1986

I wasn't born yet, but god, what a year.

Today not one but two of my co-workers compared me to Molly Ringwald, specifically Pretty in Pink Molly Ringwald. Geez, no arguments here. Will you look at the color in this movie?





This sneak preview looks and sounds like it came out in 1986, and it's all about the clothes! I love directors like John Hughes who understood that the clothing makes the world of the film. This story would be half as interesting without these costumes. Besides, teenagers care about what they wear! It just makes sense that they'd give so many hero shots (vocab!) to the wardrobe. And Molly Ringwald always looked good. And totally nuts, and totally 1986. Enjoy!



Anyway, why stop there? I can't! Marilyn Vance* designed all these costumes and she knew what the fuck was up. (She also designed other Hughes classics The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, before going on to Pretty Woman and Die Hard 2!)



Check out the babe from Ferris! I tried to find a jacket like this in Chicago for years, but as the laws of thrifting go, I won't find it until I'm not looking for it anymore. And those shorts with the skinny belt. Those are all over my April 2010 Vogue, and that is no lie.



I love the idea of designing for movies like Ferris and The Breakfast Club because the characters don't change their clothes at all throughout the course of the story. What they're wearing has to say way more about them as a result, and it seems like they really start using their costumes more in the development of the character. Emilio Estevez is always messing with his letterman's jacket, or the ties on his wrestling hoodie. Anthony Michael Hall wears a Bears hat because his mom makes him. Molly has fancy leather gloves. Judd Nelson. God, Judd Nelson owns those boots and the twelve jackets and the denim vest-on-top-of-flannel vest combo. By the end, Ally Sheedy has pared down her bag lady layers and is wearing a feminine white blouse and eyeliner. I mean, Marilyn Vance really nailed it. These looks are lasting. Literally, everyone in this photo represents a style I've seen in my neighborhood. Recently. She was just designing ICONS!

Anyway, 1986. A good year.


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*LIZZIE? Are you related to Marilyn Vance, too!?