Day Ten Is The New Day Nine

Today we celebrate this oft forgotten trend of the 80's... the drop-waisted dress. 

I was a big fan of the drop-waisted dress.  I wore them all the time.  (I have no clue why.) 

Who came up with this look anyway? 

What went through their minds in the design process? 

"Hey, we should create a style that completely disregards the more traditional aspects of a woman's figure, like the bustline and the waist.  How about we tear a page from children's fashion and instead of emphasizing an hourglass figure, we make everyone a giant rectangle?  And?  And!  We can gather all the fabric at the hips for maximum boxiness!  Yes!  Genius!!" 

Here's a not-me Jennifer at her high school graduation.  Jennifer was, "So enamored by my dress that I had to remove my gown ASAP to show it off.  I swear, I wore that drop-waisted number until the elastic crumbled."

 

"Laugh all you want; I still look pretty.  And at least I'm not wearing the first ever pair of man-pris like the dude behind us."

Next up, Cindy sent me this shot of her prom in 1986.  She's the second one from the left in the back.  However, she's not the area of concern in this photo.  (I remember seeing the subtle pink and white stripes of that dress in stores.  I loved that dress.  I'd have cut you for that dress.) 

Frankly, I'm more interested in the girl to Cindy's right who's sporting the drop-waisted, semi-formal sailor suit.

 

"No, no, no.  When I get married, I'm going to wear a sailor suit, but it's going to be a gown, and all my bridesmaids are going to wear sailor hats... with veils."

Finally, this is Ginny.  (Follow her on Twitter @GinZone.)  Ginny sent me this photo with the explanation that it was taken the day she left for her AA flight attendant training.  Coincidentally, this was also the height of her Princess Diana wannabe phase.

 

My favorite part of this picture? 

It's not the outstanding example of drop-waistedness... the bell sleeves... the herculean hip bow.

Rather, I adore this shot because it looks like she's going to prom with the plane.

Anyway, that's it for today.  I'm taking a posting break for Easter weekend until Monday, so if you're not too busy coloring eggs or ordering Chinese food and going to movies or dressing your kids in their own drop-waisted dresses, I'd love to see your 80's.   

Send them to showmeyour80s@gmail.com! 

P.S.  I'm still working on the Prom II, Revenge of the Ruffle post.

P.P.S.  Don't forget, the audio book contest ends Monday!

Comments

[DanceMom]

I would have killed for that sailor dress! I have always had a sailor dress/outfit obsession! Must be growing up in St. Charles? LOL I always dressed my kids in sailor wear as long as I could get away with it.

I too had a white on white stripe linen drop waist with a huge square collar Gunny Sax dress for initiation ceremonies for my sorority too! Saw it recently at my family's house and sadly it is not white anymore. It was not my only drop waisted dress.

Monie

[Rachel]

I love the pink stripey dress, too.

When are we going to see a picture of 80's tube-bangs?

[Emily]

OMG this is great! You should've seen my girls Easter outfits. Hot Pink shirt with a black tie and suspenders printed on it, paired with a black skirt over hot pink leggings with black polka dots. Totally 80's and totally cute! Thanks for the laugh!

Emily
Am I Really a Writer?

[Shanda]

sorry for the previous two posts! Wrong place to put it.

[Shanda]

I had a dad to pay all of the bills!

[Shanda]

I was till living at home and had DAD to pay all the bills! :)

[Michelle]

I had a BEAUTIFUL turquoise drop-waisted dress that had HORSES all over it around '86 or '87. I saved my own money to buy it because my mom thought it was too expensive and I just HAD to have it. I wore it at least once a week. Oh, and did I mention that it has a lovely Peter Pan collar? Sigh. I loved that dress.

[beth]

Have you seen the movie adventureland?? It's in theaters now.
I was def expecting something a little more snappy and light-hearted, but it was still a good movie... AND IT'S SET IN 1987.
It's got a best-of-the-80s soundtrack, big bangs, jelly braclets, and more than one ruffled denim skirt.

[duckmama]

check out thisisrobthomas on twitter. His background is Ducky from Pretty in Pink!

[Kathy]

Was anyone else a bit younger in the mid 80's (I was born mid 70's) and there were these knock offs of the Barbie Dolls called "The Heart Family". It had a mom, dad and 2 kids? They were these dresses...in pink....with white bows.

[Claire]

These are great. However, have you completely abandoned Myspace? We miss you there. I don't twitter or use Facebook so I'm hoping you return to your loyal companions at Myspace soon. You haven't logged on in over a month!

