Shannon Tweed before gobs of plastic surgery (added bonus: 20 minute workout! (1983)

Does this scream 1983 loudly enough for you? I grabbed this from Google books' collection of Orange Coast Magazine. You may know her from Falcon Crest, but I know her from Cinemax After Dark.

I saw a lot of young girls dressed as "Eighties girls" for Halloween. I know it's easy to hit up American Apparel and be done with it. But to really do it right, you have to be subtle. An interlocking and work out towel and suddenly you've taken it to another level. Get two of your BFFs together and reinact "20 minute work out"!

I'm pretty sure I had my first masturbatory experience as a kid watching this show.

Playboy's Roller-Disco and Pajama Party (1979)

"In November 1979, Richard Dawson hosted The Playboy Roller Disco and Pajama Party (sic) on ABC With musical entertainment provided by Chuck Mangione and the Village People, most of the activity focused on Hefner and several dozen skimplily clad Playmates roller skating to disco music on the tennis courts, dancing in the mansion's great hall, and lounging by the swimming pool and grotto." - from Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream.

grabbed from some YouTube video. Is that Dorothy Stratten in the final shot? She is not listed as appearing in this on IMDB. Hmm, maybe it's not her, but she was PMOY in 1980. PS. Star 80 is awesome- Eric Roberts' best work.

You may also know Chuck Mangione from his appearances on King of the Hill.

pigtails fad (1940s)

Judy Canova- read more about her on the always fascinating I'm Learning to Share

Pigtails on Shirley Slade, pilot trainee (1943)

Co-ed Lenore Tingle from Life Magazine archives.

Pigtails on a felt bonnet on a comely young lass.

Actress Joan Fontaine (1942) meooowrrr- how natural and cute is her smile? And the perfect amount of sun-kissed freckles!

Co-ed Ann Teal Smith (1941) Hubba hubba!

This last dame? Some skirt named Norma Jean Baker.

I stumbled upon the pigtails trend whilst wasting hours on the Life Magazine image archives on Google. It seems that country singer Judy Canova was the originator of the trend. Her "country" look clearly influence the look of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz (1939)
It seems odd that such a cute and practical look inspired such a trend, but considering the complicated hair-dos of the late Thirties and Forties, pigtails must have seemed like a godsend. I've always had a thing for pigtails.

questionable fad: Confederate flags (1952)

A unique conglomeration of events in American history seemed to converge in the early 1950s to spur on a the Confederate flag fad. The 100th anniversary of the Civil War was just around the corner, the differences between the South and the North became more overt as segregation began to be changed in de facto and de jure ways in the early 50s (see the Jackie Robinson story of the late 40s, as well as the birth of the Civil Rights movement around that time) and white Southerners began to resist the beginning of the end of overt and socially acceptable white priviledge, and lastly rebellious teen culture just began to creep towards the mainstream from society's fringes. There's a Master's thesis in there somewhere, but I'll just leave it there.

The point is: fads seem to come out of nowhere, but they have a social cause and ignition point. These causes and igniters tell us about our society.