As many of you may have guessed by now, I’m totally a child of the 1980s.  It can sometimes take a little time to figure out what defined a decade, but with the 80s, it always seemed kind of obvious.  There were the looks — shoulder pads, perms and hairspray, frosted make-up, acid-washed jeans that were pegged at the ankles.  There were the hobbies — video games, roller rinks, malls, MTV.  And there was the culture — conspicuous consumption, Reaganomics, perestroika and glasnost, Valley guys/girls.  A lot has changed in the last 2 1/2 decades, but I’m still drawing inspiration from a time when everything seemed awesome and over-the-top.

One word that appeared to be everywhere in the 80s (besides obvious ones like “gnarly” or “illin'” or “bogus” or “grody”) was “electric”.  It kind of made sense with all the neon and flash.  If you remember any or all of the following, you may appreciate what this post is getting at:

• The song “Electric Avenue” by Eddy Grant — As in “we’re gonna rock down to”.  This video was on constant replay on MTV in the early days, with Eddy Grant sitting on his couch singing.  I’m a big fan of sitting myself, so any video where someone is just doing his thing on his couch speaks volumes to me.
• The movie Breakin’ 2:  Electric Boogaloo —  I still cannot believe there were TWO movies about breakdancing … Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2 (both released in the same year, which suggests, shockingly, there was just too much to fit into one movie).  Of course breakdancing brought along hip-hop dancing, which brought along Jessica Alba in Honey, and she’s awesome, so I should be thankful.
• The song “Electric Boogie” and the accompanying dance, the Electric Slide — This song was originally released by Marcia Griffiths in 1983 but was rerecorded in 1989 and started a line dancing craze.  It’s always the dance I think of when I hear Coolio’s “Fantastic Voyage” and the chorus “slide, slide, slippity-slide …”, although I have no idea if that’s REALLY the dance he would be doing.
• The album “Electric Youth” by Debbie Gibson — I didn’t listen to Debbie Gibson, but I know a lot of people who did.  I wasn’t in the Tiffany camp either, although I will stop and listen to her cover of “I Think We’re Alone Now” if it’s ever on the 80s on 8 station on Sirius.  But talk about an inspiration for the Britney Spears/Christina Aguilera showdown in the next decade!
• The line “electric word, life” from “Let’s Go Crazy” by Prince — An amazing prelude to an amazing party song.  I should learn how to do the Electric Slide to it.

If there’s any outfit that should be pictured next to the word “electric” in the dictionary, it’s this one.  Electric blue thunderbolts and an electric blue bag.  I’m feeling all kinds of 80s nostalgia when I wear this.  The dress is from Christopher Kane that I got off of The Outnet (http://www.theoutnet.com), and the bag is from Pierre Hardy that I got off of Farfetch (http://www.farfetch.com).  It’s the same fun and flash (literally) that the 80s personified, but with a modern edge.

So now I’m going to drive home for Thanksgiving and jam out to some 80s tunes.  Maybe I’ll even break out the best holiday song ever … “Christmas in Hollis” by Run-DMC.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!!!!