About this time last year I received an email about plans for my twentieth high school reunion. And I thought, bless their hearts, it hasn’t been twenty years since we graduated from high school because that would mean we’re old and all drive minivans and wear sensible loafers. Then I did the math and realized that yes, as a graduate of the class of 1989, it has been twenty years since I teased the crap out of my bangs in the hopes they would be higher than my mortarboard cap when I walked the stage to receive my diploma and hugged all my classmates while a cassette tape of Whitney Houston belted out “One Moment In Time” over a mediocre sound system.
And then I looked in the mirror and found two new gray hairs.
And then I cried.
Anyway, the reunion is now officially only a few weeks away and yesterday I emailed a bunch of scanned high school photos to my friend Tracey to use as part of the festivities. While I looked through the album full of so many high school memories, I reflected on all the things I’ve learned in the last twenty years. Deep life lessons. The wisdom that only comes with age and the realization that Guess overalls can’t bring lasting happiness, even though they were totally awesome when I wore them with my Esprit booties.
Here are twenty other lessons I’ve learned over the last two decades:
1. Tweezers are your friend. For heaven’s sake, if your eyebrows cover half your eyelid and often impede your vision, don’t be afraid to get rid of a few of them.
2. It may seem cool to get a car with only two seats but it will prove to be impractical even though it has a sweet Alpine stereo system with a radio that requires you to turn the knob to change stations.
3. Nautical-themed attire is best reserved for toddlers and sailors.
Honestly, I don’t know if I’m rockin’ a side pony in that picture or if my ponytail was big enough to cover the entire back of my head.
4. Four perms a year is four perms too many.
5. Later in life you may experience some guilt related to your direct role in destroying the ozone layer due to excessive use of Rave aerosol hairspray.
6. Tucking your jeans into your socks just makes you look like an ice cream cone. An ice cream cone with a big, crispy perm on top.
7. Blue mascara. No.
8. Laying out in the sun using only the spf contained in baby oil is a bad idea. Why did it never occur to me that I was literally frying myself?
9. It’s possible to wear too much Lauren by Ralph Lauren perfume, especially if you carry it around in your purse to touch up your scent in between classes.
10. Just because you can get shoes dyed to match your peach lame’ prom dress doesn’t mean you should. And, really, peach lame’ is a regretful choice.
11. Peplums don’t work for everyone.
12. Same goes for shoulder pads.
13. Contrary to my belief at the time, Erasure did not prove to be the best band ever. Ditto for Duran Duran and Whitesnake. However, Run DMC and The Beastie Boys totally stand the test of time.
14. While satisfying and delicious, a lunch comprised of Cool Ranch Doritos and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups probably isn’t the best choice.
15. As it turns out, breaking up with a boyfriend doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world, although it does push the limits of how many times you can fast-forward a mix tape to Sinead O’Connor singing “Nothing Compares 2 U” or listen to the entire Chicago 17 album.
16. There is such a thing as hair that’s too big. A sure sign is when it extends past the perimeter of your graduation cap or requires you to use a bottle of Aussie Sprunch Spray and a set of 52 hot rollers to achieve the desired width to height ratio. Sometimes less is more.
17. Same goes for bows, both on dresses and in your hair. Also, a puffed sleeve should be used in moderation.
18. The banana clip was an unfortunate hair accessory made more unfortunate by the fact that I owned one in every color. I believe it was the Bump-It of the ’80’s.
19. I have never been more right than when I informed my Geometry teacher that Geometry was a waste of time because I’d never use it in real life. EVER.
20. Twenty years go by in the blink of an eye and, while each one has its share of challenges, it just gets better.
Out of curiosity and interest in the male perspective, I just asked P what he’s learned since high school and he said, “You reap what you sow”. I was thinking more along the lines of does he regret having a mullet during his junior year of high school. So I guess the other life lesson is it’s a good idea to marry someone who tends to be a little more philosophical and introspective when it comes to life, although I think it’s safe to say in retrospect the mullet was a bad call.
What about y’all? What wisdom have you gained since high school?
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Ahh..I’m not sure about wisdom, since I called in pregnant to my 20th reunion last year and wasn’t forced to really consider how I was different from 1988! I am probably one of the few who missed her 20th due to a first pregnancy and bed rest! I’m sure I’ll have to face some major issues when the 30th rolls around.
-Going to the prom FOUR times is a little over the top. And costly for my poor parents. Sorry Mom
-Eating Dairy Queen sausage biscuits with a Coke for breakfast everyday is a very bad habit. Because despite weighing 104 lbs in 2001, there will come a time when you can’t eat like you used to…
My ten year will be in 2 years. I can’t believe it has been that long. In some ways I look forward to it and in other ways, I dread it.
Well I cried laughing through this whole post…..I am about 5 years ahead of you and my 25th is coming up this fall, but those lovely fashions were in the “creation” stages or ours at least morphed into them.
I learned that unless you were a size 0 those Gone with the Wind prom dresses never accentuated your waist as that old bag at the store promised. I looked like you could serve appetizers on my hips and butt. And why on earth did I think a parasol was going to pull the whole outfit together?
I did master the hotdog roll hairstyle where you spray AquaNet or Rave (your choice of crispy fried or a tad pliable) directly on the curling iron and gently guide the scalding iron down creating a tunnel on each side of your face.
I also learned that being a majorette wasn’t cool. I was being a rebel against the cheerleaders…..so I squashed my feet into those “pleather” white pointy boots with tassels and donned the itchy polyester captains uniform. This also can tie into your #3.
My mix tape was getting worn out with my breakup with Phil Collins’ “Take a Look at me Now” and “Missing You” by John Waite.
Then when I wanted to really look cool, I’d have Jump by Van Halen and Girls Just Want to have Fun by Cyndi Lauper blaring from my 79 Celica (complete with cassette deck AND a still working 8 track player. neat!)
OK, still laughing…..gonna go read again. Thanks for this!
