomenon which was his Patrick Ewing sneaker line, how it came about and this year’s relaunch – the  European launch of all four colours of the 33 HI (pictured above) will be November 9 2012…

Ewing Athletics took the world by storm the first time round, with everybody and their mama wanting to get themselves a pair, even in places where US basketball wasn’t exactly a mainstream sport, such as here in the UK!

I wasn’t lucky enough to have a pair myself, as coming from a working class family with three other siblings meant I couldn’t always jump on every fashion trend going (as much as I cried tried), but plenty of my mates at school had them, so I guess I lived vicariously through them! Haha! I recently found out Massachusetts-born Patrick, who played for the Knicks from 1985-2000 (he also played for the Seattle Supersonics and Orlando Magic), was the first professional basketball star to have his own shoe company, which is a major deal! Read the lifeandtimes.com interview below…

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BOY GEORGE TURNS 50

80s popstar and icon Boy George celebrated his 50th birthday this week (15th June, 2011). We can't believe it is nearly 30 years since the singer and his then band Culture Club released their debut album Kissing to Be Clever (2008), which featured the international hit Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? This makes us here at I Miss the Old School feel mighty old - or is that just the Ed???

Despite George now more likely to be making the headlines for his run-ins with the law as opposed to his music, the fact that popstar of the moment Lady Gaga cites him as one of her influences means the undeniable mark he made on popular culture lives on. And with it being Culture Club's 30th anniversary next year, there is currently talk of a reunion tour and whispers of Mark Ronson producing a comeback album, while this year George will appear on the UK Here and Now tour, which kicks off later this month.

Anyhow, by way of our own lil tribute IMTOS' Shez Lancaster takes a look at how George made his mark on the 80s with his inimitable brand of style and music. Continue reading “BOY GEORGE TURNS 50” »

LEGWARMERS AND LYCRA/SPANDEX

Kate Moss could rock up in a bin bag with a banana peel for a broach and we’d still flock to the shops to imitate the look. It takes some extra-terrestrial beauty to take an item of clothing we wouldn’t usually be found dead in and turn it into the next season’s must-have.

Before Kate, there were the Spice Girls with their platform trainers, Madonna with her underwear as outerwear, and before that, there was Jane Fonda.

In a decade that was obsessed with hard bodies, health and exercise, Fonda was the reigning queen. Daughter of actor Henry Fonda, Jane started out as a model, but quickly won over audiences with her roles in films like Barbarella and They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? and quickly established herself as a sex symbol. Cashing in on her body and previous experience as a ballerina, Fonda released Jane Fonda Workout in 1982, which sold 17 million copies and was the first in a series of an impressive 23 videos, 5 books, and 13 audio programs, carving out a second, equally successful career.

Knowing we could never get anywhere near her angelic perfection, we conveniently settled for the next best thing: Jane’s body-hugging lycra leggings with contrasting thong leotard, waist-cinching belt, colourful headband and, last yet anything but least, leg warmers. And Fonda wasn’t the only poster child for this look back in the 80s, as actress/singer Olivia Newton John and 80′s breakfast television show TV.AM’s workout guru ‘Mad Lizzie’, aslo made it their own, with the video for Olivia’s hit record Physical giving her the perfect  excuse to get totally ‘lycra-ed’ up!

And with films like Fame, Flashdance and Footloose drawing huge audiences, leg warmers were the epitome of theatre school cool. We truly believed we were just a pair of thick-knitted ankle tubes away from breaking into a perfectly choreographed and harmonised song and dance in the school’s cafeteria. Of course, we soon discovered that a pair of leg warmers has no effect nor use to anyone not continually stretching and flexing, and despite a short resurgence mid-nineties, they have since been banned to fashion’s fancy dress section.

If leg warmers were the only trend coming out of the 80s’ aerobics craze, we would probably think back on that time with more fondness than shame. Unfortunately, the most unforgiving of all unforgiving fabrics – spandex – managed to creep into the limelight. Let me tell you, for once and for all, spandex only looks good on dancers with buns of steel and virile rockers in the prime of their life. If you’re not in one of those two exclusive categories, step away from the lycra. It is just not that into you.

