By Lori Ferraro
Fashion confession: I loved my shoulder pads back in the 80s, and I have my fingers crossed that they’re next in line for a huge comeback.
There…I said it.
At the big game on Friday night it was kind of hard to tell the difference between the players on the field and the girls in the stands. We both had our uniforms on — giant, helmet hair and giant, linebacker shoulder pads.
Am I crazy? I loved the look! Everything had built in shoulder pads — from T-shirts to turtlenecks, sweaters to dresses; no look was complete without them. In fact surprisingly enough, the only items of clothing I bought that didn’t have them were my bathing suits.
I loved wearing my blazers with shoulder pads over my t-shirts with shoulder pads making for double the bulky fashion fun!
Think back to movies like Working Girl, Heathers, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off…and television shows like Designing Women. Oh, and the queen mother of the look, Dynasty. These just wouldn’t be the same without those massive pillows strapped onto the actresses’ shoulders, right?
The look made us ladies (or girls) look broader, more large and in charge. I loved them so much because I felt as if they “balanced me out” and made my waist appear smaller. But who knew that since I was always wearing looong sweaters and giant bulky blazers anyway?
Several shirts came with shoulder pads that were attached using velcro, you would peel the pads out before doing your laundry which of course led to drawers, floors and dryers full of the things all stuck together.
By the time the ‘90s rolled around big shoulders gave way to tank tops and slouchy flannel shirts, but like I said, I’m holding out.
Bring it on…I’m ready for the power of the pads! This girl is ready to look like a linebacker again.