A gem of a post- You take me back (maybe not always to a good place, yet, I know there are others out there who share my past of nautical clothing, banana clips and Esprit booties. Not to mention the hair!) Those were the days!
I expect a post on the search for the perfect reunion outfit- haha!
You look so much like Caroline in these pictures!! Is that was P is referring to with the “reaping what you sow” reference?
Since my graduation, with the bicentennial class of 1976,I have learned that:
Old friends are priceless: they know your story and you don’t have to fill in the details.
Happiness is a choice.
We can’t give our children total stability in this crazy world, but we can give them the ability to accept change gracefully.
God is enough. Regardless of the circumstances.
Too much Lauren? Is that possible?
I totally got the perms, Rave, and bananna clips. You always make me laugh remembering “back in the day”! I have never used Geometry in my adult life either…thank God, because I hated it!
I’ve learned since high school that it doesn’t really matter. By “it,” I mean all the things that seem so important in high school, and aren’t. What you wear, how you do your hair, how many zits you have, what you drive, IF you drive, who you eat lunch with, where you eat lunch, and on and on. None of it matters when high school is over and real life begins.
I’m still waiting on the banana clip to come back around. My hair WAS MADE for the banana clip! Come on girls…let’s bring it back!!
I have learned that just because you CAN wear bright hot pink lipstick every day doesn’t mean you should. And that Caruso Steam Rollers aren’t really my best friend. But the biggest thing I have learned is that I really won’t be BFF 4-ever with everyone I meet.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! This post is, like, totally awesome. To the max!
I have a friend that every time we fixed our hair would say, “Jack it up and glue it girls!”
That about sums it up.
Time is the great equalizer! No matter what little click you were in, no matter how popular or dorky you were, no matter what horrendous hairstyle you had, EVERYONE gets older! And with only a few exceptions…everyone gets a little wider. So, I can’t wait for my twenty year reunion next summer. I’m gonna show up, fat rolls, crows feet, grey hairs (well, maybe not grey hairs) and all! And by the way, my sister in law is stuck in that banana clip era. I didn’t think you could still buy them, but somehow she does. And wears them. Teased bangs and all. We’re planning an intervention soon.
Things I’ve learned since high school?
1. Denim purses are so 1980’s. When you have a pen blow up in them, it is time to retire them.
2. Spraying your hair with hairspray, pulling up the side and drying it up with the hair dryer is just wrong. How on this earth did water even get past the dam of hairspray?
3. Clear mascara? Bad idea. It just encases the lash, then begins to flake off, but in white rather than black.
4. The hair bow? The big hair bow? Just leave them for Nellie Olsen.
5. The way baggy pants? I can only imagine that now they would make me look like the side of a barn.
6. Carrying that many books at one time does make you look like a dork. Just sayin’.
7. Though I understand that Mom meant well, wearing a school jacket that is 10+ years old wasn’t cool. Now you could ride it off as vintage, but then it just looked like I was wearing my uncle’s coat.
I learned that the police don’t like high schoolers hanging out on elementary school playgrounds in the middle of the night.
I learned that even though I don’t see or talk to those people anymore, the funny memories are still fun to remember.
I learned that (and sorry, this is a serious one) being myself and living out my faith was hard in the moment, but paid off in the end. My Senior book was filled with stuff my friends wrote about how they appreciated me sticking to what I believed. They counted on me to not be a goody goody, but to just live out what I said I believed about God, and what’s right and wrong. It certainly didn’t make me the coolest, but I still had tons of friends and fun, and left high school with a lot of respect. I’m proud of that.
I’ve learned so many of the same things that you have…..also that
1. colored hosiery or really hosiery of any kind (exception is tights) is pretty bad
2. knee shorts with argile socks and sweater vests should be reserved for the British playing cricket
3. penny loafers probably are never coming back
LOL you make me crack up, Big. Great post!
I am going to have to second Heather on the banana clip–I barely missed that trend. I graduated in ‘98, when “the Rachel” was going strong. If you still have your banana clip collection, you could singlehandedly bring it back!
Tucking your jeans into your socks just makes you look like an ice cream cone.
Love it!
Hilarious! Your memories are things I’ve been trying to block for 22 years. What I learned from my 20th reunion 2 years ago is that I really didn’t like highschool and those people that I haven’t kept in touch with- well, not so fond of them now. And you will be surprised how old some people look and this is indeed the year where the boys who turned into men are now old/er men. It sounds really mean. But I genuinely thought I liked highschool and the reunion showed me that I didn’t. Kind of sad.
Good life lessons…I got an email the other day that said next summer is my 25th year reunion. What. I only graduated a few years ago.
Love the Laura Ashley Sailor Dress I had the same one. Even had blue and white spectator pumps to wear with my white hose. So cool.
Oh, Big Mama, I know I would have just died to have you talk to me in the hallowed halls of high school! Rave, Aussia- I had them both. And there was some generic brand that worked well, too- I distinctly remember using it for the prom because when the friend I agreed to go with tried to become more than friends, I turned and gave him a mouthful of hair. And the banana clips- I believe I took one to college!
Ok, so what have I learned besides some of the same less is more hair principles you mentioned? That less is more in regards to the Lord is simply not true…He has changed my life forever.
I am a year ahead of you. I think I had the same Pappagallo (sp?) shoes and dress…and white panty hose! It wasn’t until about 12 years ago that I realized it wasn’t a good thing to wear white panty hose. Some fashion show explained that only nurses needed to wear white panty hose and I was sad. I loved how my long legs looked in white panty hose. Really? Since then I’ve learned to use self tanner and go commando…that’s without panty-hose, in my book.
Well, I graduated 10 years later than you did. Unfortunately, I still believe that the song “Party Like It’s 1999″ is still the best ever. I’ve also learned that the “Rachel Green” hair cut from 1995 doesn’t flatter ANYONE. Yet, somehow many pepople still suffer from dillusion and get it (It just makes your face rounder people! It’s totally the “mom” haircut!)
