Living Life '80s Style... Part 3

Twirling back down the years to the 1980s, the "Style Decade", is such a pleasure. Want to know what to eat? How to furnish your micro bijou home or penthouse flat? Take a seat and enjoy the show - courtesy of mid-1980s Habitat and others!

Do eat nouvelle cuisine. Such a lovely, yuppie fad! Spitting Image described it as "an expensive way of not having very much to eat". Wasn't it WONDERFUL?! Also, employ lots of '80s speak in your conversation. "Tubular!",  "Wicked!", "Gnarly!" Call your friends "mateyboots" and always remember to say "purlease".

Transform your study area, 1980s style! The colours here are so conducive to concentration, I'm surprised they ever went out of fashion!

Computers began entering the home in the 1980s and they were provided for. Remember how trendy black was as a furnishing colour? Even tellys went black eventually.

Pose about in your lounge in pink trousers and fondle your hi-fi. Looking faintly minimalist here.

Invest in lovely lantern light shades and install a pendant over your dining table. Place a warning sign proclaiming "Gesticulation Prohibited" over said dining table before guests arrive as entanglement with pendant may ensue. It is, of course, highly desirable to be known for giving memorable dinner parties. But electrocutions are probably best avoided.

Just look at these! Even plugs went all bright and jazzy in the 1980s! 

"Individuality - being what you want to be - until tomorrow..." and what better way to make a statement than by spray painting your lounge suite with your own '80s style daubings? Glorious, is it not? We love Habitat!

 Ah, the children! The next generation! Our hope for the future! Ensuring their well-being was, of course, one of the top priorities of the 1980s. And what better way to care for them than by providing a nice, restful decor and furnishings for their bedrooms, like this red metal tube bunkbed?

And for your bedtime? How about these gorgeous quilts and pillow cases? The epitome of 1980s chic!

Bonce feeling a bit chilly? Buy a pillow case with inbuilt night cap and you'll be oh-so-cosy! And oh-so-stylish. Lucky you! Night, night!

We haven't finished yet! Tomorrow's another day. Lots more on living life '80s style soon! xxx

Living Life '80s Style... Part 2

Returning to the theme of living life in the style of The Glorious 1980s, how about buying some lovely knitwear or sweatshirts from the decade? I mean, just look at the two examples above. What more encouragement do you need?

 Perhaps a look at this might just tip you over the edge? Mmmm, lovely, is it not?

 And I bet these 1980s beauties leave you speechless.

To help create your ... er... beautiful '80s ambiance, scatter some genuine "of-the-decade" magazines about. Here, Nik Kershaw and Paul Young serve as an authentic reminder of how wonderful hairstyles were in the mid-1980s. All together now: "Near a tree by a river there's a hole in the ground..."

Lovely Pye "Red Box" TV here - dating from 1984. It won't do HD, but you can hook it up to your DVD player and watch '80s classic telly anyway.

"You make it Neet Weet, mate!" The Weetabix skinheads debuted in March 1982 and were created by Trevor Beattie, now of fcuck fame. They were called Bixie, Brains, Crunch, Dunk and Brian (he who said "OK!") and trundled on through the rest of the 1980s, last appearing in November 1989. During that time they dropped the skinhead chic (shame!) and went for more of a hip hop look, amongst other things.

Anyway, here's a lovely Weetabix kiddies' lunchbox from the mid-1980s. Great for carrying your '80s-style lunch to work in. What will it be? Packet of hobnobs? Makings of an exotic baked potato to pop in the works microwave? Spot of nouvelle cuisine? Pot Noodle? A Birds Eye Menu Master (Birds Eye's the bird of freedom, spread your wings and fly away...").

If you must have crisps, don't go for "common as muck" cheese and onion or smoky bacon. Make sure they're sour cream and chive or ham and mustard or something. Fancy crisps are a crucial style detail if you really want to create the mid-to-late 1980s time warp effect.

Something for the wall here - download a copy of Tim Berners-Lee's original diagram of the World Wide Web from 1989, its invention year, frame it, and display it prominently. Then, when some snobby, 80s-demeaning "friend" pops in and says: "Really! I don't understand your fixation with the 1980s! Nothing at all happened!" you can gesticulate grandly at your picture and  reply: "Pah! I beg to differ, mateyboots!"

And then waggle your Gordon The Gopher puppet at said "friend" until they go home. By bringing Gordon into play, you'll have convinced your "friend" that you're a very sad case indeed, and they probably won't bother you again.