[Dana]

Love the pics. My mom just sent me a picture of me (1987)in a lovely canary yellow cascading bridesmaid dress with ruffles around the shoulders and a HOOP underneath. A HOOP! There was also a yellow halo with ribbons down the back of my big-perm hair. I'm sure there was a large butt bow involved. I wish I could send it to you, but not even the CIA should have access to this. I think the shoes were even dyed-to-match yellow satin.

I still love my peach satin strapless prom dress. Wonder what happened to it. Maybe that's what we should wear to the book signing to ensure we got in. Prom Dresses!!

[blackbird]

Prom with the plane. I'm freakin dyin over here...

[Kelly]

I totally wore a dress like that to my graduation. Ah, good times.

[Samantha]

Question not entirely related to the 80s, unless you count that I was made in the 80s and am pretty damn awesome just because of that:

I've never been to one of your book signings but I am going to be at the one in Atlanta. Just wondering if you could have a helpful post about what to expect when going to a book signing. Namely, how early should my friend and I get there so ensure we can get in and such. I don't know the rules for these sorts of things. If I did, I'm sure I'd be planning your book tour and we'd be having fruity drinks immediately after the signing. :-)

[Lisa]

Yep, it's official. We clearly had no clue where the natural waistline belonged in the 80's. The dresses were dropped and the jeans were high. Can't tell ya how many times I nearly buttoned my boobs into my jeans!

[Wendy]

Also a lover of the Pink and White... Here in Miami it was sold at Merry-Go-Round, purveyor of all jeans, Edwin. Alas...the dress was not to be mine. Instead...I got to wear the blue beast.

Strapless royal blue taffeta ball-gown with ostrich plumes all around the top edge of the bodice. Oh...and did I mention the cumberbund? The best part was the way the feathers turned my armpits blue. Perfect for slowdancing. Looking like I squished two smurfs in a head-lock.

Nurse Wendy :o)

[Spaderbabe]

For those of us who small waists and big bottoms, we embraced: THE V-Belt. They looked really good with my white polyester dress with the diagonal red section and HUGE shoulder pads.

[Sue Holmes]

My 1988 wedding dress had a drop waist as did my sister's 1987 wedding dress! So did 2 of my eight bridesmaid dresses. And my mom's MOB dresses for both my wedding and my sister's... We were a really cool drop waist family!

[Shannon]

I really don't think your readers will have fully LIVED until I find the picture of me, as one of THIRTEEN bridesmaids, in a Pepto-Bismol pink drop-waisted BUBBLESKIRTED bridesmaids dress with matching homemade "flashdancian" headband topped with tulle. Bonus points if I find the one where I'm standing next to the multi-tiered wedding cake with Precious Moments figurines acting as guardians at each tier.

I can't even believe I'm still friends with the bride.

[diana]

I loved the drop waist dress. I had a black and white plaid Vittadini dress that I wore for YEARS - long after they went out of style. Seriously I would totally wear that dress today if I still had it (around the house at least). Thank God I had the good sense to give it to Good Will at some point

[M from Children of the Nineties]

Ahh the Clueless reference! The whole sailor suit thing is ridiculous.

I may argue for the Herculean bow as the best thing about that last one, though, it's possibly the biggest garnish I've ever seen on a dress.

[Grace]

I blame Laura Ashley for the drop waist dress. Let's pool our money and put a hit out for her. OMG. I think I wore one to every formal occasion in the 80's!

[*gemmifer*]

Kudos on the "Clueless" reference, Jen!

I love that Ginny got so dressed up to start her flight attendant training... imagine maneuvering up and down the aisle of a plane with that mega-bow smacking into all the passengers faces!

And she is a kindred spirit to you, wearing her pearls!

[Julie]

I just had to say that I, too, had the uber-fashionable pink and white dress, but because I went to a strict born-again Christian school my mom had to sew on thick white satin straps to keep with the modest dress code (no bare shoulders, girls!). And they wonder why I drink so much...

[Sally]

My first communion dress was a drop-wasted dress. It was 1988. I was THE MOST STYLISH seven-year-old in that church.

[The Other Jen from Chicago]

That comment about Ginny going to the prom with the plane made me laugh so hard. Thank you for that laugh...it's been a pretty lousy week...the kind of week that could only be cured by Zoloft. But I'm concocting my own cure: bottle of wine and a cupcake from Sugar Bliss...and it may include some reincarnation of 80's hair, but that's only if I have enough bottles of hairspray.

[Shelly]

Ah yes, the drop-waisted dress. I went to a wedding reception in one and a guy from high school that I hadn't seen in ages, congratulating me on my pregnancy! I was NOT pregnant. ASS!