I was in Iowa last year visiting my sister and there was a lady/girl/woman (in her 30’s) that was wearing the exact nautical theme dress you boldly and bravely share with us here. Also, blue mascara is back. Excpet that now it’s called “midnight blue” and it’s supposed to really bring out brown eyes.
P.S. I had a dress like yours but opposite colors- white with blue. And I wore a banana clip when I wore that dress. Maybe that’s why your pony looks so wide.
My transgressions were pegged jeans (totally didn’t realize that making my ankles look tiny made my butt look HUGE) and living in a denim jacket with the collar turned up. I thought Depeche Mode(can’t even spell it today) was going to bring enlightenment to the planet. I also thought Boys II Men would last forever!
I may have worn a Swatch around my ponytail in Jr. High because I saw it in Seventeen magazine, and it mcaused a school wide ruckus.
You may not always want to wear a trend just because it is in the world’s coolest magazine.
What was I thinking?
Your list cracked me up! My 20th was last year, and I did not feel like it could have even been that long. How about those parachute pants (big mistake). I wore a side ponytail with lots of curls and mile high bangs to prom my jr year and thought I rocked it. When I look back now I just have to laugh. I tell my daughter just wait you will look back and say “WHAT WAS I THINKING!”
There really IS life after high school – I knew it!! Thanks for the trip down memory lane…. blue mascara! I had forgotten about that. : )
c/o 88
Awww, Melanie, you were still cute as a bug, despite your big hair!
Things I’ve learned since high school:
1. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have their parents give them a car, even if the car is a 4-door Camry with wood grain finish.
2. You will never learn the skills your teacher beat into your brain in chemistry, algebra II, or trig unless you major in these devil made subjects in college.
3. You will probably not weigh the same as you did when you graduated.
4. You will lose touch with a lot of the people whose opinion mattered too much.
Good luck at your 20th!
I am so with you on the geometry thing. I have drawn a few triangles in my day but that’s about the extent of my geometrical use! I have never used Algebra either. Never made sense why they were mixing letters with numbers.
Did anybody else like Phil Collins…”How could you just walk away from me…just let me leave without a trace?” It was my break up song.
And lastly…we had some similar hair back in the day. On my blog today I have pics of my daughter playing beauty shop on her fake American Girl doll…the story is on there, but suffice it to say, before she went to work on it,the dolls hair looked like mine did “after 4 perms in one year”. I kid you not.
PS The doll is very cute now…short and sassy, more updated look!
Is it bad that this post made me want a “bump-it”?
–Looking forward to certain foods in the cafeteria (chicken patty, gravy biscuit) was really just stupid.
–Wearing Duckhead shirts, shorts, and socks (with my Keds) was a little thing known as overkill, and I should have gotten a clue when an upperclassman asked me if I was wearing Duckhead underwear.
Caroline must be so proud looking at pics of you. Your apple does not fall far from the tree at all…..
Oh, and the Smithsonian called looking for banana clips…I’ll send ‘em your way!
Suzanne
I graduated a year early in 1980. My first baby was born the year you graduated. You’re young…I am not…my 46th birthday is tomorrow.
In comparison to you:
The car was an early 70’s model Datsun called the Orange Bomb with commercial carpet in garnet and black inside. (SC readers will understand why I almost died a thousand deaths when my mama put that carpet in my car.)
The jeans with pencil legs tucked into matching socks with white Keds were not flattering AT all. Especially when you wear a size 10 shoe. (My daughter can wear my Sassoon skinny jeans now and I wonder why I ever thought I was fat.)
Big hair? Please! Curly hair cannot be tamed with huge rollers and a hair dryer every other day when you live in the hot, humid South. It only produces a frizzy mess except in ideal conditions – inside at all times. How many hours did I sit under that thing frying my brain?
Having a hairdresser mom was sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse. Try straightening hair instead of perming – combing through the perm solution instead of using curlers. And I had scorched hair on more than one occasion when my mom IRONED my hair on the ironing board.
She would try anything to stop my whining and complaining. Poor Mama. (As you can see, my high school years were all about the hair.)
The perfume was Babe as was the song. (Billy Joel played a huge part in our high school years, too.)
Not being in the band made you an outcast from 7th grade on. Cheerleader was not a popular option.
Three sorority dances and a prom every year was WAY to much.
Lunch was a caramel chocolate bar bought from a sorority sister when my own stash was bought up by me. DO NOT get caught selling them. It’s not a good thing.
Made my first D in geometry. I echo your sentiments.
I’ll stop now. I’ll have to post more of my memories on my blog. That was fun! Thanks.
Being that I too graduated in 1989, I agree whole heartedly with everything you said. Only thing I would have added that acid washed mc hammer pants, not flattering on anyone! Thanks for the great laugh and walk down memory lane.
I graduated in 1993, so I still have a couple of years to 20, but I still laughed until I cried at this post.
I too, was a Rave Aresol addict. I would have to wash my hair with vinegar and baking soda once a week to get it all out, I think you could glue a wood chair together with it.
My mix tape? Anything for You by Gloria Estefan, Love of a Lifetime by Firehouse, and Cross My Heart by George Strait.
My senior year we had moved past the pegged jeans, but that was the year of the colored denim. I had red, orange, green, yellow and of course black.
Overkill, yes. Did I think I was the hottest thing ever. Yes. I should call Express and demand a refund for my dignity!
Thanks for making me laugh so hard on a Thursday morning.
I just had to comment on this post…probably because it hit so close to home. I loved the banana clip and permed hair! I also had the same sailor dress (only in white with blue stripes) and wore it with the same blue/white pumps! Did you ever wear Units? I loved them! And I also had cool ranch doritos, Reese’s peanut butter cups and a Coke for lunch EVERY day in high school. Wish I could get away with that now!
Thanks for the stroll down memory lane!