Gilbert the snotty alien was an absolute wow in 1987 on kids' TV show Get Fresh, and graduated to his own series, Gilbert's Fridge, in 1988. This pic would look splendid over the fireplace in your '80s homage home, don't you think?

This is mine - a very '80s representation of a penny farthing bicycle which I bought from quite a posh gift shop when, in August 1986, I moved from a grotty bedsit into a house which I was allowed to rent at a knock-down price. It looked great on the black ash shelving unit. Happy days! Until April 1987 when my absentee landlord decided to sell his house and I moved into another grotty bedsit.

We're not finished living life '80s style... we'll return very soon with lorry loads of pendant lights, buckets of black ash, urban hordes of up-lighters, billions of red beds, dozens of director's chairs, mountains of Miami Vice chic and a monsoon  of hair gel and mousse...

Remember that, when it comes to the 1980s, more is more...

Living Life '80s Style... Part 1

So, you've thought about it hard, you've looked at 21st Century life and definitely found it wanting, and wish to live a stylish life, a life filled with beauty, a life in which your house is so much more than just a house, a life in which your clothes are so much more than just clothes, a life in which your hair is so much more than just hair, etc, etc..

Well, you could do much worse than retreat to the Style Decade.

"Which decade's that?" you frown. "Cheeky young puppy!" I reply. I'm talking, of course, about the 1980s!

The framed picture of the Ferrari Testarossa car is ideal for helping to create your '80s style home. Other goodies for your walls include the famous "cocktail glass struck by lightning" and the Adam Ant mirror (see last illustration in this post).

Both forms of lighting here date from the 1980s. The wall light from 1983 and the black plastic up-lighter from 1988. The draped material dates from 1986 and the wallpaper from 1987. Isn't it lovely? It's my front room actually. 

Recently, I was considering some redecorating and asked a friend who was visiting if they had any constructive criticisms to offer regarding the present decor. Said the visitor: "Well, Andy, it's just like you - stuck in the '80s!"

"No, no, no!" I cried. "I wanted criticisms not compliments!"

Daft bat.

Of course, the first hand-held mobile phones came along in the 1980s. But unless you are a collector, don't fill your home up with these as they are analogue and useless. You CAN buy modern day replicas of 1980s brick phones which work on the GSM system (the GSM system was also a product of the 1980s, by the way!) and these are a far better idea.

However, a genuine 1980s brick phone is brilliant for stopping a barn door from banging in high wind.

The Pye Tube Cube - a wow on its release in 1982 - is now woefully outdated. TV's gone all digital now, yer see. Nice piece of '80s kitsch to have around though if you've room - and the radio, cassette and clock may still be useful. Also, you can hook the set up to your DVD player and watch '80s TV progs and films in glorious black and white. Definitely has nostalgia potential.

A lot of youngsters nowadays who didn't experience the joys of cassette players eating cassette tapes the first time round, now think cassettes are awesome and the sound produced is somehow better than the sound produced on a compact disc. Well, I think that's baloney, personally, but the audio cassette was at its peak in the 1980s and the decade also introduced compact discs, so you can take your choice. Vinyl was still absolutely rampant, too. I still enjoy playing some of my old cassettes on my 1980s boombox or ghetto blaster. And its appetite seems to have decreased with age. It hasn't gorged on a cassette for several weeks now.

Do pick up some 1980s toys and ornaments if you don't have any already. This adorable clockwork Pac-Man has a ghost in his gob and is a lovely little companion for solitary evenings in.

Here's a snazzy little pig - given to me as a birthday present in 1988. A pig listening to a personal stereo? I think the idea was based on the early Now That's What I Call Music album designs.

I adore my little red BT Tribune phone. It was first released in 1987, and it came in bell ring or warble models. The one pictured above has been my pal ever since that year. With the explosion of telephone designs available in England, Scotland and Wales after BT was formed in 1980, things became a little confusing, but I instantly warmed to the Tribune and the bell ringer model is the one to have and to have hold. So much nicer than a warble. 

It starred in the famous 1987 "Ology" TV ad, also starring Maureen Lipman as Beattie, and  turned up in series like Howards' Way.

The Tribune pictured above is in my hall. Of course, it is not all modern, singing and dancing. It's not touch-tone. 

It's 1987. 

So, we have another phone in the living room. 

But we have the warble on that switched off!

 

1980s mugs for the morning brew are essential - and these witty "It's A Mug Game" Rubik's Cube mugs from 1981 are absolutely swingorilliant.

Want to be really obscure? Then enjoy your morning cuppa from an Albion Market mug - from the 1985 launch of this short-lived Granada Television soap, which quickly crashed and burned. Works for me.