[Melissa]

Nice Dionne reference, Jen.

[melissa mcmahan]

I had the same pink striped dress! We are dress sisters! The same dress showed up 15+ years later worn by a student of mine at a prom.

[bamagirl3525]

I'd just like to say... I did pageants in the late 90s/early 2000s. The dresses we wore were shockingly similar to ALL of the dresses Jen has shared, only newer. Cool, right?

[Tabitha]

ha ha ha! I had that pink and white prom dress. I wore it for prom in 1987 and again for halloween in 1988 and again for halloween (at work) in 1992. It was an awesome dress! (I still miss it...sniff!)

[Michele]

I wore that EXACT SAME pink & white stripped dress with the off-the-shoulder ruffle that "Cindy" is wearing in the second picture to MY OWN prom back in 1986. Evidently it was a popular dress that Spring. It was such a beautiful dress. I still have it actually, though sadly it no longer fits.

[Manic Mommy]

Oh, here's something funny I would like to know also regarding that prom photo--how many of those girls got laid that night!? Wasn't that the whole goal of prom--to lose your virginity? I wouldn't know because NO ONE ASKED ME TO MY FREAKIN' PROM, and twenty-some years later, I'm still tarnished from it.

[Manic Mommy]

All I could think of with that prom picture is GUNNY SAX -- isn't that the name of the prom company that every girl wanted their dress from!?!?!?

[LJ]

HAHA! Love that. Now that you said it, it does look like she's going to prom with the plane. Fantastic.

[carla]

OMG! That photo of Ginny is the most hilarious thing I've seen so far. That bow deserves it's own zip code. LOVE IT! I personally was a huge fan of the "giant ass bow".

[marci]

OMG - this is bringing back all my high school/college memories.

I had a lovely Jessica McClintock drop-waist dress as my requisite all white initiation dress. I'll bet it's at my mom's house still - maybe not white anymore though.

[Can't admit my identity lest the bride in question kills me]

If I could find one to scan in, I would totally send you a pic of my sadly-similar-looking junior-high-formal dress from the early nineties. Bubblegum pink satin with a lace overlay, dropped waist, and a hipbow. *gag* (It takes longer for trends to reach and then LEAVE the Midwest.)

Incidentally, it was a bridesmaid's dress for someone who *still* wears white hose with white pumps and a big perm. *doublegag*

[Chrissy]

Sooo diggin' the Clueless reference. And I can completely see that actress making the motions with her hands while saying it. :o)

And oh, the last dress! Wow. She is absolutely beautiful! Unfortunately, that dress. Not so much. I wish I had access to my mom's photos. I have pics of me in this god-awful long sweater dress with bright yellow and bright purple arrows going in all different directions - over the entire dress (and I LOVED the dress at the time. Yick.) And my fish earrings - made out of neon pink and green wetsuit material - that came down to my shoulders. Yes, everyone wanted those earrings! (Seriously. They did. Sad, I know.)

Thanks for posting all these pics! I'm loving them!!!

[Jules]

And here I thought that I was going to be the only one who caught that "Clueless" reference. Silly me!!! I forgot who I was dealing with here! LOL! These pics are a scary trip down memory lane.

[paperdiva]

man that it a big bow.

[kristin Kaminski]

oh. I had a laura ashley drop waist sailor dress too. in mauve.

[Emily]

Oh my word. The drop waist is stalking me. Hold me.

[Shannon]

Yes, will someone please explain why they are all wearing white shoes? And please tell me it's before Labor Day.

[Kelly]

I had 2 drop-waisted satiny dresses that I wore into the ground. I loved them so, so much.

Seriously, why is that girl in a sailor suit?

[Nina]

LOVE the Clueless quote! Almost as much as I love the copious amounts of ruffles and lace in picture #2.

[Michele]

Regarding the picture with the "man-pris", there is also the guy in the back with the skinny tie and suspenders. It almost looks like he may even be wearing black gloves. Even the men wore white flats! Looks just like my high school graduation!

[Laura]

Oh, yes, the white pumps...with white pantyhose. Sadly, I had several drop waist dresses (with big lacy collars)because although I was only in my mid 20's (and had a 24" waist...I miss my small waist),I worked as a secretary and wanted to look "professional". Also had many floppy bow blouses. God, I look younger now at 48!

[Candy]

Is that pink dress a Gunne Sax? God I loved my Gunne Sax prom dresses.

I totally wore those drop waist things. What WAS I thinking?