PS I’m right down the road from you in Boerne…lovin’ the Texas heat/drought!
Hilarious! I was also class of ‘89. One thing I remember is that while I loved his songs (and his jeans, sunglasses, and blond highlights) at the time, one’s perspective on George Michael changes over 20 yrs.
I love this post and linked you up on my blog. Also, to be fair, I posted a photo of myself with one of those lovely perms!
http://ewbpcb.blogspot.com/2009/07/what-have-we-learned-since-eighties.html
Love it! I am a little younger, but still regret the choices of my younger years – big bangs, perms, banana clips and tightrolling my jeans into my 2 pairs of scrunched down socks – usually hot pink and teal – one of each on each leg with my pink polo shirt with the color standing straight up. Boy, did I think I was cool! What was I thinking? Admire you for bravely posting pictures of yourself in those days:)
Driving through the school parking lot blasting N*Sync and The Backstreet Boys is ridiculous. Swearing that “You are my fire” will always be your favorite song no matter what is even lamer (lamer?).
My 10 year is this fall and I might die because that means I’ve been out of high school for 10 whole years! What have I been doing that 10 years could pass so quickly (besides getting married, making babies, caring for said babies….)
RAVE! I used Rave hairspray, had forgotten about it until now. And boy, oh, boy, are you right about those perms. The 80s were unfortunate, weren’t they?
My ten year reunion is this year, actually in 2 months. I still love me some ’90s clothes and just got an email from New York & Co that leggings and a long tunic are the new thing. I would love to go in the store and tell them I wore the exact same outfit about 15 years ago
~Molly P
Class of 1983.
Picture this: Levi 501 button fly jeans, sweat shirt (preferably pastel in color)with a polo underneath, probably 3 gold serpentine necklaces (one add a bead, one with a charm holder and charms, and one plain)with keds of course.
I don’t wear it now, but 80’s hair was the bomb.
I’m attending my 10 year high school reunion in about 1 1/2 weeks. Any chance you’d do a Fashion Friday dedicated to reunion fashion? I have a dress picked out to wear to my reunion dinner, but I’m having trouble deciding what to wear to the afternoon picnic.
White tights are never a good idea. NEVER.
Any color hosiery besides skin tone or black is a BAD idea…
Definitely a no to the NEON colored socks (green, orange, yellow, or pink) to perfectly match the hair scrunchee and the woven belt.
And might I say, what spectacular spectator pumps you’re wearing in the Twister photo. I had them in red and white; wore them with a red dress with white polka dots. I looked a little bit like Minnie Mouse. Thankfully, there are no pictures. That I know of, anyway.
Oh I love this. Everything about it
The biggest thing I have learned is that it really just doesn’t matter that much. I can laugh at myself and not worry at all what the ‘cool kids’ think
And I’m totally not one of the cool kids. And now I’m ok with it
I’m pretty sure my life lessons are right along the same lines as yours being that I graduated in 1990. And I’m pretty sure I had that exact same sailor dress.
I can’t share my wisdom, there is too much and it gives me a headache.
I just want to know if you also wore that darling nautical dress to a Neches River Tea? I know I did! I don’t think it is all that nautical themed anymore.
If you’re smart enought to break up with a boy because he ditched you at after prom, it’s best to stay smart and not get back together with him for another year and a half. Time wasted sister.
Well, all you children, lol, I graduated in 1973. I’ve learned that most high school friendships won’t last, even if you wrote in each other’s yearbooks that you’d be friends till the end of time. I am still close friends with only one friend from high school. I agree with the commenter above who said that nothing that seemed important in high school really was all that importantant, after all. My generation were the hippies, the love children, the make-love-not-war, anti-war, anti-establishment, generation. What are they now? The stock brokers, the corporate big wigs, the accountants, the lawyers–the very “establishment” they fought so hard against. So, I’ve learned that philosophical causes in high school don’t necessarily last forever and one’s fervor for those causes fades over time, but faith in God grows deeper and life is eternal so you’d better have a good relationship with Him. I’ve learned that when you are diagnosed with stage IV cancer, you learn what’s REALLY important in life and those things (and people) are what become absolutely precious to you.
On a lighter note, I’ve learned that long, curly hair forced to hang straight, parted in the middle, with a woven-leather headband going around the head (across the forehead), only makes you look really weird by the end of the day. And that super-wide bellbottoms don’t disguise your big feet, but rather accentuate them. But I still think love beads & vests with fringe are cool, man.
But I’m still with the boy I started dating when we were barely 16 and married right out of high school, so sometimes high school romance CAN last forever.
I just celebrated my 20th on July 3rd. Your Top 20 is, well, right on! And I DID have the peach lame’ prom dress, but opted for cream shoes instead of dyed peach to match (and at the time I was a real loser because of it!)
Actually, I was AMAZED at how great we all look (well, most of us!) It was so fun! Have a great time!
I usually love everything you write and laugh often. But I have to disagree with you on one thing:
Erasure and Duran Duran ARE still great, ok?!
Just sayin’.
/cm
I just recently saw a lady wearing an honest to goodness, real live… banana clip…make it stop!:)
My wisdom from high school (class of 1994)…wearing enough mascara to rival Tammy Fay Baker is never a good idea.
LOVED this post!!
The “triple mum” that lights up and requires TWELVE safety pins to hold, will just end up tearing your dress and does not prove your boyfriend loves you more than anyone else’s does.
OH NO! I must, must, MUST disagree with you! Erasure is THE BEST!!!!!!!
“I tried to discoooovvvverrrr, a little somethin’ to make me sweeeeterrrrr. Oh, baby, refraiiiinnnn, from breakin’ my heeeaaarrrt. I’m so in love with yoooouuuu, I’ll be forever bluuuue….”
OK, I’ll stop.
I learned that all the mean girls who picked on me all through school got exactly what they deserved in the end just like my mommma said they would
And p.s.- the Twister backdrop is the best thing in all of your pics. Even better than the white hose and the bow! I kinda want to set up a Twister backdrop and take some pictures at my house.
