I messaged a trans friend via a social media site and, as it happens she'd just posted a picture of a favourite band of her youth and how it drove her gender expression wild at the time and continues to do so. I was going to say gender dysphoria but that's too negative - you can get a very positive response from gender triggers.
This is what she posted:
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| © Smash Hits magazine 1985 |
Strawberry Switchblade were a short-lived group from Glasgow that sang songs, yes, but developed a uniquely polka-dot, rara skirt Lolita look. Needless to say, they were big in Japan.
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| © Lookin magazine 1985 |
It's the ultra-girly look, isn't it? All those extra ribbons, bows, lace and froth, rara skirts with extra ra, high heeled booties, jazzy nails and big big hair ...
I wish she hadn't posted it. I've been reliving the bad old good old days of ridiculously overblown '80s girly-girl fashion that drove me gibbering in my teens and it's driving me nuts again now! I could do with a touch of youth too, perhaps, but I can't get stuff like this at the moment! Or even fit into it, I imagine! And to think that last month I picked up a bright red lacy burlesque rara skirt in my storage unit in London and put it back thinking: now when the hell am I ever going to wear that? Answer: now, dammit, I want it now!
So, yes, this triggers my thirst for feminine expression like nothing else. I suppose it's largely the association with an influential time of life. What if I'd been a teen in the '50s? Tight sweaters and wide skirts with petticoats would've been the trigger, no doubt. Or the 1890s? Waspie waist, presumably - just as well I don't have to try that right now! I'm genuinely not sure what the youth of today are into but in the 2060s what will the CDs/TVs/trans folk be reminiscing about?
So that's what's bugging me right now. I need a polka dot rara ribbon combo right now to feel complete! These leggings I've been doing my housework in are perfectly feminine, up-do-date, sporty and flattering but wouldn't it be so much more fun to be a beribboned strawberry girl? I doubt much work would get done, though, apart from polishing the mirror all day!
So no thanks to my friend! I can't get this out of my head!
Just one more thing to add to the growing list of influences (click the relevant label, right, for more).
Harvest time on the riviera
Talking of older things, I've been enjoying the various local antiques markets recently and got things for the home: clocks, teapots, glassware and the like, and a lot of cheap books, DVDs and CDs. One girl's junk is another girl's treasure!
The wine harvest is starting and the fountains are flowing with wine! Well, it's something like it anyway!
Here's combining the two!
Of course, there are all sorts of other things in season: olives, garlic, snails (!), mushrooms (lots of mushrooms!), and food markets and food fairs abound here right now. I had some really fabulous porcini mushrooms (ceps) in my pasta in my favourite restaurant last week. And swordfish seems to be abundant just now, too. I enjoyed this little slice poached with white wine, lemon juice, mushrooms and my own parsley at home and it was special. Mmm.
I bought Arnold the Olive as a tiny cutting three years ago during the pandemic and he's now grown big enough to be producing a crop of olives himself. Photos another time when it's not pouring with rain, which is another feature of the season. But the annual summer drought needs ending somehow.
Happy autumn.
Sue x
"....2060s what will the CDs/TVs/trans folk be reminiscing about?"
ReplyDeleteBeing able to go out in summer without a survival cooling suit and not commuting to work week via canoe? 😉
On a less apocalyptic note, maybe HD brows, contouring, and - daring to dream society progresses - the quaint 20s notion of two genders & socially policed clothing.
As to strawberry stuff, perhaps with vibes of the old phrase "if you were old enough to remember it first time, don't wear it all again", it's a case of mixing in subtle elements of the look. Maybe polka dot nails?
PS: top marks to Arnold for the olives
Thanks, Lynn. Portrait of Arnold next time, when it's sunny and he's less sodden-looking!
DeleteI imagine the trans girls of 2064 will be recalling the sparkly leotard of Taylor Swift or the cut-offs of some K-pop band!
On the bad side, the right.wing transphobia of late does bring to mind the Section 28 paranoia of '80s Britain. Maybe that'll be the unhappy memory of 2064.
Sue x
I heard Strawberry Switchblade on the radio the other week (probably for the first time in years) and of course made the classic mistake of looking on Google. Immediately enveloped in ultra-girly pink fog the rest of the day.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I shouldn't send you a link to the Japanese Alice Cosplay dance group then. (The bridal routine was another girly fog moment.)
Not sure about the Dallas/Dynasty shoulder pad look of the 80s, or the big hair. Or neon spandex and leg warmers. (Either Olivia Neutron Bomb or else any metal band of that time on TOTP)
As a child of the 50s/early 60s, tight waisted dresses and petticoats will do it, though, so maybe there is something in that formative influence of the fashions of your pre-teen years.
Nails might be the big thing of the 2020s. Other that that I can't think of anything specific.
Thanks, Susie.
DeleteYou didn't send me a link but you knew I'd just have to go to YouTube and type in "Japanese Alice Cosplay dance group" anyway ... and there we are, more crazed pink fog! I watched every damn' video I could find!
I will happily dump the '80s shoulder pads, legwarmers, deely boppers, multicoloured hair, mullets, pixie boots, aerobic high leg leotards (and even aerobics) but the lace gloves and tights stay, OK?
Sue x
The fact they are all boys makes it even worse.
DeleteI forgot about deely boppers. I might hold out for pixie boots.
Lace gloves are idea for an 80s Goth look, so I've give you that.
Multicoloured hair is definitely a comeback into the 2020s.