‘My name is Lori and I’m an ’80s nut and your website makes me very happy,’ writes reader Lori Ferraro. ‘Thanks for all the great stuff you share, very relatable, I love it!’ We love this and emails like Lori’s. And we love the photos of her 1980s life. Teenagers’ bedroom walls never looked better:
Susie was allowed to paint her bedroom pink and was obsessed with Rick Savage from Def Leppard. Most summer days we would lay out on a blanket in front of her apartment recording songs off the radio and eating puffy Cheetos.
Ossining, New York – Point of reference: Sing Sing Prison and Season One Don and Betty Draper. Sunglasses and head bands are on point.
All of the cool kids wore these shiny Ossining jackets. Your name was in cursive on the front like you were in a town gang.
‘I spent my teenage years in Tampa, Florida in the 1980s – the ultimate time and place for a teenage girl to be alive. Our family had moved from Ossining, New York, to Tampa, Florida, and we now had luxuries we hadn’t before. A pool. Disney World. A formal living room. The living room was a place you entered on only two occasions: To vacuum. To get your picture taken.
‘Here are some of my favorite photos from my living room. The room that no one really ever lived in. Note the coveted vacuum lines.’
Some formal shots before my dates arrived, with mom. Please note her awesome cat head shirt.
My BFF Susie and me entered several Lip Sync contests at the local teen nightclub. Here we are getting ready to go sell “Baby Love” by Regina. We did such a good job we made it to the finals. Naturally, new corsets were purchased.
‘These were taken between 1985/1986 – I was in middle school and floating between the only home I knew in Ossining, New York – then making a move to start school in Tampa, Florida.’
With a boy named Dustin’s drumsticks. I loooved this belted-blousy dress with light pink polka dots.
Our family moved from New York to Tampa, Florida where I took the bus and made new friends.
My best friend Susie and me. We loved matchy-matchy pastels and paisley and a giant dog named Princess.
Ossining, New York – Point of reference: Sing Sing Prison and Season One Don and Betty Draper. Sunglasses and head bands are on point.
Lots of Op and Panama Jack clothing in Tampa. Posing with another mustached boy named Rocky.
Middle school girls in the courtyard.
On the school bus, Tampa
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