I also owned the banana clip in every color. What were we thinking? God help us if they ever come back. Some things are better off left in a time capsule.
Class of ‘87 but i missed my 20th reunion due to back surgery issues.
I’m right there with you on everything except the Geometry. As a quilter, it comes in very handy. Who would of thought? Algebra, on the other hand…
My biggest regret? Wearing all of those over-sized shirts when I still had a really cute pre-pregnancy figure. What were we thinking???
Thanks for the laughs,
Erica
I linked to this post today.
#8 ~ a friend told me about laying out using Crisco.
Yep. Tried it. Smelled like indian fry bread.
Loved this post… I was ‘85, and my Chicago 17 cassette tape was w.o.r.n OUT!!
I used to lay out covered in Crisco!!
Talk about frying yourself.. litterally.
And I beg to differ, Duran Duarn has TOTALLY stood the test of time.
Wisdom huh?
Never wait longer then 5 minutes for a boy to call, it’s not worth the anxiety
Keep your friends closer then your boyfriends
Get to know everyone, not just the people you think will like you!
Thats about it!
LOL! Too funny! I wholeheartedly agree with the perm one. You forgot to mention white lace tights. Also, the double socks in different colors. A friend had dyed her prom shoes to match her aqua colored dress. She was holding them during the night and the color bled on her hands. Not a pretty sight.
My parents took my girls to a water park last week. My Dad pulls a towel out of his beach bag – and it is my ESPRIT towel from 1988!!! Oh, how I loved you ESPRIT!! I was so proud to tote it around and am laughing that my dad is still using it 20yrs later. I couldn’t believe how well it held up – maybe ESPRIT was worth what they charged!
Okay so I’m only class of 2003. I’m probably still making a lot of huge mistakes.
But if I think back to the late 80s and my mistakes back then… top 3:
1. Colored jeans
2. Spandex pants
3. Crimpers
Since high school I have learned that it is not necessary for the shade of my shoes, panties, t-shirt, eyeliner and hair bow to match exactly.
were we seriously THAT cool? ha! loved this post. i get a great laugh each morning with my breakfast diet coke.
This is seriously too funny! I laughed and laughed reading your post. It makes me wonder in the next twenty years when I wear fashion items what will I think in twenty years…
It is not cool to ratt your hair has high as it will go to take a church family picture it will stay with you forever.How I loved Aqua Net in the purple can. Baby blue dress with matching shoes 8th grade graduation fabulous. Teenage problems that seem like your life will end are nothing compared to being an adult. Your love of Bret Michaels of Poison will never end and finally at the age of 34 you will see him in concert and it will be everything you hoped for and you don’t have the sense not to tell everyone. And finally your love of hair bands will be a guilty pleasure! Thanks for the memory flash back.
So timely! I got together with my three best buddies from high this past weekend. Our class of 1989 reunion is this October. We brought lots of memorabilia to prepare for the big day and spent WAY too much time on facebook.
Anyway, one of my buddies found this in her memory book that records the way things are in 1989 :
Fashion: “Wind shorts and t-shirts with shoulder pads”
Really? That’s just so wrong from every dimension but there it was in black and white!
My 25th HS reunion is this Saturday….EEK!! I happen to love Whitesnake, Depeche Mode, and Van Halen. Those bands will never die! I too had big hair and wore banana clips and used the infamous AquaNet(in college). For guys: mullets were AWFUL, especially the ones with the long hair in the back that was either permed, or had the little long braid down the back. Just GROSS!
Sinead O’Connor comment..PRICELESS. I think I must have listened to that song for years and cried my eyes out. If someone had just helped me to see that she was probably mourning her hair I would have been better off.
My highschool years were a wild mix of fun and saddness. I was trying to be a good Christian girl in the midst of a “cool” group of friends. I wish that I could have felt more secure and tried less to please people.
I was a member of the millenium class so my 10-year is next summer. Things I wish my HS self would have known:
1. Life imitates Art. In my Senior play I had to kiss a Junior guy who insisted on eating BBQ Corn nuts before the scene. Two years after I graduated we started dating and have been married 5 years now!
2. Even if you’re a cheerleader, there are bigger tragedies than losing the Iowa state basketball title by 1 point in Double Overtime. But you can still be secretly bitter at Andy Kosky from Newell-Fonda who sank the free throw.
3. You can be GLAD to attend the wedding of the guy who dumped you Senior Year to the girl he cheated on you with. You can be DOUBLY glad that pregnant bride isn’t you!
4. You should be grateful to share that ‘89 rose-colored Buick Century with your sister. Your next vehicle will be a hand-me-down minivan with a dent and no seats, so live it up 4-door style while you can.
5. It was a slippery slope when you were the first in your class to sign up for your own “hotmail” account in 1998. You now spend 8 hours a day on the computer at work and 2 at home social networking/blogging.
6. You will only see your HS BFF’s at weddings and funerals.
7. At 15, you think K-ci and JoJo’s “All My Life” expresses your true feelings for your BF but you will later be grateful that BF is OUT of your life.
8. “Cruising the Loop” and hairspray (yes, this trend lasted well into the 90’s) are the 2 biggest causes of Ozone depletion. Feel guilty.
9. No on will remember you didn’t get Homecoming Queen. But no one will remember you GOT Prom Queen either, so make sure to wear your crown every Halloween to remind people of how cool you used to be. Otherwise, they’d never know it.
10. You will regret splatter-painting your bedroom lavender and teal. But if your mom doesn’t make you repaint it before you graduate from college, ownership transfers to her!
I love my Bump-it!!!! I just posted about it this week!
Wisdom gained…
Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a God-fearing woman with a sense of humor is to be praised. (The Message translation)
It’s great to know I am not the only one who remembers the 80’s in such vivid detail…does everyone feel this way about their decade?