Jane Fonda’s bottom was impeccable, and who doesn’t remember MC Hammer’s Can’t Touch This video in which three girls work their tight, spandex-clad booties choreographically bouncing bum bags? No wonder we all succumbed.

However 80s r&b star Bobby Brown’s bad decision to sport a pair of unflattering black cycling shorts, complete with red socks and black dress shoes, in the video for Every Little Step, is up there with the moment he figured taking drugs was a good idea! And let’s not get started on Mr Motivator!

A Marmite-like relic of our childhood, bicycle shorts made a very brief fashion comeback as an addition to flirty summer dresses two season’s ago, but nobody really fell for it. Even Jane Fonda knows better: in her 2010 comeback exercise video Prime Fit the now 72-year old still wears a tight-fitted top and her signature belt, but has traded the lycra for a pair of plain, black fitness trousers – without leg warmers. And when the trend-setting legend herself says it’s over, believe me, it is over.

By Janneke de Jong

PACIFIER/DUMMY NECKLACES

Convincing our parents to let us wear heels, practising our signature, daydreaming of marriage, lining our eyes with kohl pencil and daily checking blossoming boobs and pubes: at primary school we were absolutely obsessed with growing up. Therefore, one of the trends that hit us in the early nineties was paradoxically surprising: pacifiers.

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KERI CHANNELS ‘OLD SCHOOL MADONNA’

I spotted singer Keri Hilson chanelling ’80s Madonna’ at the 14th Annual Beautiful People Party recently.

The event, hosted by Paper Magazine and Guess, saw Ms Hilson wearing her underwear (bra) as outer wear, stone-washed denim and darkened roots with her golden blonde do.

And I thought it was only Lady Gaga  doing impressions of Madge these days! Continue reading “KERI CHANNELS ‘OLD SCHOOL MADONNA’” »

BRAIDS

I was pleasantly surprised to see singer/actress Brandy rocking her old school signature braids this week. Considering it comes hot on the heels of both Solange Knowles and Kim Kardashain sporting the style, it makes me wonder if the long plaited look is making a comeback in the showbiz world.

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LA GEAR

These days when I see young kids HAPPILY rocking no named crisp white plimsolls from Primark, it makes me laugh (in a good way) because there was a time when if you weren’t sporting a designer/name branded pair of kicks, you would have been better off going bare-footed – in fact you’d probably get cursed out slightly less going to school in your socks. Continue reading “LA GEAR” »

MS DYNAMITE GOES ALL OLD SCHOOL IN NEW VID!

I really love the below video What You Talking About? by Redlight featuring Ms Dynamite, and not just because I am a long time Ms Dynamite fan. It’s the imagery and fashion that really does it for me, courtesy of the super strong influences from the 80s and 90s. That’s everything from the graffiti style writing and pictures on the white background as a backdrop, to Ms Dynamite and her female co-star’s outfits of huge (door-knocker-style earrings), stone-wash denim, Reebok pumps, leggings and loud leather jacket!

I decided to dig out some classic vids from back in the day, which came to mind after viewing this. Enjoy, and let me know if there are any others you can think of?
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HIGH TOP FADE

Back in the day male hairstyles were a lot more interesting than they are now. This was  probably because people weren’t afraid to look silly in the name of fashion, and then what actually happened was they inadvertedly ended up looking good. Most of the time. Why else would the Jheri curl have caught on? Lol!

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THE JHERI CURL

Hands up who had a jheri curl? Come on, don’t lie now! Lol! I know I had one. I was 11 and  it was the late 80s. I remember I was just starting secondary school at the time, and my best friend then, who is also my best friend now, still teases me about the fact that I always used to use my finger to flip up the fringe, as to stop the ‘jheri-juice’ from dripping into my eyes. I’ve still got my school photo sporting the style, and no, I’m not going to post it here! Continue reading “THE JHERI CURL” »

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