And gel or mousse your 1980s hairdo in front of a lovely Adam Ant mirror. Mine is in my pink wood chip wallpapered hall. Can't get more stylish than that.

More very soon!

The 1980s House - Part 2

Nice, trendy Triton showers from Argos, 1989. This is a sign of the times - a gratuitous glimpse of botty. Believe it or not, I never saw any such thing in mail order catalogues before the 1980s. Were we trying to be more broad minded? More European? There were many grumbles as this kind of thing began. Gratuitous botty? Whatever next?!! Showers were yet another thing that the vast majority of working class people didn't have at home until the 1980s.

Of course, what you really needed was a power shower, to go with your power breakfast, power dressing, power napping, power walking, etc, etc. The black tiles with red grouting are an '80s style wow, too!

Oooh dear! 1983 Brian Mills catalogue. I favour the old rose, myself.

In the 1980s, microwave ovens swept in, as did jug kettles. Such a sensible design! My Brian Mills spring/summer 1983 catalogue has only one jug on offer...

... but my catalogues from 1985 and 1989 have whole armies of the things. The page above is from Argos, 1989. I particularly favour the red and white ones.

Dining in style in 1983... my cousin had something very like the table and benches on the right in 1984. Very lovely, of course.

How about these red, narrow slatted blinds for the kitchen - Index, 1989? I always lusted after some for my own kitchen, but never got round to buying any. Black was another option. I don't recommend white - boring and shows up the greasy marks carried through the air from your deep fat fryer - an essential for getting your Crispy Pancakes just right!

Red and black... Bella magazine, 1988. Adore this!

Bella 1988 again with another powerful '80s style statement. Pure beauty.

Index 1989 - with all that talk of power in the 1980s, it was only natural that boardroom blinds should start to come out of the boardroom and into the home. There's been a recent revival in this trend, so you may have them now. Lucky you! The colour of the blinds featured here was called "champagne"... mmm... more is more...

These 1980s curtains are beautifully colourful and would tell the neighbours so much about your glorious sense of style!

Meanwhile, these particular 1980s curtains can still be seen hanging in my house. Viewings by prior appointment only.

The 1980s House - Part 1

1989 living room from Argos catalogue. Blue pastel walls and black, black, black! Black was hugely popular in the mid-to-late 1980s, even TV casings went that colour - a trend which lasted throughout the 1990s. The director's chair on the far right was a must-have - so very, very stylish!

You've looked around your house, grown sick of your "funky" late-1960s inspired wallpaper (it makes your eyes go funny) and realise you want style. You want a 1980s style home.

Do you? Do you really? There were so many styles of homes in that decade, each one designed to say something about the occupant and their lifestyle.

But you are not to be diverted. You want your home to give a screamingly 1980s effect, and you are determined. OK then. We'll take a look at popular decors of the 1980s including furniture, knick knacks, clocks, kitchens, kitchen ware, and bathrooms. See what you think afterwards. This is the first of four articles designed to bring the 1980s house back to life.

1989: Black blinds... Mmmm... lovely. Red blinds for the kitchen, of course. An uplighter. Glorious. But a black stand for it might be nicer... And look at that music centre - yuppie heaven...

1989: A very beautiful black ash shelving unit and bed settee. The mixing of black, grey and red in the design of the settee material is so 1980s. Don't you just love it?

As well as black, toy box colours were incredibly in, and this kitchen from 1983 simply shrieks "1980s!

If you were poor in the 1980s, you might have painted the wood chip wallpaper in your hall pink and hung up your Adam Ant mirror. In the modern day, this is only recommended for people who remember the 1980s, liked them, and have fond memories of Adam (I do and so the mirror still hangs). It's not terribly evocative of the stylish 1980s house you are trying to create though, so if you don't have a nostalgic attachment to the decade, avoid.

A wonderful 1980s bed (1989) and, of course, a director's chair beside it. Sleep had never been so stylish! In the 1980s, duvets (known in the early-to-mid decade as "continental quilts" but increasingly as the decade wore on duvets) took over from blankets and candlewick bedspreads.

This late 1980s wall clock is called "The Boss" and features a yuppie gorilla on a lovely red '80s phone, chomping on a banana. I don't recommend it, but remember that the 1980s were actually rather brash and whilst they craved style, their taste was not exactly impeccable. You might like it, however, and it's certainly very much of the decade.

This 1980s Ferrari clock is of a similar style to old monkey chops, but rather more tasteful. I want it all. I want it all. I want it all. And I want it now!

Here's my trusty old wall clock from circa 1987. Still going strong.

More 1980s home design tips coming soon!