Class of 89 too, cringing as I realize my treadmill’s parting words to me as I go to my reunion this year: “I never knew you.”
Great post made me giggle incessantly!
Lessons learned since 89 for me would include:
The general urge to “go down down down” whenever you hear the B-52’s Rock Lobster never goes away although the older you get the harder it is to get back up up up.
Rat Tails won’t make you sing like Pat Bennetar and Lace Gloves will never really make you feel “Like a Virgin”
Cruising Main St. is only fun when you don’t have to pay for your gas and oil prices lean in your favor.
Say no to pleats and fear the tapered leg both may have looked trendy twenty years ago but now make you look like a triangular wheat sack
Bwahahahaha! My list would – and does – look a like yours. From coveting Guess to rocking blue mascara and huge bangs!!!
I would like to add that Sun-In is a no-no for black girls. Or at least it should’ve been for me!
Happy 20th! I too am C/O ‘89. The last of the eighties, the best of the eighties. Or so went our motto. We were nothing if not poetic
Oh my word. This list was THE BEST!
Similar to mine, but I have to say that I DID say that I’d never need geometry and guess what I taught for a year? College Algebra that had a geometry unit. Shudder.
Anyway, I would add the pinning & rolling of jeans was the dumbest thing ever.
I would also add the if you see your parents car in the school parking lot–that is never a good sign. Especially before seeing the car, you say to your friend, “Wow…sounds like the chem teacher is really having a heated argument with someone.” After seeing the car–I realized who that someone was.
Have fun at your 20th. Mine is next summer (AHH!). : )
(Class of 88 here)
You should wear no more than 2 shirts or 1 sweater at a time.
Men are not attractive in a pink sock tie.
That Computer Class 101 will be obsolete in about 4 years.
Thanks for the laughs!
Amen, Sista! Speaking from the Class of 1990, I will have my 20th next year…wich Facbook, puts a whole new spin on re-connecting with classmates…not so sure it’s a grea tidea!
Anyway, I can relate to everything you said…as if it was my high school years, the perms…oh wow! Long, BIG hair, pegged jeans, died shoes, white hose, Aussie scrunch spray (that smelled oh so…grapey)…and the days of boys getting their mullet’s permed, etc. Oh the fun!
I may have to disagree on thinking Erasure and Duran Duran aren’t the fabulous musicians you once thought they were…I canno longer listed for HOURS< but I love it when I hear one of their old tunes!
LOL too Funny!
I learned it is not good to go on the pretzels and bagel diet for three weeks just so you can look good at your formal. I learned my lesson about halfway through my tennis match that last week that your body needs more than that to survive.
Looking back I can’t believe I was that stupid.
Caroline totally looks like you in these pictures! I’m sure everyone else has said that already but I haven’t read through any other comments.
And most important: as always I thought this post was hilarious.
Even though I’ve only been out of High School 10 years I’ve learned that life is still alot like it. You’ll deal with petty girls and gross guys.
Seriously too funny! I can so relate, I just attended my 20th a couple of weeks ago and it was so much fun. So much better than the 10th when people still felt like they had something to prove. This time around I found everyone was pretty confident in who they are and were just themselves. Very refreshing!
This is too funny! My 25th is this fall. I’ve never gone to any so far…don’t think I’ll go to this one.
I remember the big bangs, curly perms and tons of hair spray…I had a friend who used so much hairspray that when the wind blew, all her hair lifted at once just like it was plastic! My son’s fiance saw pictures of me back then and asked..”But why did you do your hair like that?!”…because everyone else did!(some things never change!)
What I’ve learned was I should’ve done more in school…joined clubs, gone to games and dances, etc. We lived so far away that it just wasn’t feasible to do that back then.
Just had another thought…do you think kids today are going to regret the lowcut jeans, belly shirts and all the piercings and tattoos?
hmmmmm….
All of the geeky nerdy boys you would never have dated in high school? 20 years later they’ve come into their own – self-assured, well-off, really genuinely nice guys.
All of the cool football stars that were totally cute? 20 years later they’re totally bald with big old beer bellies. Like they hit their “high” during high school and it was only downhill from there.
Nice to see how things turn out….. :>) Have fun!!!
Um, your Sketcher boots do not need to go with you to college. Get over your fear of wearing foundation. And don’t quit volleyball.
I’ve only got 9 years under my belt since HS (which means 10 years is NEXT year…), but here’s what I’ve learned.
1. I was NOT a nice person in high school. All those people who didn’t like me probably had good, legitimate reasons. Medication is my friend.
2. I had good friends anyway and am grateful to still have most of them.
3. You never realize when you’re young that you don’t have experience and knowledge. Thank heaven for tolerant adults.
4. Prom should never, ever be attended with a date. Go stag. You’ll have more fun.
5. And for heaven’s sake, don’t MARRY your Prom date if you’ve only known him for three months when you get married. You might wind up regretting it.
—-
But I do NOT regret my tattoos!
Wow, you brought back a lot of (dreadful..hehe) memories!! I, too, graduated in ‘89, and I must say, I think I wore that banana clip everyday of my senior year!! LOL. Oh, and my bff gave me Lauren for my 17th birthday, and I became obsessed with it. Ahh, it’s hard to believe that was 20 years ago. Hello to the wrinkle creams and gray hairs!
Have a great day…and enjoy your 20th reunion!
Stacy
My 35th reunion is now exactly 9 days away. Sure hope the main life lesson learned in 35 years is that no one is cool.
Your sweet little girl looks just like her pretty moma
I must be the oldest one here. I was class of ‘69 and just went to my 40th!!! It was the best yet. EVERYONE has changed now…some are fat, some are bald, most are gray. But there are no cliques now. We all had a great time at the reunion no matter WHO or WHAT we were in school. The spouses actually liked each other !!!!
Now we are getting together every month. That allows those that can’t make it one time to make it another. WE MUST BE WISER NOW? Also 16 members have passed away, so we’ve learned WE DON’T HAVE TIME TO WASTE!!!
Your blog was hilarious made me remember 1989. I was a young, hip mom and was wearing some of the fashions that were popular then. My ‘69 stuff had just grown so old and ugly. No more flower child clothes, long straight hair and love beads. Woodstock was over!!!!
I moved on to big hair, banana clips, slouch socks, acid washed jeans and multiple layering of clothes. I was the fashion plate of the PTA and Little League. But the other moms were all looking like me too.
I’ve learned in 40 years….to just be myself. God made me and he doesn’t care what I’m wearing!!!!
Oh, I laughed when I saw the Blue Mascara. I remember wearing that. And yes, I agree about the perms.
Hope you have a great time at your reunion. I’m sure you’ll have some great stories.
I attended my 10-year high school reunion back in June, and here are my reflections:
Regarding the reunion:
1. Having someone tell you that you haven’t changed in ten years is not always the compliment it appears to be.
2. It’s very hard to refrain from dumping your Aquafina on every person who asks why, at age 27, you haven’t gotten married yet. It’s a little thing called grad school, people!
Re: What I’ve learned in 10 years
1. Anyone who says that your high school years are the best years of your life, is totally missing the point of college.
2. Wearing baggy men’s Hugo Boss Jeans, an oversized t-shirt, big gold hoop earrings, and a bandana wrapped around your ponytail does not give you urban street cred.
3. There is very little you will remember about American History when it is taught at 7:20 in the morning. After all, how much can you really retain through bloodshot eyes that are barely open?
4. Snickers and Sour Power Straws are not the breakfast of champions, contrary to popular belief!
Funny! Caroline looks exactly like you in these pictures!!
Two words…WALL SWATCH! How could I have seriously thought that that thing was cool?
I pumped my fist in the air at #13.
Class of 84! 25 years ago! I still cannot believe it!
The most important thing that I think I’ve learned has been about living outloud for Christ!
I was a christian in HS but not one to be proud of! I’m so glad God loves me anyway.
The styles? Too funny! Face it, they were rockin hot back then!
No arguing!
Tucking your jeans into your socks just makes you look like an ice cream cone… ditto for the “pinch and roll”.
Thanks for the laugh!
This – “I was thinking more along the lines of does he regret having a mullet during his junior year of high school.”–made me wheeze…still laughing very hard! Hahaha!
PS I’m Class of ‘89, too. Marshall Mavericks…you may remember that I hold a gurdge over the Friday Night Lights and the Odessa game? We won! We won y’all! Get it right.
OK. Maybe I haven’t learned much since high school…I even have some of my teachers on my FB account…
oh, honey, try 1964. That’s forty-five years. I hated high school; had to move my freshman year and didn’t know anyone. All my friends went to another school. Although I did marry my high school sweetheart and we are still married. Now if you want to talk about dyed to match sweaters and wool straight skirts, saddle shoes with rolled down bobby socks and lacquer as hair spray I’m your girl.
Class of ‘91. I remember Stiff Stuff hairspray, those crazy jumpsuits with big collars, and Richard Marx “I will be Right Here Waiting for You”. What have I learned? The type of people I would have nothing to do with in high school have turned out to be some of the finest people I have ever met, and the ones that I was friends with, didn’t turn out so hot. Reconnecting with a few on FaceBook reminds me what a great life I have now! If high school is the highlight of your life, you haven’t done something right!
You had me at the turquoise RAVE can….oh, Lord, I bet if Al Gore knew how many cans we used, he’d blame us for Global Warming!!!
Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
i don’t recall how long i’ve been out of high school–1975. i didn’t like high school. i was a chubby surfer girl living in southern california meant to be everyone’s friend and dear abby, but nothing more.
i found myself in college at uc berkeley. came out of hiding and no more wall flower.
i learned that i didn’t have to hide just because i was chubby.
i have never been to class reunion although every time i get the announcement i dream of showing up so they can see i eventually lost the baby fat and now wear a 4/6. high school is all about weight and looks for me, even now and i’m 51. and i don’t give weight a thought unless i’m thinking about high school so it’s besti stay away.
i loved college. i am still in contact with my bbf since 2md grade.
–mari
You totally look like Caroline in that red bow picture- cute!
It has been ten years since high school for me, and September will be 10 years since I started dating (we’ve been married 6 1/2 years). I was thinking today about all the ANGST of dating in high school…and relationship angst in college with hubby.
Especially when we had to postpone our wedding 7 months – that was a HARDEST thing in my life at that point. 
I think I’ve learned to be a lot nicer and that I don’t really know anything, so I’ve stopped pretending that I do.
This was a great post! I can SO relate.
-FringeGirl
laughed out loud and then re-read it and laughed out loud again! So great and so true to each one! Only difference was I had Reebok hightops to tuck the legs of my Guess overalls into!
Having graduated in ‘73 I missed the big bangs. But my oldest daughter use to have her sisters blow on hers to dry the hairspray
Oh my word…I almost peed I was laughing so hard!
I, too, rocked the side ponytail, the Cool Ranch Doritos and Reese’s PB cups for lunch, rolled up jeans and bows bigger than Texas.
Little word the wise…if Units ever come back, resist the urge to wear them in your school picture, especially by using the bandeau as a bow on one shoulder. Sexy it is not!
I graduated in 1999, and can not believe that my 10 year reunion is weeks away.
I have learned that it’s not neccessary to have duck head shorts in every color of the rainbow, and it’s definetly not neccessary to have a coordinating “Duck Head/Duck Tail” shirt that matches each pair of shorts!
I have also learned that I should have held on to my straight legged pink guess jeans, because they would be so cute with some flats and a tank.
On the even my 40th birthday, nothing could bring me more delight than reading your list of 20 things you learned since high school.
Blue mascara came into my life in the 6th grade. It also left in the 6th grade.
It brings me great comfort that words cannot adequately express to know that you, TOO, wore a lame’ prom dress. Mine was royal blue. I believe I sent you an email regarding may lame lame’ prom dress and possibly inquired about a Fashion Friday what not to do edition. And now I understand why you steered clear of the lame’ prom dress issue. Peach? Really, Big? Really? I’m sorry! I’m laughing WITH you!
Your pretty much covered my lessons learned except DO NOT wear a Freshman are First Class t-shirt your first day of your freshman year.
On the eve of my 40th birthday, that is.
I hate typos! This is why you should proof read your comment before sending. One laugh at you and I’m already reaping what I sowed. Thanks a lot, P, for getting all grown up and mature on us.
P.S. (for real)
Sophie (almost 3) has that exact same navy blue sailor dress! Really! I’ll have to email you a picture.
ahhh the class of ‘89. Good times.
I remember carrying a giant silver purse with the jumbo can of Aqua net in it! Dragging to the bathroom between classes to re-spray my hair, I mean we lived in Oklahoma, you never knew when a tornado might flare up!
Layering my socks OVER the top of my jeans in varying colors. This only made your feet really hot!
I have learned that being yourself wasn’t a bad thing. I always marched to my own drummer when it came to fashion, not caring what anyone thought. I still feel that way now except I don’t care if I match so much these days! LOL
Thanks for the laughs and memories! I missed my 20 yr reunion and now I regret it.
You pretty much hit every nail on the head, even though I’m almost 10 years older than you. I’m staring into the barrel of my 30th reunion, ohmygosh. I learned that bell bottoms look ridiculous unless you have a size 17 waist and 20 inch hips, that penny loafers are not comfortable, that topsiders aren’t either, and that the things you think are vitally important in high school really don’t matter hardly at all.
oh, P.S. I’ll bet your readers would kick in a nice bribe, I mean contribution, to see that photo of P in a mullet!
My 20th is next year and all of those pretty much work for me!! Oh and don’t you look like Caroline!
Cute pics!
my 20th was last weekend. you pretty much nailed it. I had an absolute blast at the reunion but have two thoughts that are most prominent in my head….
The first is that at the meet and greet I recognized many of the women but had a hard time deciphering who took the boys and left us with all those old men….
the second is as silly as breakdancing looked 20 years ago in prom attire, it looks even sillier now in cocktail attired almost 40 year olds dancing to 20 year old songs…
ohhh yeah the dancing we all thought was sooo cool back then…wasnt
not tht there is better dancing now, but seeing people of a certain age dirty dancing to a band fronted by one of your classmates playing 20 year old songs in clothes we probably shouldnt have worn 20 years ago even as a size 5 really isnt attractive either….LOLOL
oh big mama you just made my night
okierivermama
The “Bumpit” website video was an endless source of mirth for me this morning. Thank you for the laugh. Whoda ever thunk someone’d make a bustle for head?
My husband’s blog name (on my blog, not his. He doesn’t blog) is “Mulletman”.
‘Nuff said.
Learned since my graduation in 1986:
When you get on an elevator and a guy says, “::cough:: Obsession? ::coughcough::” it’s a mistake to take that as a compliment.
Less really is more.
Wow, I lived every one of your comments except for a couple.
and literally cringed at remembering some of them!
Your memory for things is exceptional!
I am coming up on my 10 year reunion and I wish I wouldn’t have cared so much about what people thought of my in high school! College was sooooo much better!
I have learned a lot since high school, way more than I can go into and still get my work done.
I loved reading your list but I had to remind myself as I read this stuff…yes it sounds ridiculous for this day but they were the trends of the day and the in things.
I wouldn’t want the styles back then but I gotta say…..Those really were the days.
Those people whose opinion meant so much to you in high school? You may be friends with 1 maybe 2 by the time you graduate from college. Sweat the Truth, not the small stuff.
As a grad of 1990, your list is like totally awesome! In all seriousness, I just wet my pants.
I had that dress in navy – NOTE to self drop waist was not really as flattering as you thought it was! I wore mine with red shoes that had navy and white grograin polka dot bows on them. I may or may not have worn this get up during rush at Alabama. Along with my varying shades of pink stripes Laura Ashley bubble, keds and gorgrain ribbon aroudn my ponytail. How I EVER got into a good sorority is beyond me!
This list is AWESOME. I love that we are the same age because I could identify with EVERY SINGLE point except the peplum…What are those?
Wow! You put that together well and I had some good chuckles remembering “when”. (Class of 1992)
I am from the Class of 1980, so my 30th will be coming up next year. Just coming off the 70’s at that time a lot of girls were still wearing their hair like Farrah Fawcett, even though she wasn’t as popular anymore by that time. Monogrammed sweaters were in and also clogs. I no longer talk to anyone who was my friend in high school- I “grew up” and they didn’t, and we no longer had anything in common anymore.
Class of ‘89 here too. You nailed it. I laughed so hard! I had the big hair sprayed with Aquanet and acid washed jeans, tucked into my socks, polo shirts with the collar turned up and a jean jacket.
I am having a laugh seeing the current generation take some of our styles and morph them into their own. Saw some teens wearing fedora hats the other day, and smiled. The colors are all wrong, but the look still says 80’s to me!
LOL!!! I think we went to school together.
I don’t know whether to keep laughing or to cry over the fact that I totally “got” every. single. point. of this post.
Class of 1974 here. What I’ve learned since graduating:
It doesn’t matter how careful you are, your parents WILL find out. Doesn’t matter what IT is, they will find out.
Boys are never worth losing girlfriends over.
It’s ok to wait unil 36 to get married. It’s also ok to never get married. Being married and feeling alone can be lonlier than being single.
Everything WILL work out. Be open to finding the lessons in whatever season you are currently in.
High school is not the best days of your life.
You can never play Dan Fogelberg too many times.
White lipstick does not make you look cool.
Love reading you, Big Mama!!!!
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